Eph 1:3-14, theme verse Eph 1:10
The praise and honor and glory be to our heavenly Father who seeks true worshipers who worship Him with the Spirit and truth.
In this seventeenth Sunday after the Pentecost, I pray that His grace of the application of all the benefits which Jesus earned for our salvation and also the glorious ministry of the proclamation of His kingdom by the power of the Holy Spirit may be full in our life. Last week, we learned that we have to live as the apostles of peace in the with through humility, tolerance and love, through the Romans. This week we would like to look at the Ephesians which in the first of four Captivity Epistles to learn few lessons together.
1) The Epistle to the Ephesians is called as the Captivity Epistle which he wrote under his house arrest in Rome. I mean, after Paul finished the the first missionary journey of AD 46-48 and the second missionary journey of AD 50-52, he went the third missionary journey for 4 years from AD 53-57 in which he visited again the churches in Galatia and went to Ephesus to proclaim the gospel in the Jewish synagogues for three months. But, some did not accept the gospel and instead slandered him. So he set aside disciples and taught the Bible for two years in the Tyrannus. During this time, the power of God appeared to Paul so that when he baptized those who had not received the Holy Spirit in the name of Jesus, some of them spoke in tongues and others prophesied. And also some people placed Paul’s handkerchiefs or aprons on the sick, their diseases were cured and evil spirits were casted out from them. So many of those who had been practicing magic became to believe in Jesus and abandoned their magic books so that there was a great uproar in Ephesus because of this. Therefore Paul left Ephesus and crossed over to Macedonia, passing through Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea, Athen, and finally Corinth, where he stayed for about three months. At that time, he wrote the Epistle to the Romans. According to the Romans, he said that after delivering the collection for the poor of the Jerusalem churches which was received from the churches in Macedonia, he wanted to visit Rome. As he said, even though his disciples advised him not to go to Jerusalem, because bonds and tribulations awaited him there, he went up to Jerusalem, saying that he did not consider his life of any value nor as precious to himself, so that he might finish his gospel preaching ministry which he received from the Lord, and was captured by the Jews. And when they were about to stone him to death in the outside of the city, the Roman soldiers arrested him and took him into the barracks. And then Paul revealed that he was a Roman citizen, after many twists and turns, Paul appealed to Caesar and was taken to Rome.
2) And when he was under house arrest in Rome, around AD 60-61, he wrote this letter to help the Ephesian church leaders to resolve various problems they were facing. First new believers converted from a background in Judaism, local religions, magic, and astrology were still tempted to cling to idols due to the fears of the power of evil spirits so that he wrote this letter to convince them of the excellence of Christ and the power of God against hostile forces. Second, he urged them that Christians, as participants in Christ’s death and resurrection, should live a life free from the immoral lives, such as drunkenness, sexual immorality, lying, stealing, bitter speaking, and other vices which they lived before becoming Christians. At the same time, since great Gentiles entered to Ephesian churches, as tensions between Gentile and Jewish Christian, he wanted to instruct them that the church should be united as one body of Christ.
3) Looking at the Ephesians according to the ancient epistolary customs first, in the opening section, while using the typical opening formula, he introduced himself as an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God through which we can know that he emphasized the divine authority of his teachings. And in the following thanksgiving section, first he praises God for giving the spiritual blessings of heaven, and then introduces the essence of the ministry of Triune God, and prays that God will give them the Spirit of wisdom and revelation so that they will know God and enlightens their eyes so that they will know the hope of God’s calling, the riches of the glory fo His inheritance and the exceedingly great power of God that He has bestowed upon them. And finally, in the closing section, he concluded the letter by saying that he sent Tychicus to teach them about all these things and blessed them with peace and grace as well as faith and love.
4) And then to summarize the main body of Ephesians: First, in chapter 2, Paul told the Ephesians who were dead in trespasses and sins, living the worldly life under the prince of the power of the air, that God made them alive and saved them through faith, which is even a gift of God, to do good works of reconciliation, after being created in new humanity in Christ, to God as holy saints, fellow citizens, and members of God’s household in the Holy Spirit. And in chapter 3, Paul says that he himself, as a prisoner for the Gentiles, has become a minister according to the gift of God’s grace, proclaiming the mystery of God’s administration, and prays that their inner being will be strengthened, so that they will deeply know Christ, realize God’s great love, and be filled with the riches of God’s grace. And then in the following chapters 4 and 5, he exhorts them about their practical lives based on the theological foundation of chapters 2 and 3. First, in chapter 4, he says that since the Holy Spirit has made them one already so that they should strive to keep the unity that they already have. And He also says that they were given various gifts so that through those gifts, they had to glorify Jesus, while helping others to grow, as they also grow in new self, putting off the sins of old self to live the life of love and light with wisdom after being filled with the Holy Spirit. And finally, Paul exhorts them to submit to one another and to respect one another not only in social life, but also in family life and in master-servant relationships, while exhorting them to put on the full armor of God, in order to win the spiritual battle against the evil.
5) And he says all these things are the will of God, I mean, which is, to redeem those whom He has chosen and predestined in order to make them holy and blameless, so that they might become His children and inheritors of His inheritance, being united in order in Christ as their head to the glory of God the Father. For this purpose, God has chosen and predestined them in His love, and is governing all things for that, and Jesus Christ has accomplished His vicarious redemptive ministry on the cross according to the will of God, and the Holy Spirit as the seal and guarantee of that inheritance, has been working to complete that redemption. And then in v11 he says that this will of God and all the works of Triune God are based on the counsel of His will, in theological term, the counsel of peace, or the covenant of redemption which Triune God made in eternity.
6) And he continued to say that all these blessings are in Christ, and we can enjoy all these blessings in the union with Christ. That’s why he mentioned “ἐν Χριστῷ (en Christo)”, I mean, “in Christ” nine times in the twelve verses of today’s text, so that he mentioned “Christ” eleven times, including “by Christ” and “of Christ.” And also that’s why Calvin said, “our whole salvation and all its parts are comprehended in Christ.” And also that’s why Louis Berkhof said, “In this intimate, vital, and spiritual union between Christ and His people, Christ is the source of their life and strength, of their blessedness and salvation.” In order words, Paul saids that through the baptism, by participating in his death and resurrection, we not only receive forgiveness of sins, justification, and the entire process of sanctification, but also, even the glorification on the day we finally enter heaven so that we joyfully participate in his remaining sufferings abundantly. Therefore Paul told that since they were united with Christ already, he exhorted that living in the confidence of salvation, to become one in Christ and to grow in the love of the Lord, they fight and win the spiritual battle against the evil one, putting on the full armor of God.
7) Yes, We are called not only to praise the glory of God’s grace and the glory of God, but also to be the praise of His glory. For this purpose, Triune God made the covenant of redemption from eternity, even before the creation of all things. And in that covenant of redemption, God the Father chose and predestined each of us in His love and then 2,000 years ago, God the Son came to this earth and achieved the redemptive ministry on the cross, embracing each names of us, and then based on that grace, finally, 2,000 years later, when the time came, the Holy Spirit came into us to apply all the benefits which Jesus earned for our redemption until the completion of it. Such amazing grace is in the will of God, and it is also the great power of God works and accomplishes through His administration in His providence. Therefore, I pray that God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give us the Spirit of wisdom and revelation to know Him, and enlighten the eyes of our understanding so that we may know what is the hope in His calling, and what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his mighty power.
Key Questions as Small Group Activity
Q1 According to today’s text, we can know that our salvation which is achieved in around AD 2000 was already predestined in the counsel of Triune God before the creation of the world through which we were chosen. So, after meditating on this amazing grace, I hope we could share how we felt on this with our team members together to learn from each other.
Q2 And also in today’s text, Paul says that not only God wanted for us to praise the glory of God’s grace and glorify God, but also God administrate all things in His providence to make us the praise of His glory. So after reviewing our life, if we are living as the praise of His glory, I hope we could share our thoughts with each other to learn from each other.
Love you. Thank you. God bless you.
Prayer Note
Dear ( God’s attribute which you found Today ) God!
Thanks for ( something you received through the sermon or even during the week )
Praise, gratitude and glory be to You, Lord!
Today, I realized my sin (pains) that ( the sin God reminded through the sermon ),
please forgive (or heal) me and help me not to repeat ( the sins you recognized ).
I learned that ( something you learned through the sermon )
Please help me to live in that ( learned way of life )
I pray in ( Jesus’ attribute you find ) Jesus’ name. Amen.
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