Ephesians – “Focusing on Truth”
Lesson One: Eph. 1:1-2 “Living in the Truth”
I want to talk today about Truth. We are beginning a new series in the book of Ephesians called “Focusing on Truth.” Truth is a word that we hear a lot about, but which unfortunately too many people don’t apply.
What are some famous sayings that deal with “truth”?
“Truth is elusive.”
“Truth is stranger than fiction.”
“You want the Truth! You can’t handle the truth!”
Here are some quotes about truth from some famous people throughout time:
• All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them. Galileo
• Children say that people are hung sometimes for speaking the truth. Joan of Arc
• (ON SHEETS) Always tell the truth. That way, you don’t have to remember what you said. Mark Twain
• The truth is always exciting. Speak it, then. Life is dull without it. Pearl S. Buck
In one of the most profound statements made by Jesus Christ during His ministry, Jesus addressed the concept of “truth.” (John 8:31-32): "You are truly my disciples if you keep obeying my teachings. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."
As I think about this statement, I am drawn to the fact that Jesus declares with authority the fact that true freedom is found in knowing the truth. In these two verses alone, Jesus defines the truth as His “teachings.” In essence, Jesus said, “If I say it, and you obey it (or apply it), you will find freedom.
Later on, Jesus would actually label Himself as “The Truth” in John 14:6 (I am the way, the truth, and the life). The label He gave Himself wasn’t “I am truth” or “I am truthful” – no, it was “I am THE truth.” In other words, it’s not that Jesus Christ is just true in what He says, but in relation to everything and anything else, HE IS THE TRUTH.
The Apostle John, who recorded these words of Jesus, made a statement in one of his later writing: “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.” 3 John 1:4
Truth is ESSENTIAL. Jesus Christ is the Truth, and the truth will set us free. Because of this, in my messages this year, while I always desire to speak truth, I want to especially emphasize the importance and power of TRUTH in our lives and in the life of our church. 2006 is the year of Truth here at The Journey – hearing it from the pulpit as a church, discovering it in the Bible personally, and walking in it together. It has been my prayer and will continue to be that you will know the truth, and that the Truth will set you free.
In looking at how truth impacts our lives, I want to begin a study today in the book of Ephesians. Ephesians is a book that focuses on truth. Whenever I counsel with Christians who are struggling, or when I counsel with Christians who need to know exactly what God has done for them, I always direct them to Ephesians. While all of the Bible is truth, Ephesians is specifically dedicated to the bold declaration of the truth about who God is, what He has done for us, and who we are in Christ.
Actually, declaration is one of three main focuses of the book of Ephesians:
1) Prayer. Two large different sections of this book are prayers by Paul on behalf of the church – 1:15-23 and 3:14-21.
2) Declaration. In every other book Paul writes, he is correcting wrongs actions or doctrine. This is not the case with Ephesians. He declares who Christ is and who we are “in Christ.” If you read Ephesians 1, the first fourteen verses mention the name of Jesus Christ or refer to Him 15 times. Furthermore, the words “in Christ” or “in Him” occurs 11 times (The Message of Ephesians, John RW Stott, p. 34). The clear, dominating central theme of Ephesians is Jesus Christ.
3) Evangelism (sharing the Good News). Over and over, Paul reiterates how God’s grace saves us and the impact that it has on all who receive it.
Of these three, I love the bold declaration of Ephesians. This book declares that the church along with anyone who is a Christian is incredibly blessed, and can have victory and peace. Blessing, victory, peace - there will be our focus through Ephesians, so if you desire these or lack them in your life, stay with us, As we look at this book, we will view how the truth will bring us blessing, victory, and peace to our church and to our lives.
Today we lay the groundwork that will guide us through Ephesians. We will cover the introduction to this letter today, but from it, I want to give you 5 foundational truths about Ephesians that will guide us the whole way through. Before I give you the first truth, let’s read the first two verses of Ephesians 1 together (on screen verses 1-2).
These two verses are the intro. – like saying, “Dear (***), how are you?” From this intro. We launch into the 5 truths that will guide us along.
The first truth is:
1) Ephesians is written to our church body.
We’ll discuss the life of Paul in another series at another time. We see here that he was an apostle chosen by God. You can read about the life of Paul and his ministry in detail in the book of Acts. Ephesians is literally a letter, and Paul doesn’t have our postal system, so he sends this letter with two Christian friends, Onesimus and Tychicus, who bring it to the church. They are Paul’s mailmen.
I love mail. When I hear the mailman, the little kid inside of me reacts, and I go see what I have. Often times, I have too many bills and solicitations, and too little real letters. As I was checking the mail this past Wednesday, January 4th, I stopped and talked with Arthur (who I think also likes the mail), our neighbor, in the parking lot. He told me that he had mistakenly received a piece of mail from California. It was mailed on December 27th and was addressed to a place in California, but it had gone to his address – 122 Milton Road – because that was the street address on the envelope. However, the bottom portion with the city and state had fallen down into the window, and so the post office just sent it to him! Of course, he realized the error, and sent it back. But imagine that poor person waiting for that letter (in NH a week later) waiting for his mail! And maybe wondering why his power got shut off!
We’ve all at one time or another received someone else’s mail. And it is really easy look at the letters written to the churches in the New Testament (Romans, Corinthians, Galatians, etc.) and think, “That letter was written to someone else. They are addressed to this particular church or that particular group. It’s not my mail.” Guess what? Ephesians is the book for you. It’s your mail!
The reason I say this is because Paul wrote this book to a larger audience than just the Ephesian church. It was actually a letter that was circulated to many different churches in Asia Minor (now present day Turkey). Right in the beginning, when it says “to God’s holy people in Ephesus” – the words “in Ephesus” were actually left blank in the early writings and were meant to be a “fill in the blank” – to God’s people in Ephesus, to God’s people in Laodicea, to God’s people in Sardis, etc. So while today we call it the book of Ephesians, it was actually meant to be a circulated letter to any church that would read it. Paul wrote this book to every church in every place. For our sakes, we could insert our church name at the beginning of this letter: “…to God’s holy people at The Journey…” and we would be completely in line. IT’S OUR MAIL! (I get excited just thinking about it – I can’t wait to open it!)
But there’s another truth:
2) Ephesians gives an identity to our church.
Ephesians is a book that focuses primarily on the church and establishes its identity. I love that it emphasizes the church, because the truth is that God’s work now is done primarily through the church and not through individuals. If you want to get in on God’s plan for the ages and be in where God wants you to be, Ephesians clearly tells you to get into church because that’s God’s agent in the world today. Ephesians focuses on the fact that God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is working for and building up His church in the world today.
But what’s the big deal about the church? The big deal is that God thinks it’s a big deal. Ephesians tells us. Let me give you (in a nutshell) what Ephesians says about God and His church (which includes The Journey!):
…Jesus Christ shed His blood in a sacrificial death for sin, was then raised from death by the power of God, and has been exalted above all…to the supreme place in both the universe and the church (Look to the person next to you and say “That’s us!” Every time I say the word “church,” I want you to say “That’s us.”). More than that, we, the church (That’s us), who are “in Christ,”…united to Him by faith, have ourselves shared in these great events. We have been
• raised from spiritual death;
• exalted to heaven and seated with Him there;
• reconciled to God and to each other.
As a result, through Christ and in Christ, the church (That’s us) is nothing less than God’s new society, the single new humanity which (God) continues to create and which includes all people of all races everywhere all on equal terms.
The church (That’s us) is:
• the family of God the Father,
• the body of Jesus Christ His Son and
• the…dwelling place of the Holy Spirit.
The book of Ephesians will change our lives if we grasp the truth about who we, the church (That’s us), are. The life of this church (That’s us) will dramatically change when we recognize the truth about who we are! Because of all these things that God has done for us, we will begin to actually be the church (That’s us) that God wants us to be, the church (That’s us) that pleases Him! How do we demonstrate that we are who God wants us to be? We will see in Ephesians that the church (That’s us) is to demonstrate:
• Unity and diversity
• Purity and love
• Mutually submission and genuine caring in all of our relationships
• Stability in the fight against the principalities and power of evil.
Then when God’s timing is complete (the fullness of time), God will bring all things including the church (That’s us) in unity to completion under the AUTHORITY of Jesus Christ. (Stott, p. 24-25)! THAT’S OUR IDENTITY – WE ARE HELPING BRING ALL THINGS UNDER THE AUTHORITY OF CHRIST, BEGINNING WITH OURSELVES!
But there is another truth in all of this, and that is this:
3) Ephesians is written for individual Christians.
Paul addresses this letter to “the holy people who are faithful followers of Jesus Christ.” In every church, there are at least three types of people:
1) Christians – By the heart and actions they are known to love God;
2) Seekers – Not yet convinced, they are investigating whether Christianity is real;
3) Hypocrites – People who say they are Christians but don’t produce anything to tell you otherwise.
There might be more, but any time the church meets, we have these three types. And if you are of the first type, a Christian, than you ought to grab onto Ephesians like a cowboy on a bull and understand what God has done for you and find out the truth about who you are – talk about a ride! This book will fill your love tank, it will make you soar sky high, and it will ground you in the truth of God’s word and the Truth that is Jesus Christ. Christian, this book is for you.
If you are a seeker, you are seeking after God, but you do not yet have a relationship with Jesus Christ, Ephesians will tell you what you can become and what God has done for you if you will receive the truth. Knowing the truth is good, but receiving the truth and applying it in your lives is another.
For example, I can buy books, hire a personal trainer, learn how to lose weight, figure out how to do all the exercises, and work out a nutritious diet. But if I don’t apply these truths I’ve learned, it does me no good to know them. The same is true with the Bible – you read it, you hear it – but if you are seeking to know more about God today, you must apply what you hear. And the book of Ephesians gives us a detailed look at what God has done for us and how can have His grace in our lives. But we have to apply it!
But if you are a hypocrite – if you don’t live out your faith, if you say you have a relationship with Jesus Christ but in your heart you know you do not – than this letter is not for you other than to be a warning. It can be for you if you will turn to God, but the truths that we will find in this book are for those who have are true Christians – who have an active and growing relationship with Jesus Christ. If you profess to know the Lord but really don’t, quit missing the boat, get off of your pride, and become one who is blessed.
4) Ephesians reminds us that God desires to use us.
Paul addresses the Christians as “God’s holy people” or what many of your Bible versions call them – “saints.” Do you realize that if you are a Christian, you are a “saint.” We ascribe “saint” status to great, dead Christians, but sainthood is handed out right here in Ephesians 1:1 – if I am a Christian, I am a saint! But what’s a saint? A saint is someone who is sanctified - set apart – for God to use. As Christians, we are set apart for God to use. What a privilege!
There’s the story of two brothers who were famous criminals in the city they lived in. there seemed to be no crime in which these two brothers were not involved in, whether it was murder, illegal gambling, prostitution rings-you name it, they were involved in it.
As time would have it, the older of the two brothers died. While trying to make funeral arrangements, the younger brother offered $10,000 to any minister or priest who would say in the eulogy that his older brother was “a saint." Well, after so many phone calls, he could find no pastor or minister or priest who would do the funeral and say that his brother was a saint.
Just about at the end of his rope, the younger brother finally found a young minister who agreed to do the funeral and say that his brother was “a saint.” At the funeral, the minister got up and said this: “The man who lies in this casket before you today was a liar, a cheat, a swindler, involved in all sorts of organized crime, was linked to several murders, and even ran around on his wife. But compared to his younger brother, this man was a saint!” Child of God, you don’t need to pay somebody a lot of money to say that you’re a “saint.” God has already said it!
But Paul further clarifies to whom this letter is written – “to the holy people (the saints) who are faithful followers of Christ Jesus.” He is addressing this letter to faithful saints – those who put their faith in Jesus Christ to guide them in their everyday lives. So Paul is addressing every church and every sincere Christian who lives their lives trusting God. If that describes you, or if it is your desire to be a sincere Christian who trusts God in your everyday life, than this letter, Ephesians is for you, this letter of truth.
One more for today -
5) Applying Ephesians will bring us grace and peace.
In verse 2, Paul grants a blessing. Just as a side note: this is one characteristic of Paul that I love – he continually blessed those he led and ministered to. What is a blessing? A blessing is simply inviting God’s favor – on yourself or someone else. A very simple blessing that reflects this is in Psalm 80:3 “Turn us again to Yourself, O God. Make your face shine down upon us.” When blessing someone, we ask for God to shine His face on that person. Over and over again we see this practice in the Bible from one to another. Let us learn from the example of Paul and bless others.
But the blessing here is that the readers would be granted “grace and peace.” Paul never says anything accidentally, and what he does here is ask for God to grant grace and peace on the readers, and then he spends the rest of the booking showing how God has granted grace and peace! If you want to know about grace – God’s kindness – read Ephesians! If you want to experience God’s peace in your life, read the truth as reflected in Ephesians and it apply the truth to your lives! We will see in the coming weeks the themes of grace and peace over and over again.
We have looked at the introduction to this fantastic letter, Ephesians. Verse 1 & 2 are the greeting, and next week we’ll move on, but before do, one more thing to notice: Paul is an apostle of whom? He writes the letter to the holy people, the faithful followers of whom? And then he blesses these people with grace and peace sent from God our Father and whom? The book of Ephesians inundates us with the truth that the Christian life is all about Jesus Christ – Him living in us, through us, for us – and us being in Him.
This very idea of living our life IN CHRIST will be covered in detail in our small group study that begins next week – we will be talking about living/abiding in Christ and what that means for our lives. If you haven’t yet signed up for a group, you need to today!
As we get ready for next Sunday, feel free to read ahead and read Ephesians chapter 1.
Invitation:
• Christians – are you walking in the truth? Are you allowing the truth to set you free?
• Seekers – would you like to begin that relationship with Jesus Christ today?
• Hypocrite – would you turn your heart to God and begin a real, growing, vibrant relationship with Him today?
