And You

Ephesians 1:17 - 2:3
that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all. And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.

Paul's words transition out of direct prayer and into teaching, his words drift from asking into explaining. Paul describes exactly what happened when God worked His mighty power. It does remain part of the overall prayer but I think from God's perspective, God knows what He did in Messiah when He was raised from the dead. But we don't fully know that. Almost as if Paul is saying, "Lord I pray that they would be able to see what I've seen." Paul's words then quietly start to become part of the answer to the prayer. The focus shifts from direct requests to details. And in chapter two verse one, the focus shifts entirely off of God and onto us, to me: "And you."

"And you." Simple yet awesome words! They pull in the entirety of my union with Messiah. Do I understand, do I see the details of exactly what happened when Messiah was raised from the dead? And you. Obviously I wasn't physically raised from the dead, so resurrection is only true in me through my union with Messiah. Paul provides additional detail in Romans chapter 6, verse 5 for example: "For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection." The usage of "if" in that verse, taking into account Paul's rhetorical line of questioning in that chapter, I understand to be "since". Since I have been united together with Him!

"And you." I was dead. Dead, dead, dead. As dead as the physical body of Jesus in the tomb. Dead in sin. Dead man walking. Not just dead, but also a strange zombie-like creature. Staggering around seemingly alive, but not really, just infused with the animating influence of the age, driven by darkness, pushed around by the prince, the chief rebel. But no more! I see all of this as part of the amplifying detail of the request that Paul mentioned earlier. Paul asked God that I would know the magnitude of His power toward believers. Paul then gave a glimpse of the details of that: I need to know that the awesome greatness of that power is based on what He worked in Messiah. And what did He work in Messiah? Yes He physically raised Jesus from the dead, yes He exalted Jesus to the position of absolute authority in all the universe. But He also worked me into Messiah, he also worked every believer into Jesus. He worked into Messiah the capacity for the full gathering together into One.

"And you." Paul's prayer is that I know Him. I know what He worked in Messiah when He raised Him from the dead. I know His calling has given a pregnant expectation. I know what is in His people, the abundance of the radiating glory of His inheritance in His chosen ones. I know the magnitude of His power. But Lord, if I don't see myself as fully in Him, as fully resurrected as Jesus, then I need to keep asking for the Spirit of wisdom and uncovering. If I'm unable to live confidently un-zombie-like, then I need to see more of Him. Me in Him, as fully resurrected as Him, is included in the knowledge of Him.