Started reading Ephesians for my quiet time today, and want to start sharing my thoughts here. Hopefully this will turn into some kind of sermon series down the line, but for now I'd just like to share what God is highlighting to me from the Scriptures. We begin in verse one of chapter one: "Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory."
The Apostle Paul begins this letter with the truth that God has initiated and accomplished reconciliation and redemption for the praise of his glory, through the person and work of Jesus. It's important to start with this truth, because it's about who God is and what He has done, not about what we've done. The work is done by God because of and for His glory. We receive the gift of salvation by His grace, not our works or merit, and He offers us His grace because it is the essence of His glory.
We see four things from this section of Scripture that testify to the above statements:
1) God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing because of Jesus. Usually the first thing we want to do is find out what our "spiritual blessing is?" But those blessings are nothing without Jesus. While they are important for the Christian life and ministry, what's more important is to know Jesus personally. It all begins and ends with Jesus.
2) God has chosen and predestined us to be His, He has adopted us as sons and daughters by His will. Again, it's not about us living our best life now, it's about God's sovereign election of His sons and daughters. To know that God has chosen me makes life all the more easier to live, because when I fail, I know that God will always forgive me and take me back because He has chosen me to be His. Jesus secured this election when He gave His life for me on the cross, so that now I can be called God's sons.
3) God has given us an inheritance because He desired to give it to us, and we receive this gift because Jesus died for our sin and has fulfilled God's predetermined plan. With all the economic hard times we each have, it is so comforting to know that our eternity is secure. This life is going to be difficult and will at times seem almost unbearable, but if we keep our eyes focused on Jesus and His reconciling work of redemption, we will be able to see more clearly what is waiting for us in heaven, and then this life actually get's a little easier to handle because our focus changes from me, me, me, into pursuing a relationship with Jesus.
Final Thoughts. Faith is a funny thing, I have always seen faith as a series of steps. When we first come to Jesus for salvation, we believe He can save us and reconcile us to God. This is a huge step when we begin to understand our total depravity and the magnitude of our sinful actions and desires. Then, we begin to trust Jesus more and more as we grow in our understanding of the grace that has been given to us. It seems that the natural progression then is to continue to trust Christ with more and more, until we just find total dependence upon Him a non-negotiable for life. Once that sanctification begins to manifest itself in our lives, we begin to trust that God has us in the place He has already predetermined, and if He wants us to move, He will open the door and guide us to and threw it. Our desire should be His the glory of His purpose and plan, not our own glory, our own plan. Honestly, this kind of faith isn't going to happen overnight, but over time, through God's sanctifying work in us, I believe we will get to that place where the spiritual blessings He has bestowed on us will work themselves out in tangible ways that we can hold on to for strength when times are tough.
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