Ephesians

The book of Ephesians.

1. Spiritual Blessings in Christ

3: What does it mean to have been blessed in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places? Christ in heaven, but us in earth? Is our soul being blessed in some heavenly realm? Our angels in heaven continually seeing the face of God? (Matthew 18:10)

4-6: This is a cosmic mystery. Predestination isn't even the half of it. God created a plan of love for us to all become his children through the work of Jesus. Through the Father's glorious grace, we become blessed and holy and have our sins removed. This was the purpose of reality all along. Jesus is the Beloved and we are in his kingdom, bound in his being somehow.

7-10: The blood of Jesus gives us redemption. Our trespasses are covered over. This was the whole plan the entire time. All of the cosmic order of heaven and earth are united in Christ. Past present and future. Between man and God. This is what it is all about. Thus the unclean becoming clean, the dying becoming everlasting, etc...

11: Because of Christ we are now Sons of God, and every son has an Inheritance. The Inheritance is full access to God and all his glories. Obviously we do not have that in its entirety yet...

12: the first to hope in Christ - does this refer to the apostles and early church specifically?

13-14: ...but, in the mean time, the Holy Spirit pours out spiritual gifts on us of love and miracles, and this is the guarantee or down payment that we are truly heirs of the king of kings. Insofar as the Holy Spirit continues to protect us, fill us with peace and love, and works all kinds of wisdom and signs through us, we can be certain that our faith is worth it. Even though he still requires that we have faith, God is so generous he does not just leave us hanging in a cold, cold world, but gives us every thing that we could possibly ask for even now.

Still this isn't something that can be strictly measured or controlled with purely rational observation. When we hear the word of truth and believe that God is at work, we are sealed with the Holy Spirit. That Sealing involves all kinds of mysteries in heavenly places, in the secret places of our heart, and in the complex tapestry of our lives. We can only keep track of so much. But the fruit is real and tangible.

This was all predestined, so even if it is sometimes murky to us we can still detect God's purpose working its way out in providence. This dimly growing awareness of God's glory in all his secret works stirs up praise in our hearts, and growing aware of our own role in all of it -- so thankful to be alive and fed and warm and given every encouragement, not trapped suffering as one of his enemies.

We are still waiting to acquire full possession.

15-16: Growing more and more aware of the cosmic plan of God does not warp our minds into some realm of unspeakable mysteries but instead turns our attention to other people: the saints. We love them and give thanks for them and remember them in our prayers. Contemplating the love of God and loving him with all of our might naturally leads us to loving our neighbor.

17-19: Let's pray God pours out more enlightenment on us because, for all the great things in our information age, spiritual wisdom is still in very short supply every where you go. Many people find themselves loosely affiliated with Christianity their whole lives but never bother to inquire what the riches of the glorious inheritance in the saints is.

Other people, sealed in the Spirit, are part of the reward. Fellowship with them, love with them, is in large part what makes life worth living. Glorious. Beyond noting God's great works towards oneself as an individual believer.

20: the great might of God is resurrection power... the same power that brought Christ out of the tomb is working in your life. Thus you may at times accurately perceive the power of the curse of death and futility working its way into everything around you; still you do not need to fear being in a darkening tomb because Resurrection Power is at hand.

21: This resurrection power doesn't just resuscitate like electric paddles. This resurrection power set Christ above all things. He is at the top of the cosmic hierarchy. All the big names. All the biggest names that everyone knows and loves and fears. Celebrities, governments, the deep state, cults, religions, big ideas, angels and demons, the mood swings of all humanity, the planets and stars... whatever exerts the biggest gravity in your world, Christ is now above it.

22: Everything has been set under Christ's feet.

You are those feet!!!

23: You are knit to Christ through belief and through is blood. It's a great body covering the whole earth, and destined to rule the cosmos. Even if all you do is serve Christ, you are serving the greatest man, the greatest household, the greatest kingdom, the holiest nation...

2. Saved by Grace Through Faith

1-3: The desires of the flesh naturally lead to our destruction. You see this in almost everybody you meet. As nice as they might be -- look closely enough, you can see what program they're following. It's disobedience to God. It always ends in destruction.

4-5: God loved us in spite of our sin. He is merciful. Just as he rose Christ from the dead, he is raising YOU from the dead.

Out of pure grace.

6-7: The result is not just being a good person now.

Do we need to wait to die to begin reigning with Christ in the heavenly places? Is that a coming age?

Or are we in those coming ages right now?

It's all kindness.

8: It's not our work or perfect obedience (doesn't exist) that gets us a spot in the heavenly hierarchy next to Christ. Saving us from the curse of death is a gift of God, received by our faith.

9-10: God didn't give us this gift because we did something that impressed him. But Christ did also promise us heavenly rewards on the basis of our doing good, and punishment if we did evil. So we shouldn't forget either fact.

We were made by God to do good. It's all part of the plan.

11-12: Circumcision was a ritual work that separated the people of God from the unclean nations. We Gentiles had no hope, no access to God in this life. We now have access to that covenant of promise and the commonwealth.

13: Christ's blood is the means by which we all get access to God's life now.

14-16: Where there were Jews and Gentiles, the hostility and division and ordinances have been replaced. Law-keeping is no longer the path - Christ, personally, is the path.

One new man made in place of two, both reconciled to God in one body - Christ's. Christ's body is our body. He is the representative of mankind before God. (You just can't take ahold of those benefits spiritually unless you believe.)

17: Jesus preached peace to those near, the tribe of Judah, and those far off. (Examples of Jesus preaching to gentiles?)

18: One body and one Spirit - our union with God, our union with each other in a way beyond just physical connections.

19: We are part of a new city, a household, a building made up of every holy person ever.

21: This structure of every believer is the new holy temple of God - God's dwelling place on earth. God now makes his presence known to everyone by how believers are bound together in love - our families, our friendships, our group chats, our churches, our towns, our empires, all of our conversations and organizations. It's all designed to be a place for God's Spirit.