-Again, not purely physical, this. Paul is talking about God revealng spiritual knowledge, something which transcends the material. It is not something you simply see with your physical eyes, not something you can just glean from glancing around or from a book or a lab experiement. This is inner illumination, God turning on a light in the very core of my being, right in the very ‘heart’ of my understanding and feelings (2Corinthians 4.6). We’re talking about more than mere head knowledge - this is something I will know that I know that I know and understand with every fiber of my being. I will be thoroughly convinced and forever changed. To be sure, what I see with my physical eyes and what I perceive and feel and desire in my heart tend to follow one another (cf Matthew 13.15; Jeremiah 22.17; Psalm 36.1, 19.8), but this is a divine act. This is heart knowledge about God which comes from God, divine truth about Him which only He can reveal.
-The first thing for which Paul is asking is for us to know what is the hope of God’s calling, this Father of glory. We already saw in the first section how this breathtakingly good God has indeed called us, chosen us, foreknown and predestined us to be a part of His family and live with Him forever. At least that’s what we hope will happen. We expect and desire to be in heaven someday. But surely we have no idea what an unspeakable privilege we have been given, how great and awesome and unbelievably glorious this will be, and how 110 percent guaranteed it is. The believer’s hope is not a lame case of, ‘well, I hope so’. ‘I hope I go to heaven.’ ‘I hope it’s good.’ We have no clue. Ours is not like the hope of the world - uncertain, temporary, false, dead, destined to disappoint. Our hope is certain, it is real, it is alive and abiding, and it is a game-changer. It - heaven - will be magnificent, stunning beyond belief, truly unimaginable - which is why we need God to reveal how awesome and sure our hope is. If we could only get a real glimpse of this - mind blown. Because again, our hope, this hope of heaven, is Him. He is our hope. He is heaven, our heavenly treasure. He is the Magnificent One, unimaginably stunning beyond belief. For the God of glory to reveal to us what is the hope of His calling is to reveal to us Himself. Because our hope of heaven is to be with Him, forever, in the very presence of Glory.
-But wait, there’s more! Paul continues by asking for us to know what are the riches of the glory of God’s inheritance in the saints. We with Paul have already mentioned this in the previous section, but now Paul wants God to peel back the layers and show believers just how glorious our inheritance really is. Again, the nature of this inheritance is unlike any that one might ever receive in this life. The ones here at best are temporary and finite, subject to moths and rust and thieves, trinkets and baubles and stuff and so much cotton candy which can never satisfy. No, our inheritance in heaven in Christ is inexhaustible, infinite, eternal and eternally satisfying, and it is so not because of where we will be or what we get but rather Who we get. We get the God of glory. HE is inexhaustible, eternal, and He alone is so eternally satisfying, breathtakingly good - we have no idea. we just don’t get it - we can’t really this side of heaven. But it has nothing to do with us or how special we are. It is all about God. Which is exactly why Paul is praying for this. Getting a real good glimpse of the untold glory that is this God Who is calling us into His presence forever will rock our world.
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