Ephesians 1B. After our long introduction last week, we re ready to dive into Paul s letter

Transcription

1 Ephesians 1B After ur lng intrductin last week, we re ready t dive int Paul s letter And since we spent an entire lessn n the letter s backgrund, I think we ll just g directly t the text beginning with Paul s salutatin Eph. 1:1 Paul, an apstle f Christ Jesus by the will f Gd, T the saints wh are at Ephesus and wh are faithful in Christ Jesus: Eph. 1:2 Grace t yu and peace frm Gd ur Father and the Lrd Jesus Christ. Paul intrduces himself in his custmary fashin, identifying himself t his readers as an apstle by the will f Gd Yu l almst always find Paul beginning his letters in this way First, he identifies himself t his Greek audience by his Greek name His Jewish name was Saul, which translated int the Greek becmes Paul Paul was the Jewish apstle sent by Christ t the Gentile wrld and Paul embraced his calling whleheartedly S he identified with his Greek audience by calling himself Paul Next Paul reminds his audience that he pssessed the authrity f an apstle An apstle is a special member f the bdy f Christ He is a man cmmissined by Christ persnally, thugh a persnal appearing f the Lrd Apstles had unique authrity and pwer t bring the Gspel t unreached areas They authred New Testament scripture and they culd perfrm supernatural acts f healing as prf f their special calling The first apstles were thse wh fllwed Jesus befre He died, and then there were a few mre wh were cmmissined by the risen Lrd Paul was ne f thse apstles cmmissined by the risen Lrd 2016 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

2 Ephesians 1B 2 f 15 Befre Paul was cmmissined and began t serve the Lrd, he persecuted the church And it was Paul s histry as a persecutr f the church that gave his critics pprtunity t accuse him f being illegitimate S Paul frequently defended his psitin f authrity Furthermre, Paul adds that he is an apstle by the will f Gd Remember hw Paul was traveling t arrest Christians in Damascus when the Lrd appeared befre him Jesus blinded Saul and sent him t a believer in Damascus That believer, a man named Ananias, expressed cncern t Jesus abut cming face-t-face with the man knwn t kill Christians And t this Jesus reply: Acts 9:15 But the Lrd said t him, G, fr he is a chsen instrument f Mine, t bear My name befre the Gentiles and kings and the sns f Israel; Acts 9:16 fr I will shw him hw much he must suffer fr My name s sake. S Paul didn t vlunteer fr his jb...gd thrust it upn him Jesus says Paul was a chsen instrument Paul wasn t a vlunteer, Paul was recruited, Paul was chsen What s mre, Paul became a believer in Jesus Christ in this same way Paul didn t get a chance t chse t be a disciple f Christ I imagine had smene asked Saul if he was interested in becming a disciple f Jesus and suffering fr the benefit f Gentiles, he wuld have spit in their face Gd didn t put the questin t Saul because Saul wuld have refused And s the Lrd arrested Saul n the rad, Gd gave Saul a debilitating cnditin and then sent Saul t explain the situatin Cnsequently, Paul ften pened his letters by explaining his rle and authrity as smething Gd s willed, nt smething Paul willed 2016 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

3 Ephesians 1B 3 f 15 It silenced thse wh claimed Paul wasn t t be trusted since his ministry began after the ther apstles and he was a persecutr f the church Paul desn t defend himself n the basis f self-wrth f merit He desn t give excuse fr his persecutin f the church Rather, he says the Lrd selected him fr the rle and therefre the Lrd was respnsible fr the timing f his cnversin This was an especially imprtant pint in light f Paul s purpse fr writing t Ephesus He s ging explain the Lrd s svereign hand in ur relatinship with Christ And what better way t prepare them t hear abut Gd s svereignty than t remind them f hw he himself entered int that relatinship accrding t Gd s chice At the end f v.1 Paul addresses the letter t thse in Ephesus wh are faithful and in Christ Jesus They were in Christ which means they were a part f the family f Gd by faith This was their true identity Befre they were Rman citizens r residents f Ephesus, their identity was fund in Christ And beynd their identity in Christ, they were faithful in Christ T be faithful desn t mean t merely have faith A Christian can fail t be faithful t the Lrd But thse in Ephesus were faithful, as we learned last week They remained faithful t the truth and t the apstles teaching Paul greets this church in v.2 with grace and peace frm the Father and the Sn This is the classic greeting frm Paul He never failed t remind his readers that they were recipients f Gd s grace and an eternal peace with Gd 2016 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

4 Ephesians 1B 4 f 15 Befre faith they were due judgment, and s they knew the fear f death and what came afterward But Gd s favr, His grace leads us t eternal peace Of curse, the church had grace and peace spiritually, but that desn t mean they experienced grace and peace in their lives We ve received Gd s grace, but d we live knwing we are frgiven? We have been recnciled t Gd in peace, but d we truble urselves with unnecessary fears and wrries and struggles f this life? Many Christians d by allwing the things f this wrld t determine ur happiness, security, cntentment and fulfillment But we shuld seek all thse things thrugh ur relatinship with Christ As I mentined last week, this church was especially trubled by wrldly temptatins and distractins They were leaning t heavily n earthly cncerns fr validatin, fr satisfactin And they were verlking t surpassing riches f Gd s mercy which was already theirs by faith S fr them, Paul wishes they wuld experience the grace and peace they have received Paul then launches int ne f the mst pwer thelgical declaratins in all the New Testament intended t remind the church f all they received in Christ The dctrine Paul will teach is fund in chapters 1-3 Remember, we study dctrine s we can knw hw t live in respnse t these truths S in these chapters, we get a steady stream f truth by which we may live Later in chapters 4-6 we ll receive the applicatin f these truths The chapters f dctrine take a unique frm in Paul s letters, reading almst like a prayer r a praise letter t Gd Himself 2016 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

5 Ephesians 1B 5 f 15 The teaching pens with a single Greek sentence running frm chapter 1:3-14 This sentence is a cntinuus praise t the Lrd fr all He s given t the believer by His grace S imagine yu receive a letter infrming yu that yu ve been invited t jin the mst exclusive cuntry club in twn Yu never applied, and yu certainly didn t pay the membership fee Neither d yu meet the qualificatins fr membership Nevertheless, yu received the acceptance letter, s yu g t the club ffice t receive yur welcme initiatin When yu arrive, the club wner presents yu with a list f the privileges enjyed by club members Imagine being verwhelmed by the many, many benefits that cme frm membership at this exclusive club That s ne way t understand vs.3-14 f chapter 1 Paul knws he s writing t a grup f status-cnscius, wealthseeking sphisticates living in wrldly circumstances They are Christians, and they are faithful t the true teachings f the church, but their affectins are divided S Paul is reminding them that membership in the family f Gd has privileges that far utweigh what they seek in Ephesus We ll study these benefits ne at a time, but since these verses (3-14) are ne lng sentence, we will have t divide it up as we g thrugh it By the way, I think Paul s chice t write nly ne sentence is nt an accident It think it s a result f Paul s being carried frward quickly by the Spirit frm ne thught t anther As Paul cnsidered ne spiritual benefit, it led him t cntemplate anther and then anther, Prducing a chain f cnnected ideas 2016 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

6 Ephesians 1B 6 f 15 S we begin with v.3, which is a tp Eph. 1:3 Blessed be the Gd and Father f ur Lrd Jesus Christ, wh has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, Paul begins where all things begin: Gd the Father Paul says the Father is blessed, and he uses the wrd in the sense f speak well f S Paul says speak well f the Father And d s because He is the Father f ur Lrd Jesus Christ Jesus is a member f the Gdhead, and His cming t dwell amng men was the plan f the Father In the mystery f the Trinity, we knw the Lrd Jesus Christ was nt created by the Father Nevertheless Jesus Christ came frth frm the Father, taking the frm f man In that sense Paul is saying speak well f the Father fr sending us ur Lrd Jesus Christ And furthermre, ur Father has blessed His children by faith with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places Paul begins his list f privileges fr thse in the bdy f Christ with this general statement There are three parts t the statement, s let s lk at them ne at a time starting with the final thing Paul says What we have we receive because we re in Christ Our pprtunity fr blessing is a result f ur relatinship with Christ by faith Truly, nthing we re ging t discuss in this letter will make any sense fr a persn unless he r she is in Christ Because Christ Himself is the Blessed One f Gd Yu and I aren t blessing-wrthy based n ur wn merits 2016 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

7 Ephesians 1B 7 f 15 Our pprtunity fr blessing frm the Father is entirely based n Christ s wrk n ur behalf S whatever we receive frm the Father cmes because the Sn deserves it, nt because we d It s because the Father blessed the Sn that we t are blessed And that shuld give us great cmfrt Knw that yur blessings are the result f Christ s gdness and His wrk, nt yur wn, gives us cnfidence in that future Als ntice that v.3 is written in the past tense The Father has already determine t bless us because f Christ Yes, the Bible teaches f heavenly rewards based n ur service t Christ But it als teaches that ur relatinship with Christ alne assures us f unimaginable blessing apart frm anything we d Therefre great and eternal blessing will be urs as a result f ur faith in Christ, and this is withut questin We ll talk mre abut these blessings as we g further in the letter Fr nw it s enugh t knw that the Lrd has plans t bless all his children because f Christ On the ther hand, if yu have nt yet placed yur faith in Christ as yur Savir, then nthing Paul s talking abut applies t yu These are things the Father has reserved fr thse wh are in Christ, because Christ alne deserves them Yet He shares them with thse wh are His by faith Which leads me t the secnd part f Paul s statement: We have received spiritual blessings It s becme vgue in the church these days t talk abut blessings, t claim blessings, t name blessings, etc. Preachers and their cngregatins thrw the wrd arund frequently and casually these days 2016 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

8 Ephesians 1B 8 f 15 A new car is a blessing, a new jb is a blessing, a tax refund is a blessing A gd hair day is a blessing And the Lrd certainly grants us earthly blessings in varius frms, but Paul has spiritual things in mind The kind f spiritual blessings we can experience tday are benefits fr ur spiritual well-being Things like peace, cntentment, hliness, patience, sacrifice, curage, bldness, jy, cmpassin, humility and the like The Bible calls spiritual blessings the fruit f the Spirit, and they are the manifestatin f Gd s lve in ur hearts Sme Christians are s fcused n gaining material blessings that they re verlking the superirity f the spiritual blessings fund in Christ Perhaps that s yu Perhaps yu have truble understanding hw spiritual blessings are f much value when yu re struggling just t pay the bills Or yu re trying t survive the next layff r repair a brken relatinship, r fight an illness If that s yu, then let me encurage yu t talk t a Christian wh has learned t value spiritual blessing in a fallen wrld Talk the ne wh knws true cntentment in a wrld f keeping up with the Jneses T smene wh has learned t frgive in a wrld f hatred and vengeance Talk t the Christian wh has fund peace in knwing Christ and waiting fr the Kingdm They ll all tell yu...they ve gained smething much mre valuable by walking in the Spirit than anything they sught in this wrld And remember Paul started the verse saying they we have receive every spiritual blessing in Christ In ther wrds, yu can t find these blessings anywhere else 2016 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

9 Ephesians 1B 9 f 15 Yu may pursue peace n earth, but yu wn t find it...yu already have it available in Christ Yu may seek cntentment r security r lve r jy r slace any number f ways, but nne f thse ways will wrk in the end Whatever they give will be temprary at best But true lasting spiritual blessing is fund in walking with Christ by His Spirit Finally, Paul says these blessings are in the heavenly places Beynd the spiritual benefits that we derive here n earth as a result f walking in Christ, there is even greater blessing awaiting in the heavenly realm This will be a central tenet in Paul s teaching t Ephesus He s ging t tell them they are richer than they culd pssibly knw They pssess mre than their unbelieving neighbrs ever will While they were distracted trying t earn the wealth f Ephesus, the Father had reserved heavenly blessings fr them like nthing else The sner yu realize hw rich yu truly are in heaven, the sner yu relinquish the thught f gaining the wealth here It reminds me f Aesp s fable f the dg hlding a bne in it s muth It lks at its reflectin in the river and thinks it sees anther dg with anther bne It snaps at the ther bne it sees in the reflectin, nly t lse the bne it was hlding in its muth Likewise, Christians trying t grasp fr this wrld are frgetting that they already hld heaven in their muth, s t speak S in just v.3 Paul has established the thesis fr the dctrine f his letter That spiritual riches are assured fr all wh are in Christ, and these riches surpass all that the wrld hlds 2016 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

10 Ephesians 1B 10 f 15 But this is merely Paul s penly salv It s nt a recipe fr Christian living, nr des Paul expect us t simply rest in this statement withut supprt Think f v.3 as Paul s thesis statement, his verview But we ve just begun a sentence that runs fr 11 mre verses, s there s much mre cming Next Paul begins t explain hw each member f the Gdhead wrked t secure these blessings fr us Beginning with the Father Eph. 1:4 just as He chse us in Him befre the fundatin f the wrld, that we wuld be hly and blameless befre Him. In lve Eph. 1:5 He predestined us t adptin as sns thrugh Jesus Christ t Himself, accrding t the kind intentin f His will, Eph. 1:6 t the praise f the glry f His grace, which He freely bestwed n us in the Belved. The pening wrd in v.4 is translated just as in English, but that desn t really cnvey the Greek meaning well The wrd in Greek is kaths, which is better translated in as much as r accrdingly The wrd means here s hw we gained these heavenly blessings S in vs.4-6 Paul explains the Father s rle The Father s rle in assuring us heavenly blessing was chsing and predestining us t ur relatinship with Christ Paul says the Father chse us in Him The Him in the phrase in Him is Christ, s Paul is saying the Father chse us t be in Christ We knw the term in Christ is an uniquely Pauline way f describing smene wh is saved, a Christian S withut a dubt, Paul says the Father chse us t be saved by ur faith in Christ 2016 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

11 Ephesians 1B 11 f 15 Paul says the same thing in numerus places including 1Crinthians 1Cr. 1:30 But by His ding yu are in Christ Jesus, wh became t us wisdm frm Gd, and righteusness and sanctificatin, and redemptin, Paul says we are in Christ Jesus by the Father s ding Because the Father chse us, we were fund in Christ Fr many believers, the wrd chse causes us t pause We ask what des it mean that the Father chse us? Des it mean he chse us ver smene else? Des He chse everyne? Des He nt chse sme? Why? I wn t try t address these questins here tday, nt nw But the Bible des answers these questins, patiently and specifically And we will find ur answers as we mve thrugh this study Meanwhile, we can t let ur questins lead us t change the basic meaning f wrds r ignre them altgether Paul says plainly that the Father chse us t be in Christ The wrds means exactly what it seems t mean...gd selected us t be fllwers f Jesus Christ Just as He chse Paul t believe and fllw Jesus Just as Jesus chse His first disciples Jhn 6:66 As a result f this many f His disciples withdrew and were nt walking with Him anymre. Jhn 6:67 S Jesus said t the twelve, Yu d nt want t g away als, d yu? Jhn 6:68 Simn Peter answered Him, Lrd, t whm shall we g? Yu have wrds f eternal life. Jhn 6:69 We have believed and have cme t knw that Yu are the Hly One f Gd. Jhn 6:70 Jesus answered them, Did I Myself nt chse yu, the twelve, and yet ne f yu is a devil? 2016 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

12 Ephesians 1B 12 f 15 While yu may nt yet understand all that the implicatins f this statement Dn t let yur questins becme reasn t dismiss Gd s wrds ut f hand Yu can accept the truth f what Gd s wrd says even befre yu understand all it implies Fr example, can yu understand that Gd is One and yet is als Three? N ne this side f Heaven can understand it adequately Even as we try t explain it with analgies r ther cmparisns, ur wrds inevitably fall shrt But we can accept it as true Can yu explain hw Gd culd exist frm eternity? Or hw Gd can becme brn f a wman? Explanatins f these things fail us, yet we still accept these things as true Likewise, we accept the fact that the Father chse us even if this truth raises difficult questins If yu re tempted t think that Gd s chice was fr smething less than ur salvatin, then Paul s wrds at the end f v.4 end the argument Paul says the Father made this chice n ur behalf s that we wuld becme hly, and blameless befre Him T be hly and blameless means t be withut judgment fr sin T be justified by the atnement f Christ n ur behalf This detail eliminates any ther interpretatin f Paul s wrds If the result f the Father s chsing us was that we wuld becme hly and blameless, then we must say that the result f the Father s chice was that we wuld be saved We can t cnclude Paul is saying the Father merely chse t ffer us the Gspel Offering smene the Gspel desn t result in that persn becming hly and blameless 2016 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

13 Ephesians 1B 13 f 15 Many peple are ffered the Gspel in human terms, but mst f them die in their sins N, the nly cnclusin we can make is that the Father s chice directly resulted in us being made hly and blameless in Christ The Father chse us in Christ because this is the nly way we culd stand befre a hly and just Gd And as it turns ut, the timing f the Father s decisin is all-imprtant Did He chse us at sme pint during ur life? Was it the mment befre we cnfessed Christ? Was the mment we cnfessed, r perhaps the mment immediately after? Perhaps we did smething extrardinarily gd Or perhaps thse wh Gd des nt chse frfeited their pprtunity t be in Christ because f sme terrible sin If He chse us at sme pint in ur lifetime, then we might rightly cnclude that His chice was a respnse t smething that happened during ur life And the Lrd didn t want us t misunderstand hw we fund urselves in Christ It wasn t smething we did, whether gd r bad, it was Gd s chice alne S in v.4 Paul says the Father chse us befre the fundatins f the wrld The fundatins f the wrld refers t the the start f Gd s creative wrk in frming the universe Paul imagines Gd s creative wrk as a massive cnstructin prject Befre the superstructure f ur skyscraper can begin t rise frm the pit, a fundatin must be laid And even befre that fundatin is pured, an architect has drawn up the plans fr every step f the cnstructin 2016 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

14 Ephesians 1B 14 f 15 Thse plans shw in detail hw the final wrk will appear, yet the plans themselves are nt the wrk itself They represent the mind f the architect prepared in advance f the cnstructin prject But as time mves frward, the plans in that drawing will take shape as a building, beginning with a fundatin S Paul says that the Father had yu and me in His architectural drawings fr salvatin in Christ And He drew up these plans even befre the Lrd began the creatin f the wrld G back t Genesis 1:1, read that verse, and then cnsider the Lrd had yu n His mind even befre that verse tk place Befre the fundatins f the earth were laid, the Lrd had already placed a check mark next t yur name: Chsen fr salvatin Then n a day, in the curse f time, Gd s plan unflded and yu were brn and then yu were brn again Why did the Lrd make His chice befre Creatin itself? S that we culdn t attribute His chice t anything inside His creatin It wasn t a result f yur family line It wasn t the result f yur parents It wasn t the result f yur chices r decisins Yu didn t earn it, yu didn t even knw it was cming Just as Paul wrte when he explained why Gd blessed ne twin f Rebecca and nt the ther Rm. 9:10 And nt nly this, but there was Rebekah als, when she had cnceived twins by ne man, ur father Isaac; Rm. 9:11 fr thugh the twins were nt yet brn and had nt dne anything gd r bad, s that Gd s purpse accrding t His chice wuld stand, nt because f wrks but because f Him wh calls, Rm. 9:12 it was said t her, The lder will serve the yunger. Rm. 9:13 Just as it is written, Jacb I lved, But Esau I hated Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

15 Ephesians 1B 15 f 15 Gd annunced His chice f the yunger sn in Isaac s family abve the lder sn And He annunced it befre either had been brn t ensure that we culdn t say it was the result f what they did It wasn t based n merit; it was based slely n Gd s purpses in chsing It s n different fr us as believers in Jesus Christ We were chsen by the Father and His decisin came lng befre we were brn And thugh we ve nly just begun t understand this imprtant pint, we can already see why this pint is imprtant t Paul s argument We can be assured that we have spiritual blessings in the heavenly realm, because Gd has chsen us t have them If Gd s plan t bless us began even befre the Creatin itself was frmed, then what culd pssible deny us ur blessings? What inside Creatin can challenge a decisin Gd made befre Creatin? S the fact that we were chsen by the Father is immense cmfrt t every believer wh has cme t understand and rest in this truth In cming weeks we ll explre the cncept f Gd chsing us in greater depth But even nw let the pwer f this truth begin t cmfrt yu As Paul says: Rm. 8:31 What then shall we say t these things? If Gd is fr us, wh is against us? 2016 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.