Ephesians 1
In the next thirteen programmes we are going to go through Paul's letter to the Ephesians. It is a remarkable letter and was not intended for the believers in Ephesus only, but others in the same area. It is also a letter most certainly meant for us to-day. Paul was so thrilled with Christ and what it meant to be his, so thrilled with the abundant spiritual riches to be found in Him, that he wanted as many as possible to know about it. Some of the spiritual riches that he says God promises to us are so staggering in their possibilities, the thought almost takes our breath away. Paul seems to find difficulty in choosing the right words to express what he wants to say. Think , for instance, of the thanks he gives to God at the end of chapter 3: "Now unto Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we can ask or think according to the power that works in us.
The thought came to me one Easter that this letter is really a description and an explanation of the Easter experience in Christian living. It speaks a great, deal about the power of the resurrection and ascension of the Lord Jesus. It relates these to Christian living and shows how we can enjoy their Power in our own lives. So as we go through this letter together, let us keep this in mind. Let us also enter into the excitement and thrill that Paul finds in all that our Lord has done for us and is able and willing to do for us and in us now.
Paul starts off with his usual greeting. These greetings are very much like the normal greeting of that day when writing letters. There is, though, one great difference. Paul makes the greeting thoroughly Christian ; he includes that which has real Christian meaning, "Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." Grace is a word which occurs. again and again throughout the letter Peace does too, that is reconciliation with God and wholeness from God. All of it, too, is through our Lord Jesus Christ. He was writing to people who knew exactly what it means to have peace with God through His grace and mercy through the Lord Jesus Christ. He does not want to leave it there, though. He wants them to realise all that being reconciled to God means. So in the first part of this first chapter he speaks of all the spiritual blessings that are ours if we are in the heavenly places.
This phrase "heavenly places" comes more than once in this latter. It could be rendered "heavenlies" or "heavenly realms." It is the place of true fellowship with God where Christ dwells in us and we in Him. It is that condition of heart where our relationship with God is the most important thing to us and where we live in His presence.
Now let us think of these blessings which Paul is so excited about. First he says that we have been chosen in Christ to be holy and blameless. What a very wonderful calling. There are some vocations in life that stand out as being exceptionally worthwhile and honourable such as that of a doctor or nurse and, amongst Christians, that of evangelist or pastor. God, though, has called us to something far higher - to be like Himself: "Be holy for I am holy" God said to the Israelites iii the Old Testament, and He repeats it to his church in the New Testament.
You will find the words in the first letter of Peter , chapter 1 and verses 14 - 16. God hates sin and does not want it in his children and so his one aim is to save us from it. That is why Jesus came and it is to this we are being called. "Walk worthy of it”, says Paul later in this letter. Going very closely with this purpose of God is the fact that it says in verse 5, that we are chosen to be sons of God through Jesus Christ. Children are like their parents in looks and very often in ways too. They share something of their parental nature. So the calling we have just been thinking of is not just trying to be like God by our own human effort and by obeying certain rules and regulations. It is much more than this. A Christian is someone who has received God’s life and nature through Jesus Christ. Read John chapter 3 and you will find more about this in the words of Jesus. So you see when we are true Christians, we share His nature and that begins to work out in our lives to make us like Him. Just as fruit grows on a tree according to the kind of tree it is, so the fruit of the Spirit grows in the life of the believer. Notice something else too. All that God does is to the praise of his glorious grace and according to the purpose of his will.
When God does something, He does not do it in any old way, any more than we do. When a carpenter makes something, he does it according to a plan. When a new ship is built or a new house, they are built according to a plan. The builders know what they want and what they are building. God is the same; He too has a plan. He knows what He wants man to be like. Man sinned and failed miserably, but God had his plan all ready. Jesus, God in human flesh, came to this earth and died to bear away our sin and to bring us back into fellowship with God again.
It is all according to His plan that we should be children of God and grow to be like Him, holy and unblamable in his sight. So when we come to Jesus and trust Him as our Saviour, we are just fitting into God's plan. That is why life takes on purpose when we are his. We are fitting into his plan. This thought comes more than once in this letter, and the wonder of it is increased by the fact that it is all to the praise of his glorious grace. This plan shows the reality and wonder of his grace and love towards lost and sinful men and women. He longs for them to come to Him. This is only the beginning of all Paul has to say. No wonder he is excited. We will come back to it next time.