The Book of Ephesians was written by Apostle Paul to the church in Ephesus. Ephesus was an Ancient Greek city, which is now modern day Turkey. Ephesus is also one of the seven churches of Asia that are cited in the Book of Revelation, a book which was written by Apostle John in the island of Patmos.
Paul always starts his letters with salutations and greetings to the churches that he was writing to, looks to me that he was a very educated man who knew how to deal with people – he had what we call, ‘people skills.’ He kicks off his writing by referring the people in Ephesus as “God’s holy people, the faithful in Christ Jesus,” what a way to be described! God’s holy people and the faithful one’s in Christ Jesus. It’s statements like these that leave you wondering what can be said of us? Are we God’s holy people? can Jesus Christ call us faithful one’s? As you ponder on these words, lets dig in and read more on Ephesians chapter one (1)
The Bible is the very Word of God, written by God’s servants throughout history, for the purpose of man to read and get to understand who God is, what are His plans, His instructions for daily living, His promises and how things will end; that is why we have Genesis (The Beginning) and Revelation (The End).
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (God The Father), who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.” Pause for a minute and digest that sentence! You and I have been blessed with Every, not just one or two, but every spiritual blessing in Christ. In other words, our job is to receive this blessing and claim them over our lives and those of our loved ones. Jesus reminds us of this principle in Matthew 7:7-8 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” Have you asked? have you knocked? or have you seeked? The problem that we have as human beings is we want God to answer us immediately we ask for something and when He doesn’t, we automatically assume that it’s a no from Him. I have seen many situations where God didn’t answer there and then, but eventually He did. However, we need to also remember that God answers in three ways, yes, no, and wait. We get excited for a yes and praise Him, we get angry when He says no, and we want nothing from Him when He says wait! Whatever answer you get from God, just remember, God isn’t only good when He gives gifts, but He’s still good even when He doesn’t and He’s still God when He makes us wait, because it is here that our character gets built.
“For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight; in love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ in accordance with His pleasure and will.” God had you in mind even before He formed the world, He knew the day you would be born, He knew who your parents would be, He knew which country you would be born into and He knew your skin colour and everything that pertains the uniqueness of being you and all this He did, “To the praise of His glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One He loves.” God’s grace is so sufficient such that, even when we are not faithful, He’s faithful! and He does things to the praise of His glorious grace which He has given unto us through Jesus Christ His only begotten Son whom He loves.
“In Him (Jesus) we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins in accordance with the riches of God’s grace” Paul confirms this in Eph 2:8 “We’ve being saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ,” we have been redeemed through the precious blood of Jesus Christ which was poured out at Calvary, and with this came the forgiveness of sins which means that now you and me are able to stand before God, holy and blameless, when we accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour of our lives – it’s as simple as ABCD.
“That He lavished on us, with all wisdom and understanding, He made known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfilment – to bring unity to all things in Heaven and on earth under Christ.” The prophets of the Bible gave prophecies of what was to come, because God showed them His future plans. Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Joel, John just to give examples, and as we see here, God’s plan is to bring unity to all things both in Heaven and in earth under Christ. Paul spoke about this in 1 Corinthians 15:27 when he wrote, “For He has put everything under His feet,” and this will be done when the times reach their fulfilment, after all isn’t their a time for everything and a season for every activity under the Heavens?
“In Him we were also chosen having been predestined (determined in advance by divine will) according to the plan of Him who works out everything in conformity (compliance) with the purpose of His will.” Your purpose in life has already being determined in advance according to God who works out every single detail of your life, to comply to the purpose of His will over your life. Does reading this excites you? it certainly excites me! and to crown it all when we believe, “we were marked with a seal which is the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit (set aside) guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession – to the praise of HIs Glory.” The Holy Spirit is the seal of God, securing us firmly in God (cementing us) and is our guarantee sign of our inheritance here on earth, until we have being called home – eternity with our God.
The believers in Ephesus must have being people who were zealous for God as we see Paul writing in verse 15-16, “For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.” They had faith in Jesus and they loved all of God’s people, can this be said the same about you as a believer and follower of Christ? And because of this, Paul’s prayer to the church in Ephesus was that God may give them ‘the Spirit of wisdom and revelation so that they may know Him better.’ Every time that we read the Bible, we should be able to apply the said scriptures into our context and onto our lives.
“Lord we pray that you will give us Your Spirit of wisdom and revelation so that we may know You better. That the eyes of our hearts may be enlightened in order that we may know the hope to which you have called us, the riches of your glorious inheritance in your holy people, and You’re incomparably great power for us who believe.”
May the eyes of our hearts be opened, may we have a hunger and desire to know God in a deeper level, remembering what James wrote in chapter 4:8 “come near to God and He will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” Its a personal choice, commitment and dedication in this journey of wanting to know God and He’s promised us that when we step forward, He does the same thing too.
God’s power is indescribable, incredible and amazing and with this power, He raised Christ from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the Heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. Jesus Christ is above all rulership, all authority, all power and all dominion and not only that, but also above every name that is invoked (called on), not only in the present age (when Paul was writing) but also in the one to come – Jesus is the name that we need to call upon. He has authority to change your situation, He has the power to turn your life around, there’s really no other name!
Paul closes chapter one of Ephesians with a powerful statement in verse 22 “And God placed all things under His feet and appointed Him to be head over everything for the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills everything in every way.” God is Thee supreme authority and it is He who has placed everything under the feet of Jesus and He has also appointed Jesus to be the head over everything for the church, which is His body. You do not need to pray to anyone else except Jesus Christ, it’s all here in black and white, therefore today, make your personal decision to follow Him, coz He’s in charge of everything you see around, including you!
Memory verse Ephesians 1:13-14 When you believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession – to the praise of His Glory.
Blessings!!
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