Ephesians 1:17
Eunjin Chang • March 17, 2025
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 Apostle Paul was nearing the end of his life when he wrote the epistle to the city of Ephesus. He had gone through numerous mission trips, faced life-and-death situations, and endured many near-death experiences in his efforts to spread the gospel. Whenever he thinks about the church in Ephesus, he gives thanks to God for their growth in Jesus. Paul felt a sense of pride in the church of Ephesus and encouraged them to continue fighting the good fight. Before discussing spiritual warfare, he expresses his personal greetings and mentions that he prays for the Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation to be upon the church.
The Spirit of Wisdom enables the saints to view their current situations and circumstances from God's perspective and values. The church of Ephesus struggled to understand many things. Paul desired for them to receive the Spirit of Wisdom to help them interpret their experiences and be patient as they endured difficult circumstances. When the saints see their situations through God's perspective, they can step back from actively engaging in the struggles and find comfort in God's sovereign reign, though they may not understand from their perspective.
The Spirit of Revelation is God's insight into future events, presented with a current understanding of His values. God knows everything, including the future, and the Spirit of Revelation functions like a Spirit of Prophecy, revealing things that will happen in the future but are understood in the present. When the Spirit of Wisdom works in harmony with the Spirit of Revelation, both present and future events can be interpreted from God's perspective, allowing the saints to find comfort in His omnipresence and sovereignty.
In other words, the Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation is granted to the saints for the purpose of discernment. There are numerous approaches to solving issues and problems when engaging in various spiritual battles. Some solutions may achieve quick resolutions, while others may require more time and effort. With the Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation manifesting in a saint involved in spiritual warfare, the Spirit of Wisdom can provide specific guidance on how to engage, including which spiritual weaponry to apply to each target. The Spirit of Revelation can reveal the most effective means to combine these strategies for defeating the enemy.
A saint filled with the Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation operates like a super radar, functioning at the highest frequency to cover nearly everything happening in the spiritual realm. Instead of solely focusing on the physical realm and its effects, the saint can discover the source of issues and can directly address those sources for quick relief.
When encountering demons and evil spirits, each has specific characteristics, strengths, and weaknesses. The Spirit of Wisdom can identify these traits in real-time and guide the saint in engaging in spiritual attacks using the power of Jesus' blood. Similarly, the Spirit of Revelation can assess the situation from a future perspective, enabling the necessary discernment to execute effective spiritual warfare.
The enemy may employ different attack vectors and types when engaging in spiritual battles. These various spirits may sometimes be intertwined, and the Spirit of Wisdom will help identify each individual spirit by its unique characteristics. However, when the Spirit of Revelation shines light on the same situation, it can reveal that some spirits may not be the main controlling spirits, although present. If only these surface spirits are addressed, the immediate issues may seem resolved, but the deeper, underlying problems remain unaddressed. Therefore, the collaboration of the Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation leads to coherent and comprehensive solutions for the spiritual warfare at hand.
For a Christian to be healthy, we must sleep or rest in Jesus. Just like sleep is essential to the health of our physical body, sleep or rest in Jesus is essential to our spiritual walk with Jesus. When Jesus came to the world, he came to do the works of the Father, and he completed them on the cross, when he said, It is finished. The very reliance of the blood of Jesus that he shed for us on the cross gives us the rest that our spirit needs. To sleep or rest in Jesus means to cease all our agendas. Many Christians fall into a trap that once you become a Christian, you must do so many things and not do so many things. Being a disciple becomes a matter of checking off a list of dos and don’ts. However, this is far from rest that Jesus gave us when he said, It is finished, on the cross. The rest comes to us when we die in Jesus. When we follow Jesus as a disciple, Jesus is inviting us to pick up our own cross, deny ourselves, and follow him. Where did Jesus end up? On the cross, and he died for the sins of the world. When apostle Paul stated that he had been crucified with Christ and he no longer lives, he was stating the mere nature of a disciple of Jesus. When Jesus invites us to die with him on the cross, it is not to destroy us or end us. Human nature is to struggle to survive and to have another breath. But to follow Jesus is to deny that very nature. How can it be done? It is impossible with human effort or will, as it is contrary to the very nature of humanity. When one becomes a disciple of Jesus, everyone has one or a few things that they cannot surrender to God. It may be finances, children, or even their own life. However, Jesus invites all of his disciples to give up that one thing that everyone has. Every Christian faces this question at some point in their walk with Jesus. They have eaten and drunk the flesh and blood of Jesus. They have tasted the goodness of the Lord and His mercies. They delight in worship and even give up many things for the Lord and His body. But that one thing, no matter how minor it seems, Jesus asks the question, “Can you give up that one thing for me?” Which is the question of death. The death of our old self. To Abraham, it was to offer Isaac on an altar. To Jacob, it was to deny his ability to cheat, steal, and lie. To the Apostles, it was to give up their life for the sake of the gospel. So many of our ancestors of faith have demonstrated giving up that one thing that matters the most to them for the sake of Jesus. Why would they do that? The most important question of all is, how were they able to do that for Jesus? The answer is simple: daily eat and drink Jesus’ body and blood; daily excrete out what the Holy Spirit is telling us; daily rest in Jesus. This daily trust and obedience provides us with a sense of security and guidance in our walk with Jesus. The death of oneself does not come from human effort nor willpower. It comes from trusting in Jesus even till death. It can only be done when one is deeply involved with Jesus and Jesus’ DNA becomes their DNA. Without questioning, they hear the voice of Jesus, respond, and lay down their lives and their most essential things for Jesus. It is a daily walk with Jesus and having a moment-by-moment relationship with Jesus. Jesus said My sheep hear my voice and follow me. It is interesting to note that when Jesus calls his sheep, it is among other sheep that are not of Jesus’. Jesus calls his sheep to take them through the valley of the shadow of death. Jesus’ sheep hear his voice and follow initially. Then, when the sheep sees Jesus walking away from the green pasture and onto the valley of the shadow of death, the sheep begins to wonder if the voice it hears is Jesus’ or not. But as Jesus continues to call the sheep, the sheep respond by trusting in Jesus’ voice, recognizing it as their own. But as the sheep nears the valley of the shadow of death, the sheep gets close to Jesus, embracing his breath, scent, and sweat. Following him closely, as he fears he might be lost if he does not hear the voice of his true shepherd. Ultimately, the valley of the shadow of death separates the true sheep of Jesus from other sheep. Jesus calls all of his disciples to carry the cross, deny oneself, and follow Jesus daily. Which ultimately leads to death. Death is not to end our essence but to deliver us from ourselves, our old ways of living, and to redefine our DNA to become like Jesus; ultimately leading us to the resurrection of Jesus, as he has said, I am the resurrection. The resurrection of Jesus is not something that we find when the last day comes; the resurrection that Jesus gives us is the very nature of all of his disciples that must go through to become faithful followers of Jesus. Many modern Christians are what we might call 'zombie Christians'. This is not a metaphor, but a reality. When Jesus calls us to die with him, many reject this calling, believing it to be from Satan. They know deep down that it is the call of Jesus, but they prefer to be deceived in their hearts as it seems logical, reasonable, and satisfies their current values. However, when a Christian rejects the call of Jesus, the life of Jesus leaves that Christian, and that person becomes a 'zombie Christian'. A 'zombie Christian' is a person who knows about Jesus but does not follow Jesus because they have denied the call of Jesus to be his disciple. There are many 'zombie Christians'. Many become like Pharisees, and they are satisfied with knowing about the Scriptures, rather than obeying them. They begin to lose the joy, rest, and light of Jesus in their lives and begin to replace it with religious activities and the endless pursuit of knowledge about Christian life. When the Father speaks, He speaks once, and the Holy Spirit continuously reminds us to obey what the Father has said. However, once you become a zombie Christian, it is difficult to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit, nor the voice of the Father. The Holy Spirit continuously prays to the Father with groaning that cannot be uttered because the Holy Spirit is in agony over the disobedient Christian. Just like the Prodigal Son, the Father waits for the son to return. An interesting observation can be made regarding the story of the Prodigal Son, that the father did not go after looking for the son, nor did the older brother. The reason the father did not go after the prodigal son was that the son made the choice, and the father respected the son's choice. But an interesting thing is that the older brother did not go after his brother, even though he could have. The older brother did not know the heart of the father, and when the prodigal son returned, the older son’s response reveals his true intentions. The Father waits for the zombie Christian to return. To return means to realize that their effort and ways of living caused much turmoil and must abide under the ruling of the Father. The Father gives another chance to zombie Christians. But when the second chance comes, the sacrifice that a zombie Christian makes seems greater than the first time. As that person has drifted away from the proper way of living and been replaced by religious activities that have no life. Every disciple of Jesus knows that one thing that Jesus asks us to give up. It is not to destroy us but to trust in the Lord. Just like when Peter asked Jesus to walk on water, Jesus is telling us to walk on water like Peter did. When we die in Jesus, it is the very spirit of Jesus that resurrects us. When we experience death and resurrection through Jesus, that is when we truly find the peace and rest that Jesus desires for us to have, not through religious activities, disciplines, and training. When we realize that our death does not lead to destruction, as the one inviting us to death is Jesus, who is life and resurrection, we trust in Jesus and follow through our death, and we wait on Jesus to resurrect us in his power and spirit. That is when we are truly free from the world and its bondages, and nothing can separate us from the love of Jesus. We become one with Jesus as we suffer with him, and we glory with him. We can become truly victorious in all aspects of our lives, not with our power or abilities, but by what Jesus has done for us in himself. A true crown of glory awaits those who follow Jesus even to death.
