Ephesians 4: 1-6
Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called,
Paul's mention that he's the Lord's prisoner will be brought out later in this chapter, tomorrow.
He is begging his readers to live up to the Lord's expectations of them, in the light of all He has done for them, listing some of the attitudes that they need to do this:
with all humility and gentleness with patience showing tolerance for one another in love,
being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Humility is seeing ourselves as Christ sees us, not worth any more or less than any other believer; gentleness is needed to deal with one another without our rough edges cutting one another; patience is needed to not rush the responses of one another; and tolerance is putting up with others' habits that get on our nerves, without lashing out. We are to love one another as fellow brothers and sisters in God's family, making the effort to get along with each other, putting the other's needs before our own.
There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling,
one Lord, one faith, one baptism;
one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.
We all are members of one body with Christ as our Head, because we all have the same Holy Spirit of Life giving us life. The Father called each of us into His family with one hope of our calling to the final destination that God made us for. There is one Lord who is our Boss, the Head of our body, directing and doing through us as His hands and feet. We all believe with one faith, the truth of His death and resurrection for us; and there is only one baptism that we picture with our water baptism, the immersion of each of us into the body of Christ.
We acknowledge only one God, the Father-Progenitor, who made all things through His Word, the Son, in the power of the Holy Spirit--He is the One who thought us all up, and we are His imagination, so we "live and breathe and have our being in Him" (Acts 17: 28). That makes Him over all and though all and in all. We, as His imagination, are all inside His mind: if He weren't thinking about us, we wouldn't exist!
So Paul is begging these believers in Ephesus to clean up their lives and thinking. To realize who they are in Christ, and to love one another with Christ's Love for us: that unconditional, sacrificial care for each other that He displayed in taking our death upon Himself.
We are all body parts of one body, so if one part hurts, we all feel the pain. And when one part is honored, we all enjoy the pleasure. And the body we are, is the body of Christ, so we need to realize how He would live in our circumstance (WWJD).
We are to leave all the ways of this world, and the cultural evils of our societies that we live in, and show the World who God is and how much He Loves us!
O my Father, what You have done for us is so stupendous! I am trying to get my head around even a part of what You have already accomplished for us, for us to enjoy the benefits, as You receive the credit, the glory for having done it all!
O Father, You are so great, so good, so powerful, so smart and wise and clever! Everything that You plan, You have already finished. And You have designed us to be Your own children, intimate members of Your royal family. And You have us in school here on this Earth, in this world we have made on it; and all the trials and lessons and testings we encounter here are growing us up, and preparing us to be ready to be Your governors and kings and queens, managing Your universes.
Please help us all to realize how important we are to You right now, and to cooperate with You in living in this world without being of it, recognizing that our home is in You, in Your eternity, enjoying fellowship with You and with one another forever.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will proclaim that Jesus is our Christ, the Lord God Almighty, Son of the Father, King over all Creation; to the everlasting glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come soon, Lord Jesus!
