One In Christ

Posted by David Whitten on September 3, 2011 under Staff |

God’s Plan to make us One in Christ                    Ephesians 1

Introduction to Ephesians

The City of Ephesus

Written in AD 60-62 by Paul when he was imprisoned in Rome to the members of the church in Ephesus, a Greek colony-city on the main highway to Rome. This city was the gateway of Asia. Ephesus was a melting pot of humanity. It was a place of great wealth and luxury. It was the center of worship of Diana (Roman name for Artemis), a satanic stronghold. Ephesus was full of wizards, sorcerers, witches, astrologers, diviners of the entrails of animals and people who could read one’s fortune by the palm of the hand. And yet, after the preaching of Paul, the magicians publicly burned their books, “so the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed” (Acts 19:19–20). Timothy and Erastus were with Paul, but he sent them to Macedonia, while “he himself stayed in Asia for a time” (Acts 19:22).

This church was Paul’s main work in Asia. The Gospel message was spread throughout most of Asia as a result of the work in Ephesus. On his second journey, Paul came to Ephesus and taught the twelve disciples who knew only the baptism of John (Acts 19:1–7) and “went into the synagogue and spoke boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading concerning the things of the kingdom of God” (Acts 19:8). He later taught in the school of Tryannus for two years, and as a result, “all who dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks” (Acts 19:9–10).

Paul sends this letter, along with the letter to the Colossians and another to the Laodiceans and one to Philemon, through Tychicus and Onesimus (Col 4:7-9, 16; Ephesians 6:21).

Ephesians 1

¹ Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To God’s holy people in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus:² Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

³ Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. ⁴ For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love ⁵ he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— ⁶ to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. ⁷ In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace ⁸ that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, ⁹ he^[d] made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, ¹⁰ to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.

¹¹ 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, ¹² in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. ¹³ And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, ¹⁴ who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.

¹⁵ For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, ¹⁶ I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. ¹⁷ I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. ¹⁸ I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, ¹⁹ and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength ²⁰ he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, ²¹ 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. ²² And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, ²³ which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.

1. Chosen for Greatness

Paul starts out this letter to the Ephesians with monumental exaltation of God. He exalts initially for two reasons

• God chose us to be holy and blameless

The ”us” Paul is referring to includes Paul as well as his audience the Christians at Ephesus and ”the Faithful in Christ”.  This is an all inclusive reference his primary purpose is to include all who are in Christ. I believe that his intentional selection is to combat a feeling of exclusion that the Ephesians and other gentiles may have endured in comparison to the Jewish Christians.

Paul points out that God chose us to be holy and blameless through Christ.

It is only through the redeeming work that Christ has done, that we can be seen as holy or blameless. Notice the phrase “in his sight”

The truth is that we are sinners undeserving of being called holy because we are not holy and our sin has condemned us but under the covering of Christ, all God can see is Christ and he is holy.

Where Christ became sin for us, we became sin less. This is the work of atonement. 2cor 5:21 states “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

This the first incredible fact that Paul praises God for. next he states

• He Predestined us to be adopted as sons

Again we see Paul is pointing to the Ephesians and all gentiles when he mentions this predestined adoption.

We need to be careful here not to fall in to the line of thinking that God has selected certain persons or people groups to be his in the exclusion to others.

On the contrary I believe Paul’s choice of words is intentional to include these people who have been made to feel second rate citizens of the kingdom of God by the Jewish Christians.

Paul’s message is that God had a plan at the very beginning to graft in the branch of the gentiles. That’s you and me folks.

Before the fall of man God had a plan to correct the fall through His only Son. There was never a plan b. God’s plan for salvation was always plan A.

History has shown us over and over again our desperate need of a savior and when the time was right God sent us Jesus his plan A to restore and make all things new.

Paul Tells these Ephesians that God had always planned to adopt them as sons. This adoption is prevalent through the gospels and Paul carries through this writings.

  Matthew 5:9
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
  Romans 8:14
because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
  Romans 8:19
The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed.
  Galatians 3:26

You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus,

• Galatians 4:7

So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.

ILL: I was borne with the given name David Scott Morgan. When I was 6 my mother remarried and I remember my mom coming to me and asking do you want to call Tom “Tom” or “Daddy”. You see my biological father wanted to give up his rights to his children after my mother and he got divorced because he didn’t want my mom coming to him for child support and the reason my mom asked that question is because the man she married, who most people would call their step father, wanted to adopt me, my sister and older brother. I told my mom that day that I wanted to call him “daddy” and from that day my name was no longer David Scott Morgan but David Scott Whitten. Thomas Lynn Whitten gave me his name, and I have given that name to my wife and each of my three children. He didn’t have to, but he chose me and gave me the rights of his son. And for that I am truly thankful.

II. Made One under Christ

V6 continues the exaltation of God because of his grace in sending us “the One he loves” which is clearly a reference to Jesus.

Paul points to the redeeming Blood of Jesus and calls it the “forgiveness of sins” (this is a perfect passage to draw from at times of communion). This is a grace lavished on us as Paul points out with “all wisdom and understanding.”

Wisdom meaning that God has opened up the way for the redeemed to be grafted into the family of God

And Understanding knowing that we who had no hope have a secure hope and that hope is in Christ who made all things new.

Here Paul pulls back the curtain shrouded in mystery for ages is now revealed.

With this I am reminded that at the death of Christ the curtain in the temple was torn from top to bottom (matt 27:51) …. For thousands of years God’s people were restricted to one race the children of Abraham, the Hebrews, the Jews. And now the way to God is not through a blood line but through a blood sacrifice of God’s one and only son.

This mystery is that God gives an open invitation to his table to all who will come through Christ The mystery revealed it is his plan A and has always been.

V10 is where we see a declaration which outlines the purpose of the letter “to bring all things in heaven and on earth under one head even Christ”

God through sending Christ and Jesus completing the work of the cross and overcoming the grave allows this mystery to be revealed and establish a new order under the authority of our conquering savior.

Phil 2:5-11

Christ Jesus: ⁶ Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
⁷ but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
⁸ And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
⁹ Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
¹⁰ that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
¹¹ and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

Jesus said of himself as he stood on the mountain before he was taken in to heaven ““All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” Matthew 28:18

There is one who we are under and that is Christ. Jesus said there is but one way John 14:6 “No one comes to the Father except through me”.

We have a clear message that as a church we are the body of Christ and are brought into unity under him who is our master and Lord. You see God’s plan was a plan of unity. This exactly the thing Jesus labored over in his prayer in John 17.

John 17:20-23 ²⁰ “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, ²¹ that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. ²² I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: ²³ I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

This is a prayer that Luke 22:44 records that Jesus prayed so fervently his sweat became like drops of blood falling to the ground.

ILL:      In 1927, in West Africa, a blood specimen was taken from a native man named Asibi, who was sick with yellow fever. A vaccine was made from the original strain of the virus obtained from this man. In fact, all the vaccine manufactured since 1927 derives from the original strain of virus obtained from this one man.  This vaccine has been carried down to the present day from one laboratory to another around the world, through repeated cultures and by enormous multiplication, it has offered immunity to yellow fever to millions of people in many countries. The blood of this one man in the West Africa has been made available to serve the whole human race

III. Marked with a seal

V13 points out that we were given a seal and that seal is the Holy Spirit.

When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, ¹⁴ who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory

Paul teaches that when we came to believe in Christ, part of our reward is the Gift of the Holy Spirit.  When the people heard the gospel preached for the first time, the apostle Peter told the onlookers on the day of Pentecost a how to be saved and as a result of salvation the believer receives the Holy Spirit Acts 2:37-38  When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

This is what Jesus promised in John 14 16-18 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.  I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.

This Gift of the Holy Spirit is a seal that marks us. We have the idea of belonging here. A king would have a signet that he would place on the things he owns no one dare touch what belongs to a king. A cattle rancher has a brand he puts on his cattle. That brand sets apart those cattle belonging to that rancher.

When I married Carol I gave her my seal of my vow, my ring and I ware her seal of her vow. She is my wife and I am her husband and this seal has made us one.

This is the idea that I believe that Paul is teaching us.  We are united with Christ through the indwelling of his presence and Christ in us, is in the form of the Holy Spirit.

Paul says that this Spirit is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance. Isn’t that awesome? We have a guarantee that we belong to him because he has sealed us when we believed in Jesus.

In the close of the chapter Paul sums up with a remarkable exhortation and prayer ¹⁸ I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, ¹⁹ and his incomparably great power for us who believe

Enlightened Heart to

• Know the hope to which he has called us
• Know the glorious inheritance we are promised, guaranteed and sealed
• Know his incomparable great power with this spirit in us we are given an incredible power. Paul prays that we might come to know this power. Here he likens the power of the spirit to the power that was exerted to raise Christ from the grave. what was tremendous power.

That power is the same as the mighty strength ²⁰ he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms,

God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, ²³ which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.

With out Christ life is a hopeless end but with Christ there is an endless hope

Jesus, through his blood simply turned it around.

VIDEO  “I’m Lost in Blindness”

Jesus is Lord of all. The thing is he will never press himself on you. He will never force you to accept him and give him your loyalty. That work is on you. but you will never have the promised seal of belong to him unless you do. You will never have the promise in a shared in heritance unless you give in to him and make him your savior. There is literally like I said earlier a hopeless end with out Jesus but with him there is a endless hope