Ephesians 1:15-23: A Thanksgiving Prayer

A THANKSGIVING PRAYER

 

Happy Thanksgiving! I trust that you will have your fill of tryptophan and enjoy the nap that comes with it. For those of you who don’t know, turkey contains tryptophan, an amino acid that helps you relax and make you sleepy. So, eat up.

            Stories of American thanksgiving celebrations go back to the Mayflower, Plymouth Rock, and the first pilgrims who feasted with Native American friends. What’s true and what’s legend is hard to cipher in this story. But where do Canadians get our thanksgiving story? It actually predates the American story, the first thanksgiving dinner by Europeans in North America being held by Martin Frobisher and his crew in the Eastern Arctic in 1578. They ate a meal of salt beef, biscuits and mushy peas to celebrate and give thanks for their safe arrival in what is now Nunavut. Makes you thankful for turkey and stuffing…

            I’ve always balked at the insistence that churches celebrate Thanksgiving weekend with a special service. I contend that the follower of Jesus should make every day a day of thanks to our God. But I recognize that as humans we need these special days to remind us to be thankful and to verbally declare in this assembly that God is good. And it just so happens that our series on Ephesians today focuses on the theme of thanksgiving. 

            Last Sunday we studied verses 3-14, a single long sentence in the Greek. That’s right – no breaks. Paul got carried away explaining the blessings of God poured out on us. He follows that up with another long single sentence beginning with “For this reason…” Paul looks back at the blessings and thinking of the Ephesian believers says, “I’m so glad you get this…For this reason…” And Paul gives thanks for this church. 

            In our study of verses 15-23 of chapter one, I want to apply Paul’s thanksgiving prayer to our church and pray his prayer for you.

A Pastor Thanks God for the Church (1:15-16)

 

Paul was a missionary with a pastoral heart. God had called him to travel through Europe planting churches as he went. But he did not forget the churches after he left; he heard of their progress, their troubles, and their joys, and wrote to them to encourage them and to challenge them. 

            Take a look at the beginning of the letter to the Philippians, “I thank my God every time I remember you…”(1:3-4). And to the Colossians, “We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you…” (1:3-4). The same is true of his letters to the Thessalonians, Romans, Corinthians, and to his friend Philemon. In each letter, Paul gives God thanks for the faith that has taken root and expressed itself in love and fellowship among the congregants.

            It is entirely appropriate for a pastor to give thanks for the people of his congregation and to praise God for the faith we share. So, I am going to turn the tables on this “Pastor Appreciation” month and in the spirit of Paul, give thanks to God for you.

            Rosenort Fellowship Chapel has been an incredible blessing to Sharon and me these last three years. It is hard to know where to begin. I am afraid that if I start to get specific that you may feel left out of the categories I mention, and I don’t want that. We are thankful for each of you. I thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ…

For the healing experience it has been to be your pastor…

For the unique community that is Rosenort and the way you come together to help each other…

For the friendships we have built with so many of you…

For the generosity you show for missions and other needs…

For the joy we have when we come together to eat and to share an activity…

For the way I have been welcomed at the coffee places in town… (where do I end? I am not deserving of this grace)

A Pastor’s Prayer for the Church (1:17-21)

 

Paul the pastor does not end his prayer with thanksgiving; he continues to pray that the church may build on these good things. He is not content to leave the church as it is but prays that they would experience more of what God has for them. Paul prays, “I keep asking…” What does he ask? So much…

That you may know God better (17) – This is my prayer for you too. I sincerely pray this over every one of you. “I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of revelation and wisdom, so that you may know him better.”

            Knowing God is an endless journey. If you think you have God figured out, you have the wrong god. That’s not a discouraging statement because it means our God is awesome that we will never finish getting to know his love and mercy. This is why Paul prays that God would give the Ephesians the Spirit of revelation and wisdom. 

            In Greek it’s hard to know when to capitalize a word. Most scholars agree though that the Spirit here is not the human spirit but the Holy Spirit. We know from Jesus’ teaching in John 14-16 that the Holy Spirit’s main task is to make Jesus known. In the process of coming to know Jesus, you are coming to know God the Father (John 14:8-9). 

            AW Tozer in his book The Knowledge of the Holy Spirit, begins saying, “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” I have also heard it said that how we pray reveals what we think about God. Knowing God is so important to our life journey.

            Jesus prayed for his disciples, “Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent,” (Jn. 17:3). The Ephesians knew God, but Paul wanted them to know him better. I know you know God, but I pray that you and I would know him better.

            Knowing God is never just intellectual understanding. It is also deeply personal, relational, and experienced together in community. We cannot know God in isolation because he has given us the church that we may know him through each other. 

            My son, and many young adults today, don’t have an experience of God they can look back to. He said that as far back as he can remember, he has never felt God. Feelings are important to the human psyche and experience, but we don’t begin there. Many of you know the “Faith Train” illustration – some may not. The Faith Train is driven by the power of “Facts” – Jesus died and rose again; this is followed by “Faith” – what do I do with this reality? Only then do we experience feelings about what we believe. And some days, we feel nothing. That’s okay, because the facts don’t change.

That you may know hope (18) – You may reflect that you have had the facts and the faith for a long time, but no feelings. Why do we not feel the gracious, omnipotent power of God that is now at work in us? Paul prays that believers would know the hope of God, but to know that hope he prays that “the eyes of your heart may be enlightened” – to see the spiritual realities around you. The eyes of our hearts tend to grow dull with the disappointments of life. It’s so difficult to hope when life gives you lemons.

            John Piper gives three more reasons why we don’t “feel” the hope: 1) We are not aware of the blinding, deadening power of sin at work in our lives. God has conquered sin through Jesus for us and we are forgiven. But if we allow sin to control us, we can’t see God. 2) We are not aware of the power of Satan that is always coming at us to try and steal our joy, our victory. You need to claim God’s victory over Satan and sin (“Resist the devil and he will flee”). 3) We may not consider fully what happened to Jesus and his present role in the universe. He was raised from the grave to life and enthroned at the right hand of God. He rules!

            One thing Piper did not say was that we belong to God. “The hope to which he has called you” speaks of the riches of his glorious inheritance. The text is a bit mysterious; it does not speak of the inheritance we receive, but of the inheritance God receives – you and me. In other words, we belong to God.

That you may know God’s power (19-21) – Paul concludes his three-part request for the Ephesians to grow in knowledge by asking that somehow, they would perceive how powerful God is. In these verses, he calls it “his incomparable great power for us who believe,” then describes it by pointing to the resurrection. 

            Is there anything that compares to the power to give life to someone who was undeniably dead? We may imagine the power to lift a rocket off the launchpad, or the devastating destruction of a nuclear war. I had never heard of hypernovas before this week. It’s a type of stellar explosion with a luminosity 10 times greater than a supernova. When stars 150 times the size of our sun explodes, they produce the brightest light in the universe and produce energy to last 10 billion years. But the power of God to raise the dead…how do you compare anything to that? 

            Paul prays that the Ephesians would know three things: To know God better, to know the hope to which he has called you, and the immeasurable power of God toward us who believe. He’s not praying that we get the hope to which we were called or to get the power of God at work in you. God is yours to know. You have the calling to hope. You have the power of God at work in you. And Paul says, you don’t know them as you should know them and could know them. I want you to know them. I am praying that you know God better, know his hope better, and know his power in Christ Jesus better and better. Paul is praying that we would be spiritually experientially conscious of God’s power toward us as believers now.

 

And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything, for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way (22-23).  

            One of the pleasures I have in the College course I am teaching this semester is revealing the missing element in today’s gospel. Much of evangelicalism focuses on the cross of Christ and the blood of his sacrifice. Our message of the gospel tends to rest there and not move on. What’s next? The resurrection of Jesus. This is so important to the vindication of who Jesus said he was and who he is now. But that’s not the missing piece. 

            Notice when Paul talks about the resurrection in v. 20, he goes on to say it is the same power that seated Jesus in the heavenly realms, far above all rule, authority, power and dominion and every name that is named. The part we miss in our gospel is that Jesus is King! He sits on the throne and rules (present tense). 

            Astonishingly, Paul concludes his prayer saying that this King is most experienced in the entire universe in his church, in his people. As Eugene Peterson puts it, “The Church is Christ’s body, in which he speaks and acts, by which he fills everything with his presence,” (The Message). 

            This is why I am thankful for the church. I am thankful that the King of the universe chooses to reveal himself most fully in the church. I am thankful for you, for the faith you have in the Lord Jesus. And I continue to pray that the God of our Lord Jesus will give you the Spirit of revelation to know God even better.

 

                                                            AMEN

Ephesians 1:1-14: Together...in Christ

TOGETHER…IN CHRIST

 

As we begin this study of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, it is helpful to know a few things about the letter as we go deep. Some scholars question whether Paul wrote the letter because it doesn’t sound like him, and he doesn’t address a problem in the church like he normally does. Others say that Paul meant it as a circular letter, a letter meant to be read by several churches in the region. If Paul didn’t write it, who did? Bible experts would say that a student of Paul’s wrote in his name. I like the circular letter idea myself and believe that Paul wrote it.

            What’s the big picture of Ephesians? What was Paul’s overall message? It may best be described this way: God has a vision, a plan, to bring together people from all walks of life and ethnicities to be a single, holy family, who enjoy the peace of God and peace with each other. He is going to accomplish this vision through Jesus. Our response is required. We need to say “yes” to God and accept his plan for us and join his family. Then we need to walk as people who understand this calling. 

            The Ephesians did say yes to God, but they weren’t walking worthy of that calling. They were claiming God’s promises but living in their old sins. They weren’t living at peace with each other either. This is why Paul writes to them, to explain to them how the family of God lives and behaves in the world. This letter is written to persuade the Ephesians to change their thinking and thus their behavior.

            This is not just something that you do. You and I can’t transform our behavior on our own, God has to do it, and you have to allow him to do it. What God does, he does in Christ. That’s a phrase used 11 times in 1:3-14: “In Christ.” That phrase describes our union with Christ in and through baptism and our participation in his life. It speaks of how we share in the new life that Christ alone has made possible. 

            To begin our journey “Together,” we are going to focus in this text on what it means to be “in Christ.” 

In Christ, we are Chosen (1:3-6)

 

Paul begins with a three-fold expression of praise: “Blessed…blessed…blessing,” (3). It reminds me of the old expression, “Blessed to be a blessing.” God has richly blessed us in a variety of ways in this reality and in the spiritual reality or realm. This is why Paul writes, “Blessed be the God…” or “Praise be to God…” 

            The Greek word Paul uses is the root of the word we know as “eulogy.” We are familiar with “eulogies” as a speech someone gives at a funeral where they “speak well of” the deceased. That’s what “eulogy” means: “to speak well of.” Literally, it means “good word.” What Paul is getting at is this: We ought to bless God by speaking good words about him in response to how God has blessed us by doing good things for us. God has done great things; let’s give him praise.

            What has God done for us? Firstly, note that God is the initiator of this movement. He decided to do this; he started it. Secondly, what God has done, he did in Christ. That means that Jesus was the agent or the means of what he did. So, through Christ, God reconciled the world to himself. We know there was a breach in the relationship between God and humanity because of Adam’s sin. From our end, this was irreparable. But God in Christ made reunion possible. 

            That sounds very technical, I admit, so let’s use Paul’s word to warm this up: God chose us! He chose us before the creation of the world to be in his family. Before Adam and Eve sinned, God chose us. He placed his stamp of ownership on us so that no matter how far we wandered from his goodness, he would always work to bring us back. 

            God’s plan for us is that we would be “holy and blameless.” In my own journey I find it impossible to be holy and blameless. I’m sure you do too. We are supposed to be “saints,” but that brings up images of Mother Theresa and Billy Graham. We shudder to compare ourselves with such as these. But the saints of the NT are not perfect people; they are people like us. Saints are people who face struggles and difficulties, who have troubles at home, at work, and everywhere else. The key to this conundrum always comes back to “in Christ.” We are called to be “holy and blameless” in Christ, in what Christ has done for us. 

            Paul uses another word to emphasize our chosenness: “he predestined us for adoption” There is a lot of debate about that word “predestined.” Calvinists see it as God choosing some for salvation and others for hell. They would say that before Creation, God already had in mind who he would save through Jesus. Those who believe in Free Will disagree saying Christ is the One Chosen and we who believe in Jesus get to participate in his election and Sonship. 

            These words “Chosen” and “Predestined” were not meant to be a matter of debate. This is a reason to praise God! By his will he chose us, he did it, and he was pleased to do it. We get to be in God’s family. 

 

In Christ, we are Redeemed (1:7-10)

 

Redemption sounds like a “churchy” word unless we are cashing in a coupon. Fair enough. It is a rather technical term. Redemption is also called manumission. It means to free slaves from captivity. We could also use it in the sense of paying a ransom for kidnap victim. 

            If God paid a ransom for our release, who did he pay it to? This is where it gets tricky. If we say that Satan demanded payment for our release from his slimy hands, then that gives Satan the upper hand on God. It puts him in the driver’s seat. We can’t say that. To say Jesus is our ransom, our redemption is not a matter of “from whom” but “from what.” 

            The “from what” is our bondage to sin. Later in chapter 2, Paul writes of how we were dead in our sins because we followed “the course of this world” and we followed “the prince of the power of the air” and “lived in the passions of the flesh.” We were in serious bondage folks. We were under Satan’s power and trapped living in the cycle of sin, shame, and guilt with no way out. 

            But God had a secret plan. Paul called it a mystery. In verse 9 it says, “making known to us the mystery of his will.” Mystery in Greek always conveys a sense of secrecy, but in this verse it’s not a secret. I can keep a secret, but not from Sharon (or not very long). I did not throw her a surprise birthday party because we just don’t do the secret thing. God can’t keep a secret. God loves to reveal his mysteries to us. So much for a secret plan. 

            The plan has two parts. First, through King Jesus, his death and resurrection “we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace.” Jesus’ blood pays the price to free us from our bondage to sin. We are free to be God’s children now. We know this, right?

            The second part is not as well known. Through King Jesus the plan includes the world as we know it “to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth,” (10b). Other translations prefer “to gather up all things in him” or “to bring everything together under the authority of Christ.” In essence, it means “to bring to unity, sum up.” Like summing up a verbal argument. In other words, Jesus is the final word. He sums up our existence by reconciling us to God AND putting everything in the universe back in the right place. In Jesus, the final word, the whole universe is restored. 

            To the politicians and their promises, the person who does not call Jesus “King,” this is a mystery. It is a puzzle they cannot solve. If humanity cannot figure out peace in the Middle East, then there is no hope, they say. But in Jesus, all things are made right when he comes.

 

In Christ, we are Heirs (1:11-14)

 

There are many things that divide people today: race, nationality, Conservative or Liberal, rich and poor. I watched a movie a few weeks ago about a future civil war in the US. These reporters were trying to say they weren’t the enemy by claiming to be “American.” The man with the gun and a slow southern drawl replied, “What kind of American?” 

            The division in the ancient world was between Jew and Gentile. Jews were God’s chosen people; Gentiles were idol worshipers. But now Paul is talking about how in Christ, God is bringing everything together, including Jew and Gentile. 

            There is a curious shift in these verses indicated by “we” and “you.” Paul stands with his Jewish heritage when he says, “In him we have obtained an inheritance…we who were the first to hope in Christ…” The “we” refers to the Jews. They were the race through whom the Savior of the world has come. They had the scriptures. They had the advantages of prophecy and insight into this mystery. And they were the first to believe in Jesus.

            Then comes the “you also” part. “In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him…” (13). Paul now speaks to the Gentiles and affirms them that they are part of the chosen people too. Both Jew and Gentile have been chosen to be part of the new family of God. We know this because God would not place his seal on Gentiles unless he chose to possess them. They are sealed, branded as it were, with the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. This is the evidence that we belong to Christ, and a guarantee that we will one day fully realize what it means to be in God’s family. 

            Before you and I were sealed in the Holy Spirit we did two things: First, we heard the word of truth – the gospel, the good news of how God was saving people. Second, you gave allegiance to Jesus as King. Belief alone is not enough because it’s not just believing that something is true. Believing is more like allegiance, like pledging loyalty to King Jesus and his way of living. The gospel is something you obey. You submit to Jesus as King. Then God seals you with the Holy Spirit. 

            God does this for his glory. Look at v. 6 “to the praise of his glorious grace…” and v. 12, “to the praise of his glory,” and at v. 14, “to the praise of his glory.” This is the chief purpose of our lives. This is the reason God chose us before the creation of the world to be his family. He transformed us from rebels steeped in sin to children of God. You and I bring glory to God. And we do this by living a life that reflects King Jesus. 

 

Rick Warren, in his book The Purpose Driven Life, explains from the outset what the purpose of your life is: 

It’s not about you. 

The purpose of your life is far greater than your own personal fulfillment, your peace of mind, or even your happiness. It’s far greater than your family, your career, or even your wildest dreams and ambitions. If you want to know why you were placed on this planet, you must begin with God. You were born by his purpose and for his purpose.

            Consider what God has done for this specific purpose in Christ:

·      He has “blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places” (3). 

·      “he chose us in him before the creation of the world” (4). 

·      “he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ,” (5).

·      “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins,” (7)

·      He made “known to us the mystery of his will…in Christ” (9).

·      He is uniting all things together in Christ (10).

·      “In him we have obtained an inheritance” (11).

·      “In him (you) were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,” (13). 

            For these reasons, we live to the praise of his glory. What does it mean to live for the glory of God? 

            If you have been moved by the Spirit to hunger for more of what God has in store for you in this life, keep reading the letter to the Ephesians. For now, what Paul has done is introduce us to our amazing God and why we ought to worship him…in Christ!!

 

                                                            AMEN

 

 

Prayer

Our Father, we pray that you will take away the dimness from our vision, the dullness from our understanding, and help us to comprehend these great themes which have changed the history of the world again and again as men and women have grasped them. Save us from the danger of taking them for granted or of giving them no attention. But help us, Lord, young and old alike, to think deeply and seriously about these great statements, to understand that this is the way that you are acting, this is the course of your movement through history. Lord, help us by thy grace to rejoice, to lay hold of what you have done for us, and to respond by being instruments in your hand; in Jesus' name we ask, Amen.