If you are new to this blog, I encourage you to start with 1 (Intro) and then continue in order.
"14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named,"
Paul draws attention to this with a play on words. The Greek word for "father" is "pater" and the word for "family" is "patria". So it's from our Father (pater) that every family (patria) is named. But what is the significance of this? Why draw attention to it? Paul is pointing out that the one we pray to is sovereign over the whole world. "To name someone or something is a sign of ownership, and power, and authority. And so to say that every family in heaven (the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places) and every family on earth (all tribes, tongues, peoples, and nations) derives its name from the Father is to say that this Father is supreme – He is all-powerful and sovereign over all." (Greene)
"16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being,"
Now we're going to turn our attention to the word "riches". Looking at "the riches of his glory", we see that "not only does God have all power and authority, He also has infinite, limitless resources always at His disposal. " (Greene) This word "riches" occurs 5 times each in Romans and Ephesians, and only once or twice in the other New Testament books that contain it. Aside from the above verse, Paul talks about the riches of God in the following places in Ephesians:
Ephesians 1:7
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,
Ephesians 1:18
having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, 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
Ephesians 2:7
so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
Ephesians 3:8
To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ,
So I think that these two ideas combined give us great encouragement to pray. God has control and authority over all things and he has all the resources that we could possibly need at his disposal!
If you would like to delve more into these topics or other parts of these verses, check out these sermon notes (from Timothy Greene, whom I quote above).
Sermons on Ephesians
"14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named,"
Paul draws attention to this with a play on words. The Greek word for "father" is "pater" and the word for "family" is "patria". So it's from our Father (pater) that every family (patria) is named. But what is the significance of this? Why draw attention to it? Paul is pointing out that the one we pray to is sovereign over the whole world. "To name someone or something is a sign of ownership, and power, and authority. And so to say that every family in heaven (the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places) and every family on earth (all tribes, tongues, peoples, and nations) derives its name from the Father is to say that this Father is supreme – He is all-powerful and sovereign over all." (Greene)
"16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being,"
Now we're going to turn our attention to the word "riches". Looking at "the riches of his glory", we see that "not only does God have all power and authority, He also has infinite, limitless resources always at His disposal. " (Greene) This word "riches" occurs 5 times each in Romans and Ephesians, and only once or twice in the other New Testament books that contain it. Aside from the above verse, Paul talks about the riches of God in the following places in Ephesians:
Ephesians 1:7
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,
Ephesians 1:18
having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, 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
Ephesians 2:7
so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
Ephesians 3:8
To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ,
So I think that these two ideas combined give us great encouragement to pray. God has control and authority over all things and he has all the resources that we could possibly need at his disposal!
If you would like to delve more into these topics or other parts of these verses, check out these sermon notes (from Timothy Greene, whom I quote above).
Sermons on Ephesians
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