“According as he hath [past tense] chosen us in him before the foundation of the world” (Eph. 1:4, brackets mine).
When you cried out to the Lord for salvation is not when He first set His desire upon you. God didn’t hear you and all of a sudden say, “Okay! I think I’ll respond and send My Son.” No, He already chose you. The provision had already been made. Atonement was already an accomplished work. Salvation was just waiting for you to reach out in faith and appropriate it. Although you had to choose to believe and receive, God had already made the provision before you ever had the need, before you were even born, and before you had ever sinned!
That we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath [past tense] made us accepted in the beloved.
Ephesians 1:4-6, emphasis mine
Most Christians are trying to do things (live holy, read the Word, tithe, fast, etc.) to make themselves acceptable to God. That’s like a person with a stick tied to their back and a carrot dangling out in front of them. They’re on a treadmill going nowhere. Every time they reach out and strain toward their goal—it moves! Religion has these Christians constantly looking forward to a time when they’ll be accepted by God. They’re blinded to the truth that He’s already made them “accepted in the beloved” (Eph. 1:6).
The Greek word translated here “accepted in the beloved” is the exact same word rendered “highly favoured” in Luke 1:28. “And the angel [Gabriel] came in unto her, and said, ‘Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee [Mary]: blessed art thou among women” (brackets mine). These are the only two times this word is used in the New Testament. Therefore, being “accepted in the beloved” means you are “highly favoured” of God!
Most Christians don’t believe the Lord’s acceptance, favor, and love toward them is an accomplished fact. It’s something they long for and hope to obtain, but don’t understand that they already have it. The truth is, God loves you—and He can’t love you any more than He already does! There’s absolutely nothing you can do to make Him love you more—or less.
Now, that’s contrary to most religious teaching today. Religion says, “God loves you proportional to your performance.” That’s not true. You’re accepted because of what Jesus did. Ephesians 1:6 declares that you are “accepted in the beloved” (emphasis mine). Who’s that? Jesus! “In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace” (Eph. 1:7).
You have already been forgiven— completely! Jesus didn’t only deal with your past sins, which you’ve confessed. At the cross, He paid for all of your past, present, and even future tense sin. This is the “eternal redemption” that Hebrews 9:12 reveals. (My message entitled “Eternal Redemption” deals with Hebrews 9 in depth. It’s the second part of Spirit, Soul & Body.)
If you were asked to write a prayer that believers two thousand years from now would be able to read and benefit from, what would you pray? Based on my experience with thousands of people, the average Christian today would say, “O God, I ask You to pour out Your Spirit on that generation. Send revival and move in a mighty way! O Lord, do a new thing on the earth in that day!” Basically, their whole prayer would be, “God, do something!”
Paul prayed just the opposite!
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.
Ephesians 1:17-19
There’s a huge difference between what we pray: “O God, go and touch this person” and what Paul prayed: “Lord, please help them to see and understand what You’ve already done.”
When you know what God has already done, you’ll pray with confidence.
Jesus loves the people you’re interceding for much more than you do. It’s not your prayer that’s making Him love them and move in their lives. He loves them millions of times more than you possibly could! You can’t even approach the love God has for the people you’re interceding for, but how many times have you prayed for someone and felt, Lord, if You love this person half much as I do, You’d touch their life!
I prayed that way thirty years ago. While interceding for our city, I literally wept, wailed, begged, and pleaded, thinking God had to do something to send revival. I worked myself up into such frenzy that I pounded the wall and cried out, “God, if You love the people of Arlington, Texas, half as much as I do, there’d revival!” However, as soon as that came out of my mouth, I knew something was terribly wrong with my theology.
I thought God was responding to my prayer. I believed my intercession motivated and moved Him to do something. pictured the Lord in heaven with His arms folded, upset with over how ungodly we were. It seemed to me that He had withdrawn His Spirit and His blessings, and we had to plead with Him to turn His heart back toward us. Many people believe this is the way to pray for revival, but it’s absolutely wrong.
Don’t misunderstand me—I’m for revival and all of its benefits. I just disagree on how we get there.
Revival doesn’t come by begging the Lord to pour out His Spirit. Neither does it come by pleading with Him to move and do a new thing. Revival comes by starting to believe what God has already done and beginning to walk in His dynamic, supernatural life.
You raise someone from the dead. You open up some blind eyes. You start ministering to people and seeing them set free— and you’ll have all the revival you can handle!
Jesus didn’t come asking God to pour out His Spirit. After being filled with the Holy Ghost, He simply dipped in, drew out, released, and gave of the Spirit to people. Everything we’d call “revival” happened in Christ’s ministry, but not through begging and pleading with God to do something. Jesus simply did what His Father had told Him to do!
Yes, we need revival in our land. But how does it come? By recruiting another million Christians to pray, agree, and fast one day a week asking God for it? No! Revival comes when we seek the Lord wholeheartedly and begin to believe, draw out, and flow in what He’s already done. If you catch on fire for God, people will come and watch you burn!
Paul didn’t pray for God to do something new. Instead, he said, “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…” (Eph. 1:15- 17). What? A new thing? Another outpouring? A brand-new wave? No! “The spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him” (v. 17).
Paul wasn’t asking for something new but that the revelation of what God has already done and is now resident within us would begin to come out! “
Wherein he hath [already] abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; having made known unto us the mystery of his will” (Eph. 1:8, 9, brackets mine).
In other words, this wisdom and revelation Paul was praying for has already been given to every believer. It’s just that not every Christian is receiving it—they don’t have their set plugged in, turned on, and tuned in to it.
He prayed that “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” (Eph. 1:18). You don’t need God to do something new. What you need is to see and understand what He’s already done!
As a born-again believer, you are now more than a conqueror through Christ. (Rom. 8:37.) You have already been transformed from sinful, unrighteous, and unholy to righteous and holy in Him. (2 Cor. 5:17, 21; Eph. 4:24.) You were delivered out of the kingdom of darkness and translated into the kingdom of God’s own dear Son. (Col. 1:13.) The same power (Eph. 1:19, 20), life (Gal. 2:20), wisdom (1 Cor. 1:30), victory (1 Cor. 15:57), anointing (1 John 2:20), and faith (Gal. 2:20) that Jesus had now resides in you. You don’t need more of anything!
You just need a revelation of what you already have! That’s what Paul was praying: That the eyes of your understanding would be enlightened; that you would know what is the hope of His calling; that you would have a full revelation of your potential in Christ; that you would see what the riches of the glory of His inheritance are in you—a saint!
Most people imagine the glory of God as being far off. They picture the splendor of heaven—gates of pearl, streets of gold, mansions, etc. But Ephesians 1:18 reveals that the riches of the glory of God’s inheritance is in the saints. What’s in heaven pales in comparison to what’s already inside of you!
You’re probably thinking, That can’t be right! Why? You look in a mirror and see zits, gray hairs, bulges, etc. You survey your emotional realm and notice that you don’t feel peace or joy. So you conclude, “This can’t be where God’s glory is. Surely, it’s not here!” God’s glory is in your born-again spirit, not your body or soul!
Your five natural senses cannot perceive your spirit. Neither can you “feel” it with your soul (your personality—mind, will, emotions, and conscience). You must see who you are and what you have in the spirit realm through God’s Word and then believe it by faith. Most Christians don’t know this, but God’s glory is already inside their spirit.
If you had a revelation of this, depression would have no power over you! How could you stay down in the dumps when you truly know the hope of your calling and what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in you right now? In order to stay depressed, you’d have to shut that revelation off and look only in the physical realm at your circumstances and other negative things. But if you focus your attention on who you are and what you have in Christ, recognizing that it’s a done deal and that the glory you’ll experience throughout all eternity is already inside you, depression would leave, and you’d start enjoying victory. That’ll put a shout in a fence post!
