Today we will begin to study through the Epistle of Paul to the Ephesians.
The introduction alone has so much to consider!
Ephesians 1 :1-4
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,
Before Jesus Christ confronted him on that Damascus Road, Paul thought that these people who followed Him were blasphemers, and hunted them down to torture and martyr them. But God the Father sent His Son to bring him into faith. It was God's idea, not Paul's.
to the saints who are at Ephesus and who are faithful in Christ Jesus:
The people who lived in the City of Ephesus were called Ephesians. And those who were saints were the ones who were faithful to Jesus Christ in the power of the Spirit of Jesus Christ through their faith in Him.
grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Father and the Son and the Spirit are one God, and have one will. All three, as God, grant His unearned favor to us, which gives us the peace of having no more rebellion against Him.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who has blessed us
May God the Father be exalted, as He is the One who has given us such rich kindnesses.
with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,
God has lavished upon us His Love, along with all the wonderful spiritual gifts we could ever want or need, that will last forever, through Christ Jesus.
just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the Earth,
Before God even began to create anything, He planned it all out; and He chose to make us His own children.
that we would be holy and blameless before Him.
Knowing that Mankind would rebel against Him, He arranged for us to be able to die when Adam sinned, so that His Son could Redeem us, washing us in His blood so pristine clean that He could live in us; so we could be His kings and queens to assist His Son in ruling all He would create. So we are "holy"--separate from all the sinfulness of the world, and we are "blameless"--without blame, nothing can be blamed on us, as we have been cleansed thoroughly in the blood of the Lamb.
This is the most incredible Truth! God was so clever that He made the human race to be able to both die and to live forever! That doesn't seem possible, but God is God, and has done everything both possible and impossible to make us into suitable beings to bear His family Name.
God is perfect, and He's making us into perfect beings. Right now we're still here on His Earth that He made for us, living in the world we have built on it. While we're here, we're little children in school, learning the lessons and taking the tests to shape us into images of the character of Christ. We are stubborn beings, and sometimes we need to learn the same lessons over again several times until we are able to pass the test, and go on to the next lesson.
Everything He allows to touch us is for the purpose of molding our characters, so that we will be appropriate rulers over God's creations.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will proclaim that Jesus of Nazareth is our Messiah Christ, the Lord God Almighty, King over all Creation, to the eternal glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever, Amen.
Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!
