206. Enlightened Understanding
Ephesians 1:18 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.
God promises to enlighten our understanding. Enlightening is necessary because the soul lives in darkness; it does not see God; it does not know God, nor does it even want to. The Spirit enlightens through the Gospel; light comes through the Gospel and the soul sees(believes). The Word is absolutely necessary so that we can see into the darkness; we see the invisible when we study the Bible; that’s what the Bible is for: to see the unseen things of God and His Kingdom.
When the Spirit uses the Gospel to enlighten our understanding many wonderful things happen: two of these things are mentioned here: 1) we see the hope of His calling, and 2) we see the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints.
God calls us by the Gospel, and through faith gives us Hope, the present reality of what we cannot see naturally. The wonderful, invisible, spiritual things of God are clearly seen and, when seen, they are real, alive, and present: this is Hope. The call of the Gospel is compelling and beautiful, so as to be almost irresistible. However, God loves us so much that He allows the stubborn and rocky hard heart to resist and reject the Gospel if we really want to. He won’t force His Way as a slave master or military army or absolute monarch. The Spirit, with the Gospel, creates the faith to believe and receive, without force, but with love.
The Call is overwhelming, but it does not overwhelm us. The Spirit does not overwhelm with love, but He does make it compelling. We believers often ask, “How can anyone reject such graceful love? Why would anyone say ‘No” to God’s grace? It is such Good News, and it is free.” It makes no sense to us who have answered the call. And now we have hope, and we see it.
We can now also see the riches of the glory. We are the inheritance for God: the saints are His inheritance. Gospel enlightenment means we see the glory, the riches, the beauty of God and His Church. The eyes of understanding see.