These are my notes for the second session of Christ Church Wednesday Bible Study Group's study of the New Testament book of Ephesians.
This is a letter written by the Apostle Paul believed to not be designed for just one congregation, but intended to be passed around to several churches in the area surrounding Ephesus. The epistle itself is in the form of a general document dealing with a particular or in this case several subjects rather than as a letter written to a specific church. For example, there are no specific exhortations or personal greetings, as with most of Paul’s letters.
Unlike other epistles written to specific churches, this epistle does not deal with specific problems in a local congregation. Instead, Paul addressed great themes that pertain to the Christian's position in Christ, as a member of the body of Christ, the church.
This letter to the church at Ephesus encourages, admonishes and teaches believers even today of God’s plan for His church. Paul offers so much information in these six chapters. When you read and study this book you can understand that the Holy Spirit gives the believer what they need to be saved, holy and God-honoring.
In this session we look at Paul's prayer for the Ephesians that they understand the significance of their trust in Jesus and his sacrifice for them. as Savior. He asks God to give them real understanding. He wants them to understand how wonderful and exciting the good news of the gospel is for them.
For an audio of the Session click on the YouTube link at the end of my notes.
Last week as we looked at the first half of chapter one we said that Ephesians deals with topics at the very core of what it means to be a Christian—both in faith and in practice.
Unlike other epistles written to specific churches, this epistle does not deal with specific problems in a local congregation. Instead, Paul addressed great themes that pertain to the Christian's position in Christ, as a member of the body of Christ, the church.
This letter to the church at Ephesus encourages, admonishes and teaches believers even today of God’s plan for His church. Paul offers so much information in these six chapters. When you read and study this book you can understand that the Holy Spirit gives the believer what they need to be saved, holy and God-honoring.
Ephesians emphasizes the truth that the Church is the body of which Christ is the Head. There is no higher point of revelation than is reached in this epistle which shows the believer as seated with Christ in the heavenlies and exhorts him to live in accordance with this high calling. Actually the epistle falls into two main parts of three chapters each. In Eph 1-3 the apostle tells believers what they are in Christ; In Eph 4-6 he tells them what they are to do because they are in Christ. It has often been suggested that the contents of the epistle can be summarized by the three words sitting, walking, and standing.
By position, the believer is seated with Christ in the heavenlies
Ephesians 2:6 (NLT2)6 For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus.
Our responsibility is to walk worthy of our calling
Ephesians 4:1 (NLT2)1 Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God.
This walk is further seen as a warfare in which you take a stand.
Ephesians 6:11 (NLT2)11 Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil.
In the rest of this chapter, Paul prays for his readers.
Paul’s first prayer
Ephesians 1:15-23 (NLT2)15 Ever since I first heard of your strong faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for God’s people everywhere,16 I have not stopped thanking God for you. I pray for you constantly,17 asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God.18 I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance.19 I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power20 that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms.21 Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else—not only in this world but also in the world to come.22 God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church.23 And the church is his body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with himself.
He asks God to give them real understanding. He wants them to understand how wonderful and exciting the good news is.
He speaks about their faith and love. He tells his readers that their behavior towards the Lord is important. So too is their behavior with each other. Paul says that he does not stop thanking God for them. He also remembers them all in his prayers.
Paul is always asking that God:
· will give them wisdom and
· that he will show himself to them so that they can know him better.
Paul prays that three things will happen:
· 1. First, that they will know ‘the hope to which he has called’ them. God called us to himself. He called us to be united with Jesus Christ. He called us to be holy even as he is holy.
Ephesians 1:18 NLT I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called--his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance.
Leviticus 11:44-45 NLT For I am the Lord your God. You must consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy. So do not defile yourselves with any of these small animals that scurry along the ground. For I, the Lord , am the one who brought you up from the land of Egypt, that I might be your God. Therefore, you must be holy because I am holy.
1 Peter 1:13-16 NLT So prepare your minds for action and exercise self-control. Put all your hope in the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world. So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then. But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.”
This hope is about our future. We will then be with Christ for ever. God’s promise to us is that we can have the Holy Spirit inside us now.
2 Corinthians 1:21-22 NLT It is God who enables us, along with you, to stand firm for Christ. He has commissioned us, and he has identified us as his own by placing the Holy Spirit in our hearts as the first installment that guarantees everything he has promised us.
Ephesians 1:12-14 NLT God’s purpose was that we Jews who were the first to trust in Christ would bring praise and glory to God. And now you Gentiles have also heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago. The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify him.
· 2. Secondly Paul prays, that they ‘will know the glory of the rich blessings that he (God) has prepared’ for them. God has given these rich blessings to those who believe. Christians can expect to enjoy this inheritance.
Peter describes the inheritance that God has prepared for us.
1 Peter 1:3-4 (NLT2)3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation,4 and we have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay.
2 Peter 1:3-4 NLT By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.
It never disappears. God is ‘keeping our inheritance in heaven for you’. The children of God are the heirs of God. They are heirs together with Christ
Romans 8:17 (NLT2)17 And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering.
Everything that belongs to a person will belong to his heirs one day. That is what ‘heirs’ means. We do not know what it will be like. We do know that we shall see Christ. And we shall worship him. When he appears, we shall be like him.
1 John 3:2-3 (NLT2)2 Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is.3 And all who have this eager expectation will keep themselves pure, just as he is pure.
We shall be like him in our bodies. We shall be like him in his character. We shall be united with each other. It will be perfect. God wants us to know about this. He wants us to think about it. He wants us to know how wonderful it will be.
· 3. The Third thing that he prays will happen is , that ‘you will know how very great his power is’. Nothing compares with that power. It is far greater than any other power. We cannot measure it. By this power, God made everything in heaven and earth.
Jeremiah 10:12-13 NLT But the Lord made the earth by his power, and he preserves it by his wisdom. With his own understanding he stretched out the heavens. When he speaks in the thunder, the heavens roar with rain. He causes the clouds to rise over the earth. He sends the lightning with the rain and releases the wind from his storehouses.
Colossians 1:15-16 NLT Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see— such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him.
Paul describes this great power by three events.
Ephesians 1:19-23 (NLT2)19 I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power20 that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms.21 Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else—not only in this world but also in the world to come.22 God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church.23 And the church is his body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with himself.
· 1. First, God resurrected Jesus from the dead.
· 2. Second, ‘He used his power to cause Christ to sit at his right side in heaven.’ This was far above ‘all people with authority, lords and other rulers on earth and in heaven’. It was above every title (or rank) that anyone can give. And ‘Christ rules over them now and he will rule over them in the future’ (verse 21).
Ephesians 1:19-21 NLT I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms. Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else—not only in this world but also in the world to come.
· 3. Third ‘and God put all things under the authority and power of Christ. God put him in the highest place as head over everything for the church’ (verse 22). ‘
Ephesians 1:22 NLT God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church.
All things’ include the world, the stars and all physical things. ‘All things’ also include all people, and all spiritual beings both good and bad. God made Christ head over all things. He also made him head over everything for the church. The church is his body. So both the church and everything that is have the same head. He completely fills everything in every way.
There are two powers that men cannot control. One power is death and the other power is the devil. Jesus Christ won the battle over both. He did this by his death and resurrection. He can rescue us from both death and the devil.
1 Corinthians 15:51-55 NLT But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed! It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed. For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies. Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this Scripture will be fulfilled: “Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? ”
God raised Jesus from death. He raised him to a new life where there is no more death. This new life lasts for ever and ever. God caused Jesus to sit at God’s right side in heaven.
Romans 8:34 NLT Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us.
God made him king over every power that there is. Jesus rules in heaven as king. He rules over all people. He rules over everything.
In Genesis chapter 1, God told man to rule over all things. When Adam sinned, people lost the power to rule. Christ now rules over everything. So he gives back to us the power to rule through Christ and our relationship with Him.
Ephesians 2:6 NLT For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus.
This is a letter written by the Apostle Paul believed to not be designed for just one congregation, but intended to be passed around to several churches in the area surrounding Ephesus. The epistle itself is in the form of a general document dealing with a particular or in this case several subjects rather than as a letter written to a specific church. For example, there are no specific exhortations or personal greetings, as with most of Paul’s letters.
Unlike other epistles written to specific churches, this epistle does not deal with specific problems in a local congregation. Instead, Paul addressed great themes that pertain to the Christian's position in Christ, as a member of the body of Christ, the church.
This letter to the church at Ephesus encourages, admonishes and teaches believers even today of God’s plan for His church. Paul offers so much information in these six chapters. When you read and study this book you can understand that the Holy Spirit gives the believer what they need to be saved, holy and God-honoring.
In this session we look at Paul's prayer for the Ephesians that they understand the significance of their trust in Jesus and his sacrifice for them. as Savior. He asks God to give them real understanding. He wants them to understand how wonderful and exciting the good news of the gospel is for them.
For an audio of the Session click on the YouTube link at the end of my notes.
Last week as we looked at the first half of chapter one we said that Ephesians deals with topics at the very core of what it means to be a Christian—both in faith and in practice.
Unlike other epistles written to specific churches, this epistle does not deal with specific problems in a local congregation. Instead, Paul addressed great themes that pertain to the Christian's position in Christ, as a member of the body of Christ, the church.
This letter to the church at Ephesus encourages, admonishes and teaches believers even today of God’s plan for His church. Paul offers so much information in these six chapters. When you read and study this book you can understand that the Holy Spirit gives the believer what they need to be saved, holy and God-honoring.
Ephesians emphasizes the truth that the Church is the body of which Christ is the Head. There is no higher point of revelation than is reached in this epistle which shows the believer as seated with Christ in the heavenlies and exhorts him to live in accordance with this high calling. Actually the epistle falls into two main parts of three chapters each. In Eph 1-3 the apostle tells believers what they are in Christ; In Eph 4-6 he tells them what they are to do because they are in Christ. It has often been suggested that the contents of the epistle can be summarized by the three words sitting, walking, and standing.
By position, the believer is seated with Christ in the heavenlies
Ephesians 2:6 (NLT2)6 For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus.
Our responsibility is to walk worthy of our calling
Ephesians 4:1 (NLT2)1 Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God.
This walk is further seen as a warfare in which you take a stand.
Ephesians 6:11 (NLT2)11 Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil.
In the rest of this chapter, Paul prays for his readers.
Paul’s first prayer
Ephesians 1:15-23 (NLT2)15 Ever since I first heard of your strong faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for God’s people everywhere,16 I have not stopped thanking God for you. I pray for you constantly,17 asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God.18 I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance.19 I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power20 that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms.21 Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else—not only in this world but also in the world to come.22 God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church.23 And the church is his body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with himself.
He asks God to give them real understanding. He wants them to understand how wonderful and exciting the good news is.
He speaks about their faith and love. He tells his readers that their behavior towards the Lord is important. So too is their behavior with each other. Paul says that he does not stop thanking God for them. He also remembers them all in his prayers.
Paul is always asking that God:
· will give them wisdom and
· that he will show himself to them so that they can know him better.
Paul prays that three things will happen:
· 1. First, that they will know ‘the hope to which he has called’ them. God called us to himself. He called us to be united with Jesus Christ. He called us to be holy even as he is holy.
Ephesians 1:18 NLT I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called--his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance.
Leviticus 11:44-45 NLT For I am the Lord your God. You must consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy. So do not defile yourselves with any of these small animals that scurry along the ground. For I, the Lord , am the one who brought you up from the land of Egypt, that I might be your God. Therefore, you must be holy because I am holy.
1 Peter 1:13-16 NLT So prepare your minds for action and exercise self-control. Put all your hope in the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world. So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then. But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.”
This hope is about our future. We will then be with Christ for ever. God’s promise to us is that we can have the Holy Spirit inside us now.
2 Corinthians 1:21-22 NLT It is God who enables us, along with you, to stand firm for Christ. He has commissioned us, and he has identified us as his own by placing the Holy Spirit in our hearts as the first installment that guarantees everything he has promised us.
Ephesians 1:12-14 NLT God’s purpose was that we Jews who were the first to trust in Christ would bring praise and glory to God. And now you Gentiles have also heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago. The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify him.
· 2. Secondly Paul prays, that they ‘will know the glory of the rich blessings that he (God) has prepared’ for them. God has given these rich blessings to those who believe. Christians can expect to enjoy this inheritance.
Peter describes the inheritance that God has prepared for us.
1 Peter 1:3-4 (NLT2)3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation,4 and we have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay.
2 Peter 1:3-4 NLT By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.
It never disappears. God is ‘keeping our inheritance in heaven for you’. The children of God are the heirs of God. They are heirs together with Christ
Romans 8:17 (NLT2)17 And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering.
Everything that belongs to a person will belong to his heirs one day. That is what ‘heirs’ means. We do not know what it will be like. We do know that we shall see Christ. And we shall worship him. When he appears, we shall be like him.
1 John 3:2-3 (NLT2)2 Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is.3 And all who have this eager expectation will keep themselves pure, just as he is pure.
We shall be like him in our bodies. We shall be like him in his character. We shall be united with each other. It will be perfect. God wants us to know about this. He wants us to think about it. He wants us to know how wonderful it will be.
· 3. The Third thing that he prays will happen is , that ‘you will know how very great his power is’. Nothing compares with that power. It is far greater than any other power. We cannot measure it. By this power, God made everything in heaven and earth.
Jeremiah 10:12-13 NLT But the Lord made the earth by his power, and he preserves it by his wisdom. With his own understanding he stretched out the heavens. When he speaks in the thunder, the heavens roar with rain. He causes the clouds to rise over the earth. He sends the lightning with the rain and releases the wind from his storehouses.
Colossians 1:15-16 NLT Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see— such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him.
Paul describes this great power by three events.
Ephesians 1:19-23 (NLT2)19 I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power20 that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms.21 Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else—not only in this world but also in the world to come.22 God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church.23 And the church is his body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with himself.
· 1. First, God resurrected Jesus from the dead.
· 2. Second, ‘He used his power to cause Christ to sit at his right side in heaven.’ This was far above ‘all people with authority, lords and other rulers on earth and in heaven’. It was above every title (or rank) that anyone can give. And ‘Christ rules over them now and he will rule over them in the future’ (verse 21).
Ephesians 1:19-21 NLT I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms. Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else—not only in this world but also in the world to come.
· 3. Third ‘and God put all things under the authority and power of Christ. God put him in the highest place as head over everything for the church’ (verse 22). ‘
Ephesians 1:22 NLT God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church.
All things’ include the world, the stars and all physical things. ‘All things’ also include all people, and all spiritual beings both good and bad. God made Christ head over all things. He also made him head over everything for the church. The church is his body. So both the church and everything that is have the same head. He completely fills everything in every way.
There are two powers that men cannot control. One power is death and the other power is the devil. Jesus Christ won the battle over both. He did this by his death and resurrection. He can rescue us from both death and the devil.
1 Corinthians 15:51-55 NLT But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed! It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed. For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies. Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this Scripture will be fulfilled: “Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? ”
God raised Jesus from death. He raised him to a new life where there is no more death. This new life lasts for ever and ever. God caused Jesus to sit at God’s right side in heaven.
Romans 8:34 NLT Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us.
God made him king over every power that there is. Jesus rules in heaven as king. He rules over all people. He rules over everything.
In Genesis chapter 1, God told man to rule over all things. When Adam sinned, people lost the power to rule. Christ now rules over everything. So he gives back to us the power to rule through Christ and our relationship with Him.
Ephesians 2:6 NLT For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus.
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