Ephesians 1 ASV
1.
Paul, (not Saul but Paul.
Not the former person but the new man.
The man remade in an instant of transformation at the moment of contact
with the Son of God) an apostle (Messenger …
but different from the term used for angels who are also messengers of
God. The term used here is of and
emissary or ambassador. An angel is sent
to deliver the message. Where an apostle
is sent to speak for the sender. It is a
broader concept almost as if this type of messenger has also been given the ‘power
of attorney’ by the sender.) of Christ (The
anointed one. In Hebrew, the
Messiah. Christ is a title not part of
his name. It literally recognizes Jesus
as King in the same way that David was anointed King by Samuel.) Jesus through the will of God, (The will of God … this is all part of the plan that God as
set in motion through his divine will.
This not a random or accidental fact that Paul is an ambassador, nor is
it of his own choosing. He is an apostle
because God re-created him as his emissary.)
to the saints (not Saint with a capital
S. Paul is recognizing that he is not
speaking to non-believers but to those who are believers in the Lordship of
Jesus.) that are at Ephesus
2.
Grace to you and
peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, (Paul
as a good Jew and steeped in the Jewish tradition did not begin his letter with
Shalom. Shalom means peace, an all
encompassing type of peace. Peace in
your family, your self, your finances, your society etc. Instead Paul wishes his readers the blessing
of grace. Grace is the love of God, freely and limitlessly given without
restrictions and totally undeserved. Obviously to Paul this grace was a much
greater blessing than peace.)
3.
blessed be the
God and Father (This is not the common Jewish
designation of God as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of
Jacob. Paul in this salutation
acknowledges the singular distinction of Jesus, he is the Father’s Son. Paul acknowledges that Jesus is more than a
prophet, more than a teacher, more than a healer, more than a spiritual leader
more even than a king; he is recognizing the divinity of Jesus and he wants audience
to understand that special distinction.)
of our Lord Jesus Christ, (Again, Paul
is recognizing that both he and his readers belong to Jesus. They are servants and He is Lord.) who
hath blessed (divinely favored or favored by God) us
with every spiritual blessing (Paul is not
discounting earthly blessing but he is about to enumerate the more important
spiritual blessings and doesn’t want his readers to start mentally cataloging
earthly blessings such as health, wealth, etc.) in the heavenly places in
Christ:
4.
even as he chose
us (Remember Christ himself reminded his followers
that they did not choose him but that he had chosen them. As I am writing this, it is the day before a
national election where we will choose our next president. We will choose the person who will be the
recognized leader of our government for the next four years. Not everyone who goes into the voting booth
will choose the person who will win the election. Some will cast the ballot for a different
candidate. In this election we can
reject as well as choose. Not so with
Christ. He chose. We did not.) in him before the
foundation of the world, (As John said at the
beginning of his gospel, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with
God, and the Word was God. The same was
in the beginning with God. All things
were made through him; and without him was not anything made that hath been
made.”) that we should be holy (Dedicated or
devoted to the service of God.) and without blemish (By Jewish law nothing that is blemished, spotted,
defective in anyway may be dedicated to God.
Since “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God”, it is only
through the redeeming transformational power of Jesus that we can be seen as
‘without blemish’ before God. Jesus is
better than Clearasil, Oil of Olay, or Neutrogena. Amen?) before him in love: (dedicated in love … not dedicated out of fear, or duty …
not dedicated as an exchange for favors.
We are dedicated in love as a sacrifice pleasing to God.)
5.
having foreordained
(We are non-denominational so I’m going to sidestep
all arguments fore or against Calvin’s understanding of these terms of
‘foreordained’ and ;predestined’ and just say that they mean appointed
beforehand) us unto adoption as sons through Jesus Christ unto himself, (Paul as a Jew was not claiming his birthright as a ‘son of
Abraham and inheritor of the promise of God’.
He was acknowledging that, through Jesus,
Jew and Non-Jew had both been adopted into the family of God. This was a vastly more important relationship
than being a son of Abraham) according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, which he
freely bestowed on us in the Beloved: (Again Paul is
saying that is all the will of God, a gift, unearned and purchased by Jesus.)
6.
in whom we have
our redemption (redemption requires a price. We have said and believe that our salvation
is a gift, however it free to us only because Jesus paid the price of our sin,
of our rebellion against the will of God.) through his blood, (this is the price, His blood in exchange for ours. One day during communion we received the
bread and dipped it into the chalice of juice and as I removed the bread, I
automatically held my other hand under it to catch the drip. And drip it did, right into the center of my
palm. As I looked at the round dot of
red, my heart was broken, once again by the realization of the depth of Jesus’
and the Father’s love for me.) the forgiveness of our trespasses, (Trespass is such a gentle word. We have just wandered into a place where we
did not belong. At times in my life maybe what I did was trespass. However there were also times that I
SINNED! I was willfully disobedient to
the will and law of God. In those times
when I just stepped off the path, a gentle nudge was all I needed to get me
back into the will of God. But there
were times that took off running, jumping fences, scaling walls and kicking
down doors as I ran from God. I deserved
a whack upside the head, to be shackled and thrown into the pit. However, God gave to me ((and you)) … according
to the riches of his grace.
7.
which he made to
abound toward us (Grace that comes not in a trickle
but a flood. An overwhelming, all
engulfing outpouring of grace. A grace
that doesn’t just hide our sins it completely removes them.) in all
wisdom and prudence,
8.
making known unto
us the mystery of his will, (The mystery of His
will? Did you realize that God gave more
than ten laws to Moses? Orthodox Jews
follow all 613 in the law of Moses. God
certainly never intended his will to be a mystery. He tried repeatedly to make his will known to
us. It was only man’s hard heartiness
that made his will a mystery to us.
9.
according to his
good pleasure which he purposed in him
unto a dispensation of the fullness of the times, to
sum up all things in Christ, the things in the heavens, and the things upon the
earth; in him, (Bless you Paul for that image, “sum
up all things in Christ”. Did you just
hear Paul say, “Jesus is the answer?”
Imagine a balance sheet; on one side is everything … everything ever …
past, present and future … everything, add them altogether and on the other
side of the = sign is Jesus. “All things
were made through him; and without him was not anything made that hath been
made.” John 1:3.)
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