Study of Ephesians (Part 2)

He has chosen you. He has adopted you. You have the right to call Him Abba. Paul understood this, and it is why, even while sitting in prison, he could write, “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.” Paul was not using that verse the way many people use it today. Some treat it as a formula for getting a new car — name it and claim it, take a picture and tuck it inside the Bible. I sometimes counsel those people to be careful, because the police may come after them. There are people who walk into an expensive showroom, put down a deposit, and declare, “In Jesus’ name I claim it.” Then the monthly installment falls due, and they reach again for “I can do all things.” That is not what the verse is for. You know when it really applies? When you cannot afford a car, when you have to take two buses to come to the prayer meeting, when you are tired and your back and legs are aching, and you are still climbing those stairs — in that difficult moment, “I can do all things.” That is the context Paul was writing from.

For us, the words “He has chosen us” often do not sound very exciting. Whenever I go to preach, I feel a particular temptation, and I ask the Lord: should I preach for the people, or should I preach on Your behalf? People come with itching ears, wanting to hear about their plan for their life. When you tell them instead about God’s plan for their life — that He has chosen them to be holy and blameless — they are not always thrilled. But the believers who first heard this letter would have jumped for joy, because being chosen by God meant something enormous to them.

First, it meant acceptance in the place of rejection. There is a backdrop to why Paul keeps speaking about being chosen. Look at Acts 21. Paul is in Jerusalem, in the temple, and in verse 27 some Jews from the province of Asia see him there, stir up the whole crowd, and seize him. You might wonder why anyone would seize Paul in the temple — he is a Jew, a Pharisee, a man who studied under Gamaliel; no one could keep him out of the temple. But verse 28 gives their accusation: he has, they claim, brought Greeks into the temple and defiled the holy place. And verse 29 explains it: they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with Paul. Most probably a Gentile believer from the Ephesian church had walked with Paul toward the temple, and that was enough to set off the riot.

These were people who knew what it was to be shut out. In Ephesians 2:12 Paul reminds them of their former state: “Remember that at that time you were separated from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of promise.” Excluded. Foreigners. That was us. Imagine a Jew attending our service this evening and asking my name. Suppose I answered, “Joe Thomas Abraham,” claiming Abraham as my own. He would smile and say, “Abraham is our father, not yours. I was born into this; you were not. The law of Moses was given to us, not to you.” And in that first-century temple it was literally true. The structure had a court for the Jewish men and the priests, a court for the Jewish women, and only then an outer court for the Gentiles. A Gentile could sense that something was happening inside, could long to see it, but could never walk in.

That is why Ephesians 2:13 is so crucial: “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” We were far away, excluded, foreigners, strangers — and through the blood of Christ we have been brought near and adopted into the family of God. Along with the Jewish people we are now part of the covenant. If they look to Abraham as their father, then by faith we too may look to Abraham as our father.

This is also where true worship is born. So often we worship only for the things God has done for us — some material blessing of that week. And when something goes wrong, that Sunday there is no worship; we stand there unable to sing. But real worship flows out of who He is, not merely out of what He has lately done. He has already chosen us. He has already blessed us. The financial crisis may still be there, yet I can say, “I can do it, because Jesus is with me. Even if I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; His presence is enough for me.” When I am all alone in my room and I shut the door, my heavenly Abba is there with me.

Picture that Greek brother from Acts 21 hearing for the first time that he had been chosen. He might have gone to Paul full of guilt and apologized: “Paul, all of this happened to you because of me. Forgive me — I am the one who came in with you, and now you have this great trouble.” And Paul would want to free him from that thought: “Come now, you are chosen by God. The world may look at you and say you are not accepted, but Jesus says you are included.”

Second, being chosen meant life in the place of death. Look at Ephesians 2:1: “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins.” What does it mean to be dead in transgressions? Ephesians 4:18 explains it: they were “darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God.” These believers, just like us, were dead in their transgressions. But because they were chosen, they were given life by the eternal word of God. As Ephesians 2:6 says, “God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus.” We were dead, but God raised us; that means we now have a living relationship with Jesus. We were excluded, but now we are included. We were dead, but now we have life.

Third, being chosen meant hope in the place of hopelessness. The end of Ephesians 2:12 describes the old life as being “without hope and without God in the world.” We were without hope, but now the Bible promises us a living hope. What really sets us apart from the rest of the world? It is not that we never fall sick — we get sick too, and the ambulance comes to our homes as well. The difference shows at the grave. The funeral of a believer is unlike any other. For the world the chapter is simply closed; there is no hope. But we who have been bought by the precious blood of Jesus have hope. If anyone is sitting here tonight carrying the grief of burying a loved one, hear the word of the Lord: you have hope. You will meet that dear one again one day on that beautiful shore. Christian hope reaches beyond the grave, and so we are not afraid of death. That is why Ephesians 4:4 says, “There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope.” Chapter 2 said no hope; chapter 4 says one hope. So when these people heard that they were chosen, it meant everything to them.

Now I want to move to Paul’s prayer for them. Paul prays, “Lord, give them the Spirit of wisdom and revelation. Open their eyes. Enlighten the eyes of their heart, so that they may know.” Three things he longs for their opened eyes to see. The first, in Ephesians 1:18, is “the hope to which he has called you” — the very hope of their calling that we have already considered.

The second thing, also in Ephesians 1:18, is “the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints.” I cannot express how much joy this gives me, and I have grasped perhaps one percent of the depth of that verse. We must be careful here, because there is another inheritance spoken of in this chapter. Ephesians 1:14 says the Holy Spirit is the deposit guaranteeing our inheritance — so in that sense the Holy Spirit is our inheritance, our possession. But Ephesians 1:18 is speaking of something else entirely: God’s inheritance, God’s possession. What is the inheritance of the King of kings and Lord of lords, the Almighty who made the whole universe? It is not gold mines; it is nothing of this world. His holy people are His inheritance. You and I are God’s possession.

When I think of that, I am amazed. Looking at myself — weak, not strong, not impressive in the world’s eyes, with no bank balance — I hear the Bible say, “You are My possession.” When you walk down the street, God is looking at you and saying, “You are My inheritance.” And what determines the value of a possession? Not its size; the price that is paid for it. To create the entire world, God needed only a word. But to purchase us, the Son had to shed His blood. By a word the world was made, but to buy us Jesus had to die. As one writer who studies God’s word put it, if heaven were asked to give something to redeem the earth, there is nothing greater than the precious blood of Christ, the Prince of heaven, to give. The greatest price was paid — the precious blood of Jesus. That is why Paul wrote that “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

Look again at the end of Ephesians 1:14: “of those who are God’s possession.” That is who we are. And one more verse makes it unmistakable. Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are God’s handiwork” — another translation says, “We are God’s masterpiece.” Imagine walking through an art gallery and admiring one painting after another. “This one is beautiful; that one is beautiful too.” Then the artist himself walks in and says, “Yes, this is good, and that is good — but this one is my masterpiece. I poured the most time and effort into it; this is the piece that captures my theme.” That is how God looks at us — image-bearers, created to be like Him. You may protest, “Pastor, surely not like God.” But Ephesians 4:24 says to “put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” Among all His creation, we are His masterpiece. Value is determined by the price paid.

The church is a central theme in Ephesians, for the church is God’s possession on earth. Ephesians 1:23 calls the church His body. This is striking, because in the Old Testament Israel is never pictured as the body. Israel is called God’s bride — and yes, the church too is the bride of the Lord. Israel is pictured as God’s vine — and that imagery carries into the New Testament as well. But the analogy of the body is new; it belongs to the church. We are His body so that we can express the desire of the Head through our lives, demonstrating to all creation, through our character, what God is truly like.

You may say, “Yes, Pastor, we are God’s possession, His inheritance, His masterpiece — but what has God actually done for us, apart from giving the precious blood?” Look at Ephesians 1:22. If I asked you to complete the sentence, “Christ is the head of…,” most of us would say, “the church.” But we have not read the verse carefully. It says that God “placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church.” He is indeed the head of the church — but He is not only that. He is head over everything. That gives me tremendous confidence. Even politics is under His headship.

“But Pastor, I do not see that. There is so much corruption.” That is exactly what Hebrews 2:8 admits: at present we do not yet see everything subject to Him — and yet everything is under His headship. What does that mean in practice? If men in power set out to destroy the church, nothing can happen to it apart from His control. When sickness or disease comes, and the doctor says there is no hope, hear the word of the Lord: nothing will happen to you until the purpose and plan God has for your life is accomplished. This word is more powerful than any prescription, more important than any doctor’s report. Believe this report. He is head over everything, head even over your body; He created you, and one word from Him can heal you. Everyone Jesus touched was healed. This evening I sense in my spirit that some of you are desperate for a touch from God. You have prayed and prayed, and nothing has happened, and you have come to this prayer meeting tonight. May this revelation of Ephesians 1:22 bring life to you. He is head over everything, head over every situation; He can step through any door — yes, even at your workplace.

The third thing Paul prays our opened eyes will know is in Ephesians 1:19 — “his incomparably great power for us who believe.” Notice the piled-up, superlative language. There is a reason Paul reaches for it. The Ephesians were people accustomed to power; before they came to Christ, they had tasted a kind of power in the temple of the goddess Artemis, where they had gone and worshiped. So Paul prays, “Lord, give them revelation, so that they will know the incomparably great power available to us.” It is nothing like the power of that temple of Artemis, nothing like the power of evil spirits, magicians, or witchcraft. It is the incomparably great power of God Himself. When you are in Christ, that power is at work for you, because you are part of Christ. No witchcraft can destroy God’s purpose for your life; no magician can spoil your future. When you sit down and pray, that incomparably great power is operating on your behalf. This is why fasting and prayer is indispensable for a church — it is in fasting and prayer that we come to taste this incomparably great power.