We begin this 13 week session with the book of Ephesians. Lesson 1 points to the Father chose you! He indeed is faithful God!
The next 13 lessons we are going to go verse by verse through Ephesians and Galatians. We will bring emphasis to these passage through the eyes of grace. The Apostle Paul wrote all his epistles through the eyes of grace; he is the man God gave the revelation of grace to! The law came through Moses but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. We must rightly divide scriptures to walk in the understanding God intends His children to walk in. We begin with the book of Ephesians; we will highlight these major themes as we work our way through.
The Father chose YOU!
Discovering the will of God.
Knowing God intimately.
Partaking in divine inheritance.
Knowing the Love of the Father.
Living as the new man.
Doing Spiritual warfare in victory.
Discipleship theme verses is Hebrews 4:12 and Psalm 19:14
Ephesians 1:1 Paul , an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus , and faithful in Christ Jesus: 2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Often we just read over opening verses as if to declare that just the opening greeting. Yet the entirety of the Word is inspired and we need to not make any verses in the word of God just quick read over verses. Paul opening verses is not an exception to this rule. Paul was an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God. Paul was a sent one to declare the good news of Jesus and it was orchestrated by the will of God. Paul addresses this letter to the saints! Every genuine believer indeed a saint. One who has been marked as one belonging to God. Grace (divine influence) and peace (oneness with God) from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! Paul opened the letter with a blessing. We would do well to learn to greet one another with a blessing. I grew up in churches where when you ran into fellow believers the greeting to one another was “Praise the Lord”. The early church would often greet one another with “Maranatha” meaning come Lord Jesus. Oh that the church body would once again be enamored with words of life in our mouths.
Ephesians 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,
Paul wasted no time in sharing from the heart of God. First he blessed the people he was writing and now he blesses his God. What if the body learned to bless one another and bless God whenever we came into fellowship with one another. God wants to change our mindsets so we can live in victory. The way we change our mindsets is to become a reflection of the word of God. Who is this great Father who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus? Let us learn of Him by looking into His word.
Ephesians 1:4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love,
Imagine if you will before time began the Father, Son, Holy Spirit discussing their plans for mankind. These next several verses shares the Father’s heart, verse 11 shares the Son’s heart, and verse 13 shows the work of the Holy Spirit. The Father blessing us with every blessing in Christ is great but now we are brought the revelation that He chose us before the foundation of the world. You have been on God’s mind for a very long time! His choosing was for an intended purpose to make you holy and blameless before Him in love. Only the grace of God can make us holy and blameless in love!
Ephesians 1:5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,
If His choosing you blesses you consider the intended purpose of adopting you as His son or daughter. Through Jesus He brings you to Himself and it is good pleasure and will to do so. The Father loves bringing you close! The destiny He has for you is to bring you so close you may cry out Abba Father to Him!
Ephesians 1:6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He has made us accepted in the Beloved.
In the heart of every man is built in a longing to belong; the plan of the Father has made us accepted in the Beloved! God has embraced you to the praise and glory of His grace! You are a master piece of the Father; His divine influence and even His manifestation to us and through us gives Him honor. The Father has made us accepted!!
Ephesians 1:7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace 8 which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence,
It is exclusively through the blood of Jesus Christ we have the forgiveness of sins! Our forgiveness of sins shows off the riches of His grace. The Father has made His grace abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence. Can you imagine God putting all His wisdom and understanding behind the decision to bring us into the family of God? He who created the heavens and the earth and know the stars by name, the One who measures the waters of the world in the hallow of His hand, has taken that same wisdom and prudence to bless us, choose us, adopt us, make us accepted in the Beloved, and redeem us from all sin.
Ephesians 1:9 having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, 10 that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth; in Him.
These few verses brings revelation to the mystery hidden from the foundation of the world. The Father has done all of these things according to His good pleasure and purpose! This goodness of God was great revelation to me! His goodness brings all things together in Christ! What a wonderful redemption plan.
Ephesians 1:11 In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, 12 that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.
To this point we have discussed what the Father had to say about us and for us from the foundation of the world. Now in verse 11 Jesus declares we have obtained an inheritance from Him. The Father chooses us and the Son makes us joint heirs with Him. This is the purpose and will of God being unfolded to the believer!
Ephesians 1:13 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.
Having believed in Jesus we are sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise! This sealing takes place when you believe in Jesus Christ. “Having believed, you were sealed…” The fullness of the Godhead was and is involved in your salvation! The enemy of your soul will try and detract from the truth of this precious gospel message; bring this word of truth to bear in your life. Put it in your mouth! I am blessed, chosen, adopted, accepted, forgiven, a joint inheritor, and sealed by the Holy Spirit!
Ephesians 1:15 Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, 16 do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him,
Paul was thankful for the church after he heard of their faith. We can start by being thankful for our church and where God has planted us! When you look into the word of God, His will and purposes are unveiled. Paul prayed that “the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him,” This prayer is that the body of Christ will have a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of the Father. Oh, that the church would know the Father better. So much of Ephesians chapter one is about the church getting to know God the Father! Let your prayer life include the prayer that we will get to know God in sweet intimacy! …
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