Ephesians 1:15-23 (Part 1)

I. Paul's praise for the believers - characteristics of genuine Christianity.
a. Faith in the Lord Jesus.
b. Love toward all the saints.
-Gal. 5:13

II. Paul's prayer for the believers - growing in spiritual wisdom and insight.
-II Pet. 1:3
a. Spiritual wisdom
-Ps. 24:7, 29:3
-revelation = apokalupsis = uncovering, revealing
-Peter O'brien "The mystery had already been made known in Christ, but the readers needed to grasp its full significance, not the least of all their own place within it."
-knowledge = epignosis = knowledge, recognition
-I Cor 13:12
b. Spiritual vision
-heart = kardia; center of knowledge, understanding, and thinking; place of thought and moral judgment, volition
-enlightened = photizo = enlighten, illuminate, give like. Greek Exegetical Key "It refers to the ministry of the Holy Spirit who continually illuminates spiritual truth."
-John Stott "What Paul does in Ephesians 1 and therefore encourages us to copy, is both to keep praising God that in Christ all spiritual blessings are ours and to keep praying that we may know the fullness of what he has given us."

Ephesians 1:11-14

I. In Christ we have received an inheritance.
-inheritance = kleroo = chose, to appoint by lot
a. Divine perspective
i. God's design
-proorizo = to mark out a boundary beforehand, foreordain
-J.I. Packer "People see the Bible teaches man's responsiblity for his actions; they do not see (man indeed cannot see) how this is consistent with the sovereign Lordship of God over those actions. They are not content to let the two truths live side by side as they do in the Scriptures, but jump to the conclusion that, in order to uphold the biblical truth of human responsiblity, they are bound to reject the equally biblical and equally true doctrine of divine sovereignty, and to explain away the great number of texts that teach it."
ii. By God's power
-works = energeo = to be effective, to be energetic, to accomplish
-counsel = boulen = counsel, will; Greek Exegetical Key "It expresses counsel with reference to action. The word solemnly represents the almighty will as displayed in action."
iii. For God's praise.
b. Human perspective
i. We heard the message
-Rom. 10:17, 10:10-11
ii. We believed
-Heb. 4:2

II. In Christ we are given a guarantee of our inheritance.
-sealed = sphragizo = seal, secure with a mark or seal, affix as true
-Aspects of being sealed
a. Indicates possession
-Ps. 100:3, Rom. 8:16-17, Rom. 8:9
b. Implies protection
-John 10:29
c. Includes a promise
-Acts 2:33
-pledge = arrabon = down paymet, pledge

III. In Christ we are God's own inheritance.
-Deut. 32:9; Exodus 19:5; I Pet. 2:9, Titus 2:4

Ephesians 1:7-10

I. In Christ we are released from bondage.
-redemption = apolutrosis = purchasing with a price, setting free,
deliverance, release
-I Pet. 1:18-19; Rom. 6:18

-Two results of redemption
a. Forgiveness of trespasses
-forgiveness = aphesis = cancellation, release, forgiveness,
-trespasses = paraptoma = falling aside, false step. Greek Exegetical Key
"The word signifies the actual and numerous results and manifestations of
our sinful nature."
-Col. 2:14
b. Wisdom and insight
-insight = phronesis = wisdom, insight, way of thinking; emphasizes
understanding and comprehension of practical matters
-MacArthur "God not only forgives us...but also gives us all the necessary
equipment to understand Him and to walk through the world day by day in a
way that reflects His will and is pleasing to Him. He generously gives us the wherewithal both to understand His Word and to know how to obey it."

II. In Christ we are given knowledge of the mystery.
-Three categories of mysteries
1. Things God reveals to no one.
-Deut. 29:29
2. Things God reveals to His people.
-I Cor. 2:14
3. Things God revealed only in New Testament times.
-I Pet. 1:10-11, Daniel 12:8
-administration = oikonomia = household management
-summing up = anakephalaioo = to gather up under one head
-Phil. 2:10-11

Ephesians 1:3-6

-spiritual = pneumatikos = pertaining to the spirit; spiritual thing, person
-F.F. Bruce “Even if they live on earth in mortal bodies, they can enter into the good of their heavenly inheritance here and now through the ministry of the Spirit.”

I. We were chosen in Chirst
-chosen = eklego = elect
-J.I. Packer "People see the Bible teaches man’s responsibility for his actions; they do not see (man indeed cannot see) how this is consistent with the sovereign Lordship of God over those actions. They are not content to let the two truths live side by side as they do in the Scriptures, but jump to the conclusion that, in order to uphold the biblical truth of human responsibility, they are bound to reject the equally biblical and equally true doctrine of divine sovereignty, and to explain away the great number of texts that teach it.”

a. It was before the foundation of the world.
-foundation = katabole = beginning, creation
b. It was to make us holy and blameless.
-holy = hagios = set apart, pure, saint, holy
-blameless = amomos = without blemish, spotless
i. Positional
ii. Practical

II. We were adopted in love.
-predestined = pororizo = to decide from the beginning, to mark out a boundary beforehand.
-Rom. 9:25-26
-kind intention = eudokia = good will, pleasure, favor

III. We were freely given grace in the Beloved
-bestowed = charitoo = to bestow on freely, to endow with grace

Walter Liefeld “Today’s remarkable flow of new information about our physical universe, which should increase our confidence in and awe of God as Creator, may lead others to think of heaven as a distant, irrelevant place with little connection to earth and the visible universe. Ephesians shows that there is a greater universe of space and time than we might imagine. Heaven above and the age to come may exist in a different dimension, but the heavenly realms are real and integral parts of God’s creation and are presently experientially accessible to Christians, in Christ.”