In Eph. 1 Paul prayed that we would have a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of God. According to the context, to have the full knowledge of God means to know the hope of God’s calling, the glory of God’s inheritance among the saints, and the surpassing greatness of God’s power toward us who believe. To know God is to know the hope, the glory, and the power, for God Himself is in the hope, glory, and power. If we claim to know God without knowing these three things, then we know God merely in an objective way, not in an experiential way. But to know God in the hope, the glory, and the power is to know Him experientially and subjectively.
Most Christians today know God objectively, in the way of mere knowledge. To them, God is far away in the heavens. They know God as the object of their belief and worship, but they do not know Him subjectively as their hope, glory, and power. They do not know Him as the One operating within them to make them holy, to constitute them the sons of God, and to cause them to become the inheritance of God.
We have pointed out that God’s calling is the sum total of His well-speaking concerning us. In God’s well-speaking we are made holy, we are constituted the sons of God, and we become God’s inheritance. Therefore, we shall be a treasure worthy of becoming God’s inheritance. God is so high, so great, and exceedingly precious. Nevertheless, He will receive us as His inheritance. However, if we look at our present condition, we shall realize that we are not worthy to be His inheritance. But God will work within us to make us worthy, precious, and valuable, a unique treasure in the universe as an inheritance for Him. God considers us, His chosen people, His peculiar possession. The only way we can become God’s treasure, His peculiar possession, is by the divine working in us. God is the treasure, and He is working Himself as the treasure into us that we may become a treasure to Him.
We have seen that three important aspects of God’s well-speaking are that we shall be made holy, that we shall be constituted the sons of God, and that we shall become God’s inheritance. These three aspects are seen in the New Jerusalem. According to Revelation 21, the New Jerusalem will be a holy city, a city in which God’s holiness is seen. Also, the New Jerusalem will be a composition of the sons of God. Revelation 21:7 says that he who overcomes will inherit all things and be God’s son. This indicates that the New Jerusalem is the totality of the divine sonship. Furthermore, the New Jerusalem will be a treasure, an inheritance, both to God and to us. In the New Jerusalem God will enjoy us as His treasure, and we shall enjoy Him as our treasure. Therefore, the New Jerusalem will be a mutual inheritance and a mutual satisfaction for God and man. The New Jerusalem will be the embodiment of holiness, a composition of the sons of God, and a mutual inheritance for God and man. Moreover, the New Jerusalem will have the glory of God, which is the glory of God’s inheritance, the riches of the glory of His inheritance among the saints. Today this glory is our hope.
This hope is being fulfilled by the surpassingly great power of God. Fundamental Christianity has little power. Neither does Pentecostal Christianity have the proper power. But Ephesians 1 speaks of the power that is toward us who believe. As those who believe in the Lord Jesus and in the Bible, we can all proclaim, “Hallelujah, I believe! I believe in the Lord Jesus and I believe in the Word of God.” We do not need to fast and pray in order to receive the divine power, for this power is toward us who believe. By believing we are positioned and qualified to receive the power of God. Hallelujah, this power is toward us who believe!
Electricity is an excellent illustration of this. When we built our meeting hall in Anaheim, electricity was installed. Now electrical power is toward the building. It is up to us whether or not we use this power, and we use it by turning on the switch. Likewise, the heavenly electricity has been installed in us, and the heavenly power is toward us. The way to receive this power is not to fast and pray for several days; it is simply to use the switch. One way to practice using the switch is to speak Ephesians 1:19-23 again and again. If we speak these verses ten times, we shall be empowered. However, if you repeatedly say that you are weak, you will in fact be weak. But by speaking positively in faith, we exercise our whole being to receive the divine power. When we speak in faith and receive the power, all negative things flee away. Satan is not afraid of our pitiful, begging prayers, but he is afraid of our speaking in faith. We need to say, “I believe, I speak, I have the power, I am strong.” This is not superstition; it is our Christian faith.
Regarding faith, there must first be the fact. God comes in to tell us about the fact, and then we believe what God says. Our Christian believing is exactly like this. Although we cannot see it, it is a fact that Christ has resurrected from among the dead and has been seated in the heavens far above all. Furthermore, it is a fact that all things have been subjected under His feet and that He is the Head over all things to the church. These are accomplished facts in the universe. Through His holy Word God comes in to tell us of these facts. Then we believe what God has spoken and speak whatever God speaks. This is faith. We should not only read and study the Bible, but also speak the Bible. Some condemn us for repeating the verses of the Bible, but we would only repeat them more.
In this universe a transmission is taking place from the Lord in the heavens to the church. Ephesians 1:19 says that this transmission is “toward us who believe.” Furthermore, 1:22 says, “And He subjected all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church.” The little word “to” indicates a transmission. The power that is toward us is the Triune God. This power is not only the creating power, but the power that has passed through incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension. After all these steps, the Triune God comes to us as such a power. Within this power, therefore, there is the power of creation, incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension. Hence, it is an all-inclusive power. The power toward us who believe is the Triune God, the Creator of the universe, who became incarnated, passed through crucifixion, entered into resurrection and ascension, and has come down to us. This power has been installed in us, just as electricity is installed in a building.
We need to believe that this power is now right within us. Many of us, however, are too natural and too logical and say, “How could such a power be in me? I realize that I have repented, that I have confessed my sins to God, and that I believe in Him and trust Him. I can understand that God has saved me, forgiven me, and cleansed me with the precious blood of Christ. But at the moment I believed I did not feel that divine power was installed in me. Do you mean to say that an all-inclusive power, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit with the creation, incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension, has been wrought into me? I simply don’t feel that I have such a power. It is not logical to say that I have it.” Logic is always opposed to faith, and faith is opposed to logic. In this matter of the transmission of divine power, do not try to be so logical. Instead, exercise faith.
Let us consider the matter this way. We have been reborn, regenerated. To be reborn is to have God born in us. Do you believe that God has been born into you? The very God who has been born into you is the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. By the time this God was born into you, He had already passed through creation, incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension. Did you feel all this when you were regenerated? Whether you had any feeling regarding it or not means nothing. What is important is that you believe whatever the Bible says. When the Bible tells you that you are sinful, you need to say, “Amen.” When the Bible says to repent, you need to repent. At the time you believed, something happened to you and in you, although you might not have understood what it was. What happened was that the power, the Triune God Himself, was installed in you.
Because it is important that believers have the proper knowledge of this power, the Apostle Paul prayed that we would have a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of God and know the surpassing greatness of the power that is toward us who believe. Yes, we have the surpassingly great power within us, but our need today is to know this power. Whether you are aware of it or not, there is a transmission taking place from the third heaven, the place where God is, into us. It is this transmission that makes us different from unbelievers. Because of this power within us, it is impossible for us to cast off our Christian faith. Again I say that within us there is the divine power and that this power is the Triune God who has passed through creation, incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension and has been installed in us as the all-inclusive power. Thus, there is a divine connection between us and the third heaven. What we need today is to know the surpassing greatness of this power.
We need to read these verses in Ephesians again and again until we are deeply impressed with them and can speak them forth. Every day we need to speak them to ourselves, to those in our family, to the brothers and sisters, to the angels and demons, and to all the created beings. The more we speak of this power, the more we shall experience it being transmitted into us.
Eventually, through our faith in this transmission and through our speaking it forth, the church will come forth in a practical way. Christ is the Head over all things to the church. We need to believe this and speak it continually. For the sake of a better church life, I would suggest that we all speak 1:19-23 ten times a day. Let us see what the result will be if we all do this. How much better is this kind of speaking than vain talk about the brothers and sisters or the situation in the church! Talking about the saints does not lift us up and strengthen us; on the contrary, it brings us down and weakens us. If all the saints talk this way, the church life will disappear. Therefore, let us speak 1:19-23 and forget about the situation with the churches, the elders, and the brothers and sisters. For a period of ten days, let all of us in the church speak these verses ten times a day. I believe that if we do this, the church life will be uplifted, for as we speak, the transmission will take place. In this way we shall be infused with divine power from the heavenly transmission. From experience I can testify that this will happen.
We are too natural, too logical, and too low. Let us forget about the condition of the churches and the saints and come back to God’s speaking. Let us return to the pure word of God. Let us believe God’s word and speak it. As we speak, we shall experience the heavenly transmission, and we all shall be infused with the Triune God as the all-inclusive power. This great power is to the church. Here, in the transmission of the divine power, we have a solid church life.
We should not study Ephesians 1 merely for doctrine. Rather, we must believe God’s speaking of the universal fact. We not only believe God’s speaking, but we ourselves echo it again and again. In this way we experience the transmission of the divine power that is to the church.
