Ephesians 1

I’ve been thinking a lot about Ephesians 1.

And since I have so many thoughts, I'll put things to pray for at the top:

Boldness and opportunity to share the gospel with everyone I meet. 

Wisdom about spiritual gifts. I'm in the market for good friends who can help regulate my spiritual gifts. That is what the body is for. I don't want to be an eye without a head or a stomach without a liver, so please pray that God will give me wisdom and guidance and will bring people into my life who I can team with for the building up of His church. 

Continued clarity and freedom as I engage in spiritual disciplines. 

And now to Ephesians.

“Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God.” Beautiful. He was chosen, not by any merits or good works or willingness to suffer for the sake of the gospel or any other earthly criteria. He was chosen by the will of God. Because God wanted to use him—a persecutor of the church—to make His name famous.

“To the saints in Ephesus—the faithful in Christ Jesus. Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” Paul gives the church in Ephesus a gift from God, grace and peace! It’s so beautiful. It’s amazing. It’s wonderful. Paul is not just giving a greeting.

I imagine he was meeting with God and God said, “Hey Paul, I want to give the saints in Ephesus my grace and peace. Will you please deliver it for me?” And Paul said, “Yeah, dog. I love those guys! I’d love to give them your grace and peace!”

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us in the heavenly realms.” Cool, but wait for it. “With every spiritual blessing in Christ.”

Every spiritual blessing.

We get every spiritual blessing because we belong to Christ. It’s like going to a warehouse of spiritual blessings and asking for something. The man behind the counter says, “Sorry, you can’t have that. That’s only available to club members.”

So you pull out your ID and it says right there, “Belonging to the Lord.” The man behind the counter finds your request and says, “Please wander around and see if there is anything else you need. You could use this tool here, see it attaches neatly to your Belt of Truth. I can also get you some more oil for your Shield of Faith if you would like. Or maybe you could use some work on your Sword of the Spirit? I see it could use some polishing. I can take care of that while you’re looking.”

“For he chose us in him before the creation of the world.” Maybe he didn’t think of me only or instead of everyone else, but he did think of me while he hovered over the waters, who knows how long. I wonder what he thought about as he hovered. I imagine he foresaw all the events of the world. I imagine he grieved. I imagine he weighed the pros and cons of making the world. In the end, he decided it was worth it. So he breathed in and spoke, “Let there be light.” And nothing was ever the same. But it was beautiful. How can I say all the pain and brokenness of the world is beautiful? Because it was worth it to God. It was beautiful to God. He finished making everything and looked at it and said, “It’s very good.”

He foresaw and foreknew and understood every hurt which was about to unfold, and he made it anyway. He chose it anyway. He chose the pain. He chose the fight. He chose the dusty beings he’d breathe into life.

“To be holy and blameless in his sight.” And before the creation of the world he knew what it would take to make us holy and blameless in his sight. He knew the pain of the broken world, the one we made when we gave our authority to satan. He knew the pain of the cross, the place he would take that authority back. He knew all that pain and created us anyway.

“In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ in accordance with his pleasure and will.” His pleasure and will. His pleasure. It pleased God to adopt us as his sons through Jesus Christ. It wasn’t according to his wisdom. It wasn’t for his glory (it was also for his glory but that’s not the point here). It wasn’t so the angels would understand another aspect of God’s character (it was also for that reason, but again, not the point). It was for his pleasure. He wanted us, so he adopted us. The thought of adopting such broken human beings made God happy, so he did it.

“To the praise of his glorious grace which he has freely given us in the one he loves.” Freely given. It cost us nothing. It was a gift. Like he sent it in the mail and it arrived in my mail box and all I have to do is walk out there and open it. It’s mine. I may have it.

“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of his grace which he lavished on us in all wisdom and understanding.” Apparently it is wise to lavish the riches of grace. Hmmm. That is much to think about. Like I can really act out in ridiculous and hilarious grace when someone hurts me, and everything will be ok. I can act in grace instead of acting out in justice to hurt them for hurting me or in discipline or correction. I can act in grace. I don’t know what that means, but it intrigues me.

“And he made known to us the mystery of his will in accordance with his good pleasure.” There is no mystery. God doesn’t hide anything from us when it comes to his plan about us. He isn’t holding anything back. He isn’t luring us into some trap or other. He is open and honest about his intentions in this relationship. He’s told us where his heart is and where he wants to go with this. He’s left it up to us. If we’re in, we can say so and jump in with both feet. We can accept his will and plan and good pleasure for us. We can follow him and listen to him and obey him. We can do whatever he asks of us, and we can do it knowing the beginning of the story and the end of the story. Because we know him. And he is both the beginning and the end.

“Which he proposed in Christ.” Like a wedding proposal. He told us his intentions and handed us a ring. And then he waited for us to say, “Yes,” or, “No.” Hoping we would say yes, because he loves us and wants what is best for us. He is best for us. But respecting our wishes if we should refuse.

“To be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment. To bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.” It will be a beautiful day—this day Christ mentioned when he proposed—better than a two story house with a white picket fence, two kids, and a dog. Better than anything we can imagine because it is not something we have ever seen. It is better than anything we have ever seen. All things will be together. All the fragments of this broken world will be brought together and reunited. Every shard will find its place. Every wound will be healed. He will bind up all wounds and wipe all the tears from our eyes.

“In him we were also chosen, having been predestined, according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will.” He works out everything so that it conforms to the purpose of his will. Maybe it tried to deviate. Maybe it succeeded. But God worked it back into conformity with all that is good and pure and true and noble and honorable. He worked it back into conformity so the world would be what he intended.

“In order that we who were the first to hope in him might be for the praise of his glory. And you also were included in Christ.” Praise God. The first apostles are not the only ones to be included in Christ.

“When you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance.” A seal—something that cannot be broken. A deposit—a down payment. More is coming, but he gave us the Holy Spirit as a deposit.

Usually a deposit is a small portion of the whole. So, what is God paying? Himself. He is securing us with the deposit of the Holy Spirit, and he is coming back for us. He has given us his Spirit as a promise that he will come back and pay the full price—his full self. What is our inheritance? The Godhead. And then tears come to my eyes because it is so beautiful. He gave us his Spirit. It’s like the engagement ring we accepted and now wear on our hand so everyone can see we are already taken. We belong to someone. We have a strong man who will fight for us if any lowlife should come bother us in any way, and the Holy Spirit is proof of that truth. And even better is the fact that our Holy Spirit deposit fights for us against every enemy.

“Until the redemption of those who are God’s possession.” I always think the idea of redemption is interesting. It’s like paying a ransom. It’s like paying a substitute. It’s standing up and saying, “I don’t want my beloved to die. I will pay whatever cost to get her out of the clutches of evil.” And we are God’s possession. We belong to him. He bought us. He paid for us. He carried us out of the store and took us home with him.

“To the praise of his glory. For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you and remembering you in all my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation so that you may know him better.” Paul keeps asking. He continually labors over the saints of Ephesus in prayer. He does the real work—asking God to do all the work. He lays down his attempts to change the world and goes to the one with all the power, asking him to move the mountains. He asks God to move immovable barriers and continues chipping away at them as much as he is able. He lavishes wisdom and guidance on the Ephesians, revealing to them the truth about God in order that they may know him better. His prayers are fervent and relentless. His human efforts are fervent and relentless.

“I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened so that you may know the hope for which he called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints.” His glorious inheritance in the saints. We are God’s inheritance. Now, he is the God of all creation. He is the one with wealth, power, fame, honor, glory, and anything else at his disposal. Should he wish for another universe, all he must do is whisper, “Universe,” and it will jump into being. He can have anything he wants, yet we are his inheritance. We, the sinful humans who broke his perfect world. We, the ones who chose to be our own gods instead of following him. We, the ones who took the authority he’d given us over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the livestock, all the earth, and all the creatures that move along the ground, and gave it to the devil, his enemy. We are his inheritance. What?

Crazy.

Beautiful.

Holy.

This is something higher than my thoughts. These are ways higher than mine. It’s a life like I’ve never known. It’s different. It’s unfathomable.

“And his incomparably great power for us who believe.” We have great power in him. We have all the power in him. Because we’ve been blessed with all the riches of the heavenly realms. Grace has been lavished on us. Wisdom has been given us. Revelation has been given us. Power has been given us. What has not been given to us? And it’s been given to us freely. It is at our disposal. All we must do is ask, “King Jesus, will you please__.” And it will be (if you abide in him and his word abides in you and you ask in his name). We have been given power. We have been given authority. Not only do we have the authority to say to this mountain, “Go, cast yourself into the sea,” but we have the power to pick up the mountain and cast it into the sea because we have the Holy Spirit, our deposit, in us. He can move the mountain. He can wither the tree. He can tear down, and he can build up. He can say to this tree, “Be blessed and bear fruit once more,” and it will be done. A broken reed he will not crush, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. Praise him.

And that’s about as far as I’ve gotten in my pondering of Ephesians.