God designed for humans to think, feel, speak, and act in certain ways. As a race we have walked away from that and messed up the universe. God, through Jesus, has hit the reset button on our lives, giving us hope for a better life. For more on this read Genesis Chapter 3. In Ephesians we learn the "Why" that is behind serving God and accepting Jesus as our Savior. Everything changes in the rebirth. We go from being a part of cursed family to belonging to the family of Christ and the blessings that brings.
I was recently working with something on a website and every time I made a change it messed everything up. I was only digging myself deeper. Then I saw this little button that said “Reset to Default Settings.” I thought I’d give it a try and voila, it worked. Ephesians is a "Reset" book of the Bible.
Ephesians is about God’s reset button for humanity. In the Garden of Eden we decided to monkey around with God’s ways of thinking—listening to serpents and disobeying God’s instructions for how to live life. We, and the universe been messed up ever since. But thanks be to God that He sent Jesus to rescue us.
One of the things God is doing through Jesus is hitting the reset button for our lives. We get a chance to start anew, with a new heart and mind that is being transformed back into the ways of thinking prior to the Fall. Eventually, God will hit the reset button for all the universe—and this is what the book of Ephesians is about—God resetting humanity and the universe to factory settings—to the way they should be.
Ephesians is about God’s reset button for humanity. In the Garden of Eden we decided to monkey around with God’s ways of thinking—listening to serpents and disobeying God’s instructions for how to live life. We, and the universe been messed up ever since. But thanks be to God that He sent Jesus to rescue us.
One of the things God is doing through Jesus is hitting the reset button for our lives. We get a chance to start anew, with a new heart and mind that is being transformed back into the ways of thinking prior to the Fall. Eventually, God will hit the reset button for all the universe—and this is what the book of Ephesians is about—God resetting humanity and the universe to factory settings—to the way they should be.
Ephesians was not written to a problem church, but a healthy one. It was written to healthy Christians telling them why it’s worth it to serve Jesus.
A key to the whole book can be found in Chapter 1, verses 9-10:
Ephesians 1:9 “He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure that He planned in Him for the administration of the days of fulfillment—to bring everything together in the Messiah, both things in heaven and things on earth in Him.”
God is bringing everything together in Jesus.
A key to the whole book can be found in Chapter 1, verses 9-10:
Ephesians 1:9 “He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure that He planned in Him for the administration of the days of fulfillment—to bring everything together in the Messiah, both things in heaven and things on earth in Him.”
God is bringing everything together in Jesus.
Ephesians is a book filled with lessons on how we can live the good life in Jesus. It was written to Christians who had already heard and received the gospel, but it isn’t necessarily that easy to understand. Each verse is so packed and so concentrated that it’ll take some deep looks for it to soak into our souls.
It was written to the church in Ephesus, but don’t think of some large mega-church. Ephesians at the time had about a quarter million population, the third largest in the Roman Empire and a very important city, but the “church” was scattered about the city in many house-churches. It’s likely that it was written to all the Christians in Ephesus, and some think, to all Christians everywhere, since the word “Ephesus” does not appear in some manuscripts.
It was written while Paul was in a Roman prison in A.D. 61-62. Ephesus was important to Paul. He’d started the church there about five or so years prior to writing the letter, and had spent three years there (Acts 18-20).
Around the same time Paul probably wrote Colossians and Philemon. In fact, Onesimus, Philemon’s slave, may have accompanied Tychicus as he delivered this letter, prior to delivering the letter to the Colossians.
An overall theme of the book could be: why it’s worth it to belong to Christ.
It has a lot to do with the heavens and what we have because we are Christians. Next week we’ll get more into what “blessed” really means and start learning more of what Ephesians has to say to us.
It was written to the church in Ephesus, but don’t think of some large mega-church. Ephesians at the time had about a quarter million population, the third largest in the Roman Empire and a very important city, but the “church” was scattered about the city in many house-churches. It’s likely that it was written to all the Christians in Ephesus, and some think, to all Christians everywhere, since the word “Ephesus” does not appear in some manuscripts.
It was written while Paul was in a Roman prison in A.D. 61-62. Ephesus was important to Paul. He’d started the church there about five or so years prior to writing the letter, and had spent three years there (Acts 18-20).
Around the same time Paul probably wrote Colossians and Philemon. In fact, Onesimus, Philemon’s slave, may have accompanied Tychicus as he delivered this letter, prior to delivering the letter to the Colossians.
An overall theme of the book could be: why it’s worth it to belong to Christ.
It has a lot to do with the heavens and what we have because we are Christians. Next week we’ll get more into what “blessed” really means and start learning more of what Ephesians has to say to us.
ACTION: What has God prepared ahead of time for you to do? Try reading through Ephesians a few times this week. It is worth belonging to Christ. He is at work in us. Let's do this book together starting Monday. Have a great weekend.
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