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.
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