Introducing Ephesians: God's Purpose in Christ Accomplished in His People

I. Introduction

A. We have seen just how grand our God is.

We asked the question, "Where do we begin?" In answering this question, we viewed it as a binary choice. We could either start with the living and true God or we could start with the mind of man. We picked five ways in which we could come to understand the living and true God. First, if you remember, we talked about the God “Who is.” He is self existent. There was never a time in which God did not exist. A corollary to this that we mentioned is that God is the source of all things. God, then, has life in himself and he is able to create out of nothing. He uses the word of his power to form all things. Because he brought all things into being he is able to sustain all things. The unbelieving world seeks to diminish the need for a God. It seeks to eliminate God from the creative process. But it does so to its own peril. Second, we said that God is both transcendent and immanent. When we say that God is transcendent it is to say that God is “wholly other.” This points up a very important concept of the creator / creature distinction. The unbelieving world seeks to eliminate this distinction. We must never allow it to happen. Another corollary of this is that God does not need anything. He is content in himself. However, by virtue of his being creator and sustaining creation he is in contact with it. So he is immanent. God is able to draw near to us. This is a good thing. Because of this, Christ is able to come into the world and accomplish God’s salvific purposes for his people. Third, we said that God is ultimate. As we noted then and last week, God is the final court of appeal. There is no one higher than him. God desires that you treat him that way, as ultimate. Fourth, we said that God is most glorious. When you look at God and the fullness of all his attributes he is glorious. There is not a single way in which God is never glorious. We quoted the psalmist in Psalm 113:5 (NIV), which says, “who is like the Lord our God, the one who sits enthroned on high.” Fifth, we noted that God is his name. When Moses asked the Lord to “show him his glory,” God said that he would make his goodness pass by him as he declared his name. God’s name is more than just a label. It is powerful and it is wonderful. We find out much about our wonderful God as he reveals his name throughout redemptive history. We are encouraged to call upon God’s name, for he is able to save us. In him we find forgiveness of sin and new life.

B. We have seen our proper Response in Worship and Service.

Once we gain a proper God we cannot help but worship. Once you see the goodness of God and his name we cannot help but worship. The proper view of God, we have seen, issues forth in proper worship, which then sets the course of your life. The whole of life, then, is to glorify our God. And the whole of our lives are lived in service to him. Every facet of our lives is to be viewed in light of who our God is and what he has done for us. Who can help but worship and serve our great God.

C. We turn now to thinking about What our grand God has Done and how that is accomplished in His people.

As I prayed and wrestled with where we turn next, it seemed most logical to look at what God has fulfilled in Christ and how he accomplishes this in his people. In other words, we say that our God is “mighty to save.” We agree with the Scripture that says, “everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.” And, when we look at God’s name we find everything needed for salvation. In his name, we find compassion, mercy, grace, long-suffering, steadfast love and faithfulness, and forgiveness of sin, iniquity and transgression. Everything that is needed for the human condition is found right there. It is important that we understand this. God is faithful to his name. So let’s ask a question. Who was faithful to make God’s name known to humanity? Who was faithful to make God’s name known in the application of his name to humanity? Who was faithful to carry God’s name in the ultimate sacrifice? Of course, it was Jesus our Messiah. If there is anything that we learn about redemptive history, it is what God accomplishes and not humanity. The record of humanity from Genesis 3 onward is one of a downward spiral. The record of humanity is one of rejection of the truth. It is one of embracing the lie. It is one of embracing the created over the creator. But redemptive history also reveals God’s purpose to accomplish salvation for a people. This people from all the families of the earth will be blessed in the promised seed of Abraham. It is for this reason that we turn to the book of Ephesians. It is there we find out what God did in accomplishing his purpose in Christ. It is there where we find out how this purpose of God is accomplished in our lives as believers. We will wrestle with terminology and what Paul means by the words and phrases he uses. But I believe that for whatever differences there may be, each one of us may draw encouragement from God’s purpose full plan being fulfilled in Christ and accomplished in his people.

II. Background

A. Idolatry

This is the first keyword that I want you to hold onto as we travel throughout this letter. At the time of this writing, Paul is in prison, probably at Rome. If you know anything about ancient Rome, you understand that it was driven by idolatry. Theirs was a worldview ensconced in the worship of some form of the creature. The battle in which Paul and the other apostles were engaged was a worldview battle. This holds true for us as well. We need to understand that of the various worldviews that are out there, they are not equally valid. It is not simply a matter of a battle of ideas and whoever gets the most votes is correct. Christ will subject all things, which includes ideas and worldviews. We, as believers in Jesus Christ are called to be “taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ…” (2 Corinthians 10:5).

Now if in Athens, Paul’s spirit was provoked within him because of the many idols that were present, there in Ephesus was the temple of Artemis or Diana. When Paul preached, he spoke against the idols of the day “made with human hands” in saying that these “are no gods at all” (Acts 19:26). You can imagine the cottage industry of building shrines and miniature idols for the people to obtain at a cost. If you have a “considerable number of people” turning to the living and true God, you will lose business and shortly after your livelihood. Here we find into Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. He speaks to speaking the truth in love. He speaks to spiritual warfare. He speaks to the transformation that takes place from the old life to the new life. All of these things are important in this letter. Just as in our day, in Paul’s day they claimed ultimacy for their idols. Look at what Luke records the Town Clerk as saying in Acts 19:35-36 (ESV) “And when the town clerk had quieted the crowd, he said, "Men of Ephesus, who is there who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is temple keeper of the great Artemis, and of the sacred stone that fell from the sky? 36 Seeing then that these things cannot be denied, you ought to be quiet and do nothing rash.” Did you see it? He is making a knowledge claim and an ultimacy claim. He is claiming that Artemis came down “from heaven.” He knows this and says “these are undeniable facts.” This is a supremacy claim of idolatry over Christianity that Paul is presenting.

B. Awareness / Discernment

This is the second keyword I want you to hold onto as we travel throughout this letter. It is important to understand that Paul is very concerned about having an awareness or discernment in life. Paul was headed to Jerusalem. But he still wanted to interact with the church leaders in Ephesus. So he called them to himself. He reminded them of his fundamental message of “repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ – whether Jew or Gentile. He taught them publicly and he taught them from house to house. And he declared to them everything that was beneficial to them from the Scripture. He made sure to teach them the “whole purpose or counsel of God.” Now here is where the awareness comes into play. He warns the elders of wolves that are seeking to disrupt and destroy the church. He warns them that these wolves will certainly come from without but may indeed come from within. We have certainly witness this with theological liberalism that has entered the church. And today we witness those taking modern thinking and ideas in reading it into the Scripture. They seek to impose modern views into the Scripture because they refuse to accept what the Lord teaches. Paul says to the elders that they are to “be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock.” We need to remember these things in our examination of Ephesians.

III. God's Redemptive Purpose Is Fulfilled in Christ (1-3)

A. The Purposeful Plan of God

This glorious purposeful plan is spelled out for us in chapter 1. Does the idea of God having a glorious purposeful plan bother you? It bothers some people. For some, God having a plan bothers them because they think it takes away from their freedom of choice. So, the more detailed God’s plan is, for some, the less they like it. The more detailed they view God’s plan is, the more difficulty they have with it. This is especially true when you begin talking about words like “elect” or “chosen” or “predestined.” Did God do these things? This first chapter seems to answer in the affirmative. Does that bother you? Should it bother us? Well, I would suggest, beloved, that to understand this first chapter we need to understand where the emphasis lies. What do I mean by that? Within the first 14 verses of the first chapter, Paul mentions or alludes to at least 10 different times what God has done “in him” or “in Christ.” This is amazing. This clues us in to where we need to put the emphasis. God is not arbitrary and neither is he inconsistent but he has a purposeful plan in Christ and he fulfills it in him. Listen to what he says in (CSB) Ephesians 1:9 “He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure that He planned in Him….” And in another translation, (NIV) Ephesians 1:9 “And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ....” God’s purposeful plan fulfilled in Christ should never bother us but we should stand amazed at what our God has done in Christ.

B. God’s Gracious Salvation

This gracious salvation is spelled out for us in chapter 2. This chapter spells out for us how God effects our salvation in Christ. What needs to happen for those who are dead in their trespasses and sins? What has to happen before those who are “by nature children of wrath?” What has to happen? The living and true God must act. And act he does according to his wonderful name. Look at what he says in Ephesians 2:4-5 “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ--by grace you have been saved–” (ESV). Who is the subject here? Whose rich mercy? Who makes alive? But that is not all. There is another issue concerning “enmity.” There is “hostility” that must be undone. Who does it? None other than Christ accomplishes this. We brought about the enmity in the garden and God in Christ does away with it.

C. God’s Mystery Solved

This mystery and the solution to it is found in chapter 3. And wouldn’t you know it, how this mystery is solved focuses upon the same one as the previous two chapters – Jesus Christ. Through Abraham God promised to establish a great nation, Israel. But left hanging is that other part of God’s promise to Abraham when he said that in Abraham’s seed all the families of the earth would be blessed. How is that accomplished? We find out in chapter 3 it is accomplished gospel. And what we find out? That’s in Ephesians 3:11 “This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord...” (ESV).

IV. God's Redemptive Purpose Fulfilled in Christ Is Accomplished in His People.

A. In how you walk according to your calling.

In any situation where God is involved, we are called, as his people, to respond. We are called to respond to our God who has included us in his purposeful plan in Christ, to walk accordingly. This first part is found in chapter 4. The Lord is the one who has called us and we are to walk according. The Lord is the one who has gifted us and we are to exercise those gifts to obtain unity and maturity in Christ. We are to have our lives anchored in the truth of God. We are to guard ourselves from falling back into old patterns of living when we didn’t know the Lord. We enter into a renewal. These themes and perhaps a few more are what is in store for us as we tackle chapter 4.

B. In how you develop a grounded walk.

In chapter 5 and the first part of chapter 6, we are to be a grounded people. To be grounded begins by being in imitator of God. It is to walk in love. It is to understand why the wrath of God “comes upon the sons of disobedience.” It involves, then, to be careful how we walk. We are to walk as the wise walk. We are to take care with our time. We are to keep being filled with the Holy Spirit. And then we are to be grounded in our relationships by viewing them the way God views them. This includes how husbands and wives and children and parents and servants and masters operate in life before a fallen world. Why do we do this? We do this because we want to please God.

C. In how you develop a guarded walk.

Lastly, in the last part of chapter 6, we are called to have a guarded walk. We’ve seen in part of the background to the letter that spiritual warfare is a big part of ministry. We need to know how to engage the enemy. Paul teaches us how to do that in this section of Scripture. It is important that we understand this. It is important that we understand that warfare never stops. It is important that we understand the nuances of spiritual warfare. It is important to be able to identify the real enemy. And it is important to stand up against those things that raise themselves up against the living and true God. But we also need to remember that none of this happens in our own strength. We are to engage the enemy having taken up the full armor of God. It is only in this way that victory comes.

V. Final Thoughts

We have a grand and glorious God. And the living and true God has a glorious purposeful plan for humanity. Although our Lord did not ask any of us concerning his plans, that’s okay because a glorious purposeful plan comes from a gloriously wonderful God. It cannot be otherwise. We rejoice in this. In fact, we respond in worship to our God. As we turn to an examination of Ephesians, we will see in some detail how God’s redemptive purpose fulfilled in Christ is accomplished in his people. We are going to take our time. We are going to be as thorough as we can be. But above all, my hope is that each one of us approaches this in anticipation of what God has in store for us. We will trust that God is at work in each of our lives and in the overall life of the church. What he has said he will do he has done and accomplished in Jesus Christ. May our Lord use our time in this letter for his glory and for our good. Amen.