Hope, Rich Inheritance, Great Power

The sermon begins by emphasizing the vital importance of hope in human life. The pastor points out that hope is more essential than food and water, as it is what drives people to live. However, the sermon warns against modern teachings, such as the book "Think Better, Live Better" by a famous pastor, which focus only on material success, health, and wealth in the present life. These teachings completely ignore hope and blessings in Christ for the life to come. The prayer of Apostle Paul in Ephesians 1:15-19 stands in complete opposition to this view, as Paul asks God to open the eyes of believers' hearts so they may comprehend the hope to which God has called them, the riches of His glorious inheritance among the saints, and the great power that God exerts for those who believe.

The hope to which God calls is different from the hope of those who have not been called by God. This prayer is only for those whom God has predetermined and called to believe in Christ. This hope is not hope in things believers can accomplish for God's work, but hope in what God will give to those whom He calls. If believers hope in their own talents and abilities, they will become proud and minimize God's role. Paul writes: "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" (Philippians 4:13). The hope of those not called by God or who have not believed in Christ typically focuses on human talents, artificial intelligence, science and technology, or society's power. But the true hope of believers extends beyond the present life into the life to come, where all decay, disease, aging, and death will vanish in the new heaven and new earth.

The riches of God's glorious inheritance can be understood in two ways. First, it may refer to the spiritual blessings that God grants to believers, the heavenly treasures they will inherit. Second, and more importantly, it means that believers themselves are the precious inheritance of Christ. This is an astonishing idea that God considers sinful people whom He has saved from death to be extremely valuable, not because of who they are but because of Christ in whom they dwell. Scholar F.F. Bruce explains that God sees believers through Christ as He chose them from eternity past in Christ. Although believers still live in the flesh and sin today, the remarkable truth is that God does not see them as they are, but sees them in Christ as He sees His beloved Son—perfectly holy, perfectly beautiful, and absolutely flawless. Apostle Peter calls this hope a "living hope" of being born again and inheriting an imperishable inheritance.

The great and exceeding power of God given to believers is an immensely creative and transformative force. Apostle Paul uses four different Greek words to emphasize this power: dunamis (root of dynamite), energia (energy), kratos (might), and ichus (power). God used this very power to raise Christ from the dead, overcoming death, humanity's final and most feared enemy. Only this power can open believers' eyes to receive light from heaven, to place hope in the life to come rather than in this life. The teachings of Christ in the Sermon on the Mount and the teachings of Paul about love, humility, compassion, and forgiveness set such high standards that no one can perfectly fulfill them through personal effort alone. Only God's power working through the Holy Spirit in a believer's life can transform their heart and enable them to obey these teachings.

When believers realize that their lives, having been called by God and renewed, are transformed not by personal effort and willpower but by God's power working through the Holy Spirit, they then truly gain humility, learn to treasure and thank God, and become gentle and patient with those around them. This is the fundamental difference between modern teachings that focus only on material blessings and earthly success and the true saving grace that God gives to those He calls.