seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Ephesians 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,
To God’s holy people in Ephesus,[a] the faithful in Christ Jesus:
2 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
3 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. 4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 he[b] predestined us for adoption to sonship[c] through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8 that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, 9 he[d] made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10 to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.
11 In him we were also chosen,[e] having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, 12 in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. 13 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, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.
15 For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, 16 I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. 17 I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit[f] of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. 18 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, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength 20 he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 21 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. 22 And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.
a. Ephesians 1:1 Some early manuscripts do not have in Ephesus.
b. Ephesians 1:5 Or sight in love. 5 He
c. Ephesians 1:5 The Greek word for adoption to sonship is a legal term referring to the full legal standing of an adopted male heir in Roman culture.
d. Ephesians 1:9 Or us with all wisdom and understanding. 9 And he
e. Ephesians 1:11 Or were made heirs
f. Ephesians 1:17 Or a spirit
New book in the Bible.... and I'm going to the easy English site.
The apostle Paul wrote this letter when he was in a prison in Rome. He wrote it to people in the town called Ephesus. This was about 61 years after the birth of Christ.
At one time, Greek leaders had ruled Ephesus. Now the Romans ruled the city. It was the capital of the Roman region called Asia. It was a busy port and the centre of much trade. The temple of the goddess (female god) Diana (or Artemis) was there. The business people sold models of Diana’s *emple there. But Paul’s preaching affected their trade. This caused confusion and trouble in the city (Acts 19:23-41).
This letter is different from other letters by Paul. The main differences are:
a) he does not give any special greetings;
b) he does not send a message to any one particular person;
c) he does not talk about special problems.
Paul wrote the letter to encourage the personal faith of the Christians. It gives teaching, prayers and great praises to God. It is about God’s Son, Jesus Christ. He came to our world in order to put right all the things that had gone wrong. Paul makes clear that Christ is the head of the church. He will work out his purposes in and by the church.
The letter is in two parts. First is the teaching part. It mainly teaches us about God’s plan for the world. This plan is for all time. It is about the gathering together of all things to Jesus Christ as head. God created men and women. He created them to be his friends. But now they are apart from him. They are his enemies.
There is no unity in a world without Christ. One person is against another person. Nations fight each other. Jews and Gentiles are against each other. There is a battle between evil angels and good angels. There is a battle between God and Satan. Most people in the world do not know Christ. This is the reason for all that is wrong. But this is not God’s purpose for the world. There can be unity only when all things come together with Christ as head. Unity should first be inside the church. Then it should be for all people everywhere. Then it should be with everything that God has made. This unity is for the entire world and for all ages. This is what Paul teaches in the first three chapters.
God’s plan is to fix the unity that is spoiled. The last three chapters teach about how God will use Christians in this plan. Paul teaches that the church is like the body of Christ. Christians must be like Christ’s hands to do Christ’s work. Christians must be like his mouth to speak for him. They must be like his feet to take his gospel to all the people in the world. God wants to deal with all the things that divide people. God will do this in and by the church. Paul speaks about the different ways in which his message will apply. Change will come by the good behaviour of God’s people in the home and in the world.
Paul changes the common Greek word for ‘greetings’ to another word, ‘grace’. The common Hebrew greeting was ‘shalom’ or ‘peace’. Paul brings the two greetings together as a blessing and a prayer. He prays that his readers will know the free help of God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. They do not need to earn this. He also prays that they will know peace with God. And he prays that they will have peace with each other. The peace of God is not just the lack of trouble. The word ‘shalom’ has many meanings. It means to be well. It means to have enough for your needs. It means safety and health. We can have peace inside us even if life is difficult.
In the Roman family, the father had great power. He could do as he wished to his sons. He could make them work without pay. He could sell them as slaves. He could hit them. He could even kill them. This power lasted all through the life of the son. It did not matter how old he was.
A father might decide to adopt a son. Then he would ask the court to give him legal authority to be the father of the child. The judge would pass all the power of the original father to this new father. All the rights of the old father then ended. The son became a new person. If he had any debts in the old family, the court ended them. It would be as if the debts had never existed.
God lets us know ‘his secret plan that Christ would complete’. He makes it possible for us to understand this. But he did not show his plan before Jesus came.
God’s plan was that Jesus Christ will be the head (or ruler) of the whole universe (heaven and earth). God arranges the time of all things. He does this in perfect wisdom. God has fixed all the ages and seasons. He has decided when they will end. God is now working out his plan (that Christ will rule the whole universe). His plan is working all the time. One day God will complete it. History is ‘his story’.
It would be difficult for a person who is not a Christian to understand this. He would not make sense of history. Different events have taken place in different ages. They would not link with each other. Paul shows that God has a plan for the history of men and women. Once God hid this secret. Now he makes his plan plain. Christians today can now understand it. It is the job of Christians to tell the world about it.
From the beginning, God chose us to ‘have hope in Christ’, the Messiah. He chose that we should be a part of his plan. God works out everything in agreement with his choice. Everything that he wants to do, he does. Everything will be as he said. This plan includes Paul and the Jewish believers. They were the first to hope in Christ, the Messiah. They hoped in him before he came (see Acts 28:20). They looked forward to him as their Saviour. The plan then includes ‘you also’ (the Gentile Christians) who believe in him.
By God the Son we have wonderful freedom from sin. We see his greatness in this. That should cause us to wonder. It should increase our faith when we pray. God the Holy Spirit helps us to understand all this. He helps us to know God better.
We cannot understand such knowledge by ourselves. It is far too great. God must help us to understand. To know God is more than to know facts about him. It is to know him as a person and to share our lives with him.
Paul prays that three things will happen:
· First, that they will know ‘the hope to which he has called’ them. God called us to himself at the very beginning. He called us to be united with Jesus Christ. He called us to be holy even as he is holy. This is the call that God brings to those without hope. The hope is about our future. We will then be with Christ for ever. We can think about a time after our present suffering. We can think about a wonderful future. God’s promise to us is that we can have the Holy Spirit inside us now. The promise is also about what he is keeping for us in the future.
· Second, that they ‘will know the glory of the rich blessings that he (God) has prepared’ for them. God has given these rich blessings to those who believe. Christians can expect to enjoy this inheritance.
· Third, that ‘you will know how very great his power is’. Nothing compares with that power. It is far greater than any other power. We cannot measure it. By this power, God made everything in heaven and earth. This power is working ‘in (or ‘for’ or ‘towards’) those who believe’.
Paul describes this great power by three events:
· First, God made ‘Jesus Christ come back to life again’.
· Second, ‘He used his power to cause Christ to sit at his right side in heaven.’ This was far above ‘all people with authority, lords and other rulers on earth and in heaven’. It was above every title (or rank) that anyone can give. And ‘Christ rules over them now and he will rule over them in the future’.
· Third ‘and God put all things under the authority and power of Christ. God put him in the highest place as head over everything for the church’. ‘All things’ include the world, the stars and all physical things. ‘All things’ also include all people, good angels and bad angels. God made Christ head over all things. He also made him head over everything for the church. The church is his body. So both the church and everything that is have the same head. He completely fills everything in every way. He also fills the church.
There are two powers that men cannot control. One power is death and the other power is the devil. Jesus Christ won the battle over both. He did this by his death and resurrection. He can rescue us from both death and the devil. God raised Jesus from death. He raised him to new life where there is no more death. This new life lasts for ever and ever. God caused Jesus to sit at God’s right side in heaven. God made him king over every power that there is. Jesus rules in heaven as king. He rules over all people. He rules over all nations. He rules over all spirits, both good and evil.
The commentaries are really long winded this morning. It seems to me that is because this chapter is so encouraging. I remember back in Genesis when that slimy serpent Satan made his pitch to Eve. At that second.... the plan for humanity had to pick up..... but God already knew that....
God created Satan. Yep... God sculpted him when God was designing the angels. I figure God practiced His human attributes sculpting on the angels and after He had perfected it... He started sculpting the humans He would put in the Garden to have conversations with.
God controls Time. Yep.... God created time... the clicking of the clock.... history in the making. So God was there when the individual hairs were planted in my scalp.... and He's here now... watching over what is happening.... waiting for me to make a decision that will change my path... which He already planned for.... and He will be there in the future.... because He knows how that path will wind and twist and where it will come out.
Humans think they can change the course of time. They think they can rewrite history or force a new future. Humans think they are equal to God... after all God wanted to have conversations with humans so He created attitudes and curiosity. God created the "big headed self absorbed attitudes" humans have exhibited. As a matter of fact... IMHO... He used those characteristics to get the humans to chant "crucify him" so that Jesus could complete the task. Jesus had to conquer death. It was part of the plan. Humans unwittingly assisted in the plan. After all God sculpted them all... the story was His to tell.
God put Jesus in control of everything when He came back home. Jesus decides what happens to me. He paid the price for me to go to His house.
So... what's to keep me from going sour before I get to go to Heaven. What is it that keeps my mind and soul on the right path.... Well God created everything so God created a way for the "spirit" of Christ to be everywhere all the time. A presence that whispers in my ear... an imaginary comforting arm that I can almost feel across our shoulders.... that feeling that I am included in something bigger than myself.... an upgrade from the likes of all those Jews and Gentiles who survived before Christ came to conquer death.
There are two things humans can't control.... Death and Satan. God created them both. He can control them. He is more than happy to lend a hand if we ask Him to help us out. He can take the sting out of Death.... and He can tell Satan to back off...
Jesus has conquered both Death and Satan. He can control them both.
My big Brother conquered both Death and Satan!
