Apostles Church

Ephesians 1. This book has had a profound impact on my life: Who I understand God to be; all that he has accomplished for me in Christ; how I view myself as a result; what I value and live for; how I view others inside the Church; outside the Church; how the Gospel transforms my relationships, my marriage, my parenting, my work ethic; how I interpret and make sense of my own personal struggles…I hope that in our study you will have come to see God, others, self, and this world more clearly and live differently in light of it.

Written by The Apostle Paul in about 62AD while imprisoned in Rome. It is different from most Paul’s letter in that it does not address a specific problem in a particular church, but gives a general broad sweeping explanation of how God saves us in Jesus and what difference in makes in our lives and communal experience. It is to show us the riches of God’s grace to us. The first half of the book is very doctrinal. It is rich theology. There is only one imperative in the first half and it is to remember a theological truth. Second half is highly practical, giving us the practical implications of these theological realities that shape our lives as individuals and as a community.

To Intro the letter I want to show us the theme of this epistle. 1:9-10. This verse if the key to understanding Ephesians. Dr. Martyn Lloyd Jones said of this verse: “I do not hesitate to assert that we have in this verse the key to the understanding of the chief practical purpose of this Epistle to the Ephesians...Indeed, we can go further and say that this verse states what is the central theme of all Scripture.” He has made known to us the mystery of His will. A Mystery is something that was not previously known but has now been made known. God’s will or purposes were not known until He made them known. And Christ is at the center of this plan. Here is that plan, at the time that God has appointed, he will unite all things together in Christ, whether things in heaven or on earth. The words “unite all things” literally translated mean “to sum up all things;” to bring all parts together. It is used in Romans 13:9 to say that all the commands are summed up in one word, “Love your neighbor...” So, in Romans 13:9, different commands find unity and alignment in one word.  It means to bring everything together under one head. The NLT Translation is a good summary:  “9 God has now revealed to us his mysterious plan regarding Christ, a plan to fulfill his own good pleasure. 10 And this is the plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ—everything in heaven and on earth.

What does this mean? Everything is not together. Everything is not united under Christ. Everything is fractured, ruptured, dislocated in the heavenly realms and on earth. Creation. God, through his eternal Son, created everything that exists, things in heaven and on earth. Everything was created for his glory and was very good. Everything was just the way it was supposed to be. The Fall of Satan. The bible also tells us that there was a rebellion in heaven. Satan, a created angel, wanted to be God and rebelled against God, taking the third of the angelic hosts with him in his rebellion. Satan and these fallen angels, called demons, are set on opposing God and destroying his good creation. They wage war against God and the works of his hands. The Fall of Man. So in Genesis 3 Satan attacks the crown of God’s Good creation – Adam and Eve. They sin and they along with this creation that was very good, become corrupted by sin and the creation disintegrates. The very fabric of it begins to unravel. What was whole is now broken. Adam and Eve experience a painful alienation from God brought on by their sin and guilt and shame. Hiding from him. They experience a painful alienation from one another, feeling shame and embarrassment before each other so as to try to compensate for their failures and disgrace. But also blaming and accusing one another, and trying to dominate the other in an endless power struggle. So, this relationship that was once whole and good is now broken and marred. Even their wholeness with the creation was broken to bits. The ground was cursed and now life would be a struggle against the elements and man would inevitably lose, returning to the dust from which he was created. This is the mess we find ourselves in today. We are alienated from God; experience constant hostility and fracturing in our relationships with others so that we have divorce, abuse, abandonment, war, injustice, oppression and genocide; and feel the pain of a world that is not always safe for us, a world of disease and famine, and suffering and ultimately death. And, in all of this, there are the very real threat of spiritual beings that seek to ruin and corrupt nations, cities, and people. If you bury your head in the sand or never leave your neighborhood you might feel OK about all this. But an aware person longs for something better than this world. CS Lewis – the longing is attestation to the things existence. God promises a restored world. A renewed and healed creation. Our passages says that God is doing this in Jesus. He has begun this work of renewing and restoring all things and at the fullness of time will bring about the full healing of this broken world. A day is coming when all the chaos will cease, all the brokenness will be healed, and all the rebellion will be squelched with crushing force. He will crush Satan and make all who resisted his rule lick the dust. He will make his enemies his footstool so that there will be no more hostility or rebellion against his reign. He will eradicate sin, injustice, oppression, and evil so that the words of the prophet Isaiah will be fulfilled, “the song of the ruthless will be put down” (Isaiah 25:5). He will heal the creation of all its brokenness and division and will stamp out the final enemy of death. So that Revelation gives us a picture of that time in the new heavens and new earth when all things will come under Christ’s lordship: Rev 21:4-5 4) He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” 5) And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.””  It is coming, but it is already here. Jesus has initiated it. We see it in his ministry.

Overcomes Satan – cast out demons by the finger of God, the Kingdom has come upon you. Legion – no one could help him but Jesus restores him.
Forgives Sin –Mark 2; Luke 7:48
Unites people calling them and enabling them to love, serve, give and forgive. (Diversity among his 12; Gospel for Gentiles)
Exerts power over creation (Calming of the sea; cursing of the fig tree – vanquish barrenness and overcome all opposition in creation).

This healing, this summing up of all things, this restoration that happens under Christ is available even now, not fully, but truly. Not entirely, but experientially. And that is what the book of Ephesians is about. Paul is going to show us that this summing up is happening now. This bringing all things into unity under Christ Lordship is happening now and can be experienced even now. The effects of the fall are being healed in Jesus now.

You can be forgiven and reconciled to God. 1:7; 2:8.
You can be restored to others and experience true community among his people. Eph 2:14-16. In Christ a new humanity is being formed. Unity among this people is a major theme of Ephesians. The word “one” is used to express unity 14x in this brief letter. The Church is depicted as a body that is not dislocated but whole. The call on followers of Jesus is to live out this unity, to preserve it, protect it. In Ephesians 4 instructions on how we do this. 4:7-16 pastors and other leaders are given to the Church for this reason so that we could become mature and live with unity in our relationships and play our part in this community. This unity, this restoration of relationships is to be seen most clearly in the home with Husbands loving and leading their wives, wives joyfully following the loving care of their husbands, children obeying their parents and fathers raising their children with care so as not exasperate them.
You can have victory over demonic powers. Christ has all authority and you are in Him so you share in his victory over demonic forces. Chapter 6 teaches us how we can stand in the strength that Jesus the Victor provides and actually win the battle against demonic forces that seek to deceive us, tempt us, discourage us, damage us, accuse us, etc. You don’t have to live enslaved to fear of the demonic. Christ is our victor. He has conquered and will one day make a final end of the enemy.

Christ is our Hope. He heals and reclaims all that was lost by Satan’s rebellion and Adam’s sin. He restores it. He overcomes the evil and will one day crush it under foot. He will make his enemies lick the dust; he will put down the song of the ruthless. He will fully and finally save his people from all sin, suffering, sickness, oppression, despair and death. And he will reign forever as head over all things. Ephesians calls us deeper into this salvation now. It calls us to deep fellowship with God; loving unity with one another; maturity in Christ so we are in harmony with his purposes; and it calls us to strong and steady resistance of sin and all evil for his glory.

So, if you feel distant from God; If you struggle with relationships and want to experience more depth and meaning in spiritual friendship; if you struggle with what to do with your life and you want to discover what your part is in his plan; if you struggle with your marriage or parenting and want to thrive in your relationships with your wife and kids; if you want to experience victory over darkness and spiritual fear…This book is for you. I challenge you to read it once a week for the next 20 weeks. See how God uses it in your life.