The Hope of his Calling

📖 ‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭1‬:‭15‬-‭23‬ ‭KJV‬‬ Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints, cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: and hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.

✅ 1: The Hope of His Calling

“...that ye may know what is the hope of his calling…” (v.18)

📌 When it comes to Christians, there is a lot we miss because we aren't constantly being enlightened due to not reading the Bible enough to know and stay reminded of the hope of his calling, the riches of his glory, and the working of his mighty power.

The Apostle Paul is stating the importance of this knowledge, because Apostle Paul knows if we had this in mind it would help us a lot to understand our priorities.

📖 Matthew 6:33 (KJV) But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

📌 So when we think about God and what he has done for us and what he has prepared for us, it reminds us to put our priorities straight.

Have you ever wondered why God wants us to give thanks?

📖 Hebrews 13:15 (KJV) By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.

📖 1 Thessalonians 5:18 (KJV) In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

📌 To be thankful is like a reminder of what God has done.

When we see people placing priorities elsewhere it shows they have forgotten the hope of his calling!

🔥 There are 3 main things to note: the first is The Hope of His Calling, the Riches of the Glory, and the Working of His Mighty Power.

These all correlate with each other and are so closely connected that all these three things speak about the hope to come, and the first point I want to mention is the hope of his calling. This hope is eternal life — God has called us to eternal life.

🔥 Eternal Life

📖 Titus 1:2 (KJV) In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;

📌 This is the calling of God — that all people would choose eternal life.

📖 Acts 17:30 (KJV) And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:

📖 1 Timothy 2:3-4 (KJV) For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; 4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

📌 This is why God is so good — he is calling everybody and giving everyone the chance to choose eternal life. It’s your choice to come into eternity.

📖 Luke 14:16-24 (KJV) Then said he unto him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many: 17 And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready. 18 And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused. 19 And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray thee have me excused. 20 And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come. 21 So that servant came, and shewed his lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind. 22 And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room. 23 And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. 24 For I say unto you, That none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper.

🔥 Funny how Calvinists say we don’t have a choice — yet when God called Israel, they didn’t come! And it made God angry. So what did He do? He opened the door to everyone because Israel rejected the invitation. They were too busy for the salvation God offered.

But here’s the beauty of it: God is calling us to eternal life. Not forcing, not dragging, but calling. That’s a God worth worshipping. 🙌

📌 This truth alone should stir our hearts — to drop everything and serve the living God, just like the apostles did. Yet many have missed the mark… they haven’t grasped how incredible this calling truly is. To be invited by God into eternal life — what could be more precious?

📖 1 Corinthians 2:9 (KJV) But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.

📖 Romans 8:18 (KJV) For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

📌 We should be so excited to put the things of God first that no matter what happens in this life, because the next is better, we shouldn’t even be too worried about this world. And it doesn’t even stop there — there’s more. God called us to an inheritance.

🔥 Inheritance

📖 Matthew 25:31-34 (KJV) When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: 32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: 33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. 34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

📖 John 14:2-3 (KJV) In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

✅ 2: The Riches of the Glory

📖 Ephesians 1:18 (KJV) The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,

🪽 The glory refers to the splendor, majesty, and divine perfection that will be revealed in and through us.

📖 Romans 8:18-23 (KJV) For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. 19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. 20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, 21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. 23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.

📖 Romans 8:29-30 (KJV) For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.

📌 So I believe the glory is referring to the new bodies that God has prepared for us who believe, and it’s glorious because we shall be like Christ.

📖 Philippians 3:20-21 (KJV) For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: 21 Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.

📌 So then there’s more to what’s coming, because not only did God cleanse us from our sins, he called us to eternal life, he called us to an inheritance in heaven, then he has prepared us new bodies like Christ.

📖 1 John 3:2 (KJV) Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

🔥 Isn’t that cool — that we shall be like Christ? We will have the same abilities he had in his glorified body.

✅ Exceeding Greatness of His Power

📖 Ephesians 1:19-20 (KJV) And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, 20 Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,

📌 Now obviously this power is speaking about the resurrection of our bodies.

📖 Philippians 3:10 (KJV) That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;

📌 When we think about all the miracles that Jesus did, the most powerful ones I think are the temporary resurrections that he did. It was truly something amazing — seeing dead people and everyone is crying at their funeral, then Jesus walks in and brings dead bodies back to life. That’s powerful.

📖 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 (KJV) For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

📌 So all these points are closely tied because they are all happening around the same time — first the resurrection of the dead in Christ, then the new bodies are given, and lastly we are taken away to be with the Lord in a place he has prepared for us — the inheritance.

📖 1 Corinthians 15:51-58 (KJV) Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. 55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? 56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

✅ Conclusion

📌 Have you ever wondered why people aren’t in their full potential for God, having one foot in Church and the other elsewhere in the world? You see these people — you know these people — because these are the ones that are the same every year. No discipleship, just pew sitters every Sunday. It’s either they’ve forgotten about what God has done for them due to not reading enough Bible, or not going to church regularly, or they aren’t thankful for what God has done for them. Because if they had known, they would be like the Apostles who dropped all they had to follow Christ.

Imagine a man living in poverty who receives a letter saying he’s the heir to a billion-dollar estate. But he never opens the letter. He lives his whole life not knowing the hope that was his. That’s how many Christians live — not knowing the full hope of what God has called them to!

But then you notice these people — ones that are sold out for God. It’s because they are constantly reminding themselves of the riches of God’s glory and hope.