エフェソの信徒への手紙1:15-19
どうか、わたしたちの主イエス・キリストの神、栄光の源である御父が、あなたがたに知恵と啓示との霊を与え、神を深く知ることができるようにし、心の目を開いてくださるように。
（エフェソ1:17-18）
「心の目を開いてくださるように」と翻訳されているギリシア語の言葉は、文字どおりに翻訳すれば「心の目に光を与えてくださるように」ということです。2018年に日本聖書協会から発行された新しい聖書協会共同訳では「心の目が照らされ」と翻訳されています。私たち人間の心は神様に逆らう罪をもっているために、自分たちが普段使っている日常の感覚では、神様のことを正しく知ることができません。神様が聖霊を送って私たちの心の目に光を与えてくださることによって、初めて神様のことを正しく知ることができるようになるのです。（中略）
神様が「心の目に光を与えてくださる」ならば、私たちの日常の感覚では知ることのできない希望と栄光を理解することができるようになります。そのことが18節の「そして、神の招きによってどのような希望が与えられているか、聖なる者たちの受け継ぐものがどれほど豊かな栄光に輝いているか悟らせてくださるように」というパウロの祈りの言葉に表されています。空しいものでない真実の希望は、私たちが日常の感覚で「あそこまで行けば祝福が得られるだろう」と思い込んでもつような希望ではありません。それは「神の招きによって」与えられる希望です。それでは、「神の招き」とは何かと言えば、イエス・キリストを信じて神の子となるように、との招きです。すなわち、この手紙の1章5節に「イエス・キリストによって神の子にしようと、御心のままに前もってお定めになったのです」とありますように、「真の神の子であるイエス・キリストを信じて、あなたも神の子となるように」と神様は呼びかけて招いてくださいます。そして、その招きを受け入れて、キリストを信じてキリストと結ばれた人は、神の子つまり神様の養子になることができるのです。さらに、神様の養子になった人は、「どのような希望が与えられているか」「聖なる者たちの受け継ぐものがどれほど豊かな栄光に輝いているか」を理解することができるようになるのです。
神様の養子になった人に与えられる希望は、蜃気楼のような空しい希望ではなく、永遠に変わることのない祝福を受ける確かな希望です。そして、それは「豊かな栄光に輝いている」天国の財産を受け継ぐという希望です。「聖なる者たちの受け継ぐもの」とは、天国の財産である永遠の命を指しています。
（1月26日の説教より）
Today I would like to resume the exposition of the epistle to the Ephesians. Have you all seen the phenomenon known as “road mirage,” (“escaping water” in Japanese) that occurs on hot summer days? This phenomenon is caused by the bending of light at the border between the hot summer ground and the air above it, so that light from the sky and other objects is inverted onto the ground, making it appear as if the sky is reflected in a puddle. In reality, there is no puddle, so the puddle escapes as you approach it. When this same phenomenon occurs in the desert, it is said that it sometimes looks as if there is an oasis that is not actually there. This phenomenon is known as a mirage. In this way, when we rely on our ordinary senses, we sometimes feel as if there are things that are not actually there.
Human happiness may be similar to this. Have you ever had the experience in your life that you walk along thinking that if you go that far you will find happiness, and then you get something, but the happiness itself is not there? For example, you may gain money, status or honour and be happy with it for a while, only to realise that happiness is something else. Or when you are given a family – husband, wife and children – and you think that this makes you happy, but in fact there are seeds of worry and hardship in that happiness, and eventually those worries and hardships cover our whole life. Even if you pursue and obtain what you can see, it does not mean that eternal happiness is there. Where then is eternal happiness? The word happiness could be replaced by the word blessing. Where is eternal blessing to be found? Today’s biblical passage contains a definite answer to that question.
In verse 11, shortly before today’s passage, Paul says: “In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will.” “We have obtained an inheritance” means that we have been declared righteous by God, and have become heirs of the heavenly property of eternal life. To receive that heavenly property, Paul says, “We have been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will.” Further on, the previous verse 5 states that “He predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will.” How wonderful it is that former sinners can become God’s adopted children! And if we are adopted, we can inherit our father’s property. Because we are God’s adopted children, we can inherit heavenly property. So, according to verses 5 and 11, both being adopted by God and inheriting heavenly property were “predestined” by God.
And it was to the glory of God that we became heirs of the heavenly property, as verse 12 says: “so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory.” Furthermore, verse 13 says: “In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit.” The fact that a person who has believed in the gospel of salvation of Jesus Christ has become God’s adopted child and heir of heavenly property is proved by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in one’s heart, who causes one to call out “Heavenly Father.” Paul elaborates on this further in verse 14, when he writes: “who (i.e., the Holy Spirit) is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.” In other words, the Holy Spirit is the guarantee that we will inherit heavenly property.
The Greek word translated “guarantee” (ἀρραβών), means “payment of part of a purchase price in advance.” It means that God has given his adopted children the Holy Spirit and a portion of their heavenly property in advance, as if it were a deposit. Believers in Christ will inherit heavenly property only after they have completed their earthly life and have been called to heaven. They will receive the fullness of eternal life when they are resurrected to a body of eternal life like Christ at the Last Judgement on the Last Day. However, part of our heavenly property is already given to us when we are alive on earth. And it is the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Christ, who makes us pray, “Heavenly Father.” The Holy Spirit guides and cleanses us while we are alive on earth so that we can do what is pleasing to God. In other words, the Holy Spirit enables us to have fellowship with God in heaven, who is the source of eternal life, while we live here on earth. Therefore, when the Holy Spirit dwells in us, we experience a part of the blessing of heaven in advance.
In verses 15 and 16 of today’s passage that follows, Paul writes: “For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.” At the time of writing this letter, Paul had been sent to the city of Rome to stand trial by the Roman emperor and was loosely confined as an unsentenced prisoner awaiting trial (Acts 28:30-31). In such a state, Paul was able to hear from someone about what had happened to the Ephesian believers. And it was joyous that the Ephesian believers kept “faith in the Lord Jesus” and “love toward all the saints.” Needless to say, it was a joy to see that the Ephesian believers kept “faith in the Lord Jesus” even after Paul’s departure. But it was even more joyous to see that faith manifested itself in their “love toward all the saints.” Perhaps they were doing things that showed love not only to their own church, but also to other churches. This kind of faith and love was given by God. Therefore, Paul did not cease to give thanks, remembering the Ephesian believers in his prayers.
And then, in verses 17-19, Paul writes words of intercessory prayer for the Ephesian believers. Verses 17 and 18 begin with the prayer: “that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened.” “The Spirit of wisdom and of revelation” refers to the Holy Spirit, God’s Spirit, who gives wisdom to those who believe and reveals God’s will to them. The Ephesian believers had already been given the Holy Spirit. Then, some may wonder why Paul is praying again that God “may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation.” It may be that he was praying that God would give them the Holy Spirit more abundantly, so that God has the eyes of their hearts enlightened, as it is written afterwards.
Because our human hearts are sinning against God, we are unable to know God properly in our ordinary senses. It is only when God sends the Holy Spirit to enlighten the eyes of our hearts that we can come to know God properly. For example, let us think when we have experienced something very sad. If we ask ourselves in our own ordinary senses, “Why did I have to go through all this?” then the thought will go round in circles and we will never get an answer. But if we are led by God’s Holy Spirit and pray, “God, why did I have to go through this?” then God will give the light of the Holy Spirit to the eyes of the heart of the person praying. The Holy Spirit may not give a clear answer right away, but he will eventually make us recognise, “God’s will was this, wasn’t it? That’s why God gave me this experience.”
If God has the eyes of our hearts enlightened, we can understand the hope and glory that our ordinary senses cannot know. This is expressed in Paul’s prayer in verse 18: that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints.” A true and not empty hope is not the kind of hope we have in our ordinary senses, assuming that if we go that far, we will be blessed. It is a hope to which God has called us. God’s calling is the calling to believe in Jesus Christ and become a child of God. In other words, God calls us to believe in Jesus Christ, the true Son of God, so that we too may become adopted children of God, as it says in 1:5 of this letter: “he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ” Those who accept that calling, believe in Christ and are united with Christ can become God’s adopted children. Furthermore, those who have been adopted by God can understand not only “what is the hope to which he has called,” but also “what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints.” The hope given to God’s adopted children is not an empty hope, like a mirage, but a sure hope of eternal and unchanging blessing. And it is the hope of inheriting heavenly glorious property. The “glorious inheritance” refers to eternal life.
We are walking in the new year 2025. On New Year’s Day, many people greet with “Happy New Year.” However, IKKYU Sojun (1394-1481), a Zen Buddhist monk of the Rinzai school in the Muromachi period, is said to have composed a poem: “Kadomatsu wa Meido no Tabi no Ichilizula, Medetaku mo Ari, Medetaku mo Nashi.” (The Kadomatsu is a milestone for a journey into the world of the dead. It is happy and unhappy). That is, the kadomatsu decorated at the entrance of a house on New Year’s Day is like a mileston to show that we are getting older as we journey towards death, therefore, it is happy and unhappy. It is a poem about the impermanence of life. Indeed, the poem frankly points out the truth of life. It gives people who are in a momentary celebratory mood a chance to think seriously about life. But what happens when you replace “Meido” (the world of the dead) with the Christian word “Mikuni” (the kingdom of heaven)? New Year’s Day is a milestone on the journey to the kingdom of heaven. And what happens after that? We can write “Let us walk towards glory this year, too.” Indeed, we are walking towards the death of our earthly bodies. That is a solemn fact. But those who believe in Christ can walk in the hope of inheriting heavenly glorious property even as they move towards their earthly physical death. They can walk in the sure hope of inheriting the heavenly property of being justified by God and receiving eternal life.
Paul continues in verse 19: “(that you may know) what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might” If God has the eyes of our hearts enlightened, we will be able to understand “what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe” in Christ “according to the working of his great might.” The Greek word energeia (ἐνέργεια), translated “working,” denotes “the state or quality of being active.” It is the source of the word “energy.” One biblical researcher has explained about the passage that “God has all potential power and is able to direct and control all energy for his purposes.” God uses enormous energy to interact with us to save each one of us. He guides each of our lives, gives us experiences and encounters with Christ, gives us faith in Christ and makes us heirs of heavenly property. In this way, God transforms those who were living with empty hopes like a mirage into those who live with a sure hope.
Some of you may have experienced how difficult it is to relate to people and change them. Some of you may have had the sad experience that you spent a lot of energy to relate to the other person and tried as much as you could to make his/her life fruitful, but the person remained the same and continued to live an empty life. However, God has infinite power. He uses his infinite energy to save each one of us. When the light is given to the eyes of our hearts, we can see such power and energy of God. Trusting that God has unlimited power and energy, we will continue to move forward in Shiki Kita Presbyterian Church this year. I hope that each one of you will be enlightened your eyes to God, trust in his power and walk with the hope of eternal blessing, the property of heaven.