In one of his great prayers, Paul the apostle asks that God will give us a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Christ (Ephesians 1:17). In this way, we shall get to know Christ better. Indeed, without such help from the Spirit of God, there is no way that we can know Christ. The Holy Spirit comes to our aid to reveal him to us more fully.
It is important that we pray this prayer for ourselves. We need the Holy Spirit to give us spiritual insight so that we might see personally the great blessings that are ours in Christ.
Sometimes we fail to believe because of ignorance or unwillingness or fear. It may be that we just don’t ‘get it’.
Spiritual truths need spiritual insight. Only the Spirit of God really understands the deep things of God (1 Corinthians 2:10,11).
We need the Holy Spirit’s help so that we may understand (1 Corinthians 2:12), or, to use Paul’s expression here in his letter to the Ephesians, to have the eyes of our hearts opened (1:18).
Like Elisha’s servant, we need to see past the realm of the physical into the realm of the spiritual (2 Kings 6:17). We need a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Christ.
To read more on this topic see Living in the Image of God, Barry Chant (Miranda: Tabor, 2012 available in eBook and Paperback) from which this edited extract is taken.
I love that thought, “see past the realm of the physical into the realm of the spiritual.” Most people’s sight is for this world’s present realities when there is a deeper truth, the truth of Christ, which pervades, underpins and overarches all of history.