Ephesians 1:1-4:16
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us for adoption to Himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of His will, to the praise of His glorious grace, with which He has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace, which He lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of His will, according to His purpose, which He set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in Him, things in heaven and things on earth.
Ephesians 1:3-10
Of course, I could continue highlighting such references to Christ for many more verses. (In fact, the very next verse, Eph. 1:11, starts with, “In Him…“) We need to pay attention to these references. We need to recognize the Truth here. Paul is not just spouting lofty language about some guy who did a few nice things and taught some interesting lessons. He is talking about God Incarnate. He is talking about the Risen Christ. He is talking about our Lord and Savior. He is talking about the One on Whom we are utterly dependent.
Yet if you listen to some preachers, even bishops in some so-called “Christian” denominations, you’d think that Jesus were superfluous — a nice example, perhaps, but certainly not essential. God could not possibly be so narrow-minded as to think that Jesus would matter that much! Jesus might be a way to God, but He’s not the only way. Yada, yada, yada… Hmmm… Think again!
But heretical bishops aside, what about us? Who is Jesus to us? Are any of us still spinning our wheels, trying to live the “Christian” life without Christ? Do we live as though Christ is a nice bonus, but optional? Although we may recite the Creeds, when it gets down to it, do we think of Christ’s Resurrection as ancient history, with little relevance to our daily lives?
As we read through Ephesians, let’s look closely at what Paul says. Let’s recognize Who Jesus really is. Let’s put our faith in Christ. Let’s find our place — and life — in Him.
See also:
- October 27 (2021) / Ephesians 1:1-23
- October 28 (2021) / Ephesians 2:1-22
- October 29 (2021) / Ephesians 3:1-21
- October 30 (2021) / Ephesians 4:1-16
One more thing…
…speaking the truth in love…
Ephesians 4:15a
I’m sure most of us are somewhat familiar with this phrase, having heard it quoted rather often, or perhaps quoting it ourselves. We’re probably much less familiar with the rest of the verse or the surrounding verses. People use this phrase to justify criticizing others, something along these lines: I don’t like that you just painted your house purple, and I’m sure the rest of the neighborhood doesn’t like it either, so I’m going to tell you that you have horrible taste, but I’ll do it “gently”, because, you know, we should “speak the truth in love”. Please stop abusing the Scriptures. Please put this phrase back in context and be very wary the next time you hear it spoken without that context.