Healing Through Ephesians, Part 2 Ephesians 1:15-23
Recap first part of chapter Paul reminds the Ephesians who they are in Christ. He reminds them how God has saved them in the Gospel and how, even though they’re still here on earth, that their indwelling by the Holy Spirit is just a down payment of their ultimate inheritance in eternity. A big theme in all of Paul’s letters is “remember who you are.” Remember who you are in the Gospel. Remember that God saved you by sending Christ as a sacrifice on the cross for your sin. Paul reminds them of the truth of the Gospel in 1:3-14 and then proceeds to tell the Ephesian believers how he’s praying for them. (v 15) Paul thanks God for their faith in Christ and love for all the saints. “For this reason.” What reason? All of verses 3-14, that God is sovereignly working in their salvation and sanctification; that the Ephesians are indwelt by the Holy Spirit and are being saved by grace. The Ephesians are living out their faith in Christ by their love for one another and the church as a whole. There’s communication and community, even though Paul is in prison far, far away and can’t be with the Ephesians in person, but he can hear news of their faith and love and can pray for them from where he is. In the same way, we also can pray for brothers and sisters around the world or down the street. Evidently, the church in Ephesus has grown so that Paul doesn’t know every single person there. He does know this church intimately, as he ministered there for around three years. But he’s had to rely on reports from the church to reach him in prison in order to know what’s going on. This is a joy-filled letter. So much of what we do as believers should be reminding one another of the truths of the Gospel and praying for one another. (v 16) Because of this, Paul does not cease to give God thanks for them. This giving thanks for fellow believers is certainly not a pride issue for Paul. We should give thanks to God for one another. Our fellow believers, especially in a time of suffering, are a blessing. God didn’t intend for us to live alone. We were created for community. Sometimes, because of sin, health reasons, global pandemics, geography, persecution, we’re limited in how we can fellowship with one another. Even Paul couldn’t be with the Ephesians in person because he was in prison for the sake of the Gospel, but he’s still fellowshipping with them in prayer. Paul’s prayer list has at least one constant on it: the Ephesian church. We’ll see in a little bit what Paul is praying for them specifically, but right now, Paul is just thanking God for the Ephesians. I often take fellow believers for granted and as we’ve found out over the past month, having fellow believers behind and around you is not always guaranteed. Through the Holy Spirit we have the opportunity to love one another in a way that transcends time and borders. (v 17-19) God is sovereign. He can do all that he pleases. “Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases.” (Ps. 115:3) But, he also invites us along with what he is doing by joining him in prayer. Earlier in the chapter, we can see that what Paul prays for is in accordance with God’s will. God wants us to be sanctified. He wants to open our eyes. He wants to enlighten our hearts. He wants to save others. He wants to be glorified in the worship of the saints. To pray along those lines IS to pray in the will of God. We can know what the will of God is in a broad sense. We may not know what He is doing in a narrow sense. Like, should I wear jeans today? Where should I move? What career path should I take? God wills that we be sanctified; that we would be conformed into His image. “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.” (Romans 8:29) Remember, Paul is writing to believers. Paul doesn’t pray for just wisdom, but also revelation – supernatural revealing of the truths of the Gospel to the Ephesians. Paul is praying that the eyes of their hearts be enlightened. So, even though belief in the Gospel is simple enough for a child to do, all of life is a deepening understanding of the Gospel. So it almost seems strange that Paul would pray that they would “know what is the hope to which he has called you.” Don’t they already know the hope? Isn’t it life with God for eternity? Yes it is. But, as we know, it’s so easy to forget the Gospel we say we believe. It’s so easy to affirm the inerrancy of Scripture on paper, but not love and read it like it is inerrant. It’s so easy to believe that God exists, but to live a functionally atheistic existence. God help us. May he bring us to repentance. May he have mercy on us. We need to be reminded of the truth of the Gospel. God created everything. We rebelled. God sent Jesus to die on the cross, rise from the grave, and ascend back to heaven for our sins and he will return again. And for us to believe that; trust that that is true. We’ve got an inheritance we’re heading toward. Not just any inheritance. Not material possessions that rust and mold, but an eternal inheritance with Christ. Paul prays that we would know the immeasurable greatness of God’s power that he worked toward us. (v 20) The same power that God worked in Christ in raising Him from the dead and seating him at the right hand of God in heaven is the same power that works in us here and now. Let that sink in a moment. We walk as dead people who have come alive in the power of Christ. Not our own power. Not our own ability, or works, or personal holiness, or piety, or walking little old ladies across the street. It’s God’s power working in us. (v 21-23) Christ is enthroned beside God the Father, high above any imaginable authority on earth. Anything you can think of as a power here, Christ is higher. We aren’t dualists. Don Carson, in his book The God Who is There writes, “The Bible does not set Satan or the serpent up as a kind of anti-God who stands over against God as his equal but polar opposite, like matter and antimatter, with exactly the same power, such that if they were to collide they would explode in a fireball of released energy that leaves nothing else behind. In the Bible there is no picture of God matched by an equivalent anti-God, a bit like the light side and the dark side in the Force, where the individual human being leans one way or the other to determine which side of the Force wins.” Christ has already overcome Satan at the cross, and is already ruling over ALL things, not only today, but for all eternity in the “age to come.” Just in case you think that Christ is a distant deity who is out there, he’s powerful, but he’s not terribly interested in what’s going on in our life, (vv 22-23) “And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body the fullness of him who fills all in all.” Christ rules over all creation for all time, but he’s intimately the head of the church. He’s our ultimate Shepherd. He’s gentle and lowly. He’s the Good Shepherd who cares for His sheep. We are His body. Christ can’t and won’t abandon his body. Application God wants us to know, love, and trust Him. We can and should pray for one another along those lines. Rejoice that God is at work in the lives of people in your life. Rejoice that God is at sovereign work around the world. Rejoice that He’s making people all over the world new. He’s justifying, regenerating, sending missionaries and raising up ministry leaders. He’s being glorified in the worship of the saints all over the world. We get to be a part of that. He is at work among us here. We have endured some hard things over the past month. But, on the back side of this church issue, I see God forging us into a solid unit. There’s a common thread of suffering and concern that I’m not sure I’ve felt before. This crisis has driven Amy and I to prayer like nothing else before. Which on one end is sad because we’re parents to 5 kids, we’ve walked through tons of family drama over the last 15 years, and yet this is what has driven us to pray. I wish I had prayed as much as I have the last month for the last 20 years, but I’ve just gotten complacent. God, forgive us for failing to pray for one another. Let’s not pass up the opportunity we have to pray for one another to be transformed into the image of Christ, and also that we would give God thanks for what he’s doing in each other's lives. Ephesians 1:1-14 Eph 1:1-14
Introduction Before we start on the actual book of Ephesians, let’s take a look at some of the background for Paul’s relationship with the church in Ephesus. The Ephesians know Paul. They have been with him through some high points and some very low points. In Acts 18 and 19, Luke describes Paul’s ministry in and around Ephesus. Paul left Priscilla and Aquila there to continue the work and they discipled Apollos to understand the Gospel more fully. After Apollos went on to other ministry in Corinth, Paul came back and worked at evangelism and church planting for three years. Paul left after the riot sparked by idol-crafting silversmiths, but not before encouraging the Ephesian believers to continue in the faith. After Paul visited other churches in the area, he came back on his way to Jerusalem, called the elders of the Ephesian church and spoke to them in Acts 20, warning them among other things, (Acts 20:29-31). Now, Paul is writing the Ephesians a letter from prison, following up on his ministry in Ephesus. Ephesians 1:1-14. Vv1-2 Paul’s introduction to the Ephesians. The will of God is a big theme in this section, Paul is an apostle by God’s will. Paul’s ministry isn’t something he cooked up on his own. He also refers to the Ephesians as “saints”, “holy ones” even though they, like us are still fighting sin in their sanctification. V 3 in the same way God is blessed, he also pours his blessing out on us. God does not halfway bless. He’s poured it all onto us through Christ. If you’re in Christ right now, you’re blessed with every heavenly blessing. Romans 8:28-30 This section has been referred to as the “golden chain of redemption.” Our final glorification with Christ is so solid, so real that Paul can speak of us as already being glorified. (v 4) The point of salvation is for us to be holy and blameless before God. God chose us in Christ. I know we can get off into the weeds with the details of how it works itself out. Holiness and blamelessness are the point of salvation. We are called to be like Christ. Not in the way Adam and Eve wanted to be “like God” in Genesis 3. We are called to be like God in how we’re committed to his glory and freedom from sin. Are we going to do that perfectly in this life? No, of course not. But that’s our calling. I’m hesitant to preach on holiness because of how the word has been tied to legalism. But holiness is being committed to God’s glory. God is holy because he’s committed to his own glory. Objects and days in the OT were holy because they were committed or dedicated to God’s purposes. We’re called to be holy as we’re committed to God’s glory. How do we accomplish that? The Law is summed up in two words, love God, love our neighbor. Are we going to do either of those any way close to perfectly? No, of course not. But that’s what grace is for. Even the ability to desire to bring God glory is an outworking of grace in our hearts. Both those propositions have been difficult in the past month. It’s been hard for me to trust God in the suffering. It’s been hard for me to treat fellow image-bearers as fellow bearers of God’s image. Even before the foundation of the world, if you’re a believer, God knew you. It’s not that God just knew facts or what would happen, or a general idea of people, but God knew YOU personally. v.5 We’re not just called to be holy and blameless like God wants a bunch of tin soldiers to put on his dresser that look like him. God predestined us in love to adoption as sons and daughters along with His Son Jesus. We get to be in the family of God. We’re not just the second-rate children that are merely tolerated. We’re adopted. We’re part of the family. We’re in. We have a Father who not only loves us, but wants us. And, it’s according to the purpose of his will. This is what God has willed. We as the church are not the second best option for God’s plan. We’re part of God’s plan from the beginning. That’s some good news. You being here right here and now is not a mistake. You are not a mistake. In verse 11, we’ll see that not only are we part of the family, we’re also heirs. We’ve received an inheritance as a son or daughter would. V.6 We should praise God for his glorious grace. Grace should always be in our thoughts. That God would see rebels such as us and will to redeem us from the sin that we’re loving is so astounding as to be scandalous. Grace is scandalous. There is a sense where we want justice. That’s a good thing. We should want and work and speak for justice. Also within the human heart is “I want justice for everyone else’s sin, but mercy for mine.” As it's been said before, we’re just beggars telling other beggars where to find bread. It’s hard to see in English, but you can see it in the Greek text, Paul switches words for blessed in verse 6. In v 3 Paul uses the word εὐλογητός and the verb form εὐλογέω to speak of blessed be God who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. But he switches in v 6 to χαριτόω which is the verb form of χάρις which means grace. A more woodenly literal translation could be “to the praise of his glorious grace which he has graced us in the Beloved.” V 7 God’s grace is just. God can show us grace because Jesus died on the cross in our place. Jesus’ blood provides us with redemption. We’re bought back as it were from our slave master sin. How much redemption and forgiveness do we have? All according to the riches of His grace. If God’s grace is unfathomable, then we have unlimited grace. v8 not only are we swimming in the riches of God’s grace, but God has lavished that grace upon us. We can’t run out of it. We can’t swim deep enough and get to the bottom. Even in eternity, I don’t think we’re going to know all the ins and outs of God’s grace still. We’ll know more. We won’t have the blinders of the flesh and sin upon our hearts, but God’s grace is so unfathomable. I just want to weep when I hear of God’s grace; that he would love a sinner like me. V9-10 God has not left us on our own to figure out life for ourselves. He’s made known to us the mystery of his will. What does God want for our lives? V10, he wants us to be united to Him. God the Father has sent Christ as the Redeemer who will, according to the purpose of God, accomplish his plan of redemption of the world. Not just heaven. Not just earth. Both heaven and earth are part of God’s redemptive story. We get to participate in that in the Gospel. Vv 11-14 Not only do we have redemption and forgiveness in Christ, not only are we adopted into God’s family, not only are we called to become like Christ in his righteousness and holiness, but we also have obtained an inheritance, an inheritance of God Himself, where the indwelling Holy Spirit is just the down payment. How can we know that we’re in the kingdom? If God has called us, and He works all things according to the counsel of His will, then we know that He cannot not complete it. What is the point of all this? Election, calling, redemption, forgiveness, regeneration, justification, sanctification, it’s all to the praise of His glory. Conclusion A favorite book series of mine and my kids is The Wingfeather Saga. One recurring line the mom speaks in the story is she reminds her three children to “remember who they are.” One theme of this letter is remembering who you are in Christ. So, who are you in Christ? Meditate this week on what God has done and is doing in your life through the Gospel. Tuesday SpeechSpeech for Tuesday meeting
Baptist Faith and Message section on the Church A New Testament church of the Lord Jesus Christ is an autonomous local congregation of baptized believers, associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel; observing the two ordinances of Christ, governed by His laws, exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by His Word, and seeking to extend the gospel to the ends of the earth. Each congregation operates under the Lordship of Christ through democratic processes. In such a congregation each member is responsible and accountable to Christ as Lord. Its scriptural officers are pastors and deacons. While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture. The New Testament speaks also of the church as the Body of Christ which includes all of the redeemed of all the ages, believers from every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation. According to what we believe as Southern Baptists, we as the congregation ARE in charge of the church. Being elder-led hasn’t changed that about who we are. We are responsible for who leads us, for who we place in positions of authority. Ultimately, the men up on stage tonight are accountable to God, and they will have to give an account to Him. But, they are also accountable to us as the body. We, as the local church, are accountable to God for how we manage ourselves and who we let in the door of leadership. John Calvin writes in his commentary on 1 Timothy: [Paul] wishes a bishop to be blameless, 49 instead of which, in the Epistle to Titus, He has used (Titus 1:7) the word ἀνέγκλητον, meaning by both words, that he must not be marked by any infamy that would lessen his authority. There will be no one found among men that is free from every vice; but it is one thing to be blemished with ordinary vices, which do not hurt the reputation, because they are found in men of the highest excellence, and another thing to have a disgraceful name, or to be stained with any baseness. In order, therefore, that a bishop may not be without authority, he enjoins that there shall be made a selection of one who has a good and honorable reputation, and not chargeable with any remarkable vice. Besides, he does not merely lay down a rule for Timothy what sort of person he must select, but likewise reminds every one of those who aspire to that rank, to institute a careful examination of himself and of his life. As of last night, the elders aren’t repentant; therefore I’m speaking to the congregation. The “apologies” we heard from the elders were not valid. “I’m sorry if you felt that way” is not an apology. It’s a blame-shifting tactic to put the guilt back on the victim or advocate for the victim. None of the men on that stage are irreplaceable. The minute we can’t survive as a church without one or more of them is the minute we’re in a cult. Wade Mullen writes, “When someone treats you as an object they are willing to harm for their own benefit, abuse has occurred and that person has become an abuser.” Something’s Not Right, p.2 We as a body are being abused by those who are called to shepherd us. We are being abused by feckless leadership who wouldn’t stand up for the truth against power and indeed attacked those bringing truth to light. We’re being abused by evil leadership who, when confronted by truth-tellers, respond by circling the wagons around abusers and attacking truth-tellers as the enemy. We as the church body have the obligation to come around victims of this abuse and live as brothers and sisters, caring for one another: Eph 4:32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. We as the church body have an obligation to root out and expose sin and abuse first of all in our midst. I ask for repentance. I want to see forgiveness. But even if I don’t see either of those things, that will not stop me from loving the sheep. We’re in the midst of a spiritual war. Eph 6:2 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. What happens when it happens to your community? What do you do when there’s a wolf loose in the sheep pen? What happens when the people you know, love, and trust, forfeit their ability to be trusted and followed? When is the “right” time to blow the whistle, send the email, confront the elder, call the meeting, talk to someone?
The short answer is I don’t know. Because these are all questions currently in my head. I’ll admit, I’m much more “let’s just blow it all up and start over” in my head than I am in real life. But there’s the single solitary moment when I want to pull the plug and say, "Screw you guys, I’m going home.” I don’t know what the right move is. I feel stuck. I feel distrust against people who I've lived life with and am close to in our body. As I wrote in an earlier blog post: “trust, once broken, is difficult to mend.” That is applicable to this issue too. The current situation I’m living through is like a real-time Mars Hill meltdown, only it feels worse because it’s real, here and now, right in front of me. It hurts, because the people I’m talking to are people that I’ve known, loved, served alongside, and walked through triumph and tragedy with. Was I falling asleep at the switch? Did I walk in sin in a way that caused me to miss it? I’ve got nothing. There are no words. Talking with people putting together the pieces of the story is helping, but it’s a long painful road before us. |
Andrew
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