New Glasses for a New Year

Introduction

Through what lens do you see the year ahead? Some anticipate it with the optimism of a fresh start, while others already carry a dark veil because of trials weighing on them. In this New Year kickoff message at Connexion church, Joe meditates on Paul's prayer in Ephesians 1:15-23: a prayer to receive new spiritual glasses from God. Because how you see the world and yourself determines how you live. Before resolutions, before plans, before challenges, the real key to starting this year well is to ask God to help you know him better, so that your view of who he is, of where you're going, of who you are, and of the one who holds you up would be changed.

Sermon Outline

1. Asking God for glasses to know him better

• Facing a new year with joy and confidence doesn't begin with resolutions to think more positively or have more self-confidence. It begins by asking God for glasses to see him better. Verse 17: "I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation, resulting in true knowledge of him."
• The Ephesians had every reason to feel fearful, anxious, powerless, small, perhaps even abandoned. Ephesus was a city marked by magic and by the temple of Artemis, and Christians who had turned their backs on these practices could easily feel unprotected. Paul says they first need to know God better.
• Why "Father of glory"? Because glory, in the Bible, refers both to the manifest presence of God (Mount Sinai, the crossing of the Red Sea) and to his supreme splendor: his love and forgiveness in Jesus. Paul prays that your view would be filled and transformed by the reality that the God of the universe, with all this glory, is with you and for you.
• Knowing God, in the Bible, is not just accumulating knowledge; it is a close, intimate relationship. Paul prays that your relationship with God would be more informed by truth, more intimate, more marked by trust, gratitude, wonder, and love.
• It doesn't come naturally to you to know God like this. Otherwise Paul wouldn't have needed to pray. So the first thing to do is not to start a new Bible reading plan or be more faithful at your community group (even though those are good things). The first thing to do is pray to receive these glasses. When you have a right view of God, everything else falls into place.

2. Knowing God better lets you share his view of your life

• The more you know someone, the more you begin to share their view, especially their view of you. Our society pushes you to free yourself from the gaze of others; but Paul tells you there is an "other" whose view you need to share: God. And Paul prays that you would share his view on three things, where you're going, who you are, and how you can be sure.

3. Where you're going: a hope that lights up your future (v. 18a)

• "I pray that he would enlighten the eyes of your heart, so that you may know what is the hope of his calling." Hope is the life God has in store for you in the new creation he is preparing. Ephesians says we are waiting for Jesus to reunite heaven and earth: a physical earth without everything that spoils this one, where Jesus reigns visibly.
• The way you see your future always determines the way you live your present. If you're convinced your ultimate destination is a catastrophe, you'll produce anxiety or paralysis. On a smaller scale, if you look at this new year (a job to land, a home to find, studies to pass) with the feeling that everything will go wrong, worry seizes you in advance.
• Paul prays that you would see that your ultimate destination is not catastrophe, but heaven on earth. That doesn't mean no difficulty will happen before then. It means your ultimate horizon is bright. Like that Christian man who, upon learning he had cancer, simply said: "The best is yet to come."

4. Who you are: God's glorious inheritance (v. 18b)

• "What are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints?" This is no longer about what God has in store for you in the future, but about what God himself possesses. This inheritance is his own inheritance, and it consists of Christians. In other words, Paul wants you to see that you, yourself, are God's precious and glorious inheritance. You are his treasure.
• In the Old Testament, Israel was described as God's inheritance. With Jesus, this inheritance is the Church. Earlier in Ephesians, we read that God chose us before the foundation of the world, that he predestined us to be his adopted children, and that he redeemed us at the price of his own blood. Your worth to God is priceless.
• How you measure your worth is decisive. Many live constantly weighed down by the feeling of never measuring up: "Am I where I should be compared to others my age?" It becomes overwhelming. Paul prays that you would see yourself as God sees you.
• Like in the children's story "You Are Special": little wooden people stick stickers on one another, gold stars for the prettiest and most gifted, gray dots for the rest. Punchinello has only gray dots and believes he is worthless. Until the day he meets Eli, the woodcarver, who lays his hands on him. From that point on, other people's stickers begin to fall off. He is freed from the gaze of others.

5. How you can be sure: the immeasurable greatness of God's power (v. 19-23)

• "What is the surpassing greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of the strength of his might." What you believe about power determines a great deal: what you fear, how you live, whom you trust.
• The Ephesians risked believing that power belonged to Artemis or to hostile crowds. Today, you might believe it belongs to the powerful people of this world, to tech leaders, or to the blind forces of chance. And even if you believe it belongs to God, your view can be tainted by the suspicion that he deploys it against you.
• Paul prays that you would see the scale of this power and, above all, that it works for your good. Note: he is not talking about a power you might potentially call on in a moment of weakness, by picking up the phone so a bit more gets sent your way. He prays that you would see the power that is already at work for your good.
• Verses 20-23: this power, he deployed in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. He put all things in subjection under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body.
• The power at work on your behalf today, in 2026, is the same power that raised Jesus and placed him at the head of the universe, from where he directs everything for the eternal good of his people, who are also his body. The world is not run by impersonal, random, or hostile forces: it is run by Jesus.
• Striking: in a city as marked by magic as Ephesus, Paul does not ask that God protect the Christians; he asks that they see spiritual reality as it truly is. Jesus, risen and reigning, for their good. He asks that they have God's glasses.

Key Takeaways

• Your view of life determines how you live. The real question at the start of a year is not "what resolutions will I make?" but "what lens am I wearing?"
• Facing the year with joy and confidence doesn't begin with more self-confidence. It begins by asking God to give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation to know him better, the Father of glory.
• Knowing God, in the Bible, is not just knowing things about him; it is an intimate relationship whose depth colors your entire view of life.
• Knowing God better means learning to see as he sees: seeing that your ultimate horizon is bright, that your worth in his eyes is priceless, and that the power that raised Jesus is already at work on your behalf.
• If you want one good resolution for the year, let it be this: pray without ceasing, as Paul does, that God would open the eyes of your heart.

Personal Application

1. Through what lens do you see the year ahead: naive optimism, anxiety, pessimism, or true Christian hope? What does your answer reveal about your current knowledge of God?
2. When you think of God, what image comes to mind spontaneously? The "Father of glory" who is with you and for you, or a more distant, more judgmental, more vague figure? Dare to ask God to give you new glasses to see him.
3. How would you describe your ultimate future in one word? Do you truly live like someone who is waiting for a new creation where Jesus reigns visibly?
4. How much are you worth to God, according to Ephesians 1? Are you still wearing, like Punchinello, gray dots stuck on by the gaze of others, or are you letting God tell you who you are?
5. How much time this week will you take to concretely pray Paul's prayer, that God would open the eyes of your heart to his hope, to your worth, to his power already at work for you?

Verses Cited

• Ephesians 1:15-23 (main text)
• Ephesians 1:17 · a spirit of wisdom and revelation
• Ephesians 1:18 · the hope of his calling and his glorious inheritance
• Ephesians 1:19-23 · the immeasurable greatness of his power
• Acts 19 · the riot at Ephesus and the temple of Artemis

Further reading

• What Is Christian Fellowship?
• What Is Spiritual Maturity?
• What Is Christian Discipleship?

Frequently Asked Questions

Why pray to know God better rather than for the success of your plans?

Because your view of God determines everything else. Praying for a job interview, for your studies, or for stress at work is excellent, and God invites us to do so. But Paul, for his part, first prays for a deeper change: that God would open the eyes of the Ephesians' hearts to who he is. When you see the Father of glory more clearly, who is with you and for you, the way you face challenges, fight against sin, serve, read the Bible, or love your family changes. Everything begins by asking for "the glasses that see God."

What does Paul concretely mean by "knowing God"?

In the Bible, knowing someone means having a close, intimate relationship, not just accumulating information. This includes knowing who you're dealing with (God is the Father of glory, the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the one who fights for his people), but it goes further: Paul prays that your relationship with God would deepen, be more informed by truth, more intimate, more marked by trust, gratitude, wonder, and love. He wants you to see God and fall more in love with him, so that this colors your entire view of life.

What does this sermon say about spiritual warfare?

It's striking: Ephesus is a city deeply marked by magic and the occult, and yet Paul does not first ask that God protect the Christians against the forces of evil. He asks that they see spiritual reality as it truly is: Jesus is risen, and he reigns above every rule, authority, power, and dominion, for the eternal good of his people. Spiritual warfare therefore begins with this right vision. Before multiplying strategies, ask God for the glasses that let you see Christ at the head of the universe, already acting for your good.