Sunday 23 August
Ephesians chapter 1 verses 15–23 Thanksgiving and prayer
15 For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, 16 I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. 17 I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. 18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength 20 he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 21 far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. 22 And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.
Message: -
This week Paul is right in there, “ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.”
Paul clearly holds all of the churches he has planted in his prayers and I have to confess that I am not as diligent in my prayers as Paul is, but I try. Paul recognises they are doing their bit and is praying that they are enabled to keep on doing it, praying that they would have the wisdom to know what to do and the revelation to how to do it. It is all about doing God’s work, being God’s hands and feet here on Earth.
Paul compares what God desires us to do and being empowered to do it, as being comparable to the power God has shown in raising his son from the dead. So, no limits then! Other than us, that is. The most often said phrase in the English language must be “I can’t do that” and yet here we are reading that God’s desire, God’s plans are, that we would take and use the power to raise the dead to help his children and spread the good news. It is something I have to remind myself of every day.
Then Paul says in verse 21 – 'far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked'. Here he is telling us that nothing and no one will stand against us. He is telling us that you and I individually, empowered by the Holy Spirit, will be as powerful as God was, when he raised Jesus from the dead. Paul is saying this in the context of spiritual warfare. This is hardly warfare in reality “if we follow God’s plan”. However, because we shy away from this reality, this power, this promise - Satan is still able to operate here on Earth, causing all sorts of mayhem!
Finally, Paul closes this section by once more pointing to Heaven where Jesus will rule over all things, where you and I will be a part of His church. Which as you know, is the people not the building. WE are to be part of the Bride of Christ; we will dwell with him forever. Better than that, Christ will make us, his bride, complete. Just as husbands should complete their couples in their marriages. Now, I know that is a sexist statement in our PC culture but if we take it in the context of the time, it would literally be true, whilst today it can be the woman who completes the couple and sometimes the completeness isn’t complete at all.
When we get past out PC selves, we can get a better understanding of what Paul tells us about human marriage later in his letter. In Ephesians 5:21–33 which is titled “Instructions for Christian households” Paul says, 'Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ'. Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Saviour. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything'. verses 21 -24 For so many people this just can’t be correct. Why should wives submit as in being a slave? Rather than see the comparison to what Paul has just said about the church being the bride of Christ. They see sexism, they see the men thinking they are superior over their wives which isn’t what is going on here at all.
The clue to what he means is in verse 24 – As the church, (that’s men and women remember) submit themselves to Christ as their head. It is not in blind obedience, but rather as a conscious act because we realise, he not only will do all things for us but that he already has done so. In that context husbands we are called to do all things for our wives. If we always take our wives thoughts and wishes into consideration why would women not want to defer to their husbands. It is the ultimate in equality the wife defers to the husband who always puts her needs first. Culturally today roles within a marriage can be reversed and even shared and I celebrate that where it works but where there is a tension because both partners want to be the head I despair as it often leads to breakup and divorce.
Paul is outlining God’s plan for Christian Marriage as the model that works. Pity that all too often people find it difficult to work the model.
15 For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, 16 I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. 17 I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. 18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength 20 he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 21 far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. 22 And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.
Message: -
This week Paul is right in there, “ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.”
Paul clearly holds all of the churches he has planted in his prayers and I have to confess that I am not as diligent in my prayers as Paul is, but I try. Paul recognises they are doing their bit and is praying that they are enabled to keep on doing it, praying that they would have the wisdom to know what to do and the revelation to how to do it. It is all about doing God’s work, being God’s hands and feet here on Earth.
Paul compares what God desires us to do and being empowered to do it, as being comparable to the power God has shown in raising his son from the dead. So, no limits then! Other than us, that is. The most often said phrase in the English language must be “I can’t do that” and yet here we are reading that God’s desire, God’s plans are, that we would take and use the power to raise the dead to help his children and spread the good news. It is something I have to remind myself of every day.
Then Paul says in verse 21 – 'far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked'. Here he is telling us that nothing and no one will stand against us. He is telling us that you and I individually, empowered by the Holy Spirit, will be as powerful as God was, when he raised Jesus from the dead. Paul is saying this in the context of spiritual warfare. This is hardly warfare in reality “if we follow God’s plan”. However, because we shy away from this reality, this power, this promise - Satan is still able to operate here on Earth, causing all sorts of mayhem!
Finally, Paul closes this section by once more pointing to Heaven where Jesus will rule over all things, where you and I will be a part of His church. Which as you know, is the people not the building. WE are to be part of the Bride of Christ; we will dwell with him forever. Better than that, Christ will make us, his bride, complete. Just as husbands should complete their couples in their marriages. Now, I know that is a sexist statement in our PC culture but if we take it in the context of the time, it would literally be true, whilst today it can be the woman who completes the couple and sometimes the completeness isn’t complete at all.
When we get past out PC selves, we can get a better understanding of what Paul tells us about human marriage later in his letter. In Ephesians 5:21–33 which is titled “Instructions for Christian households” Paul says, 'Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ'. Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Saviour. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything'. verses 21 -24 For so many people this just can’t be correct. Why should wives submit as in being a slave? Rather than see the comparison to what Paul has just said about the church being the bride of Christ. They see sexism, they see the men thinking they are superior over their wives which isn’t what is going on here at all.
The clue to what he means is in verse 24 – As the church, (that’s men and women remember) submit themselves to Christ as their head. It is not in blind obedience, but rather as a conscious act because we realise, he not only will do all things for us but that he already has done so. In that context husbands we are called to do all things for our wives. If we always take our wives thoughts and wishes into consideration why would women not want to defer to their husbands. It is the ultimate in equality the wife defers to the husband who always puts her needs first. Culturally today roles within a marriage can be reversed and even shared and I celebrate that where it works but where there is a tension because both partners want to be the head I despair as it often leads to breakup and divorce.
Paul is outlining God’s plan for Christian Marriage as the model that works. Pity that all too often people find it difficult to work the model.