Ephesians Chapter One
Introduction
Welcome to this brief overview of the Book of Ephesians. This commentary comes directly from a six part preaching series where we took a closer look into this insightful book. What you will read will be some of the insight and revelation I have received while studying. This is by no means an exhaustive commentary but rather a way to understand the wholistic message that Paul was sending to the church at Ephesus.
I hope you enjoy and I pray Ephesians 1.17 over you as you begin to dive into God’s Word. May the spirit of wisdom and understanding be given to you so that you don’t just gain information but are changed from the inside out.
Lastly, you will notice that all the scripture will be italicized and some scriptures will be highlighted with a different color font, that is my doing and not found in the Bible. All of my thoughts will be included as smaller paragraphs broken up as I reference different scriptures.
Overview
Before we start, let's briefly take a closer look at the city of Ephesus to gather a bit more context on who Paul was speaking to.
Ephesus was the third largest city in the Roman Empire and the largest city in Asia Minor with around 250,000 people living there. Although that doesn’t sound like a lot, for that time It would be comparable to New York or LA.
With this church located right inside of a major city, you can imagine all of the diversity and culture that Ephesus had to offer. Being such a large city you had people from all cultures and walks of life bringing into the city their gods and religions as well as their business.
This letter was written to remind the church at Ephesus who they were in Christ. With so many opinions and religions happening in the city, Paul is attempting to center this church on the reality of their place with Christ.
Paul writes this letter during his time in prison. This is one of the four prison epistles, the others being, Colossians, Philippians and Philemon.
Finally, this book was not only written to the church in Ephesus, but all the churches in Asia Minor.
Ephesians Chapter One
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.
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,
The idea here that Paul lays out, sets the framework for the rest of the first chapter and is even a theme he continues throughout the entire book as well as other books he wrote to encourage the Church.
Here is the idea. You have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ. When we understand our position in Christ we realize that we already have everything we could ever need in life because we have Him.
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, 5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. 7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace
Paul starts out strong here, reminding the Ephesians that they have been chosen, adopted and accepted by God. That in Him we also have redemption and forgiveness of sins. This is such a simple but necessary reminder for us today. When we are found in Christ we are forgiven, redeemed, chosen by God, adopted into the family of Christ and accepted!
8 which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, 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.
Here we are about halfway through chapter one and already we see this phrase eight times. “In Christ” or “In Him”. It is clear that the Ephesians might have slipped out of Christ back into their own strength and will. This is such an accurate reflection of many christians today. We become consumed with trying to live this christian life in our own strength and we are struggling, depressed and angry christians. Let us pick up this wonderful advice and live our life in Him!
Paul also mentions a “mystery” in verse nine. We will dive into this more in chapter three, but I will touch on it here briefly. In Colossians chapter 1.27, one of the other prison epistles, Paul goes into detail regarding this mystery. He says the mystery is this “Christ in you, the hope of glory”. This might not sound too mysterious to you but in Pauls time, this was a revolutionary idea. That Christ would reside inside of gentiles. Up until this point in time gentiles had no dealings with the Jewish law or traditions. And Paul pioneered this message that said that Jesus wasn’t just for the Jews but for the world.
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.
Here in verse 11 and 12 lies such a profound truth. Those of us who are found in Christ have obtained and inheritance. It is not money or fame, not relationships or material blessings, its not even miracles or spiritual gifts. Verse 12 tells us that our inheritance is to be to the praise of His glory! It is Him, the person of Jesus is our inheritance.
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.
Continuing his teaching on inheritance, Paul shares how the Holy Spirit comes into the picture. After we have believed and called on the name of Jesus, the Holy Spirit has come to seal us. It is similar to our exchanging of wedding bands or rings during our ceremonies. We are taking on a seal that points to our promise and commitment to our spouse. In the same way, the Holy Spirit has sealed us, securing us in our relationship with Him. Romans 8.16 Pauls writes that “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God,” The Holy Spirit is the confirmation and the legitimizer of our covenant with Christ.
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, 18 the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power 20 which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.
Verse 15 begins with a prayer from Paul to the church. He prays that they would receive “the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him,”. This has to be one of the most important manifestations of the Holy Spirit that any christian can ask for. To receive wisdom and revelation is to receive a gift from the Father, He is allowing Himself to be known and for us to draw closer to Him through that knowledge. Paul continues to emphasize how beautiful the manifestation of wisdom and revelation is. He says that through this wisdom and revelation we can know “the hope of His calling”, “the riches of the glory of His inheritance” and “what is the exceeding greatness of His power”. All this is made available by the spirit of wisdom and revelation, what a gift!
22 And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, 23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
Paul ends this first chapter coming full circle from where he began. As he encouraged us to be found “In Christ”, Paul qualifies Christ to the church by reminding them of His preeminence. Reminding them again that Jesus doesn’t just want a superficial relationship, but He desires to fill them and for them to be found in Him.
