As I read the book of Ephesians again in preparation for this program I noticed something I’d not seen before, in spite of the many times I’d studied it.
Paul begins the book by pointing out God’s plan for those who are His own. It was established before the foundation of the world. Then Paul shares in the last half of chapter 1 his commitment to praying for God’s own; that they would experience what God had planned for them.
Chapter 2 begins with Paul describing how individuals personally experience becoming God’s own and then he shows how those who thus experience God’s grace become a part of the church and begin implementing what God had planned.
In chapter 3 Paul points out that for many, what he is describing is a mystery. He also says that what God is doing in individual believers and in the church is noticed by those who are rulers and authorities in the heavenly realm. What God is doing is big and significant. In the last half of chapter 3 he again prays that God’s love and power will be made fully clear and experienced by those who trust in God.
In the second half of the book Paul explains how those who experience God’s grace and become a part of the church are to order their lives in the church, in the world and in their families. He even discusses how they can triumph in the spiritual warfare going on in the unseen world.
This is a book that all believers would do well to master, so that they will not forget all God has planned for us to experience and share with others. Many years ago I memorized Ephesians, and it has been one of my favorite books in the Bible.
