Author: Some deny it is Paul
BUT…His fingerprints are written all over it.
It is filled with his style of writing
Not to mention the greeting in verse 1 from Paul himself to the church in Ephesus and to the faithful in Jesus Christ.
That includes the faithful of today.
The letter was also circulated among the churches of Asia Minor at the time.
Verse 1&2
Paul, who used to be known as Saul, was fanatically devoted to persecuting what he thought were heretical Christians,
until one day he encountered
“The Jesus whom he was persecuting”
This encounter changed his life forever.
Saul now known as Paul surrendered his life completely that he might “Preach Jesus among the heathens” (Galatians 1:16)
He also sends a greeting of grace and peace to the believers in Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus. That includes the faithful today.
Verse 3&4
Praise be to God from whom all blessings flow because he has already blessed us with
“spiritual blessings” “In heavenly places” “In Christ”
Paul writes that God is worthy to be praised for he is good to us! God gives us all that we need and blesses us with spiritual blessings such as…
Grace and Mercy…Comfort and Peace…
Light and Love…Redemption, Justification, Sanctification
and the Holy Spirit.
Because of Jesus we have been given blessings which also allowS us access to the Throne of God through prayer, and the opportunity to be made more and more into His image; to be molded and shaped so that one day, when our Savoir returns,
we may stand before Him, holy and blameless.
…Before the foundation of the world, before time itself, you were on the mind of God.
Verse 5-6
Because of the foreknowledge of God…His being able to see the future, the end from the beginning, God knew those that would believe in Him and accept the free gift of Salvation offered through His Son Jesus.
Jesus says in Rev 3:20
Behold I stand at the door and knock, if any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him and sup with him and he with me.
Jesus is that door and if you choose to walk through the door into eternal life and turn around and look at the sign above that same door You just walked through, you would see written Predestined...
Because of the foreknowledge of God.
With our limited knowledge of the present we cannot "see" the future of a decision such as this until we have walked forward in faith.
Adoption, under Roman law was a means of appointing an heir. Those in Christ Jesus have been adopted into the family of God. It is not because there is anything good in us, but because it pleases our Father in heaven to make us his children.
…Almighty God, the maker of Heaven and earth, the one who sent His Son to die for us, because of our sin…
is pleased to make us His children.
We love because He first loved us. I John 4:19
We must remember that God has given us free will.
We may choose to love and serve Him or not
The choice is ours, but if we do …
#1 we will bear fruit… John 15:16
You have not chosen me but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that you should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever you shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it to you.
#2 We will become more like Jesus…Romans 8:29
For whom He did foreknow he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son that he might be the first born among many brethren.
#3 We will do good works…Ephesians 2:10
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath ordained that we should walk in them.
(It is important to remember that faith without works is dead
and also that good works follow salvation, they do not precede it, we cannot work our way to heaven)
Verse 7
We have been bought with a price
Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb
Our sin caused the high price to be paid…
Death on a cross, of God’s only son
It is our sin that nailed Jesus to the cross and
Yet he chose to go to Calvary willingly
It wasn’t the nails that held Him on the cross
It was His love for you and me that held Him there.
You were the Passion on his heart when He chose to
leave heaven and come to earth as a man.
You were the Passion on His heart.
Through Jesus’ sacrifice, and our repentance
We have been forgiven of our sins
God forgave all our sins by placing them on Jesus
As God forgives us, we to ought also to forgive one another.
Verses 8-11
God in his wisdom and understanding planned for you and I to live in the age in which we live. A time when through His Holy Spirit the “mystery” of the church has been made known.
The Bible speaks here of the dispensation of the fullness of times.
A time when Christ will gather all his together, a time when Isreal will be saved. It will be the end of the Age of grace that we the Gentiles are living in now.
We have obtained an inheritance. We are the treasure of God, we are the apple of his eye, the object of His love. The Passion on His heart.
Verses 12-14
Those who first trusted in Christ were the Jews, and then the Gentiles trusted in the good news of the gospel.
What a wonderful promise we have fulfilled with the “down payment” of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
He indwells us, contrains us, sanctifies us, convicts us, baptizes us, and comforts us.
In verses 15- 16
Paul tells the Ephesians that he had heard of their faith in Jesus, the evidence being the love shown unto all the saints, and goes on to tell them that he makes mention of them in his prayers, and thanks God for them. It is a high calling and priviledge to pray for others. Some may consider it of no value, or beneath them, but with the power of the Holy Spirit all things are possible. So pray for your families, your relationships, your church, and your country, and stand in awe as you see what God will do.
God has loved you with a everlasting love, He is calling you…wooing you closer to His heart. That you would love Him, with all your heart, all your soul and all your might; that your will, might be abandoned, and the will of the Father be on the throne of your heart; that you come to understand that you are your Beloved’s and that His desire is towards you.
You are the object of God’s love. Is God the object of your love? Of your devotion?
Verse 17-23
God longs for us to commune with Him. Nothing less than the power of God can work in us an eternal weight of glory. As we partake in the sufferings of Christ, as we live a life that is holy and set apart unto Him, as we commune with Him in prayer, the deep things of God are revealed to us by his Holy Spirit.
As saints we have a heavenly inheritance through Jesus.
Every knee shall bow and tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
He has done great things and He is worthy to be worshipped.
As a believer in this race, in this war, this spiritual battle do you find your life filled with…
Worry? Whining? Or Worship? Or do you just watch others as they worship Jesus?
I think of David in II Samuel Chapter 5 when he was bringing the ark to Jerusalem. His heart was so filled with joy and gladness towards his God that he danced before the Lord with all his might.
But Michal, his wife,(verse 16 of II Samuel 5) looked through a window, and saw king David leaping and dancing before the Lord and she despised him in her heart. (verse 23) Therefore Michal the daughter of Saul had no child unto the day of her death.
David rebuked his wife because of her critical spirit, and left her barren.
Are we devoted to Jesus the author and finisher of our faith
As in Hebrews 12:2
who for the joy…the passion…
that was set before Him ...you and me…His Bride,
on his heart…on his mind
endured…bore, persevered, suffered, on the cross
Despising the shame…thought nothing of the disgrace for our behalf
And is set down…tarries in prayer for you and me at the right hand of the throne of God.
Are our hearts spiritually shallow like Sauls daughter Michal?
Do we just watch as others worship?
Are we spiritually shallow… or do we hunger and thirst after righteousness?....Do we fall on our knees in prayer to seek after the deep things of God?
If we are running in this race to win, we cannot run in glass slippers. If we are fighting the good fight of faith, as Paul writes later in the book of Ephesians, we must put on the whole armor of God, that we may be able to stand against the wiles (schemes) of the devil.
Jesus’ love and deep devotion to the Father and His will gives us the standard by which we are to live our own lives, by the grace of God and in His power and might.
May we as children of God find our hearts deeply devoted and in love with Him who made us saved us, loves us and adopted us.
May we abide in Him at all times, remain in the shadow of His wings, seek Him intimately in prayer and in the reading of His love letters to us, that our understanding might be enlightened.
May our hearts be filled with an overflowing love of our Almighty God, our Sovereign Lord, our Jesus who is the head over all things for the benefit of His Bride.
May we utterly abandon ourselves in worship of our Jesus.
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