Ephesians | Chapter 1
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Introduction:
It was fitting that I wrote the majority of this sermon on a cross-continental flight home this weekend, for the Letter to the Ephesians is indeed a 37,000 ft overview of the entire unfolding narrative of God - from the very beginning of creation through the Exodus event to the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ, this letter includes every aspect of the Gospel in its scope.
It is not the longest or the shortest of Paul’s writings, but the Letter to the Ephesians offers a breathtaking view of the entire landscape of the Gospel - perhaps more so than any one of Paul’s other writings.
In its brevity, Paul manages to discuss the definition of the Gospel in its entirety. One should be able to read this letter and know for certain what Jesus did for the world and why it matters.
The letter to the church in Ephesus offers us a wide, expansive array of Christian reflection, regarding such topics as: God the Father, the created and broken world, the reason for Jesus, the nature and essence of the church, the means of salvation, Christian behavior, marriage and family, and spiritual warfare.
And just like one who flies at 37,000 feet, the reader of this letter will see new perspectives on familiar sights that you simply cannot see on the ground. This letter offers you a grand view into the Christian faith in a matter of a few pages - literally 20 minutes of reading time.
The mystery and splendor of this letter demands that the Jesus follower take a greater risk to dive even further into the unknown depths of faith, while the letter also gently invites the seeker, the explorer, and the wanderer to taste and see that God is for you and never against you.
I truly feel privileged to open this letter with you this morning to discern how the Spirit might use it to shape us as a church for Marin County in this season in time.
My aim for you during this upcoming series is twofold:
To articulate with clarity and conviction the meaning of your identity in Jesus Christ AND its implication for your your life. You should know why Jesus matters and what to do about it.
The entirety of this letter hinges upon the tension between:
Identity and Implication
Between Being and Doing
Between Believing in Jesus with all of your heart and Following him with all of your Faith.
That is the driving force behind this letter.
Chapters 1 through 3 deal with your identity and being in Jesus Christ. Chapters 4 through 6 address the implications and the doing of your faith.
And so before we dig into chapter 1, let me give you a rundown of the topics for our discussion this morning:
First, I am going to orient you to the people, place, and setting of this letter so that you can gain a greater context for interpretation.
Second, I am going to outline what the next 5 weeks of this series looks like for you - in an effort to whet your appetite for more.
Third, I am going to read chapter 1, and together, we will detect what Paul wants us to know about our identity formation in Jesus Christ.
So first, a brief orientation to the Letter to the Ephesians:
Anytime you begin a new study into a book from the Bible, you should always ask 3 questions of the text:
Who wrote the letter? To Whom did the author write it? And For what purpose?
First, who wrote this letter? Paul wrote the Letter to the Ephesians. Some scholars do question wether or not Paul wrote this letter because some anomalies do occur in it that do not appear in any of his other letters. One example is the sentence structure in this letter is much longer than his other letters. In fact, the passage we will look at in a few moments, which is 12 verses long, is one sentence in the Greek.
Other kinds of anomalies also appear, but generally, most pastors and scholars, including myself, agree that Paul did in actuality write this letter. The syntax and grammar is very similar to his other letters, and the content of his letter to the Ephesians mimics closely the content of his letter to the Colossians, a letter we know for sure that Paul did write. In fact, scholars often use the two letters to interpret the other.
All of this matters because you need to know that an apostle of Jesus Christ wrote this letter to the church in Ephesus, as well as to every single person sitting in this church right now. And what is an apostle? An Apostle is anyone who engaged in a personal experience with the resurrected Jesus Christ and pioneered a new venture into making Christ known in the world.
God used Paul, who once slaughtered folks for believing in Jesus Christ and made him into an apostle who later wrote two-thirds of the entire New Testament, the very teachings that would become the bedrock for building up the church in the world.
Only God would do something as radical as choose Paul to equip the church of Christ. You can read more about Paul’s conversion in the Book of Acts chapter 9, as well as in his letters to the Romans and Corinthians.
Second, To Whom did Paul write this letter? To the Church in Ephesus, meaning to the people who made up the community of followers in Jesus Christ.
During the rule of the Roman Empire, the city of Ephesus functioned as the Roman Capital of Asia Minor, which is now present day Turkey, and served as one of the most significant ports of commerce for the entire empire. The city also established itself as a center for religious pilgrimage for all sorts of faiths.
In a very real sense, the city of Ephesus can be likened to modern-day San Francisco. It was a cosmopolitan city, wealthy, and pluralistic in its belief structure. People of the day visited Ephesus for its freedom, pleasure, and significance in the Roman empire.
It is estimated that more than 150,000 people lived in Ephesus during the first century, the time of Paul. The city so valued the arts, theater, and competition, the citizens built a Grand Amphitheater that seated over 25,000 people, second only to the Roman coliseum.
Yet, the work of Paul in Ephesus - and this letter that ensued from it - established the basis of the Christian church that survived well into the fifth century and beyond into the beginnings of Islam in that region. As a matter of fact, one of the largest, most formative church councils in history occurred in Ephesus in June and July of 431 AD. The major teaching that proceeded from that council declared that Jesus Christ is both fully divine and fully human - a judgment that directly stemmed from the letter that Paul wrote to the newly formed church in Ephesus nearly 400 years earlier.
As you can see, the history of the Christian Church in Ephesus influenced the world, along with present-day Christian thought.
Third, For what Purpose did Paul write this letter? Consider the culture of Ephesus during the first century. As we already established, it was a large, significant, wealthy, cosmopolitan, pluralistic port city - just like our city by the Bay. Additionally, Paul wrote this letter only 30 years after the event of the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Christian Chruch movement was truly in its infancy.
In this letter, Paul addressed the central problem that every Christian faced during that time: persecution. Every Christian lived under the pretense that violence could happen to you at any time and any where. And for the Christians who lived in Ephesus, this was exacerbated all the more due to the combined dynamics of the city’s culture. Paul recognized this issue in the Ephesian church, and he addressed it, but in a surprising fashion…
In that Paul does not set up Christ followers to oppose culture. Rather, in this letter, Paul’s main purpose is identity formation and its implications. Here, Paul seeks to shape the church in Ephesus by reminding them of how wonderful God’s work in Christ is, how significant their unity in Christ is, and what living for Christ actually looks like.
It is a letter of definition and encouragement, not judgment and anti-culture. Paul ultimately wanted the reader then and us now to ground, shape, and challenge us to live into our faith, not against culture.
Please do not miss this: one of the unique characteristics of the church in Marin County is that of all the places in our country, our community is one of a handful most similar to the early church in Ephesus, of course minus the threat of violence and persecution. But in terms of cultural dynamics, it could not be more similar. Thus, this implications of this letter for our present context are nearly a direct one-to-one parallel of what the early church in Ephesus faced nearly 2000 years ago.
And so if you have ever faced the challenge of living into your faith at home, work - as Steve just spent several weeks discussing, in your social circles - if you have wondered what the event of the cross and resurrection mean for your life and for our society - if you have ever wondered how the larger narrative of Scripture from the Old and New Testament fits into our faith, then you find yourself in good company with the church in Ephesus.
Over the next 5 weeks, as we dig into this letter as a church, please take 20 minutes on your own to read this letter and become familiar with its content.
It contains 6 chapters structured in the following manner that correspond to the 6 weeks of this series:
Chapter 1 - and what I will discuss for the next few minutes - is Paul defining a larger story outside of our own.
Chapter 2 is how we can turn our life into that which Jesus calls each one of us to live.
Chapter 3 is the mystery of God revealed to all of those who believe!
Chapter 4 - and my personal favorite chapter from all of Scripture, which I will teach on 3 weeks from today - is the call of Jesus Christ for the church to live and function in unity!
Chapter 5 is the implication of living into this call on the family and marriage.
Chapter 6 deals with the trials of living into this call.
For the remaining few minutes of our time this morning, I want to look at chapter 1 verses 3-14 and highlight the central theme that will unlock the fullness of the entire letter. This one theme is the foundation upon which the rest of this letter builds.
Let’s begin with verse 3, and keep in mind that Paul wrote these 12 verses together in the Greek as one sentence:
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.
4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.
7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8 that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, 9 he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10 to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.
11 In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, 12 in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. 13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.
This entire sentence highlights just how much Paul cannot overstate the centrality of Jesus for our faith.
The Father blessed us in Jesus - verse 3 The Father chose us in Jesus - verse 4 The Father predestined us in Jesus - verse 5 The Father poured grace on us in Jesus, the one whom he loves - verse 6 The Father gave us redemption through Jesus - verse 7 The Father lavished grace on us through Jesus - verse 8 The Father made known to us the mystery of his will as he purposed in Jesus - verse 9 The Father intends to bring everything into unity under Jesus - verse 10 The Father provided us with an inheritance through Jesus - verse 11 The Father gave us hope in Jesus - verse 12 The Father marked you in Jesus with the seal of salvation - verse 13 The Father guarantees the redemption of all his people through Jesus - verse 14
In these 12 verses contain the entire Gospel.
Every single one of these 12 verses - or should I say - every clause of Paul’s lengthy sentence - aims to keep Jesus at the very center of everything. I would surmise that Paul would say any picture of God that does not show Jesus Christ at dead center is a distortion of the truth…
The structure of these 12 verses break down into 4 unique groupings that make up the cornerstone for this letter.
The first grouping is contained in verse 3, and it is the THESIS for the entire letter:
READ THIS —— Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.
This is the key to the entire letter. By the second sentence of his letter, Paul lays his cards on the table and states that Jesus Christ, the son of the Father, is everything. Everything flows from Jesus, and everything will return to Jesus. Everything in heaven, the entirety of the glory of God, the complete character and nature of God is found in the real life human being of Jesus Christ, as recorded in the 4 Gospels.
He is the beginning of all things and will be the end of all things. Everything we could ever know about the Father - the nature and essence of God - has been revealed to us in Jesus Christ. Paul would say look to the person of Jesus for your questions about our Heavenly Father. If you question a characteristic about God, then look to Jesus for the solution. Everything you could possibly know about God the Father can be found in his son, Jesus Christ.
The next 3 groupings each support this central thesis statement and reveal to us the lengths to which God desires to chase us.
Verses 4-6 address the second grouping: THE CHOICE of the Father for us in Jesus Christ:
***For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.***
In Jesus Christ, every single person in the history of our world was chosen in love for the pleasure of the Father… Period. This is the potential and will for every human being - to bring joy and adoration to the Father because the Father first chose us long before the world even began.
Let that bake your noodle!
What greater joy can one possess than the knowledge and realization that in Christ before the Father ever created anything - before Genesis 1:1 - as the universe sat formless and void, you had already been chosen?!
Certainly, sin and brokenness now distort our perception of this choice, but we will talk about that next week in chapter 2. Paul, however, in chapter 1 simply wants you to first know this one fact before you move onto anything else: you have been chosen by the Father in Christ! Your life, your story is contained within a greater, unfolding story that has been in motion since the beginning of time.
Paul needs you to see this first before he discusses anything else because as you get caught up in the minutia of life, the momentary ridicule, embarrassment, and rejection of your faith, Paul wants you to know that it means nothing compared to the choice that God made for you in Jesus long before the world began!
Verses 7-10 address the third grouping: THE PLAN of the Father for us in Jesus Christ:
***7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8 that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, 9 he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10 to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.***
Here, just as in verses 4-6, our faith in Jesus resides in a much larger story outside of our own. It is a story of redemption and forgiveness - for the purpose - of participating in bringing unity to all things in Heaven and on Earth under Jesus.
For the first century readers of this letter, the word “redemption” here would have harkened them back to the Passover story that took place long ago, as recorded in the book of Exodus. It was the time when God showed up in Egypt and ‘bought back’ for himself his people who had been enslaved there. Paul declares that Jesus is the fulfillment of that initial act of redemption. As Paul states, forgiveness of sin is the true redemption from the real slave master, and that plan has been accomplished through the death of Jesus on the cross and proclaimed to the world through his resurrection.
And finally verses 11-14 address THE INHERITANCE given to us by the Father through Jesus Christ:
***11 In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, 12 in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. 13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.***
As in the Exodus story, the promised inheritance of the passover was the land flowing with milk and honey. In Christ, what is the inherited promised land? The standard answer for most Christians would be Heaven. Heaven is certainly part of this. The promised inheritance that we discover from this chapter, however, also includes the whole world upon it’s renewal by a fresh act of God’s power and love. Paul stated in verse 10 that God’s plan in Jesus is to sum up everything in Heaven and on Earth. God, after all, is the creator; he has no interest in leaving Earth to rot and making do for all eternity with only one half of the original creation. God created the heavens and the Earth, and God intends to flood the whole cosmos, heaven and earth together, with his presence and grace in which Jesus himself will be the central figure and the complete inheritance for which Jesus’ people - you and I - are longing.
Therefore, to bring together all that we have discussed thus far, what does this mean for you in the here and now?
Your role as a follower of Christ is to be a signpost and witness to the rest of the world that this glorious future is on the way! And equally, the guarantor of this promised inheritance is the Holy Spirit who is with you in all things, just as the pillar of fire was with the first wanderers amidst all things in the desert.
This ought to be good news for us who live in Marin, for your role as a Christian is not to oppose culture as the minority, but to bear witness to all of those with whom you know that they have been chosen by the Father in Jesus Christ long before the world began.
Is there any greater news than that?
And as crazy as it might sound, think about it, for ones who have dedicated their entire life to chasing a story without any meaning, this is the greatest news ever!
I can recall the season of life when this good news began to take root in my life, and for me, it changed everything. The realization of the Father choosing me before time began moved me to change my entire trajectory of life, which brings me to where I stand today.
This reminds me of what hip hop artist Lecrae says in his song, “Fear:” “Will I hear that you cared too much about all of this stuff that really doesn’t matter? You chased the wind and all you got was the top of a two foot ladder.”
I know so many people climbing a two foot ladder, claiming to attain the kind of satisfaction for which all of us long, but few ever receive.
You know a different story now. You know where to find true satisfaction that very few ever receive. It resides in the story of Jesus Christ alone, not on a ladder… not in a possession… not in a dream…
Rather, it resides in a real story that involves a choice, a plan, and an inheritance.
So now may you go forth and share this great story!
Let’s pray together:
Benediction:
I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.