Ephesians: God’s Grand Plan for Life Together

This week we begin our term 2 sermon series on Paul's letter to the church in Ephesus. John Reid, having trained up our Growth Group leaders on this wonderful book, writes:

If you have ever participated in a bush walk in the Blue Mountains, you might be thunderstruck by the incredible views from some of the lookouts. As you walk through the bush, nothing prepares you for the grandeur of the panorama displayed at the cliff edge.

And so it is with the letter to the Ephesians! Welcome to the all-encompassing view of God’s plan for the universe! Welcome to the community through which God is bringing his plans to fruition, and you and I are part of that. There is nothing so magnificent, so designed to move our hearts, minds and our souls as the plan of God unfolding in and through us. We each have a part to play in God’s eternal plan!

“God made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfilment—to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.” (Ephesians 1:9-10)

Living in Christ is never dull or mundane.

Being a Christian and belonging to the church puts us with Christ at the very centre of what life is all about. Paul spends the first three chapters revealing what it means to believe in Christ. We have a new identity, given by and grounded in Christ characterized by peace with God and each other (Eph. 2:15-16). We have been united in Christ no matter where we have come from or who we are (Eph. 3:6).

In Chapters 4-6, he outlines how we are to live as those under the lordship of Christ. It is in this new life together we are to grow to maturity, putting off the old way of life and putting on the new. The new life we have been given redefines how we live as families and how we work and how we relate to everyone. Paul finishes by reminding us of the reality of spiritual conflict and how to arm ourselves for the fight as we stand for Christ. He finishes reassuring us that God is the all-powerful one, and in Christ has defeated death so that we might have life. Be stirred and moved afresh by the grace of God in Christ and the power of His Spirit empowering us to live for him every day.

Grace and peace,
‍Craig