Leading those governed by rules to the richness of love

 Read Ephesians 3

 

The church in Ephesus received a lot of first-century attention.  They were trying to stay the course and press on towards the goal.  They were trying to grow in grace.  Part of that growth would come through Paul’s long-distance counsel.

It’s interesting to note that this church was also the recipient of one of the letters in Revelation, noting they had lost their first love. They were counseled to consider how far they had fallen and repent. The church to whom Paul wrote, still seemed to be living in the love of Christ and seeking his kingdom.

In its original form, the first half of this letter to the Ephesians, after the salutation, might have been one long run-on sentence. The language is more formal, yet softer than what Paul wrote to the Galatians. Listen to this first part as Paul expounds on the richness of blessings that we have in Christ—in Him.

What Paul gave you in the narrative, I offer in Kiplinger style.

In Christ, we:

Are blessed with spiritual blessings

Are chosen before the beginning of the world to be holy and blameless

Are predestined to be adopted as sons

Are to live according to his will and bring glory to God

Are given grace

Are redeemed through his blood

Are forgiven of our sins

Are granted wisdom and understanding

Have eyes to see the mystery of God’s will revealed

Are part of the plan

Are marked in him

Are sealed with the Holy Spirit

Have the guarantee of an inheritance

Are part of God’s perfect timing

We are blessed because God gave us life and he loves us.  He loved us so much that he gave his Son for our redemption and fullness of life.

In Christ we are blessed beyond measure.

That’s how Paul begins his letter.  As you navigated the second chapter, you probably recalled some words from Paul’s letter to the Romans:  All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.  That’s a true statement and the fruit of that condition is death.  We were dead in our sins.

At one point, Satan could claim us as his own.  We gratified the flesh. We followed the ways of this world.  We were disobedient.

Death should have been our destiny—domed by our sin and carnal desires; yet here we are living with the promise of more life to come.  We seek more than survival.  We seek abundant life.

We were dead in our sins but because of the great love of God, we are alive in Christ.  We live because God loves us!

We deserved the wrath of God but he gave us mercy and grace instead.  We are not only saved from the condemnation that we deserved.  We are raised up to be with Christ.  We are not just surviving wrath.  We are celebrating life and life abundant and life eternal because of what God has done for us through Christ Jesus.

Jesus paid it all.  All to him I owe.  Here’s how Paul put it.

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast

God did everything for us.  We are in right standing with him.  Our own works had nothing to do with our salvation.  It’s all about the love of God.

Paul adds so that no one can boast.  Think about our human nature.  If we had just a little bit to do with our salvation, our human thinking would take over.

Yeah, I did my one percent and God did ninety-nine percent.  God’s love is awesome.

A year later, we might be saying, Yeah, I did ten percent.  God did ninety percent.  That’s a really good deal.

In two years, our human nature would have us saying, I did my half.  God did his half.  It’s like a matching 401K—still a good deal.

Not much farther down the road we would be saying, I did ninety percent of the work needed for my salvation.  God threw in his ten percent for good measure.  I mean I did slip up once or twice, but otherwise, I earned my way to heaven.

Paul said get this and get it good:  You are saved by grace through faith so we know that we had no part in our own salvation.  We simply received the best gift ever and we did it by faith.

You might wonder, shouldn’t we have been required to do at least a minimum amount of good?  Shouldn’t there have been a minimum standard?  How will people know that we follow Jesus if there was no test to pass?

Consider more of Paul’s words.

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Paul is telling us that we were created to do all sorts of good and great things.  We do them in response to this wonderful gift that we know as grace.  We finally get to live up to the life that God made us to live.

Do we need good works for salvation?  No.  Our good works proceed from our salvation.  They are the fruit of our salvation.

Our good works could never get us to salvation but they should abound in our salvation. People should know that we follow Jesus.  We should be loving one another like no one else on the planet.

God loves us so much that he didn’t make us get fixed in order to receive his salvation.  His love did all of that for us, but now that we have received this gift, we should truly be a light unto the world so people can see our good deeds and bring glory to God.

God designed us special.  We are made to do good works.  God made us a list of things to do even before we knew that we would get to do them.

We were destined by God to do these good works and we get to do them because God loves us so much.

We are saved by grace through faith.  Our salvation is all from God and not by our own works.

Now that we are saved, let our good works be known to all so that they may bring glory to God.

As we venture through the third chapter of this letter, Paul notes that God’s will has been a mystery to us.  God desires that none perish.  He desires his whole creation to be reconciled to him.

The act of atonement was the sacrifice of the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.  The work of this age has been given to the church.

Those who still wrestle with rules fail to understand the boundless riches of Christ.  There is a mindset among many Christians that somebody has to go to hell.  For us to enjoy heaven, somebody has to be roasting in hell.  The hotter the temperature, the more we can enjoy heaven.

It's only fair, right?

If God did what was fair, we might all find a miserable eternity.  Do we forget so quickly that we are saved by God’s mercy and grace?  We did not and do not deserve to be saved from sin and death and hell.  Only the love of God saves us from destruction and damnation.

We should have eyes to see the boundless riches of Christ.  We should have eyes to see grace that extends far beyond our transgressions.

We should have eyes to see that God desires a relationship with us where we come to him as Father, Abba, Daddy. 

There’s a meme of sorts going around with this being the gist of it.

I can’t believe I did that.  That was so stupid.  I hope my dad doesn’t find out.

That’s one side of it.  Here’s the other.

I can’t believe I did that.  That was so stupid.  I have to go talk to my dad.

God wants the second one for us.  He wants us to come freely and with confidence when we talk with him.  The mystery that is revealed is just how much God loves us. 

He will never stop loving us.  He loves us with an everlasting love.  Our relationship with God is a relationship of love not rules. Listen to Paul’s words.

His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence

We are to be governed by love not rules.  This is a big step for most people.  This takes most people out of their comfort zones. 

People like standard consequences and sequels.  People like if A, then B scenarios.  People like to know what it will cost them to do things their way.  People like to count and measure.

It will take some work to get people from rules-based thinking to living by love.  God should have had a plan as to how to do this.

He did and he does.  It is the church that is charged to lead the world to knowing God by his love.  The church will move heaven and earth to accomplish its mission.  We have been given the greatest job ever.  Lead people to God by our love.

Change people’s perception of God from an angry old man with lightning bolts at the ready to a father with open arms.  Is God’s wrath something to be avoided at all costs? Absolutely, but it is love not wrath that drives this story.

It is love not rules that lead us to bring glory to God in response to our salvation.

God’s love is for all.  Our job as believers, as the church, is to take that message to the world.

God desires none to perish.  It is our job as the church to take that message to the world.

Amen.

One in the Spirit

 Read Ephesians 2

God chose a people for himself.  These people were to show others the God that they knew.  God took a special interest in them.  He blessed them with gifts.  They received:

Distinction as his people

Deliverance from slavery

His law and directives

A sign in the flesh

A land promised to them

That the salvation of the world would come through them—through the seed of Abraham.

We must understand that God did not disown the rest of his creation when he chose a people.  He just set a different time for all to come to know him.

That time arrived with the advent of the Christ. Jesus came to redeem the lost sheep or Israel.  Some of those lost sheep were genetically Hebrews.  Others were not, but all would be called to be one family in God through Christ.

Once there were God’s Chosen People and the rest of the world—generally considered pagan and ungodly.  Now that division—that dichotomy—is gone. 

Christ himself has made these two groups into one family. In so doing, he has set aside the law as it had been.  What was master before became our guide, our mentor, and our friend, but reconciliation with God and with each other came in Christ alone.

In Christ, Jew and Gentile become one tabernacle in which the Spirit of God dwells.  The law separated.  Christ and the Spirit unite.  We are one in the Spirit.

We should study the Torah and the Proverbs and the Psalms and the prophecy of the Old Testament but we are governed by the Spirit of God himself.

We are to repent of lawlessness but that does not mean the law governs us.  We belong to Christ and we stay in step with his Spirit.  God directs our steps through his own spirit.

Listen to Paul’s words once more.

For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.

All who have received this gift of grace by faith have access to the Father through the Spirit.  It is one Spirit.  There is not one spirit for Jews and another one for Gentiles.  We are one in the Spirit.

What is it that we sing most Sundays?  We sing the same thing twice in a row, so it must be important.

We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord

We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord

Just who is this we?  It is everyone who has received the gift of grace by faith regardless of lineage, race, geography, age, or good looks.  We are one in the Spirit.

Amen. 

By Grace through Faith

 Read Ephesians 2

Let’s set the playing field.  All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.  That’s a true statement and the fruit of that condition is death.  We were dead in our sins.

At one point, Satan could claim us as his own.  We gratified the flesh. We followed the ways of this world.  We were disobedient.

Death should have been our destiny—domed by our sin and carnal desires, yet here we are living with the promise of more life to come.  We seek more than survival.  We seek abundant life.

We were dead in our sins but because of the great love of God, we are alive in Christ.  We live because God loves us!

We deserved the wrath of God but he gave us mercy and grace instead.  We are not only saved from the condemnation that we deserved.  We are raised up to be with Christ.  We are not just surviving wrath.  We are celebrating life and life abundant and life eternal because of what God has done for us through Christ Jesus.

Jesus paid it all.  All to him I owe.  Here’s how Paul put it.

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast

God did everything for us.  We are in right standing with him.  Our own works had nothing to do with our salvation.  It’s all about the love of God.

Paul adds so that no one can boast.  Think about our human nature.  If we had just a little bit to do with our salvation, our human thinking would take over.

Yeah, I did my one percent and God did ninety-nine percent.  God’s love is awesome.

A year later, we might be saying, Yeah, I did ten percent.  God did ninety percent.  That’s a really good deal.

In two years, our human nature would have us saying, I did my half.  God did his half.  It’s like a matching 401K—still a good deal.

Not much farther down the road, we would be saying, I did ninety percent of the work needed for my salvation.  God through in his ten percent for good measure.  I mean I did slip up once or twice, but otherwise, I earned my way to heaven.

Paul said get this and get it good:  You are saved by grace through faith so we know that we had no part in our own salvation.  We simply received the best gift ever and we did it by faith.

You might wonder, shouldn’t we have been required to do at least a minimum amount of good?  Shouldn’t there have been a minimum standard?  How will people know that we follow Jesus if there was no test to pass?

Consider more of Paul’s words.

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Paul is telling us that we were created to do all sorts of good and great things.  We do them in response to this wonderful gift that we know as grace.  We finally get to live up to the life that God made us to live.

Do we need good works for salvation?  No.  Our good works proceed from our salvation.  They are the fruit of our salvation.

Our good works could never get us to salvation but they should abound in our salvation.

God loves us so much that he didn’t make us get fixed in order to receive his salvation.  His love did all of that for us, but now that we have received this gift, we should truly be a light unto the world so people can see our good deeds and bring glory to God.

God designed us special.  We are made to do good works.  God made us a list of things to do even before we knew that we would get to do them.

We were destined by God to do these good works and we get to do them because God loves us so much.

We are saved by grace through faith.  Our salvation is all from God and not by our own works.

Now that we are saved, let our good works be known to all so that they may bring glory to God.

Amen.

Lighten the Load

 Read John 20

We remember the exchange between Mary and Jesus on that morning of the first day. I will pick up at the point where Peter and another disciple—likely John—have left the tomb and Mary looks in and sees two angels.

They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”

 

“They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.

 

He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”

 

Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”

 

Jesus said to her, “Mary.”

 

She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”).

 

Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

 

Jesus told her to go and tell the disciples what she had seen.  In other gospels Jesus adds meet me in Galilee or to remind Peter that this message is for him too.

It seems that Mary was the first person to see the resurrected Lord.  She couldn’t give him a big hug because he told her not to—he had yet to ascend to the Father.

Mary did as instructed but it appears nobody returned to the tomb after this. Jesus appeared to them—all except Thomas—on the evening of that same day.  We know the story of Thomas having to see for himself and he got that opportunity a week later.

We remember Thomas not needing to put his finger in the holes in the hands of Jesus or in his side.  Thomas was convinced immediately—my Lord and my God.

I love the words of Jesus that followed.  You believe because you have seen.  Those words applied to all of the disciples not just Thomas. Jesus continued, blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.

What wonderful words that followed the resurrection, but I would like us to consider what happened to kick this day off.

Mary had gone to the tomb.  The stone had been removed.  Evidently, she didn’t look inside, or maybe she did. She ran back to tell the disciples and told them that they have taken the Lord and we don’t know where he is.

So, maybe she did look in the tomb or maybe she drew her own conclusions. In either case, it was enough to prompt Peter and John to race to the tomb.

Long ago and far away, I was the commanding officer assigned to train and prepare a reserve infantry company to mobilize and go to war.  That day came with the first Gulf War.  When the reserves returned, their first sergeant remained on active duty for a few months.

Every day at noon we would go for a 5, 6, or 7-mile run.  As we were returning to my office and nearing the end of our run, I would ask if we were going to the sidewalk or the flag pole for the end of our run.  The first sergeant would say one or the other and I would sprint ahead of him to that point to make sure I finished first. Yes, I have always been that ornery.

After a couple months we entered the Dam to Dam 20 K Run.  It was 20 kilometers as you might suspect.  We paced each other for the duration.  This probably helped us go a little faster than we might have on our own. 

As we neared the end of the race, there was tape along the sides of the route that narrowed our running lane so the person at the finish line could take our tags and record the order of finish.

As we approached that point, the first sergeant asked me, is that the finish line? I said, I think so. I had never run this race before so his guess was as good as mine, but he sprinted in front of me so the person at the end of the funnel took his tag first.

He got me.  When it counted and our names would be listed, his should appear first. Years later, I googled the run and the year and found a list of finishers.  I was listed as something like 1,012 of over 9,000 runners (maybe more, maybe less—a whole bunch of people) and the first sergeant was listed as 1013.  Somehow, my tag got put on top of his. So for all posterity, I got to the finish first, not that anyone will ever check or care.

John—this gospel’s author notes that the other disciple—probably John himself—beat Peter to the tomb. He stopped but didn’t go in. Peter caught up but didn’t stop.  He went in.

John followed.  Jesus wasn’t there but his burial garments were.  The gospel says:

They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.

So what did these two disciples do?  They went home, or at least to their home away from home in Jerusalem.

Upon hearing Mary’s report and seeing for themselves that Jesus was not in the tomb and his burial clothing was left behind, they rejoiced in his resurrection and started singing He lives! He lives! Christ Jesus lives today!  Not exactly!

They still didn’t get the big picture, even though Jesus told them more than once what had to happen.  Jesus even chewed out Peter when he said he wouldn’t let it happen.

These two men who would become pillars of the church were dumbfounded.  They didn’t get it.  They did the only thing they could think of—they went home, wherever that was in Jerusalem.

Maybe there would be a little coffee left or half a bagel. If they had stayed in a first-class joint, maybe some yogurt.  They went back to where they were staying.

Other than having a little chuckle at these disciples’ expense, why do I point this out?

There are two things that I will challenge you to do in celebration of today.  The first is begin a year-long celebration of the resurrection.  Yes, find a way to celebrate the victory of Jesus over death every day.  He took away our sins and conquered the grave.  We can look forward to life because of this.

Amen!  Hallelujah! Praise the Lord! Oohrah!

We should celebrate today.  It is special not because it’s the actual date on the calendar but resurrection is special, and the love that sent Jesus to the cross is special. We are special to God.

The second thing is that I want you to cut yourselves some slack.  Yes, the Holy Spirit lives within us.  Yes, that same Spirit brings us to conviction when we do something wrong or fail to do what we should have done.  The Spirit is a blessing but very demanding.

It is tough to live up to the right standing that God gave us in the blood of Jesus.

On occasion, consider Peter and John on that first morning.  Despite the great things that they did in the days and years to come; they were somewhat confused.  They didn’t get it.  They were at a loss as to what to do so they went home.

Cut yourselves some slack every once in a while, when you don’t have everything figured out.  Take a breath when you don’t have all the answers.  Just chill every so often and know that God is God and he does have this figured out.  He knows the next steps.

Trust him and quit beating yourself up every time you miss the mark.  We still confess to God where we fall short.  We still aim high desiring to bring glory to God, but we are going to stop beating ourselves up and feeling down when we don’t quite have an explanation for everything—when we are not exactly sure what the next step is.

Who can understand the ways of the Lord?  Who can grasp the whole picture?  Sometimes, we know exactly what we must do, and sometimes, we wait for the Lord to reveal our next step.

We need to celebrate the resurrection of the Lord and what he has in store for us as his disciples.  We need to be known by our love and be a light in the world, and we need to lighten our load a little and stop carrying around the need to know exactly what to do right now.

Sometimes, we are to wait upon the Lord.  Sometimes we just trust and see where he leads us.  Sometimes we just go home, but we must never despair for we know with certainty that God loves us more than we can understand and will never stop loving us.

Let us celebrate the resurrection of our Lord.

Let’s lighten our load.  The Lord will direct our next steps in his time.

Amen.

Blessed are those who have not seen, yet have believed

 Read John 20

The morning of the first day brought revelation but not complete understanding.  Jesus was no longer in the tomb. His body had not been taken as was Mary’s initial concern.

Mary had subsequently seen and spoken with the resurrected Jesus, and told the disciples.  We have no evidence that they returned to the tomb.

It seems they were scared.  Jesus had been killed. He told them that he was giving his life but in their minds, they could be next on the cross.  They were scared.

Gathered in one place—well everyone except Thomas—and behind locked doors, they gathered for their evening meal.  They were surely fearful of a knock at the door.  The Sanhedrin could come calling any minute, and they would not come alone.  Their guards—soldiers if you will—would be with them.

They got what they wanted with Jesus.  They had their way. They even got the Romans to do the dirty work. The religious hierarchy and the Roman government had no idea that they were parts of a bigger plan.

The disciples wondered; would they be next?  Would they come tonight? Imagine trying to settle in and get comfortable for the evening meal knowing that there might come a knock at the door.

Or would they even knock?  Would they just kick in the door and seize everyone inside?  I’m not sure what the rule was on No-Knock Warrants back then. 

You might feel better being in a locked room but you had no peace.  Jesus had appeared to Mary, but the disciples had only her word for it.  They were still scared.

And then came Jesus.  He didn’t even knock.  He just appeared in the locked room. 

On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit

That initial appearance packed a big wallop. 

·       Peace to you

·       You are commissioned to go into the world—you are sent

·       Receive the Holy Spirit

Surely, the disciples experienced joy, but it might take a bit for them to know peace.  They were gathered and scared, but Jesus told them as his Father had sent him, he was sending them.  He had discussed this in the hours before his death.

And finally, he gave them the Holy Spirit.  Hold on.  I thought the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost, some 50 days later.  Jesus gave the Spirit at this time but it would not be fully manifested in them until that day of Pentecost.  Some things take time to produce fruit.

They would be filled with the Spirit in a few weeks, but Thomas missed this meeting.  Thomas did not accept the accounts of his fellow disciples.  He needed convincing.  He had to see for himself.

Thomas was not asking for more than the others had received.  Thomas wanted to see the resurrected Jesus with his own eyes.

That’s the model the world uses:  Seeing is believing.

We have a different model:  Believing is seeing.  Paul would say that we walk by—live by—faith not sight. 

Thomas wanted the world’s model.  He wanted to see for himself.  After all, the others said they had seen.  Thomas got what he asked for.  Jesus arrived in the locked room a week later and Thomas was there.

I’m guessing that the other disciples having seen Jesus in his resurrected body still thought it prudent to keep the door locked, but that’s a separate discussion.

Jesus appeared to Thomas and told him to touch whatever he needed to believe it was his Lord.  Thomas fell to his knees proclaiming my Lord and my God. Further inspection was not required.

Jesus spoke to Thomas and surely the other disciples, but he spoke of us.  He said you believed because you saw.  Blessed are those who didn’t get to see me first hand but still believe.

Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

We have not seen; yet we have believed.  We are blessed for we have believed.

We move from this encounter to the first of John’s short epilogues. There is another at the end of the next chapter, but this one is especially for us.

Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name

We were not there.  We did not see first hand but we have these accounts in the gospels so that we might believe and have life in Christ.

Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.

Amen.

A Prayer for the Church in Ephesus and for Us

 Read Ephesians 1

The second half of this chapter is a prayer of thanksgiving and petition.

For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.

Paul is talking to fellow believers.  He gives thanks to God for these faithful people.  He petitions God that these believers receive these blessings:

The Spirit of wisdom and revelation

That God will open the eyes of their hearts

That they know the hope to which they have been called

That they may know the richness of their inheritance

That they may know the awesome power of God—power that raised Christ Jesus from the dead

That they may know the awesome power of God—that sets Christ Jesus above all authority, power, and dominion

That they may know that the church is the body of Christ

That they may know that the church manifests the fullness of Christ Jesus in their mission

Paul wanted these believers to realize how much they have been blessed, how much they have been trusted with the work of the Lord, and how great their inheritance is.  Paul prayed for what we might call abundant life in Christ.

Is this also not a prayer for us, that we know the Spirit of wisdom and that we have eyes to see God’s revelations to us.  Are we not called to hope as well?  Is hope not an indicator of our Christian maturity?

Don’t we also need to know with certainty that God has an inheritance for us.  Is our blessed assurance not enhanced when we are certain of the awesome power of God?

We are not the Galatians who abandon faith and sought the governance and slavery of the law, but we might resemble the Ephesians in that we need to have eyes to see the richness of our relationship to the Lord and the significance of being a believer.

Is there not liberty in knowing that we are a slave to God and Christ Jesus is our head.  Are we not enriched by fulfilling our part in the body of Christ?  Do we not need to know that as the church we manifest the fullness of Christ Jesus in this world?

This prayer for the Ephesians is a prayer for us. We should live so abundantly.

Amen.

In Christ

  Read Ephesians 1

The church in Ephesus received a lot of first-century attention.  They were trying to stay the course and press on towards the goal.  They were trying to grow in grace.  Part of that growth would come through Paul’s long-distance counsel.

It’s interesting to note that this church was also the recipient of one of the letters in Revelation, noting they had lost their first love. They were counseled to consider how far they had fallen and repent. The church to whom Paul wrote, still seemed to be living in the love of Christ and seeking his kingdom.

In its original form, the first half of this letter to the Ephesians, after the salutation, might have been one long run-on sentence. The language is more formal, yet softer than what Paul wrote to the Galatians. Listen to this first part as Paul expounds on the richness of blessings that we have in Christ—in Him.

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,

To God’s holy people in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus:

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, he] made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.

In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.

Let’s go from the narrative to the Kiplinger style as we delve into these blessings.

In Christ, we:

Are blessed with spiritual blessings

Are chosen before the beginning of the world to be holy and blameless

Are predestined to be adopted as sons

Are to live according to his will and bring glory to God

Are given grace

Are redeemed through his blood

Are forgiven of our sins

Are granted wisdom and understanding

Have eyes to see the mystery of God’s will revealed

Are part of the plan

Are marked in him

Are sealed with the Holy Spirit

Have the guarantee of an inheritance

Are part of God’s perfect timing

We are blessed because God gave us life and he loves us.  He loved us so much that he gave his Son for our redemption and fullness of life.

In Christ we are blessed beyond measure.

Amen.