Ephesians – Open Our Eyes

Eph 1:15-23

A. Open Our Eyes to Know God Better (v.15-17)

1. Paul’s prayer starts out asking God to give them wisdom (Greek: Sophia), which is a understanding of God’s truth.
2. One of the needs of the church is greater (Greek: Apokalypsis)
   • Without revelation, people only know Scripture intellectually, but not .

B. Open Our Eyes to See What We Already Have (v.18)

Paul prays for…

1. Enlightenment (Greek: Photizo)
   • To .
   • To on the lights.
   • To see things .
2. Hope of His Calling
   • Hope is not thinking
   • It is the , , and that something is already happening.
   • Hope is our at work.
3. Riches of His Inheritance
   • What are the riches of his people?
     1. He them before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4).
     2. He them as sons and daughters (Eph. 1:5).
     3. He them through Christ’s blood (Eph. 1:7).
     4. He with the Holy Spirit (Eph. 1:13-14).

C. Open Our Eyes to The Power Already at Work (v.19-20)

1. Paul used every vocabulary word he could to explain God’s power in verse 19.
   • and what is the exceeding greatness of His power (dynamis) toward us who believe, according to the working (energeia) of His mighty (kratos) power (ischus)
2. We should not operate in our own power and abilities because God’s power is .

D. Open Our Eyes to The King Above Every Power (v.21-22)

1. No spiritual or earthly force Jesus Christ
2. Jesus is every name
3. If Jesus is above all things and we are his body, then that authority through us as well

E. Open Our Eyes to Who We Are As The Church (v.23)

1. The Church is the of Christ
   1. The church is his representation on the earth
   2. Jesus ascended to heaven in a physical body
   3. But left behind a new physical body to his work (you and I)
2. Paul prayed that we be made and
   1. He is saying that we nothing
3. The totality of Jesus’ and
   1. Jesus fills
   2. The entire universe is with His presence

If you’d like to take your own notes, please use the box below:

Harvest Group Discussion

1. Paul prays that the ‘eyes of our hearts’ would be opened to see the ‘hope of His calling.’ What is the biggest distraction or ‘blindfold’ in our current culture that keeps your spiritual eyes blurry to who you actually are in Christ?
2. The sermon hit on the idea that we already possess God’s power, but we don’t often live like it. Honestly assessing your life this month, what “spiritual assets” do you think you’ve been ignoring or leaving locked away in your account?
3. Ephesians 1:23 says the church is Christ’s physical body, His hands and feet on earth. If someone only judged who Jesus was based on how our harvest group interacted with the world this month, what kind of Jesus would they think He is?

This week’s action – Ask everyone in the group to set an alarm on their phone for the exact same time every day this week (for example, 1:18 PM, matching Ephesians 1:18).

When the alarm goes off, no matter where they are or what they are doing, they must stop for 60 seconds, breathe, and silently pray this specific two-sentence prayer:

“Lord, open the eyes of my heart right now. Help me rely on the power You’ve already put inside me, instead of panicking over what’s in front of me.”