I've noticed a few themes with Ephesians
God's excited love for our salvation. God is not a disinterested savior and he's not just some plain old lover, but he is an excited lover.
5he[a] predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will (Eph 1:5)
The word I want to dwell on is pleasure. Even though this book is filled with tons of exciting words, pleasure seems to be a unique one. I liked that God enjoyed making me for salvation. It wasn't something he HAD to do, it wasn't something he did because it was logical, but it was a mission of contentment.
Probably one of the most ill conceived messages of God is that he is a person who HAS to save you and does it with gritted teeth. He gives you a Clint Eastwood look and says, "Do it before I change my mind." Nope, God is more like that excited fifth grader who knows there is a present waiting when he gets home from school. He couldn't even wait to choose us until the world was created; he had to do it before. (Eph 1:4).
GIFTS
Another great theme in Ephesians is LAVISH. Paul can't get enough of speaking about the glorious riches of being in God. He speaks in great detail about getting endless amounts of wisdom, grace, holiness, love, peace and other riches. Paul is clearly contrasting the riches of the triune God with his greatest competitor Artemis. But Paul's argument seems to go on about how a life with Jesus is a constant blessing and a lavishing of gifts. Imagine taking a dry chicken McNugget and drenching it in ketchup; that is lavish.
God is Far Out
20Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,
Another great theme is the scope of which God and Jesus have control. His ability to take care of us goes past our very minds. It is impossible to conceive what God can do. I've always hounded on God for making Heaven look like a boring bunch of clouds and pearls, but I think there is tons more than I can fathom. He is the God that blows your mind.
22And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, 23which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.
This is one of my most favorite verses in Ephesians because it speaks of a God who has authority over everything. God owns your brain, God owns your enemies and God owns your problems. Not only does he own them, but they are actually under his feet. Accessing God in your life is like using a fire hose to kill a fly. It might be overkill, but it works.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
Nice post! It's always crazy to me how specific Paul is when he writes to a group he was lead to help. Did he see visions? Did God speak to him? Or was Paul simply and powerfully lead by prayer? We won't know, but I love his letters. I also think, for such a short book, there is soooo much good content.
Post a Comment