EPHESIANS 1:1

Paul was in prison in Rome when he wrote this epistle. The Bible says in Ephesians 1:1, “Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus.” Immediately we are told who is doing the writing, and who is being written to. Paul identified himself as “an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God.” An apostle is someone who is sent. Of course, Paul was an apostle in a special sense because he had the gift of an apostle. There were twelve apostles. Paul was the apostle who was born out of due season. When the spiritual gifts that Jesus gave to humans are listed in Ephesians 4:11, apostles are listed first.

Apostles had powers that other believers do not have. That is why they saw healings and miracles and even people raised from the dead in ways that other Christians do not see. Jesus gave authority to the apostles, and the miracles were undoubtedly in order to establish that authority. The apostle Paul had the proper authority to write this letter because he was an apostle. God gave us the New Testament scriptures through the apostles or the direct associates of the apostles. These scriptures are the authority from God. These scriptures are our authority. We listen to them, we read them, we think about them, and we do everything that we can to apply them to our lives. The word “apostle” means “one who is sent.” Even though we do not have the gift of an apostle, each believer is still sent by Jesus to do something. If you read and learn and understand the teachings of the book of Ephesians, you just might find out what God wants to send you to do.

Paul was an apostle “by the will of God.” It was not Paul’s choice that he became an apostle. He did not sit down one day and say, “I do not know enough to be a doctor, and being a farmer is too hard of a job, and I have no connections to get into politics, so I guess I will be an apostle. I do like to travel and meet new people.” Surely no one would go into the ministry having made the choice like one would do for just another occupation or career.

This epistle was originally addressed “to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus.” Of course, this epistle like all others was written to Christians. The Christians are called two things: “saints” and “faithful.” The word saint comes from the same word as holy. It refers to being without sin. It refers to being separated from the world, and separated unto God and dedicated to God. All Christians are called saints not because of what they have done, but because of what Christ has done for them. Much of the book of Ephesians will tell us wonderful things about our spiritual position in Christ.

These people to whom Paul was writing were “at Ephesus,” but they were “in Christ Jesus.” They had a physical location, the city of Ephesus, but much more importantly was their spiritual location. They were “in Christ Jesus.” That is the best place to be. They had a connection and a unity with Christ that was intimate and real and eternal.

In verse 2 Paul expresses kind of a wish or a prayer for these believers in Ephesus. There is something that he hopes that as believers in Christ, they have more of: grace and peace. Whatever your gifts, whatever your calling, whatever your responsibilities, this is what you need in order to fulfill them properly: grace and peace. Grace is what God gives to you and what God does for you freely and abundantly. Grace is possible because of Christ and what He did on the cross. You cannot deserve it, and you cannot earn it. As a matter of fact you really deserve to be punished, but instead of being punished, good things happen to you and in your life. When something is really done to fulfill the will of God and to glorify the name of Christ, it is not man that has done it, it is God because of the grace of Christ. There is saving grace, and there is also serving grace. These believers to whom Paul was writing had already received saving grace, of course. Now just like you and me, they need more grace. They need grace to be able to serve the Lord.

You need grace, and you also need peace. Bad things happen to Christian people. Jesus said, “in the world you shall have tribulation.” But He also said, “Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” Paul was himself sitting in a Roman prison when he wrote these words, but Paul had peace. He knew that somehow it all tied into the will of God and somehow it would glorify Christ. Christ is able to give you peace in any situation. Christ is the Prince of Peace. Jesus has given people peace in the worst of situations. Dying on a death-bed of cancer, rotting in a jail cell, or seeing their family fall apart around them, Jesus can even give peace at those times. We do not know what sorrows or calamities may beset any of us, but we do know that Jesus can give us peace through it all. He said to the disciples, “My peace give I unto you.”

Paul opened this epistle by saying a few things about himself and then saying a few things about the believers in Ephesus. In other words, we see who was writing and who was being written to, but now we get to the really important subject, who is being written about: God as He is manifest in Christ. In verse 2 Paul wrote, “from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.” In verse three Paul wrote, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” That is the right way to do it. If you mention God, make sure to mention Jesus also. We only know God because of Jesus. Jesus is God. Jesus is God manifest in the flesh. Jesus said, “If you have seen me, you have seen the Father.” The Father spoke from heaven and said, “This is my beloved Son, hear Him.”

In these opening verses Paul mentions himself, he mentions the believers in Ephesus, and he also mentions God. He mentions God the Father twice, and he mentions Jesus by name five times in just the first three verses. That is a good ratio. Talk about Jesus more than yourself, talk about Him more than others, and even talk about Jesus more than the Father. The Father is glorified in the Son. The Father is glorified when the name of Jesus is lifted up and praised.

In verse 3 Paul begins talking about “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Paul says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Notice that Paul blesses God because God has blessed us. Paul wrote, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.”

The word that is translated “blessed” in this verse is a very revealing word. It means literally “to say good things.” We bless God when we say good things about Him. Of course, we say good things about Him because of the good things that He has done for us. But notice that God has also blessed us. God has said good things about us, and those good things have abounded toward us to our benefit. Just exactly what are some of those good things, Paul is going to be speaking about from here all the way through verse 14.

By way of introduction, we are told in verse 3 that God has blessed us “with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.” God does give to us material blessings, and we should be thankful for those; but Paul does not mention those blessings at this time. He blesses God for the spiritual blessings. Paul did not have many material blessings at the time that he wrote this because he was a prisoner. We may lose the material blessings, but we will never lose the spiritual ones. No man can take those away. Notice where Paul says that the spiritual blessings are: they are in the heavenly places. The reason they are in the heavenly places is because Christ is in heaven. All of these spiritual blessings are based upon Christ and are because of Christ. That is why it says, “all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.”

Some of these great spiritual blessings are listed out for us in the verses from here to verse 14. Ephesians 1:4 says, “According as he has chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love.” The key phrase in this verse may be the little phrase “in him.” We were already reminded in verse 1 and verse 3 that we are “in Christ.” Here we are told one more time that we are “in him.” Because we are in Christ, we are holy and without blame. We are only in verse 4 of the book of Ephesians and it is the second time that we are told that we are holy. Remember that the word “saints” in verse one means “holy ones.” God looks at us and views us as being holy because we are in Christ. We do not have our own righteousness: we have the righteous of Christ credited to our account simply by faith in Him. “The just shall live by faith.”

Not only does God see us as being holy, which is a wonderful thing, but he also sees us as being “without blame.” If you understand how great your sins are, then you understand how great is this spiritual blessing to be viewed by God as being “without blame.” “There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus.” Of course, there will always be those who try to blame you. Do not listen to them. Listen to this verse. Your conscience will try to blame you. Anyone who knows how great of a sinner they really are could easily be condemned by their own conscience unless they are trusting completely in Jesus. If God has forgiven you through Christ, then forgive yourself, and reject the condemnations of others also.

The devil will try to blame you. The word devil means slanderer. He is the accuser of the brethren, and he will try to accuse you. You will always overcome the accusations of the devil by the blood of the Lamb. That is what it says in Revelation 12:11. Speaking of how to get the victory over the accuser, the devil, it says, “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.”

You might also get blamed by people who have a critical or condemning spirit. Anyone can be criticized if you have a negative spirit towards them. That is what politicians do. What you must do is consider the source. If someone is condemning you because they have a negative spirit or a gossiping spirit, then let it fall off you like water off of a duck’s back. “It does not really matter what the people say. There is something sweet about the Lord.” If you are “in Christ,” then you are without blame before him. That is what you need to remember.

Notice that it says that you are “without blame before him in love.” If you are in Christ, then you are in love. God is love, and you exist in the sphere of His great love for you. His love is all around you, and wherever you go, His love abides with you. “What can separate us from the love of Christ?” That is the question that is posed in Romans chapter 8, and the answer is a great list of things that cannot separate us from His love; and that list signifies that once we have entered into that love through faith in Christ, absolutely nothing can separate us from His love.

In Ephesians 1:5 we are told about another one of the spiritual blessings that we have in the heavenly places. It says, “Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ unto himself, according to the good pleasure of his will.” If you believe the Bible, then you believe in predestination because predestination is a Bible word. The question becomes: what does predestination mean? This word that is translated “predestined” is found in only four passages in the New Testament. When we look at those four passages we will see more clearly what predestination means. The word predestination itself means literally “to decide beforehand” or “to determine beforehand.”

When we attempt to define exactly what predestination means, we must do so remembering that in regards to salvation the invitation must allow for “whosoever will.” It says in Revelation 22:17, “And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” It says in Romans 10:13, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” When we look at all four passages where the word “predestination” is used, we see that only two things are said to be predestinated. Both have to do with salvation. One of the things that was predestinated was the event that provided for salvation: the death of Christ on the cross of Calvary. That event is mentioned in regards to the word predestination in Acts 4:28 and in First Corinthians 2:7.

The second thing in regards to our salvation has to do with the final outcome of those who accept Christ. Those who accept Christ are predestined to one day be made into the image of Christ. That is what it is talking about here in Ephesians chapter 1 and also in Romans 8:29-30. Romans 8:29 says, “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.” Once you become saved, God does not give up on you. You have entered into a relationship with Christ whereby you are now predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son. He keeps working in your life to bring that more and more to pass. When you get to heaven, it will be finally and fully brought to pass. Remember this predestination is a blessing that is in the heavenly places. When you get to heaven, you will know it and experience it more than you ever will here on earth.

Make sure that these spiritual blessings in the heavenly places belong to you. Make sure that you are in Christ. This moment you can bow your head, pray to Jesus, and ask Him to be your Savior.

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