Ephesians 1
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Intro:
Intro:
Ephesians is known as the crown of St Paul’s writings.
Others say this is one of the most significant documents ever written.
Raymond Brown, a Bible scholar, says that “Only Romans could match Ephesians as a candidate for exercising the most influence on Christian thought and spirituality.”
This letter is split into two distinct halves.. 1-3 and 4-6
1-3 being the theological or doctrinal section
4-6 being the ethical
V. 1-2
An apostle by the will of God
Paul was an apostle by God’s will...
People think that the highest calling is a pastor or missionary… but that’s not true.
The highest calling is whatever your calling is.
Mary, House mom by the will of God.
Joe, electrician by the will of God.
If you’re in God’s will, then that’s the best calling.
Everyone isn’t meant to be a pastor… count your blessing ahah.. this is not an easy task.
Be happy that God saved you from the grief and headaches that come with it.
Grace to you and peace from God...
You cannot know the peace of God until your first experience the Grace of God.
If you think you have to work for God’s love, you will never know the peace of God.
You will never have assurance of your salvation, until you stop working for GOd’s love and experience His grace.
V. 3
Paul starts off his letter by praising God!
Blessed here means , Worthy of Praise!
God is worthy of all praise.
Is this not how Jesus taught us to pray?
How many of us start our days in praise?
How many of us start our prayers in praise?
I think it is important to praise Him first thing… Because with a heart of praise, your eyes wont be so focused on self, you’ll be focused on God.
Every Spiritual Blessing
What is every spiritual blessing? Paul goes through a list here from verses 4-14.
Election to holiness
Adoption
Redemption and forgiveness
Knowledge of God’s plan
Gift of the Spirit
and Hope of Glory.
These gifts are not just future benefits, but they are a present reality for us, they’ve been won for us by God’s saving Grace.
You know what the main theme of this is? That in christ we are blessed! In Christ, we are blessed…
V. 4
This verse gets people riled up...
We need to get some things straight in Christendom.
The baby in the womb to the oldest kindest person in the world, we all are sinners and deserve hell.
Because of Adam and Eve’s disobedience, sin entered the world and now it’s in all of us.
In a perfect world, in the garden, Adam and Eve chose sin..
So… All this to say, you can’t choose God, God chose you.
God chose you before the foundation of the world, before the world was created He, in his goodness, chose you.
Some people have a hard time grasping this, because they think they contribute to their own salvation.
The only thing we contribute to our salvation is our sin…
We’re not chosen only for salvation, but for holiness...
Meaning we are set apart for God.
We see many Christians who don’t act set apart from the world, but we see them being conformed to the image of the devil.
It’s sad seeing churches conforming to the world, because they want to be relevant.
V. 5-6
Since God has chosen His people before the foundation of the world, he ha predestined them for adoption.
We should praise God the Father because His purpose in choosing us was to bring us into a personal relationship with himself as His children.
People say, “Everyone is a child of God.”
False...
You are either a child of God, or a child under God’s wrath (2:3)
What is adoption?
Someone choosing to allow you into their family.
God chose believers to be apart of His family.
In Roman law, “When the adoption was complete it was complete indeed. The person who had been adopted had all the rights of a legitimate son in his new family and completely lost all rights in his old family. In the eyes of the law he was a new person. So new was he that even all debts and obligations connected with his previous family were abolished as if they had never existed.” (Barclay)
n Roman law, “When the adoption was complete it was complete indeed. The person who had been adopted had all the rights of a legitimate son in his new family and completely lost all rights in his old family. In the eyes of the law he was a new person. So new was he that even all debts and obligations connected with his previous family were abolished as if they had never existed.” (Barclay)
It’s awesome to know that God wants us, He wants us as His children.
Now, not only are we adopted, but we are accepted!
Maybe your kids don’t accept you, grandkids, parents, friends, or whatever… That’s okay, because if you are a believer, you are accepted by God and are adopted into a new family.
V.7-8
In Christ,
We have redemption…
We are set free from slavery to sin..
Christ set us free through His blood.
Remember, sin requires payment, and the payment is blood.
So, Jesus died for our sins in order for us to be set free from sin and have relationship with God.
We have forgiveness of sins
This means we are now right with God.
People who are not saved, are dead in their sins and are still under the wrath of God.
But, we aren’t.. We are made right with God.. We can now stand boldly before God, because we are accepted.
V. 9-12
What is this mystery?
The mystery is that Christ would be in you.
But there’s more to it...
That when the time comes, He will gather together all things in Christ, in Him.
And earth will be perfect like God intended it to be.
Earth would be such a beautiful place if it weren’t for sinners.
When we look around, we see war, suffering, diseases, and a bunch of other stuff...
When Jesus gathers together everything to Himself.. He will cast Lucifer, his angels, and hell into the lake of fire.
Then, we will have a new heaven and new earth!
No more pain, suffering, heartache...
In Him
What else do we have in Christ?
We have an inheritance!
Incorruptible, undefiled, fades not away, reserved in heaven for you. If we are children of God, then we are heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ. And it is through Jesus Christ that I have become an heir to the glorious, eternal kingdom of God and to the riches of that kingdom. They are mine, and I shall enjoy them, world without end. -Chuck Smith
Works all things according to His will.
God doesn’t ask you for your opinion.
Jesse Duplantis, my dad shared about how God asked him for his opinion… Yeah, he’s a false teacher who doesn’t know God.
God does what He wants… That’s it..
He doesnt need our approval, doesn’t need us, He does what He wills..
Some think that’s not fair.. Well, you tell them, go create your own universe, heaven, people, then you can do what you want.
We will bring praises to God, because of the work hes done in us.
V.13-14
The entire process of salvation is in this verse.
Hear the Gospel
Trust it, believe it
God gives you the Holy Spirit to seal you
The Holy Spirit is a guarantee of our inheritance!
Guarantee is a Down Payment.
People always argue that you can lose your salvation...
Now, honestly, I don’t care about this argument, because it’s stupid… People leave churches over this, or divide over it, and it is sad.
The Holy Spirit is our guarantee for our inheritance, so it kind of seems that since He’s our seal, He will make sure we make it to the end.
Cattle, even slaves, were branded with a seal...
Now we are slaves of Christ, and we are branded with the Seal (the Holy Spirit).
Knowing that we have the seal.. We know God will get us though trials, testing, and hard ships of this life.
Conclusion: