An opening note for my readers of this series:
Roughly 8 years ago?, I wrote a series of sermons on Ephesians. I wrote them at a time of "almost." Academically/exegetically, I was "almost" comfortable with discourse analysis (Steve Runge style), but I had little idea how to use it effectively. Spiritually, I was aware that there was something about the Spirit-filled life that I didn't understand. I "almost" understood Ephesians 5:17ff., in particular. But I drew back from teaching on being filled with the Holy Spirit, because I knew there was something I was missing. I knew I wasn't filled, and didn't know how to be filled. Things have changed since then, and rewriting this series has become part of my bucket list. This year, 2025, I was offered the privilege of presenting a series of messages on Ephesians at a little Lutheran church, and I took that opportunity to more or less entirely rewrite the whole series. I don't consider myself a Lutheran, and there is much about "Lutheranism" I haven't studied, but it's this setting that explains my occasional focus on Lutherans throughout. Lutherans aren't being randomly being talked about; they were my hearers. The other thing I should mention is that the sermons are based on a translation I hand out to the church, that has more information than is presented on this website-- words that are focused/emphasized in the Greek, are underlined in my translation, subordinate clauses are indented, etc. Much of this doesn't carry over very well, and is lost in translation, so to speak. Anyone who wants that version can email me at garretttyson32@yahoo.com, and I'll send you that info. I'm stretched thin, and don't have time for long emails, but I can send you that. Last, I thought I'd be able to reuse more of the old series than I did, but that's how life seems to go. I'm sure I'll look back in 10 years on this series, and feel the same. But God is kind, and gracious, and He knows that every stage, I've done the best I could, and that we are all a work in progress.
On to the sermon!:
Today marks the new start of a series I'm planning on Ephesians. Whenever you start a study on a new book in the Bible, it's normal to give a few introductory remarks about the book to give you kind of a big picture to work with. So the big picture of Ephesians looks something like this, I think: God has this vision, this plan, to make a single, holy family, who will live in peace with himself, and with each other. He is bringing this vision to fruition through Jesus. Our responsibility, in response to this, has two parts. First, we say "yes" to God's invitation. We join God's family. Second, we walk worthily of our calling.
The Ephesians have said "yes" to God, but they aren't walking worthily. They are living in their old sins. They aren't living in peace. And so Paul writes this letter to them, to show them how and why they should start walking rightly with God. And, mostly importantly, to push them to start walking rightly. This is a letter that is designed to persuade the Ephesians to change how they think, and how they live.
The second bit of helpful intro I should give you, I think, is that the city of Ephesus was a total hotbed of different types of demonic activity. Ephesus was a city with a huge temple dedicated to Artemis, who was viewed as a super powerful god, who was both willing and able to share her power with her worshippers, and to help her worshippers be protected against other spirits. From archaeology, we know that this whole region was really interested in magic. We maybe tend to think of magic as something kind of harmless. Magic is the thing that makes life difficult for Disney princesses, and we wonder why a princess wouldn't be a little bit more careful, and aware of her surroundings. There are certain apples you shouldn't eat. And some strangers are super dangerous. But in the first century, everyone understood that magic was real, and that there are many spirits out there in the world. Some of the spirits leave you alone, and are perhaps good. Some of them mess with people hard, and make life difficult. And magic was viewed as a way to manage and control the spirit world, mostly simply for protection. If you wore a bracelet, which had names with power on it, you'd be protected. There were also power words you could say, that could protect you. When we read about Paul's missionary work in Ephesus in Acts 19, we find the story how this Jewish guy, with his seven sons, went around Ephesus casting unclean spirits out of people in Jesus' name. Demons are real, and nasty. So one of the concerns that Paul addresses in this letter, is this: "Does Jesus protect us from the dark, evil spirits that roam the earth? Is Jesus enough? Or do we need Jesus, plus magic?" [and in all of this, I'll be leaning heavily on two books by Clifton Arnold: his Ephesians commentary, and his revised PhD entitled Power and Magic.
The third bit of intro I should give you is that the Ephesian church is a Gentile church. They're not Jews; they didn't grow up living in the covenant relationship with God that God set up through Moses. They were idol-worshipping, and deeply sinful, and far from God. And Paul, the author of Ephesians, had a very different background. He grew up as a Jew, living in this covenant relationship. One of the things we will see, almost right away, is that Paul at several points in this letter, deliberately writes as a Jew, to reassure Gentiles that God loves them, and accepts them, in Christ, without them having to become Jews. God loves them, and welcomes them, as Gentiles, in Christ. Once you see this, Ephesians will totally open up to you.
The one last thing I should say, before we jump in, is something about the translation. I really struggle to slow down and read the Bible, and actually hear what it says. Partly, I think it's the [ ] lifestyle of go-go-go. And partly it's because I've been a Christian a long time, and read the Bible many times, and it becomes a struggle to actually listen. The best way I've found to slow down, and hear it fresh each time, is to translate it. So what you have in front of you is my translation. There will be mistakes once in a while. I'm not going to pretend it's perfect. But every week, I'll try to lay out the text using sentence diagramming, to make it easier to see what Paul is saying. And then, because I'm a true Bible nerd, I'll stick some of the more complicated technical stuff in footnotes in the translation. Some of those, I'll talk about at some point. Others, I never will. But if you enjoy digging deep into the Bible, you'll like the footnotes. If you have questions about any of it, I'm happy to talk about it before or after a service. And if you prefer to just use your own Bibles, I'm completely ok with that. Fair enough?
This week, we are going to work through Ephesians 1:1-14. I'd like to start, by simply reading it. As I read, try to listen for three things in particular:
(1) How God has blessed us, and
(2) How God has blessed us through Jesus.
(3) Why we praise God.
It's hard to listen for three things at once. It'll feel a bit like juggling. But I've tried to make this a little easier for you by underlining these things in my translation.
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(1) Paul, an apostle/envoy of Christ Jesus through God's will:
To the holy ones who live in Ephesus,
and to the faithful ones in Christ Jesus:
(2) Grace to you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
(3) Blessed (=praised) [is] the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ--
the One blessing us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ,
(4) in as much as He chose us in him (=in Christ) before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy/consecrated and blameless/unblemished before Him in love,
(5) predetermining/predestinating us for adoption through Jesus Christ to Himself,
in accordance with the good pleasure of His will
(6) for the praise of the glory of his grace,
which he gave/graced to us in the beloved (=Jesus).
(7) In him (=Jesus) we have the freedom/release through his blood-- the forgiveness of trespasses/sins --
in accordance with the riches of his grace,
(8) which He made abound to us with all wisdom and the ability to understand,
(9) making known to us the mystery of his will,
in accordance with his good will/desire which He planned in him,
(10) for the stewardship of the fullness of the times, to bring together all things in Christ--
the things in the heavens,
and the things in the earth-- in him.
(11) In him also we were chosen,
being predetermined (same word as verse 5) in accordance with plan/purpose of the one working (=Jesus) in accordance with the plan/intention of His (=the Father's) will,
(12) so that we-- the ones having first hoped in the Christ-- should be for the praise of his glory.
(13) In him also you, hearing the word of the truth-- the good news of your salvation--
in him also, when you "believed," you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of the promise,
(14) who is the down payment of our inheritance,
for the redemption of possession,
for the praise of his glory.
vs. 2
"Grace to you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ."
We tend to quickly skip over the introductions to letters--or maybe it's just me. But Paul begins his letter with something we really don't want to miss. Paul here announces to them, as God's representative, that God gives them two things: (1) grace, and (2) peace.
Grace is one of those million dollar Christian words that we struggle to explain. Right? More often than not, you can translate it as "God's favor and help." God loves the Ephesians; he desires to help them and do good for them. We sometimes wonder what God thinks of us, and I assume that this was true for the Ephesians as well. If you are one of God's holy and faithful ones, know that God loves you. Know that God likes you. Know that God wants to help you, and do good for you.
The second thing Paul announces to them is God's peace. Paul is writing this letter to a church made up entirely
of Gentiles. Gentiles, historically, were not God's people. They rebelled against God, and lived outside of the covenant God set up with Moses. They lived as God's enemies. But now, through Jesus, we Gentiles live in peace with God.
So far in the letter, then, you should know that God loves you, that He likes you, that He wants to do good to you, and that you are at peace with him.
This should make you thankful, and make you want to praise God. So Paul pushes you in this direction.
Verse 3-6:
(3) Blessed (=praised) [is] the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ--
the One blessing us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ,
(4) in as much as He chose us in him (=in Christ) before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy/consecrated and blameless/unblemished before Him in love,
(5) predetermining/predestinating us for adoption through Jesus Christ to Himself,
in accordance with the good pleasure of His will
(6) for the praise of the glory of his grace,
which he gave/graced to us in the beloved (=Jesus).
When we think about what God has done for us, our immediate response should be to praise, or "bless," God. That's what this entire section is-- praise to God. In the OT, in the psalms, one of the things we find on a regular basis is the psalmists retelling the story of what God has done for Israel. They talk about God defeating Pharaoh, and parting the Red Sea, and giving them victory over the Canaanites. And when the psalmists tell these stories-- which are God's stories-- they are glorifying God. And it leads them to praise and glorify God.
These verses in Ephesians work the same way. Telling God's story is a way, all by itself, of praising and glorifying God. And it also leads us to praise and glorify God. We can't talk about what God did for us through Jesus, without it leading to worship. And what we see in verse 3, is that we bless the God, who blesses us.
And what is it, that God did? How has God blessed us?
In verse 3, Paul says God has blessed, and continues blessing you, with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies. God has held nothing back. He reached into heaven, grabbed every available blessing, and gave it all to you.
Paul then goes on, starting in verse 4, to unpack this. What are these spiritual blessings?
First, He chose you, as a church, in Christ, before the foundation of the world.
Now, this verse has been a source of an enormous amount of controversy in the church. And I really don't want to get into any of that. Let me just say three things about it that are often lost in the heated debates. First, the "you" here is plural. Paul, addressing the church as a whole, says that God chose you all. Second, God chose you in Christ. Jesus is God's chosen one. And when we give our allegiance to King Jesus, we become part of God's chosen people. Third, when you read the OT, what jumps out at you over and over is that Israel is God's chosen people. Israel is God's prized possession; Israel is the people that God loves.
The Ephesian church is made up entirely of Gentiles. No one ever said that Gentiles are God's chosen people. Gentiles are outsiders; idol-worshippers; far from God (Eph. 2:1-3).
When Paul writes here that you Ephesians were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world, what he is saying is that your election-- God's choosing you-- preceded Israel's. God didn't just choose Israel to be a holy and blameless people. God chose you, as Gentiles, to be his holy and blameless people. And he chose you for this in Christ. God adopted you into his family in Christ.
This should lead to you praise, immediately. Praise be to God, who chose us Gentiles to be adopted into his family in Christ.
The other thing that we really need to hear in these verses is Paul's strong emphasis on Jesus. Everything God has done for us, and continues to do for us, He did in and through Jesus. God chose you in Christ, the chosen one. God made you his holy people in Christ. God adopted you in Christ. God showed grace to you-- his favor and help-- through Jesus.
In the first century, the early church debated how Gentiles could be made right with God and become part of God's people. Did Gentiles have to become Jews to be part of God's people, or did God accept them as Gentiles? How do you become part of God's family? We take the answer to this question for granted now, but this was a difficult issue. The basic answer to the question is this: God forgives Gentiles' sins, and adopts them into his family, through Jesus. When people turn from their sins, give their allegiance to Jesus as King, and are baptized into Jesus (Rom 6:3), they become part of God's people. You come to God through Jesus, and not through Moses.
So we bless and praise our God, who has richly blessed us in Jesus.
But in saying all this, we are just scratching the surface of what God has done for us Gentiles in Christ. Paul continues, verses 7-10:
(7) In him (=Jesus) we have the freedom/release through his blood-- the forgiveness of trespasses/sins --
in accordance with the riches of his grace,
(8) which He made abound to us with all wisdom and the ability to understand,
(9) making known to us the mystery of his will,
in accordance with his good will/desire which He planned in him,
(10) for the stewardship of the fullness of the times, to bring together all things in Christ--
the things in the heavens,
and the things in the earth-- in him.
All of us used to be slaves to sin. But "in him"-- in Jesus-- we were freed from sin, and forgiven of our wrongdoing.
In verse 8, Paul then talks about how when God forgave us, and freed us, that this is all part of some larger plan on God's part. The end goal of what God planned through Jesus, isn't simply that we Gentiles can be forgiven, and cleansed. It's bigger than that. God has this huge sweeping plan that He's set in motion through Jesus. Paul will talk about this more later in Ephesians, but for now, I'll say this: God has this vision in mind for what the world should look like. God wants to create a single holy family, who will live in peace with him, and with each other. And somehow, this single holy family straddles heaven and earth. All things in heaven and earth are in the process of being brought together in Christ.
How exactly does this work? Our next verses begin to answer this.
Verse 11-13:
(11) In him also we were chosen,
being predetermined (same word as verse 5) in accordance with plan/purpose of the one working (=Jesus) in accordance with the plan/intention of His (=the Father's) will,
(12) so that we-- the ones having first hoped in the Christ-- should be for the praise of his glory.
(13) In him also you, hearing the word of the truth-- the good news of your salvation--
in him also, when you "believed," you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of the promise,
(14) who is the down payment of our inheritance,
for the redemption of possession,
for the praise of his glory.
When we think about what humans today, we tend to think in terms of the things that divide us. We humans are men and women, black and white, American and Russian, Republican and Democrat, rich and poor. But in the Bible's own story, the main division in the world has always been, Jew and Gentile. Jews were insiders. Jews were God's holy chosen people. Gentiles were idol-worshipping outsiders. When Paul talks about how God is bringing everything together on earth, this has to include Jew and Gentile.
What we see in verses 11-13 is that Paul talks about two groups. In verses 11-12, Paul talks about "we also."
Then in verse 13, he talks about "you also."
Do you see that?
When Paul says "you also," he's addressing the Gentile Ephesian church.
What does Paul mean, when we talks about "we also"?
Paul here is deliberately writing as a member of the Jewish people. This is something Paul also does in Galatians, and Romans. Paul will do this again, later in Ephesians. And when Paul does this, he does it as a kindness to Gentiles, to help them think more clearly about what it means to be Jew and Gentile, and what exactly God accomplished through Jesus.
So here, Paul says, "also we were chosen." Paul, speaking as a representative of Jews, says this: We Jews were the first ones to hope in the Messianic King (v. 12). We Jews waited for centuries for God to send his promised Messiah, and his promised Holy Spirit.
Now, how were we Jews chosen? How were we Jews set apart? Jews might want to point to Abraham, and say, that's when and how God chose Israel. God picked out Abraham. But at the start of verse 11, Paul says that we Jews were chosen in Christ. Jesus is the chosen one, and our election-- our calling-- is a calling in Jesus. And God called us Jews, so that we would praise his glory. God wants us Jews to praise him. That's why he called "us Jews."
In verse 13, Paul turns from speaking about "us Jews" to addressing "you Gentiles."
In him also you, (1) hearing the word of the truth-- the good news of your salvation--
in him also, (2) when you "believed/faithed," you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of the promise,
who is the down payment of our inheritance,
for the redemption of possession,
for the praise of his glory.
Verse 13 is a little tricky. Basically, there were two things you did before the Holy Spirit sealed you. First, you heard the word of truth-- the gospel. God has this incredibly good news for all people, Jew and Gentile. God did something extraordinary, through Jesus. And you Ephesians heard this message.
You Ephesians then did a second thing. You responded with "faith," or "belief," in Jesus.
You did these two things-- you heard, and you believed in Jesus-- and then God sealed you with the Holy Spirit of the promise.
And through that, God took possession of all of you. He purchased you, and made you his.
So what we see, in verses 11-13, is that Jew and Gentile are in the same boat. God chose us Jews and you Gentiles in Christ. It's through Jesus that you, and us, are part of God's family. You and us have the same spiritual blessings. You and us have the same inheritance coming your way. There's one boat, made up of Jew and Gentile. Not two.
Paul then wraps up this section, by pulling everything back to God at the end. Why did God do all this for you Gentiles? God rescued you, and forgave you, and adopted you into his family, because God is creating a holy people, made up of Jews and Gentiles who will praise Him. God did this for the praise of his glory.
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All of us have gone through times when we get distracted by life, and stop really thinking about what God has done for us in Jesus. We take it for granted. We don't value it. We don't appreciate the sacrifice Jesus made. We aren't thankful. Hearing God's story leaves us cold.
That might or might not be you. But my hope, in picking this series on Ephesians, is that you will leave this series fully appreciating what God has done for you through Jesus. That's you'll appreciate how God has freed you, and forgiven you, and welcomed you into his family. That you'll appreciate God's grace-- his kindness, and his favor. And my hope, in turn, is that this will lead you to live thankfully, in constant praise of your God.
This thankfulness and praise is the starting place for Ephesians. And God set it up, so that it's the starting place for all of life.
So blessed be God, who is The One blessing us with every spiritual blessing in the heavens in Jesus. Go in grace and peace.
