Ephesians 1:15-2:10
Notes
Transcript
Ephesians 1:15 begins with a prayer. There are two prayers in Ephesians: (1) “that you might know,” 1:15–23; and (2) “that you might be,” 3:13–21.
Paul prays first that we might know what Christ has done for us; then he prays that we might live up to these wonderful blessings and put them to work in our daily lives.
17 I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, would give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him.
18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened so that you may know what is the hope of his calling, what is the wealth of his glorious inheritance in the saints,
I Pray......
A. That God may give you spiritual understanding (vv. 17–18a).
Spiritual truths must be spiritually discerned (1 Cor. 2:9–16), and this understanding can come only from the Spirit. He wrote the Word; He alone can teach us what it says.
B. That you might know the hope of His calling (v. 18b).
Because God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world, we have a blessed hope for all eternity that depends not on our goodness but on His grace. Review vv. 4–6, where this calling is summarized for us. The Christian who does not know his high calling (Phil. 3:14), holy calling (2 Tim. 1:9), and heavenly calling (Heb. 3:1) will never be able to walk worthy of that calling (Eph. 4:1, where “vocation” is “calling”).
C. That you might know the riches of His inheritance (v. 18c).
We not only have an inheritance in Christ, but we are an inheritance to Christ (see v. 11). The word “riches” appears often in Ephesians, suggesting that there is nothing lacking, nothing more that we need. Christians mature in the Lord when they learn how much they mean to Christ and then start living to bring joy to His heart.
19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the mighty working of his strength.
20 He exercised this power in Christ by raising him from the dead and seating him at his right hand in the heavens—
21 far above every ruler and authority, power and dominion, and every title given, not only in this age but also in the one to come.
22 And he subjected everything under his feet and appointed him as head over everything for the church,
23 which is his body, the fullness of the one who fills all things in every way.
D. That you might know His power (vv. 19–23).
The very power that raised Jesus from the dead is available for our daily lives! Christ has already won the victory over sin, death, the world, and Satan. God’s people do not fight for victory but from victory! We are seated with Him in the heavenlies, where there are power, peace, and victory.
Of course, all these blessings are only for those who meet the conditions set forth in vv. 1–2. Note that Paul writes to living saints (not dead ones), people who have put faith in Christ. These saints (set-apart ones) have experienced God’s grace and now enjoy God’s peace. Nowhere does the Bible teach that the church makes people saints; only God can make a sinner a saint. And the sinner must become a saint while he is still alive, for after death is the judgment (Heb. 9:27).
Ephesians 2
Chapter 2 of Ephesians emphasizes our position in Christ.
Your position determines your possessions and authority. Regardless of where the President of the United States may be physically, his position as the man who sits behind the desk in the White House gives him power and authority. So with the Christian.
Regardless of where we might be physically (Paul was a prisoner when he wrote this letter), we have power and authority in the spiritual realm because of our position in Christ.
A. What we were (vv. 1–3)
1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins
2 in which you previously walked according to the ways of this world, according to the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit now working in the disobedient.
3 We too all previously lived among them in our fleshly desires, carrying out the inclinations of our flesh and thoughts, and we were by nature children under wrath as the others were also.
What a picture of the lost sinner! To begin with, sinners are dead spiritually; that is, the inner man is dead to spiritual things and cannot respond to them. The Gospels describe the resurrections of three people that Jesus raised from the dead: (1) a twelve-year-old girl, Luke 8:49–55; (2) a young man, Luke 7:12–15; and (3) an older man, John 11. Each of them was dead; the only difference was their state of decomposition. Lazarus had been buried for four days and had begun to smell! All sinners are dead, regardless of age; the only difference between the unsaved church member and the vagrant on skid row is the state of decay. Sinners are not only dead, they are enslaved by the world and live for its pleasures and fashions. Tell them that this world is under the condemnation of God and is passing away, and they will laugh at you. They are also enslaved by Satan, who is at work in the lives of unsaved people. This does not mean that he necessarily makes them drunkards or murderers; his usual tactic is to give people false security through self-righteousness. Jesus called the Pharisees “children of the devil” (John 8:44), yet they were religious, upstanding citizens.
We are born by nature children of wrath; when we reject Christ knowingly after reaching an age of accountability, we become children of disobedience by choice. When we trust Jesus Christ, we become children of God.
B. What God did (vv. 4–9)
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love that he had for us,
5 made us alive with Christ even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace!
6 He also raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavens in Christ Jesus,
7 so that in the coming ages he might display the immeasurable riches of his grace through his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
8 For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift—
9 not from works, so that no one can boast.
“But God!” These words are among the greatest in the Bible. God could have allowed us to go on in sin and live eternally with the devil in hell, but instead He chose to save us. He gave us life (quickened us), raised us from the grave of sin, and took us out of the graveyard! More than that, He made us members of Christ! We have been quickened together, raised together, and we sit together in the heavenlies. God did this because He is rich in mercy and great in love. Mercy means that God does not give me what I do deserve; grace means that He gives me what I don’t deserve.
C. What we are now (v. 10)
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.
We are His workmanship, His new creation (2 Cor. 5:17).
The word “workmanship” (poiēma), used only here and in Romans 1:20 (where the niv renders it “what has been made”) denotes a work of art or a masterpiece. It
Memorize: Ephesians 2:10
Memorize: Ephesians 2:10
Next Week: Ephesians 2:11-20
Next Week: Ephesians 2:11-20