The Theology of Ephesians

Series Title: Part 1 (1-3): Our Wealth

Lesson Title: Theology of Ephesians

Jesus told a parable about a tenant farmer whose plow turned up buried treasure in a field (Matt 13:44). The man immediately sold his possessions in order to buy the field. By owning the field, he owned the buried treasure. Once in possession of the field, the man could spend his days discovering how rich he had become. We today, who are believers, are in possession of a great treasure, the indwelling Christ. We came into possession of this treasure the day we were saved. We will spend the rest of our days discovering how rich we are in Christ. This Epistle to the Ephesians will help us inventory our spiritual wealth.

In verse on you can see Paul's focus was on God (Theology Propler). Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God (v.2) grace be unto you and peace from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. (v.3) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. That's where we also all need to begin. We first need to focus on God then as we do that only then can we start to bring it down to any present need or situation. Within the doctrine of God we see His sovereignty.

The Sovereignty of God can be defined as his absolute right to do all things according to his own good pleasure. It also can be defined as God's rule and authority over all things or the supremacy of God (see 1 Chron 29:11; Dan. 4:25, 35; Rom. 9:15–23; 1 Tim. 6:15; Rev. 4:11). Our natural response to this is to stiffen up and want to reject this doctrine. We don't like to be under authority of no one. This is nothing new and we see that Satan was cast out of heaven for it and he didn't have a very difficult talking Adam and Eve to rebel against God's right to rule in their lives according to His good pleasure.

Now, having said all that, Paul proceeds to deal with the mystery of God. The word mystery is used six times in this Epistle and more frequently than any of his other Epistles (1:9; 3:3, 3:4, 3:9; 5:32; 6:19). So, I believe that this too is one of the major themes.

This mystery of God as it relates with respect to us, and the mystery of His will. (Eph 1:9) Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself.

If you ever feel tempted to say that God is not fair and you're not going to go along with what He wills for your life. I advise you to put your hand, as Job did, on your mouth and to try and realize to whom you are speaking. (Job 40:4) Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth.

We'll look at it in more detail when we get to the particular passages, but Paul also talks about the mystery of the church and also of the Gospel.

One of the next themes is the grace of God. This word is used 12 times (1:2, 6, 7; 2:5, 7, 8; 3:2, 7, 8; 4:7, 29; 6:24). Paul just can't seem to stop repeating it. This too is the theme above all else that is developed in this letter. God's amazing grace to sinful man in providing for man's salvation and redemption. In this Epistle we are given a glimpse into the riches and the abundance of God's grace towards us. Most people are interested in wealth and riches; we like to go and see it and will even pay a fee to see all kinds of wealth and riches. That's exactly what Paul does in this Epistle as he leads us in, and gives us a view and a glimpse of the riches of the grace of God. It all starts with God, God the Father who is over all.

The Doctrine of God is seen here in His sovereignty, mystery, and the grace of God. There is much more we could say but we'll go on to look at the next great doctrine.

Having said all that, we move on to what invariably comes second here and in the whole of the Bible – the Lord Jesus Christ. (v.2) Grace be to you, and peace, from god our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Even in a casual reading of this Epistle, you can't help but notice how often the Name occurs, the Name that was so dear and blessed to Paul. He says: The Apsotle of Jesus Christ, / Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places, in Christ. And we could continue on and on. We see the word "Christ" 46 times in 43 verses, "Christ Jesus" you will see 7 times, "Jesus Christ" 12 times, and "Jesus" 21 times.

In verse 1 Paul tells us immediately that he is an apostle of Jesus Christ. It sounds almost absurd to have to say it, and yet it is so essential to emphasize that there is no gospel and no salvation apart from Jesus Christ. It is necessary because there are people who talk about Christianity without Christ. They talk about forgiveness but the Name of Christ is not mentioned, they preach about the love of God but in their view the Lord Jesus Christ is not essential. It is not so with the Apostle Paul; and must not be so with Mt. Zion Baptist church; there is no gospel, there is no salvation apart from the Lord Jesus Christ. Our purpose here is to "Ignite a Passion for Christ!"

The gospel is especially about Him. All God's gracious purposes are carried out by Christ, in Christ, through Christ, from the beginning to the very end. Everything that God in His sovereign will, and by His infinite grace, and according to the riches of His mercy and the mystery of His will – everything that God has purposed and carried out for our salvation He has done in Christ.

There is no Christian message apart from Him. We are called and chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world, we are reconciled to God by the blood of Christ. In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace.

We are all interested in forgiveness, but how are we forgiven? Is it because I have repented or lived a good life that God looks at me and forgives me? I say with all respect and reverence that even the Almighty God could not forgive my sin simply on those terms. There is only one way whereby God forgives us; it is because He sent His only begotten Son from heaven to earth, and to the agony and the shame and the death on the Cross: In whom we have redemption through his blood. There is no Christianity without the blood of Christ. Not only is it the Person of Christ but in particular, His death, His shed blood, His atoning substitutionary sacrifice! It is in that way, and that way alone, that we are redeemed. In this Epistle Christ is shown to be absolutely essential.

Purpose of God is brought about in Christ. So we have looked at God – His sovereignty, mystery and grace. Then after God we see Jesus. And now we can see God's purpose in Christ and this is the practical side of this book. We find that in verse ten of chapter one. That in the dispensation (plan) of the fullness of times he [God] might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth; even in him [Christ]. There is God's purpose and Paul goes on to tell us that this purpose has always been necessary. Necessary because of sin. In chapter two we will find that he tells us about the problems that plague our mind and the heart of man, and how they are due to the fact that (v.2) the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: is controlling fallen mankind.

He tells us that God's plan of redemption is necessary because of the Fall of man (another doctrine found in this letter), and how that was proceeded by the fall of that bright angelic spirit called the Devil, who has become the god of this world (2 Cor 4:4), the prince of the power of the air (2:2). This terrible power is the cause of the hostility and the dilemma and the havoc that has been characteristic of the life of the human race. There is nothing new about this, it is all the result of sin and the devil's hatred for God. It's the loss of man's true relationship to God. Mankind sets himself up as a god and thereby causes all the disruptions and confusion in the world. However, we are shown how at the very beginning, even back in Paradise, God announced His plan and began to put it into action.

The Old Testament is an account of how God began to work it out, everything pointed to the cross and the one theme that runs throughout God's Word – Redemption. First, He called a man named Abraham and turned him into a nation. There we have the beginning of something new. He then separated unto Himself a people called Jews. In their history we see the beginning of His purpose of redemption. Out of the helplessness and depravity of mankind God formed a people for Himself. But then there was a great rivalry between the Jews and Gentiles, and thus yet another major theme of this Epistle is to show how God has dealt with that matter. The great idea here is that God has revealed Himself not only to the Jews but to the Gentiles; (v.14) the middle wall of partition has gone; God hath made both one (v.15). There is a new creation; something new has come into being; it is called The Church; and this work of God is to go on increasing, says Paul, until when the fullness of the time shall have arrived God will have carried out His entire plan, and all that is opposed to Him shall be destroyed.

Everything shall be united together and made one in Christ. That is again one of the major themes of this Epistle. At first Jews only, then Jews and Gentiles, then all things. And all is to be done in and through Christ.

This all leads us to yet another theme, which is the Church. God's purpose is seen most clearly through the Church. This great purpose of bringing together all nations in Christ. In Her, the Church, are formed different people, different nationalities, coming from different parts of the world, with different experiences, appearances, and yet all are one in Christ.

This is all what God is doing, until there shall finally be (2 Pet 3:13) a new heaven and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness and Jesus shall reign for ever more.

Nothing is more encouraging and wonderful than to see the Church in that light, and to see, therefore, the importance and the privilege and the responsibility of being a member of that Church. It is because of this that we must live the Christian life; and so in chapter 4 and to the end of the letter, Paul emphasizes our walk which is expected of Christians because they are what they are, and because that in the plan of God, they must manifest His grace in their daily life and living.

Let me summarize all what I have talked about in a simple, practical manner. Why am I calling your attention to all this? It is because I am overwhelmingly convinced that our greatest need is to know these truths. We all need to look again at this glorious revelation, and to be delivered from one of our greatest problems in the church – the pre-occupation with ourselves. If we could only see ourselves as we are described in this epistle; if we but realized, as Paul expresses it in his prayer (17-19), that we are to know what is the hope of our calling, and what is the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according t the working of his mighty power, what a difference it would make!

Are you or have you been an unhappy Christian feeling that the fight is too much for you? And are you on the point of giving up and giving in? What you need is to know the power that is working mightily for you, the same power that brought Christ from the dead. If we but know that we are meant to be filled with all fullness of God we should no longer be weak and ailing and complaining, we should no longer present such a sorry picture of the Christian life to those who live around us. What we need, primarily, is to realize what we are, and who we are, what God has done in Christ and the way He has blessed us. We fail to realize our privileges.

Are greatest need is still the need of understanding. Our prayer for ourselves should be the prayer of Paul – (v.18). That is what we need. In this Epistle the exceeding riches of God's grace are displayed before us. I ask you to look at them with me, and let us take hold of them and enjoy them. This being especially true in times like these, how vital it is that we should have some new and fresh understanding of God's great plan and purpose for the world as the rest of the world wonders what the future will bring, what a privilege it is to be able to stand and look at this revelation, and see God's plan and purpose behind it all and beyond it all. All this will not be brought about by presidents or the UN but through people like ourselves. God's people, who know who they are in Christ and although the world may ignore it, and even laughs and mocks at it. However, we know for certain with the Paul that (v.21) all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come, have been set beneath Christ's feet. Remember, the Lord Jesus was rejected by this world when He came into it; they dismissed Him as this fellow, this carpenter; but he was the Son of God and the Savior of the world, the King of kings, the Lord of lords, and the One to whom (Phil 2:10) every knee shall bow, of things in heaven and things on earth, and things under the earth.

Thanks be to God for the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ, and for the riches of his grace!