August 4, 2020
Ephesians 1
Welcome back and Yippee! We’re on the next study. And it’s Ephesians! I love, love, love the book of Ephesians. My how time flies. I’m so glad you’ve returned to study with me.
There are school things going on and all is different and it’s all so much difficulty for at least our home, probably lots of them. Please pray for all the teachers and administrators and every kid going and every parent who either chooses to send their kid or not to send their kid back but rather to do school at home this year. And while you’re at it, pray for your state government, especially your governor whose decisions make a lot of difference in how the schools open as well as provide funding to run them. And for every parent who chooses to school at home, please pray that they will be strong and courageous and their children blessed.
Psalm 112:1-2
Praise the Lord.
Blessed are those who fear the Lord,
who find great delight in his commands.
Their children will be mighty in the land;
the generation of the upright will be blessed.
Now let’s study. We’re going to spend just a few minutes in the 21st Century version of the New King James Bible. I doubt many of us have that, so here’s the link to it on biblegateway.com.
Who wrote this book?_________________________________
He’s an apostle of Jesus Christ by what? ____________________
Who is this letter to?_______________________________________
Who are the saints?_______________________________________
Now let’s read that same verse in the NIV:
Read Ephesians 1:1 NIV
Who are the saints?_______________________________________
Why does Paul call them saints?____________________________
__________________________________________________________
If you read Romans 16, we talked about holy people, God’s people being saints. Here the reason behind both designations is faithfulness in Christ Jesus.
Faith Fullness in Christ Jesus. Full of Faith in Christ Jesus. What does that look like for you?
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
Here, I’ll share what it means to me. Total Trust. I hand everything I have, all that I am, every moment of this day to Him and Trust. I’ve already asked by this point, for the words to the study, this one and another, and a plan for my daughter today so now I get sit back to watch what He does with everything. I want to be full of faith. I want faith to be the thing He sees when He looks at me. I want to really know Christ Jesus, to experience His power in my life and the assurance that resurrection is mine and that I will eventually dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Every promise is Yes in Christ. Faith is critical.
The words in this book, this chapter we’re studying today are so very powerful. They’re not just words on a page. They’re encouraging and so very deep and such awe-inspiring words. There is no way I can write a study that will encompass all there is to teach on this chapter alone. He’s going to have to hand me what He wants us to see. So let’s pray.
Father, we’re here to study Ephesians 1. Already we’ve covered verse 1 and there are many more. Each one of them, a wonder of Scripture that we don’t even have words to understand. So I ask, open the eyes of our hearts and give us the Spirit of wisdom and revelation because we want to know you better, we want to understand. All to praise You and the glory of Your grace. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
A standard greeting Paul uses comes in verse 2. But that doesn’t mean it’s any less powerful. It’s even a blessing.
Let’s read.
Ephesians 1:2 NIV
_______ and _______ to _____ from ________ our _________ and the Lord ________ _______.
Grace and Peace to you… Grace that is glorious. Peace that passes understanding.
Grace, Grace, God’s Grace
Grace that will pardon and cleanse within
Grace, Grace, God’s Grace
Grace that is greater than all our sin.
Read Ephesians 1:3 NIV
________ be to the God and Father of our Lord ______ ______, who has ___________ us in the heavenly realms with _________
______________ ___________ in _________.
What we’re going to see is that all that God has done for we who believe is all to His Praise and through Christ Jesus. What do you want to be blessed with in this life and in the heavenly realms?
In this life________________________________________________
In the heavenly realms_____________________________________
John 1:16 tells us “Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given.” the blessing here in this life does not end. And in Matthew 7:7, Jesus said “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”
Here’s an illustration for you. My daughter protests all kinds of school work. Yesterday she asks me to speak in what she calls my ‘cute’ voice today. Based on previous days I know that means speak gently. And I am not able to do it on my own. Only Jesus can do that. So of course I asked for that today. And she verified this morning that He gave it. So this is how I know He’s here, He’s active, He’s blessed us not just in the heavenly realms but in our every day lives.
Read Ephesians 1:4+ NIV
I’ve been watching John Piper go through Ephesians 1 on Look at the Book, the podcast, and based on the things he is teaching in Ephesians 1:3-6, I think the 21st Century NKJV has it right. So first read it in the NIV and then I’ll show you how the other has it.
For he ______ us in Him before the ____________ of the ________ to be ______ and _____________ in his sight. In love…
Piper argues that the “In love” that most versions put after the period here is pointing backwards, toward holy and blameless. So the 21st Century NKJV has the verse like this:
Ephesians 1:4 21st Century NKJV
He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love,
The other thing Piper says is that verses 3-14 are one sentence. The NIV has it broken down in sentences. And it’s full of prepositional phrases. There are three in the NIV ‘sentence’ above. Circle them. In the NKJV there are four, underline them.
Now if you’re so lost because you don’t remember what a preposition is, let me help: in, through and before are prepositions. The phrase is the noun after the preposition. There are four in the NKJV verse fragment.
We, the saints, the faithful, have been chosen before the creation of the world. God has known we would believe in Jesus before our lives even began. Why? Because he loves us so much, he wants us to be holy and blameless so we can be before Him, literally in front of Him. That’s why in verse 5 Paul explains….
Read Ephesians 1:5-6 NIV
he predestined us for ___________ to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his ______________ and will— to the ________ of his _____________ grace, which he has ________ given us in the One he loves.
The 21st Century NKJV has Ephesians 1:4-6 like this:
He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to be His own adopted children by Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of His will,
Ephesians 1:3-6 The Message
How blessed is God! And what a blessing he is! He’s the Father of our Master, Jesus Christ, and takes us to the high places of blessing in him. Long before he laid down earth’s foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love. Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!) He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son.
Read Ephesians 1:7-10 NIV
In him we have _________________ through his blood, the ________________ of sins, in accordance with the __________ of God’s grace that he _______________ on us. With all _________ and __________________, he made known to us the ________ of his will according to his good ___________, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into ________ when the _______ reach their fulfillment—to ________ unity to all ________ in _________ and on ________ under _________.
I just think the word lavished in the NIV is so visible. I can see it in water, paint, milk, all kinds of liquid to semi-liquid things I think of when I hear that word. That’s how God has given His grace. Lavished it on us.
The God of wisdom and understanding which he will give us for the asking, made known to us His will in his good pleasure… to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth all under Christ. Are not those four verses just astonishing? All to happen when the times reach their fulfillment, which every day comes closer.
Read Ephesians 1:11-12 NIV
In him we were also __________, having been ______________ according to the ______ of him who works out everything in ______________ with the purpose of his will, in ______ that we, who were the first to put our ______ in _________, might be for the praise of his _______.
Let’s review just a bit. In Him, we have _____________ through his blood, the forgiveness of sins. This is redemption from guilt. According to John Piper, there are 3 redemption steps, dimensions or phases, the final one being the redemption of our bodies when Christ returns. When all that plagues our bodies is removed and we are perfected. This one is the first. First we’re forgiven, redeemed, rescued, ransomed. The second one isn’t found in Ephesians, it’s found in 1 Peter 1:18. We’ve been redeemed from the futile or empty ways of life to live the good purposes in this life that God has planned for us. Keep your eyes open for the proof of the third here in Ephesians 1, it’s coming up in the next few verses. I know this is long, there’s so much to see. I hope you’re as excited reading it as I am writing it. There will be a day known as the Day of Redemption when we will be perfected, or for another way of saying it, all these gifts will be manifest, or actual.
We’ve been ___________ according to His plan.
We’re not all on our own here. We are children of the God of angel armies, God Almighty. We’re brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ. This whole chapter, all the we’s and us’s, it’s the same Saints and faithful ones Paul’s addressing in the beginning. Only those with faith get all this.
Read Ephesians 1:13-14 NIV
And you also were _____________ in Christ when you _______ the message of _________, the gospel of your ____________. When you __________, you were marked in him with a ______, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a ________ guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the ________ of his glory.
Did you see it? When you believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a guarantee of our inheritance which will come when all who are God’s possession have received redemption. In other words, when the times reach their fulfillment. Circle the word in the verse that means it isn’t over yet.
Does that ‘we who were the first to put our hope in Christ’ thing bother you? Like you think maybe you missed it since we’re living so much later in time than this was written? Nope. According to verse 13, you also were included in Christ when you…believed.
Read Ephesians 1:15-17 NIV
For this _________, ever since I heard about your ______ in the Lord Jesus and your _____ for all God’s people, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.
What marks faith? Love.
And this is where Paul tells us how he prays.
Read Ephesians 1:17-23
I keep __________ that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the __________ Father, may give you the Spirit of __________ and _______________, so that you ____ _______ ____ better.I pray that the _____ of your ________ may be ____________ in order that you may _____ the _____ to which he has _________ you, the riches of his ____________ inheritance in his holy people, and his _____________________ _______ ________ for us who __________. That power is the same as the mighty __________he __________ when he raised Christ from the dead and ___________ him at his ______ hand in the heavenly realms,far above all _____ and __________, _______ and _____________, and every _______ that is __________, not only in the present ____ but also in the ____ to ______. And God _______ all things _________ his feet and _____________ him to be _____ over everything for the ________,which is his body, the fullness of him who ______ ________________ in every way.
This chapter is one of my very favorites to memorize. Because memorized Scripture is meditative-able. It’s there for reassurance and encouragement and easier to just dwell on when it’s memorized. Short of that, keep reading it over and over. Write it out long-hand, on paper. Those last seven verses are so much fun to say over and over and I can feel the power in them when I get to ‘far above’… can you? And I just love how the NIV uses the word ‘invoked’. Power. And I bet we haven’t been able to discover it all yet. Keep reading it.
Let’s pray:
Thank You, Jesus, for all that You did for us to ensure these wonderful things for us. Thank You for being right here with us as we study and thank You for every person who reads this.
To the praise of his glory, indeed.