First Love: Restoring Awe (Episode 2)
Devotional Thoughts from Ephesians 1
This is Episode 2 of my devotional series on Ephesians from my book “First Love: A Deeper Understanding of Church from the Book of Ephesians.” This episode features excerpts from the Ephesians 1 along with my paraphrase of the text. To get the most out of this series, I encourage you to get a copy of the book on Amazon (only $6) and take a month to dig into a chapter each day! I’ll publish a new devotional each week to help us reflect on what we are learning.
You can start by reading my paraphrase of the first chapter of Ephesians (First Love Paraphrase[1])
Paul, God’s chosen messenger, called by King Jesus himself, in keeping with God’s plan.
To the saints in Ephesus, God’s faithful family in Christ:
May our Father God and King Jesus himself shower you with grace and peace!
Praise the Father, who rains down spiritual blessings from heaven on us!
Praise God, who decided before creation to set us apart as his precious people!
Praise Jesus, through whom God delightfully predetermined to adopt us into his family!
Praise His glorious grace, which he richly lavished on us through Jesus!
Praise His redemption through forgiveness of sins, only possible through Jesus’ blood!
Praise His wisdom and understanding, for he joyfully revealed to us his mystery!
Praise His purpose in Christ, to unify every ounce of matter in the universe under the reign of Christ!
Praise His fulfillment, choosing this time to orchestrate all these things through Christ!
What about us?
God loved us so much that he created us to have a relationship with him.
We were chosen by God and tuned to become instruments of praise.
We were designed to bring him praise and glory.
We were included in Christ when we believed the Message and received God’s saving presence.
God’s Spirit invaded our souls, redefining us as members of his precious family, his treasured possession. When His Spirit inhabited our bodies, he guaranteed our inheritance and future redemption.
Until that day, we resonate with the praise of his glory.
I can’t stop thinking about you, your faith, and your love for God’s people.
My prayers overflow as I thank God for you!
Glorious God, giver of Jesus, Father to all:
Give us spiritual insight
Reveal yourself
Let us know who you are
Share with us your wisdom
Enlighten us that we may understand how much hope you bring
Inspire us with the glories of heaven and the honor of your presence
Empower us through your Spirit to live out the supernatural
You raised Jesus from the dead!
Jesus now sits with you enthroned in heaven!
Surely you use that strength to transform us.
Jesus appeared to be defeated but now he reigns over all: every ruler, power, authority, or name.
He is glorified in this present age but even more so, he will be glorified in the age to come.
Jesus is crowned as head over every earthly and celestial being.
All of this, so that he can serve and empower the church.
For we are his body, the church and we fill this earth with his fullness everywhere, in every way, in everything!
1. The Prisoner’s Greeting to God’s Holy People (Ephesians 1:1-2)
The imprisoned apostle Paul wrote to “the saints” (God’s holy people) who are set apart from the world. Christians are special in God’s eyes, called to be different from those who do not recognize the reign of God in their lives. Paul challenges the saints (God’s holy people) in Ephesus to recognize the specialness of their calling. What does that look like to be “saints” and to recognize other Christians as “saints” during these challenging times?
Ephesians uses the term saint in many ways:
Ephesians 1:15 Saints love the other saints
Ephesians 2:19 Saints are fellow citizens with God’s other holy people (part of his Kingdom family)
Ephesians 3:8 Paul considered himself the least of the saints
Ephesians 3:18 Saints seek to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ for us
Ephesians 4:12 Leaders are called to equip the saints to live out their calling
Ephesians 5:3 Impurity and immorality are improper for saints (God’s holy people)
Ephesians 6:18 Paul prayed for all the saints
It’s easy to look at the church and see all of the member’s flaws.
Can we follow Paul’s example and see a faithful family of saints?
(First Love)
2. The Awe-inducing Anthem of Praise (Ephesians 1:3-14)
Paul began his letter with one of the longest run-on sentences (v3-14) in the Bible. What can I take from Paul’s rather intimidating excursion into an anthem of praise? We are…
Chosen to be blameless. That’s how God sees us. Don’t get confused—blameless is not about our behavior, but our relationship with God (see my blog on Misunderstood Righteousness).
Predestined for adoption. We were all created to be his children and he wants us to enjoy the blessings of the royal family!
Chosen and predestined according to his purpose. God has a plan, whether you see it or not. What is he doing in your life now? Do you recognize it? Ask him to show you!
Blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ. If we have it all, what are we lacking? Have you thought recently about what we already have in Christ?
Invaded by the Holy Spirit (our deposit guaranteeing salvation). I love the word invade… not because God is forcing us to do something against our will, but because we have the opportunity to invite him into every part of our lives. Will you invite him in to invade[1]?
Renamed in God’s family. We now bear his name—and he is not ashamed for us to bear it[2]. Do you accept your new name?
Paul used his understanding of God (theology) to expand their vision,
their dreams, and their worship by bringing them face-to-face with the Father.
(First Love)
3. The Power of the Church (Ephesians 1:15-23)
Paul finished the chapter in the first of two lengthy prayers in the letter (see also 3:14-19). He remembered their “faith and love” while he prayed for spiritual insight, inspiration, and power. He reminded them that Jesus’ resurrection power “serve and empower the church!”
For we are his body, the church and we fill this earth with his fullness everywhere, in every way, in everything! (Ephesians 1:23, First Love Paraphrase)
God applies all of his hope, power, wisdom, presence, and glory to serve
and empower us as the church so that we can fill the earth with all the fullness of God.
(First Love)
Closing thoughts: Paul recognized the sacred, God-given holiness that fills every Christian—individually but even more as a body, the church. Pray to accept your calling, your position, and to recognize the sacred in God’s people, our fellow Christians, the church of Christ.
For further (word) study
Each week I’ll provide some words that represent deeper themes in Ephesians along with links to the Strong’s Concordance (provides the Greek original word).
Heavenly Realms (Strong’s 2032: ἐπουρανίοις or epouraniois) means “in the heavenly sphere, spiritual.” The heavenly realms are a spiritual place where God dwells (1:20) [and evil forces (3:10. 6:12)]. Christ is seated beside God (1:20) and we are seated (spiritually) beside Jesus (2:6) with every spiritual blessing (1:3).
Inheritance (Strong’s 2817: κληρονομίας or klēronomias) and Heir (Strong’s 4789: συνκληρονόμα or synklēronoma) are “the gift of God to His chosen people (heirs). In the Old Testament, the Promised Land. In the New Testament, a possession viewed in one sense as present, in another as future (‘age to come’ in 1:21 and 2:7); a share, participation.” God planned a glorious inheritance for us (1:18). He guaranteed our inheritance through the Holy Spirit (1:14). Immoral, impure, or greedy people have no such inheritance (5:5). Gentiles now share in the same inheritance as the Jews (3:6).
[1] Note: This is my own paraphrase of the book of Ephesians that appears in my book First Love. I developed it to help me better digest the depth of teaching found in the scripture. In no way am I claiming that this is more accurate than a translation, but for those of us who have read the same translation more than a dozen times, it can be helpful to revisit the text from a different angle. I pray this version will help you find new insights into the scriptures.
[2] I love the song, Invade by Watermark.
[3] Hebrews 2:11-12