Chapters 1 through 3 of Ephesians deal with the Mystery of the Church and the wonderful Mystery of the Salvation of God. I want you to put aside the preconceived ideas you may have been taught and start fresh with an open mind to what this wonderful letter has to offer. I am using the Jerusalem Bible because it is concice and because most if not all of you have never seen this translation that was provided by the Roman Catholic Church for its rich penetrating word usage. When using other more popular translations I will make note of them.
In the beginning, Paul starts as he often does with a blessing and greeting. He is very proud of this church filled with gentile Christians and with what they have done with their faith. But this letter to all the churches and was written from th prison of Rome. We must take into account the conflicts that have risen the early church between the Judaisms, Apollos and the Gnostics that have brought false teachings into the churches. There is much today that is similar to the problems Paul’s small congregations faced. We want to re-examine our faith to see if what Paul was presenting them is still what the churches today present to their congregations. Does it uplift or does it tear down. Does it Unify or does it divide? So Paul opens his address with; “Blessed be God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings of Heaven in Christ:”(Vs. 3) Blessing to ALL Spiritual Gifts. Blessing of Heaven, of Christ and of each other. but even before this His opening is a blessing to all the churches of Ephesus who are “Faithful to Christ Jesus.” He wishes them peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. He sets the stage of the inclusive relationship of the duality of God the Father and Jesus with the church of faithfulness.
Verse 4 states clearly: “Before the world was made, he chose us, chose us in Christ, to be holy and spotless, and to live through love in his presence,” We are blessed (made happy) from the beginning. We were chosen of God to be Holy! To live Blameless. To Live through Love. And to be in the presence of God through Jesus. While it is popular to think that we are a select or privileged people, I want to convey here that this is a Gentile church Paul is writing to. He is conveying to them that they, by electing to follow Christ, to take up the burden of Faithfulness to Him. They are exercising nothing more that the will of God had for them from the creation of time, that They would be included as His Own just as the Jews were before them.
So the question is: If we have been blessed to be holy, blameless and without blemish of sin, what are we doing with this blessing? If we are to be chosen from the beginning, where is the proof of our election in Christ? If we are to be set apart from the world to be in the presence of God, what then do we have to show for it? As we study this book, we need to examine what it means to be a follower of Christ. We need to ask of ourselves if we have shown that we are living in the Love that Jesus shared with us. We need to live with the blessings that have been promised from the first that Christ is our Salvation and the One who Rescues me.
Verse 5 and 6 continues with the plan of God from the first, “determining that we should become HIS adopted sons, through Jesus Christ for HIS PURPOSES, to make us praise the glory of His GRACE, His free gift to us in the Beloved. It was the plan of God when He called Abraham to be the father of a nation of messengers, that the Gentiles, the rejected of God, be made acceptable and worthy through the Blood of Jesus. It was for God’s purpose that we are now included as the children of God just as were the sons of Israel. And the purpose of our adoption is so we can praise God for His Grace and Mercy.
The question now is: Do we show true praise to God for this wonderful gift? Do we accept the adaptation of the Father as grateful children or do we abuse the gift with callousness and disregard? We need to not be boastful of the gift of Salvation and adoption but humble for it was a gift uncalled for. And now that we are adopted as His Children, we are also His messengers. Just as the Jews were the messengers of the Law, we are messengers of the Love.
So far I have mentioned two gifts given of God to us through Christ that have come from the beginning of time. These Gifts are the Blessings of being chosen to be in the Family of God as the Israelites, and the Blessings of becoming holy and spotless before Him. The third Gift is found in the rest of the sentence found in the seventh verse, “in whom, through his Blood, we gain our freedom, the forgiveness of our sins. …” This is the double gift, and in the light of the purpose of God, the most important one. This gift from the beginning was fulfilled on the cross. For it is by the cross we achieve forgiveness. Many will claim it is Faith and that is partially right but the truth of the matter is that without the sacrifice of the Cross, there could not be forgiveness. Our Faith allows us to receive the redemption but still it was the shedding of the Blood of the the most perfect Sacrifice that fulfilled God’s promise.
The second part of the gift is the Redemption, the Reconciliation that came with the sacrifice. The verse continues with, “Such is the richness of the grace which He has showered on us in all wisdom and insight.”(verse 8.) And this brings more questions to mind. Why? What did we do to receive such gifts? Who are we to be forgiven and reconciled with God? Well the answer is nothing! And now that we have been reconciled and redeemed, forgiven and included, how are we expressing that gratitude so undeserved?
What is the evidence in our lives that we are redeemed? How are we demonstrating to the world that we are free from sin? What is it that shows that we have the freedom of God’s Grace to walk in His righteousness? We must be able to show that by the new life we have with God that the gifts He has showered us with in His Wisdom are not wasted. After all God chose us in Christ to be His own just as He chose the sons of Israel to lead a people in righteousness, we are also chosen to live as a nation of Children of God to love our Father.
So the questions for us as a people of God are:
Have I lived to be a holy and sin free person as God wishes,or do I still seek after other desires?
Have I lived as a child of God, or am I still living as a child of the world?
Have I accepted in complete accord the freedom I have to be forgiven, or have I walked back into the bondage of worldly desires?
These Questions we must ask of ourselves. For to be truly free, and to fully accept the gift of the cross, we must act as the chosen of God with complete and impartial commitment to His Will and Way.
