Ephesians 1:12

Praise of his glory. Compare on v. 6.

Who first trusted in Christ. Literally, “who have hoped before [and still hope] in Christ.” These words have special application to the Jewish Christians, who, through their fathers, were the first to be partakers of the inheritance, for even from Abraham’s time the Jews had looked forward to the Messiah. They were highly privileged that they might live and labor “to the praise of his glory,” even as Christians who hold the gospel truth today are stewards of His grace in relation to the heathen world.

Christian hope is more than simply a wish for the future, for it is founded on the promises of God in Christ. The Scriptures speak of “full assurance of hope” (Heb. 6:11), “a lively hope” (1 Peter 1:3), hope that “maketh not ashamed” (Rom. 5:5), “the God of hope” (Rom. 15:13). There is a deeply embedded instinct in the human heart that looks for a happy ending to life’s tragic affairs. God planted it there.

It was the privilege of the Jewish Christians first to hope in Christ. Paul mentions his kinsmen Andronicus and Junia as having been in Christ before he was (Rom. 16:7), and he doubtless always regretted his earlier wasted years. Happy are they who come to Christ in their youth and commit their entire life to Him rather than offer the remnants of the wasted years. Hope is like a rope let down to a drowning man. How foolish of him to debate the intentions of the one throwing it down or to question its strength! The perishing one takes hold of the “blessed hope” and finds that it sustains him and brings him to Christ who offers eternal life.