Ephesians Introduction

Introduction to the study in Ephesians

Behind everything in the created universe is a heart – not just a mind or a will; not merely an ingenious designer with incredible power – but a heart. It is the heart of God and it is expressed in John 3:16: ‘God so loved . . . that He gave.’ It is to this heart that you and I responded when we said ‘yes’ to God and received new life. (T.Austin-Sparks)

New life in Christ requires nurturing, training, testing and proving. Did anyone tell you to expect these things when you received Christ? The fact of the matter is, God allows personal struggle and failure in our lives in an effort to bring us to the place where we will stop trying to produce the Christian life and simply receive it. We are only the branch, He is the vine.

Paul’s letter to the Ephesians unveils the secret counsels of God’s loving heart toward believers. We have been well-schooled in the grace of God that brings salvation, but we don’t often hear about the eternal purposes of God and the ways of God through which those purposes are fulfilled. This marvelous letter reveals how the grace that saves souls is the very same grace that transforms lives. As we learn God’s ways (the ways of the vine) we enter into His purpose we become conformed to the image of Christ!

Christ Himself is the center of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. He is the only One who satisfies the Father’s heart, therefore He is the only one who can carry out all of God’s purposes. All of God’s promises are fulfilled in Him and all God’s ways are demonstrated in Him. The destiny of each believer is wrapped up in the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul wrote this letter so that every believer could understand what it means to be in Christ, for without this knowledge we are subject to the flesh – trapped by endless struggle and failure.

Think of all the interactions between God and man throughout the Old Testament. When He expressed love and a desire for obedience, man responded with stubborn independence and persistent defiance. God repeatedly acted out of mercy, but was forced to execute fearful judgment. His persistent love for man lays bare the devastation of the sinful nature. Who will deliver us from the body of this death? Paul tells us who!

Paul was given special revelation from the risen Lord: the secrets, counsels and ways of God – are all revealed in Christ. He explains Christ’s life and purpose in a way that no other Bible author can, for he was set aside to deliver “Grace and Peace” to the believers of this age. The letter to the Ephesians unfolds all spiritual blessings to those who seek them. LJ 12/08