READ Ephesians 1:1-14 (focus on 1:1-2)
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INTRO:
Imagine a city with me for a moment:
- Major world capital - prestigious
- Bustling financial centre - wealthy
- All kinds of spirituality on tap – strong occult
influences
You have the opportunity to write one letter – WHAT DO YOU
WRITE?
Imagine that city was London – what would you write to the
city of London? (Ask class to get in groups in discuss)
-I think if Paul were to write a letter to the Church in London,
England in 2015, he’d probably write a little something like
Ephesians.
=> Our lesson tonight is going to introduce us to this
amazing letter and set our course for our study in this
powerful letter.
Before we jump headlong into the letter, it’ll be good to get
some background to what we’ll be reading and studying –
and the first two verses give us some pegs to hang our
thoughts on.
In the opening two verses, we are introduced to three crucial
elements that we need to grasp to get the most out of
Ephesians:
1. PAUL THE EMISSARY
2. THE PEOPLE OF EPHESUS
3. THE PLOTLINE OF EPHESIANS
1. PAUL THE EMISSARY
Our passage begins:
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God
Paul is an amazing character. Missionary, church planter,
pastor and theologian – author of 13 (maybe 14) NT letters.
=> How much do we really know about Paul?
There are three parts to Paul’s life:
1. He was blinded to the Light
The first time we meet this man is in Acts 8:1. Stephen has
just been martyred and what do we read?
Acts 8:1–3
1) And Saul approved of his execution. And there arose
on that day a great persecution against the church in
Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the
regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.
2) Devout men buried Stephen and made great
lamentation over him.
3) But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house
after house, he dragged off men and women and
committed them to prison.
Paul hated the Church!
He hated their Christ, He hated their message and He was
happy to invest His life in tearing this sect down…
Then we catch up with Him in Acts 9
ASK someone to read Acts 9:1-9
2. He was brought down by the Light
So Paul is on his way to nab and grab some more of these
Christians…and then their Christ appears!
A Light shines and a voice speaks! “WHY ARE YOU
PERSECUTING ME???”
This was no whimpering request to ‘stop hurting my divine
feelings!’
– this was a thundering, piercing inquisition into a man’s
very soul!
Paul had no choice – like Aslan, this was no tame lion the
Pharisee persecutor was up against!
THIS WAS GOD! No one meets God and stays high and
mighty for long.
Paul’s response is killer – “Who are you, LORD???”
Something had flipped in the mind and heart of this man
because now He realised this Man Jesus was more than a
man – He was LORD!
3. He was a believer and broadcaster of the Light
Paul soon takes up the preaching ministry and becomes
Christ’s emissary – His sent one with His authority.
The second half of Acts will be taken up with the early years
of His ministry as an apostle.
=> A unbeliever blinded to the Light is brought down from
their unbelief by the Light and becomes a believer and
broadcaster of the Light
NO WONDER COULD SAY HE WAS AN APOSTLE OF
CHRIST JESUS BY THE WILL OF GOD!
One last thing before we move on to deal with the people of
Ephesus – and that’s this business of what an Apostle
actually is.
We’ve alluded to it with this idea of being a sent one or an
emissary but how did you qualify to be an apostle?
1. A physical eyewitness of the resurrected Christ – Acts
1:22, 10:39-41; 1 Cor 9:1, 15:7-8
2. Personally appointed by Christ – Mark 3:14; Luke 6:13; Gal
1:1
3. Authenticated with signs, wonders and miracles – Matt
10:1-2; Acts 1:5-8; 2 Cor 12:12; Heb 2:3-4
Paul bores all three marks – can people today who claim to
be apostles claim the same?
So that’s the man we meet when comes to Ephesians 1 –
Paul the Emissary
…but who were the people he was writing to?
2. THE PEOPLE OF EPHESUS
Paul continues in Ephesians 1:1
To the saints who are in Ephesus and are faithful in
Christ Jesus
Who were the saints in Ephesus and why could Paul call
them faithful?
To understand the background of Ephesians, we need to
learn a little bit about Paul’s ministry in Ephesus.
Ephesus was a commercial city and capital of the province
of Asia and a major crossing point for a number of trade
routes
=> If you did business, you definitely did some of it here
Paul landed in Ephesus briefly in Acts 18:18-20 en route to
Caesarea but left behind Aquila and Priscilla behind.
He returns in Acts 19 and this is no brief, quiet visit:
 12 disciples of John are brought into the fullness of
God’s people – 1-7
 Two years of ministry among the Jews is fruitful – 8-13
 Greeks begin to enquire into what has happening and
are born again – 17-22
All good…but look at verse 23
ASK someone to read verses 23-41
Paul’s ministry is so effective that it’s bad for business for
the blacksmiths who made statues of Artemis (or Diana) of
the Ephesians
Easy to miss the weight of that:

Ephesus was the centre of the worship of Artemis or
Diana, the goddess of fertility

The belief was this god had literally fallen from
heaven – history suggested it was a meteor which
resembled the depiction of the goddess as a manybreasted woman

Ephesus was made rich by people coming from all
over to worship this temple at their highly occulted
temple and buying statues of her to take home
=> Paul was killing the economy in Ephesus and they fought
back – a riot ensues and Paul has to flee for his life
…but now there is a healthy functioning body of believers in
the city of Ephesus.
Paul would never to the city where he spent three years of
ministry but he does have a meeting with the elders in Acts
20
He warns them of the false teachers from outside and
within who would come and
Charges them to feed the flock with the word of God
and in the grace of God
What’s the point of that?
Paul knew these brethren well –
He had laboured among them
He knew of what character and quality they were
He knew what they needed to hear
These believers who are in the heart of the riches of the day
yet had remained faithful in Christ Jesus needed some
specific truths.
Those truths form the plot line of the book of Ephesians.
3. THE PLOTLINE OF EPHESIANS
What does Paul seek to communicate to these believers?
What are the major themes of Ephesus?
Paul gives us the two major themes in verse 2:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the
Lord Jesus Christ
Grace and peace – two of the most ‘churchy’ words you will
ever hear.
ASK What do you think these words mean?
Grace – the steadfast love of God shown to undeserving
man
Peace – the state of relations between both God and
man that flows from that peace
These two things are written large over Ephesians. They are
expressed in three key words:
WEALTH, WALK AND WARFARE
Outline of Ephesians:
I. The Wealth of Believers in Christ 1:3-3:21:
A. God’s Grace in Christ – 1:3-14
1. Chosen by the Father (3-6)
2. Redeemed by the Son (7-10)
3. Sealed with the Spirit (11-14)
B. Prayer for Spiritual Understanding – 1:15-23
C. God’s Peace in Christ – 2:1-22
1. Peace with God individually (2:1-10)
2. Peace with one another corporate (2:11-22)
D. The Mystery of God’s Grace in Christ - 3:1-12
E. Prayer for Strength and Insight – 3:14-21
II. The Walk of Believers in Christ 4:1-6:9:
A. A Walk in Unity – 4:1-16
B. A Walk in Holiness – 4:17-32
C. A Walk in Love – 5:1-6
D. A Walk in Light – 5:7-14
E. A Walk in The Spirit – 5:15-6:9
III. The Warfare of Believers in Christ 6:10-24
A. You have been empowered for this – 6:10
B. You have been equipped for this – 6:11, 14-17
C. You have an enemy in this – 6:12
D. You have energy for this – 6:18-20
Because of God’s grace, we have a wealth beyond our
wildest dreams:
Blessings on blessings through ages unending
Covenant fullness in glorious flood
Ours is a hope which no mortal can measure
Brought in by Jesus and sealed in His blood
- God of the Covenant, Triune Jehovah
We have a walk together as believers in peace with God and
with one another
And we have a warfare won for us in Christ.
In short, believer, you have God’s grace and peace!
Wanna know what you have?
Wanna grow in your appreciation and application of it?
Might I suggest joining me for this study in this precious
letter as we unpack the wealth, walk and warfare of the
believer?