God Speaks to His People
Ephesians 1:1-2
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Sermon Summary These two verses serving as the introduction to Paul's epistle aren't as unimportant as they may seem. They contain vital, comforting truths concerning God's great love for us, His people. |
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Introduction
When I was in college, I began to read the Bible on a regular basis. Up until this point, I had never had personal devotions or worked through the Scriptures systematically. Now that I had left home and started off on my own, I thought I better take more responsibility for my personal growth in Christ.
One of the very first books that I read was the book of Ephesians. When I finished the book, I ended up doing something quite unexpected. I started reading it again. I was so impressed with the content of this book and enthralled by the upbeat tone of it that I felt that I had to experience it again.
Before I dove in for the second read, I took out my pen and I wrote a note to myself at the top of heading of the book in large letters. I want to read for you what I scrawled. It said this, “You MUST read this book with excitement! If you don’t get excited, then you are spiritually DEAD!”
I think that many of you will probably agree with what I wrote in the haste of my youthful zeal. And I really do believe that the heading that I put there so many years ago should be the heading of this series that we are embarking on today.
This is a book that should make you excited. There are great things to discover and bathe in in the days ahead. With that, let’s read the first two verses of this epistle.
Ephesians 1:1-2
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
After that initial introduction, you might have expected something a little more enthralling to have been read. The opening salutations are not typically regarded as the most stimulating material in an epistle. They are usually regarded as being on the same level as a good old genealogy and it is considered skippable material.
But every once in a while it is good to just pull back and meditate on the opening lines. While they might seem a little dry or ritualistic, they often set the tone of a book. They usually give you a glimpse of what to expect in the upcoming pages.
And certainly that’s what you have here. While nothing might jump out at you at first, it really tells us a lot about God’s love for us.
Now, the word love is not used, but you certainly see the concept here. It’s like any other situation. Suppose a woman laments the fact that her husband never tells her he loves her. But all the while he is providing for her, taking her out to dine at places, doing household chores for her. Now, the words may not be there, but the concept certainly is, isn’t it?
The same thing is true here. The word “love” is not here, but the concept is.
Just look at the first line. Look at how this epistle begins. Notice what it says about God’s love. It tells us that God’s love for us extends all the way into eternity past.
I. All the way into eternity past
Paul introduces himself to us as an apostle of Jesus Christ, but he qualifies it by saying that he came into this office not by his own choice or by the choice of others, but solely by God’s sovereign choice. He says that he is an apostle “by the will of God.”
What you need to understand is that this word “will” has to do with God’s eternal decree. It is expressive of God’s decision to save and use Paul for his purposes in this world.
Think of God’s will like this: It refers to the long ages past where God determined beforehand how someone’s future would work out, usually pertaining to who would be saved and who would be damned.
In that sense, God’s will is not like ours. His will never happens in the present. To put it another way, God never wills something in the spur of the moment. God’s will is almost always presented as something that has occurred long before time even began.
All you have to do is look at what immediately follows to confirm this. The word “will” is used three more times in the next 10 verses, and each time it is used it is used, it refers to God’s prehistoric act of having elected some to salvation.
Look at verse 5. It says, “He predestined us for the adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will.” Here his will is basically equated with predestination. And to be predestined means to decide one’s destiny beforehand.
You can also look at verse 9. It says that he has made “known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time.” Here you see two things. His will is equated with the plan that he has made. I’m not one who makes a lot of plans. I’m kind of a “fly by the seat of my pants” kind of guy. But if you do make plans, you usually do it beforehand, don’t you?
Also, if he is making his will known, it means that it was willed long before our knowing about it. So here in verse 9, the will of God is something that was determined before God’s plan got started.
There’s another mention of the word will in verse 11. It says, “In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will.” You see here how God’s will is again coupled with the idea of predestination and the eternal plan of God that is being worked out.
So each time this chapter refers to God’s will, it is referring to God’s decree of election. It is always in reference to that decision God made in eternity past, long before anything was brought into existence.
That’s exactly the way it was for Paul. Paul came to his office by the will of God. He wasn’t looking to be an apostle at the time. The very opposite was true. He was trying to kill them off. He was a persecutor of the church and a rabid hater of Christ until that moment when Christ appeared to him on the road to Damascus.
And what is true of Paul is true of every single one of us. The paradigm might not be exactly the same. We might not have had a Damascus road experience where we were converted in a single moment or grand experience. Our conversion might have come over a period of time as we were gradually exposed to the gospel. But one thing remains the same of every single one of us. It was not by our own will that we first came to believe. We became a Christian by an act of God’s will, and that decision was formulated eons ago.
Personally, that means a great deal to me. That’s because it means that God loved me. He loved me long before I even existed. He loved me and had chosen to set his affection on me, even though I had no intention of loving him. God loved me so much that he planned to override my stubborn, sinful, God-hating will.
What a great love that is! It is amazing to think that God’s love for me stretches all the way back through time.
But the greatness of God’s love is not just seen in that it reaches all the way to eternity past, but it is also seen in the fact that it reaches all through our families. It reaches down to the littlest one in our homes.
II. All the way down to our children
Look at what the second part of Paul’s greeting says. This letter is addressed to “the saints who are in Ephesus and are faithful in Christ Jesus.”
Here we learn exactly who Paul is addressing. This letter is addressed to the saints or the “holy ones.” That’s what a saint is. A saint is one who is set apart unto God. To be holy is to be distinct from the world and devoted to God. To be a saint is to be someone whom God has consecrated to himself.
And here again is a testimony to the love God has for us. God has distinguished us from all the other people of the world. We are unique because God has entered into a relationship with us. We are his beloved people, the ones he has consecrated to himself.
Now what I want you to do is flip with me through this book a little bit. I’d like you to turn over to chapter 5. Towards the end of that chapter, you see that Paul starts talking to specific groups within the church. He begins by talking to the women. He tells them that they are to submit to their husbands. Basically he says, “You women are saints. So you need to act like it. And this is the way you are to act: You need to submit to your husbands.”
Then he starts talking to the men, and he says, “You men have been consecrated to the Lord. As a result, this is what you are to do. You need to love your wives just as Christ loved the church.”
But look at where he goes at the beginning of chapter 6. He addresses the children. He says, “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.” The word for children is the general Greek word “teknon.” It is aptly translated “children” because it refers to anyone who might be considered a child.
John Gill, the great Baptist commentator, explains that teknon refers to “those of any sex and every age.” So Gill would see this as referring to any child under his or her parents’ wing: whether a newborn, teenager, or someone in their mid-40s.
Now I want you to see the connection. Paul is addressing the saints at Ephesus. He then specifically addresses the children, and he says, “Since you children are set apart unto God, you must honor your parents.”
What I want you to understand is that this letter is explicitly covenantal in its design. God sees our children as belonging to him. They are saints in God’s eyes, and they have a vested interest in Christ from the time they are born.
Isn’t that a tremendous thing? That God’s love for you is so great that it even overflows to your children! He not only takes you to be his, but he also incorporates your children as well.
Now you probably see that this is one reason why many within the history of the church, like myself, have baptized our children when they are first born. In baptizing our children we signify that God has indeed set them apart unto himself. In the rite of baptism what we are saying is that these children are a part of God’s covenant people and God’s love does extend to them. God’s love is not just for me, but it overflows to my children as well.
And this is a great thing for us when it comes to the discipleship of our children. This adds a great dimension to our nurture of them. As they grow up, we are to be discipling them and teaching them to follow God’s commands. But as we do so we should be reminding them why they must obey their parents. We must show them why they should do this or that. It’s because the Lord loves them.
And I just might say, “Children, the Lord loves you.” Maybe you’ve wondered that. Maybe you’ve asked yourself, “Does God love me?” Well, here is your proof. He does love you. He has claimed you for himself. He’s given you the promise of salvation in Christ. And he asks that you love him in return by obeying his commands.
Think of God’s love like this: It’s like a pop can that you’ve shaken up. When you open the lid, it starts to fizz up. So much comes gushing out that it sprays all over you and all over your family as well.
That’s what God’s love does. God’s love for you is so great that it extends all the way back to eternity past and it reaches all the way down to little children.
But that’s still not the whole of God’s love. God’s love is greater still. The passage also says that it reaches all the way through every moment of our lives.
III. All the way through our lives
Look at verse two. It says, “Grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
What is Paul doing here? He is pronouncing a benediction, and a benediction is basically a prayer. And for what exactly does he pray? He prays that that they may experience God’s love in greater measure.
You might think of grace as God’s love as it applied to our relationship with God. And you can think of peace as God’s love as it is applied to our everyday livelihood.
Sin breaks our relationship with God. But God demonstrates his love in that He forgives us and restores us to a right relationship with himself even when we don’t deserve it. That’s what grace is.
So essentially, in pronouncing this benediction, Paul prays, “Lord, display your love to these people by continually supplying all the grace they need to cover each and every sin they commit.”
But sin not only breaks our relationship with God, it also destroys our lives in some way or other. That’s where peace is needed. We often think of peace as that easy feeling we get when we don’t have anything to worry about. But peace is more than that. Biblical peace is wholeness. It is that Hebrew understanding of shalom. It has to do with the health of the entire person.
So you can think of peace as the restoration of whatever sin has taken away. Sin might cause us a financial loss, or a relational loss. Maybe it is a rift between you and someone in your family. Or maybe you incur some emotional damage as a result of some sin.
So, when he prays that God might grant them peace, he’s saying, “Lord, show your love by restoring what sin has taken away. Show your love by making them whole again.”
So you see what grace and peace are. They are twin blessings that spring from a loving God.
And you understand that this apostolic blessing is not just a ritual that you find tacked on to the opening of a letter. Paul is trying to convey something of the greatness of God’s love. He’s showing us that God’s love is constantly needed, constantly being poured out. It is meeting us in every moment of our lives and in every need that we have in life.
Maybe you needed to hear that today. Maybe you’ve been involved in some sin and it has made you question whether or not God would love someone like you.
Or maybe you’re in a situation where you feel that you’ve lost something. Maybe you’ve got some emotional damage. Some trials have really made you angry or got you down, and you don’t know if you can really handle it. It’s got you all kinds of scrambled inside. Your emotions seem to be on overdrive.
Well, here you go. The Lord wishes to give you peace. He wishes to restore what sin has taken away. And he can do that. The first step is simply realizing that he loves you. He loves you and is everything you need in this world. His love is greater than whatever pain is afflicting you, and the Lord will never cease showing you that love.
Conclusion
We live in a day of mass information and mass communication. Communication has never been easier. Emails, text messages, video conferencing. We have a myriad of ways of getting in contact with someone. But when it comes to really communicating your affections, there’s still nothing like a good old-fashioned, hand-written note.
The Lord has written us a letter here in this epistle. I do hope that in receiving it we grasp the depths of his love.
When I was in college, I began to read the Bible on a regular basis. Up until this point, I had never had personal devotions or worked through the Scriptures systematically. Now that I had left home and started off on my own, I thought I better take more responsibility for my personal growth in Christ.
One of the very first books that I read was the book of Ephesians. When I finished the book, I ended up doing something quite unexpected. I started reading it again. I was so impressed with the content of this book and enthralled by the upbeat tone of it that I felt that I had to experience it again.
Before I dove in for the second read, I took out my pen and I wrote a note to myself at the top of heading of the book in large letters. I want to read for you what I scrawled. It said this, “You MUST read this book with excitement! If you don’t get excited, then you are spiritually DEAD!”
I think that many of you will probably agree with what I wrote in the haste of my youthful zeal. And I really do believe that the heading that I put there so many years ago should be the heading of this series that we are embarking on today.
This is a book that should make you excited. There are great things to discover and bathe in in the days ahead. With that, let’s read the first two verses of this epistle.
Ephesians 1:1-2
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
After that initial introduction, you might have expected something a little more enthralling to have been read. The opening salutations are not typically regarded as the most stimulating material in an epistle. They are usually regarded as being on the same level as a good old genealogy and it is considered skippable material.
But every once in a while it is good to just pull back and meditate on the opening lines. While they might seem a little dry or ritualistic, they often set the tone of a book. They usually give you a glimpse of what to expect in the upcoming pages.
And certainly that’s what you have here. While nothing might jump out at you at first, it really tells us a lot about God’s love for us.
Now, the word love is not used, but you certainly see the concept here. It’s like any other situation. Suppose a woman laments the fact that her husband never tells her he loves her. But all the while he is providing for her, taking her out to dine at places, doing household chores for her. Now, the words may not be there, but the concept certainly is, isn’t it?
The same thing is true here. The word “love” is not here, but the concept is.
Just look at the first line. Look at how this epistle begins. Notice what it says about God’s love. It tells us that God’s love for us extends all the way into eternity past.
I. All the way into eternity past
Paul introduces himself to us as an apostle of Jesus Christ, but he qualifies it by saying that he came into this office not by his own choice or by the choice of others, but solely by God’s sovereign choice. He says that he is an apostle “by the will of God.”
What you need to understand is that this word “will” has to do with God’s eternal decree. It is expressive of God’s decision to save and use Paul for his purposes in this world.
Think of God’s will like this: It refers to the long ages past where God determined beforehand how someone’s future would work out, usually pertaining to who would be saved and who would be damned.
In that sense, God’s will is not like ours. His will never happens in the present. To put it another way, God never wills something in the spur of the moment. God’s will is almost always presented as something that has occurred long before time even began.
All you have to do is look at what immediately follows to confirm this. The word “will” is used three more times in the next 10 verses, and each time it is used it is used, it refers to God’s prehistoric act of having elected some to salvation.
Look at verse 5. It says, “He predestined us for the adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will.” Here his will is basically equated with predestination. And to be predestined means to decide one’s destiny beforehand.
You can also look at verse 9. It says that he has made “known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time.” Here you see two things. His will is equated with the plan that he has made. I’m not one who makes a lot of plans. I’m kind of a “fly by the seat of my pants” kind of guy. But if you do make plans, you usually do it beforehand, don’t you?
Also, if he is making his will known, it means that it was willed long before our knowing about it. So here in verse 9, the will of God is something that was determined before God’s plan got started.
There’s another mention of the word will in verse 11. It says, “In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will.” You see here how God’s will is again coupled with the idea of predestination and the eternal plan of God that is being worked out.
So each time this chapter refers to God’s will, it is referring to God’s decree of election. It is always in reference to that decision God made in eternity past, long before anything was brought into existence.
That’s exactly the way it was for Paul. Paul came to his office by the will of God. He wasn’t looking to be an apostle at the time. The very opposite was true. He was trying to kill them off. He was a persecutor of the church and a rabid hater of Christ until that moment when Christ appeared to him on the road to Damascus.
And what is true of Paul is true of every single one of us. The paradigm might not be exactly the same. We might not have had a Damascus road experience where we were converted in a single moment or grand experience. Our conversion might have come over a period of time as we were gradually exposed to the gospel. But one thing remains the same of every single one of us. It was not by our own will that we first came to believe. We became a Christian by an act of God’s will, and that decision was formulated eons ago.
Personally, that means a great deal to me. That’s because it means that God loved me. He loved me long before I even existed. He loved me and had chosen to set his affection on me, even though I had no intention of loving him. God loved me so much that he planned to override my stubborn, sinful, God-hating will.
What a great love that is! It is amazing to think that God’s love for me stretches all the way back through time.
But the greatness of God’s love is not just seen in that it reaches all the way to eternity past, but it is also seen in the fact that it reaches all through our families. It reaches down to the littlest one in our homes.
II. All the way down to our children
Look at what the second part of Paul’s greeting says. This letter is addressed to “the saints who are in Ephesus and are faithful in Christ Jesus.”
Here we learn exactly who Paul is addressing. This letter is addressed to the saints or the “holy ones.” That’s what a saint is. A saint is one who is set apart unto God. To be holy is to be distinct from the world and devoted to God. To be a saint is to be someone whom God has consecrated to himself.
And here again is a testimony to the love God has for us. God has distinguished us from all the other people of the world. We are unique because God has entered into a relationship with us. We are his beloved people, the ones he has consecrated to himself.
Now what I want you to do is flip with me through this book a little bit. I’d like you to turn over to chapter 5. Towards the end of that chapter, you see that Paul starts talking to specific groups within the church. He begins by talking to the women. He tells them that they are to submit to their husbands. Basically he says, “You women are saints. So you need to act like it. And this is the way you are to act: You need to submit to your husbands.”
Then he starts talking to the men, and he says, “You men have been consecrated to the Lord. As a result, this is what you are to do. You need to love your wives just as Christ loved the church.”
But look at where he goes at the beginning of chapter 6. He addresses the children. He says, “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.” The word for children is the general Greek word “teknon.” It is aptly translated “children” because it refers to anyone who might be considered a child.
John Gill, the great Baptist commentator, explains that teknon refers to “those of any sex and every age.” So Gill would see this as referring to any child under his or her parents’ wing: whether a newborn, teenager, or someone in their mid-40s.
Now I want you to see the connection. Paul is addressing the saints at Ephesus. He then specifically addresses the children, and he says, “Since you children are set apart unto God, you must honor your parents.”
What I want you to understand is that this letter is explicitly covenantal in its design. God sees our children as belonging to him. They are saints in God’s eyes, and they have a vested interest in Christ from the time they are born.
Isn’t that a tremendous thing? That God’s love for you is so great that it even overflows to your children! He not only takes you to be his, but he also incorporates your children as well.
Now you probably see that this is one reason why many within the history of the church, like myself, have baptized our children when they are first born. In baptizing our children we signify that God has indeed set them apart unto himself. In the rite of baptism what we are saying is that these children are a part of God’s covenant people and God’s love does extend to them. God’s love is not just for me, but it overflows to my children as well.
And this is a great thing for us when it comes to the discipleship of our children. This adds a great dimension to our nurture of them. As they grow up, we are to be discipling them and teaching them to follow God’s commands. But as we do so we should be reminding them why they must obey their parents. We must show them why they should do this or that. It’s because the Lord loves them.
And I just might say, “Children, the Lord loves you.” Maybe you’ve wondered that. Maybe you’ve asked yourself, “Does God love me?” Well, here is your proof. He does love you. He has claimed you for himself. He’s given you the promise of salvation in Christ. And he asks that you love him in return by obeying his commands.
Think of God’s love like this: It’s like a pop can that you’ve shaken up. When you open the lid, it starts to fizz up. So much comes gushing out that it sprays all over you and all over your family as well.
That’s what God’s love does. God’s love for you is so great that it extends all the way back to eternity past and it reaches all the way down to little children.
But that’s still not the whole of God’s love. God’s love is greater still. The passage also says that it reaches all the way through every moment of our lives.
III. All the way through our lives
Look at verse two. It says, “Grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
What is Paul doing here? He is pronouncing a benediction, and a benediction is basically a prayer. And for what exactly does he pray? He prays that that they may experience God’s love in greater measure.
You might think of grace as God’s love as it applied to our relationship with God. And you can think of peace as God’s love as it is applied to our everyday livelihood.
Sin breaks our relationship with God. But God demonstrates his love in that He forgives us and restores us to a right relationship with himself even when we don’t deserve it. That’s what grace is.
So essentially, in pronouncing this benediction, Paul prays, “Lord, display your love to these people by continually supplying all the grace they need to cover each and every sin they commit.”
But sin not only breaks our relationship with God, it also destroys our lives in some way or other. That’s where peace is needed. We often think of peace as that easy feeling we get when we don’t have anything to worry about. But peace is more than that. Biblical peace is wholeness. It is that Hebrew understanding of shalom. It has to do with the health of the entire person.
So you can think of peace as the restoration of whatever sin has taken away. Sin might cause us a financial loss, or a relational loss. Maybe it is a rift between you and someone in your family. Or maybe you incur some emotional damage as a result of some sin.
So, when he prays that God might grant them peace, he’s saying, “Lord, show your love by restoring what sin has taken away. Show your love by making them whole again.”
So you see what grace and peace are. They are twin blessings that spring from a loving God.
And you understand that this apostolic blessing is not just a ritual that you find tacked on to the opening of a letter. Paul is trying to convey something of the greatness of God’s love. He’s showing us that God’s love is constantly needed, constantly being poured out. It is meeting us in every moment of our lives and in every need that we have in life.
Maybe you needed to hear that today. Maybe you’ve been involved in some sin and it has made you question whether or not God would love someone like you.
Or maybe you’re in a situation where you feel that you’ve lost something. Maybe you’ve got some emotional damage. Some trials have really made you angry or got you down, and you don’t know if you can really handle it. It’s got you all kinds of scrambled inside. Your emotions seem to be on overdrive.
Well, here you go. The Lord wishes to give you peace. He wishes to restore what sin has taken away. And he can do that. The first step is simply realizing that he loves you. He loves you and is everything you need in this world. His love is greater than whatever pain is afflicting you, and the Lord will never cease showing you that love.
Conclusion
We live in a day of mass information and mass communication. Communication has never been easier. Emails, text messages, video conferencing. We have a myriad of ways of getting in contact with someone. But when it comes to really communicating your affections, there’s still nothing like a good old-fashioned, hand-written note.
The Lord has written us a letter here in this epistle. I do hope that in receiving it we grasp the depths of his love.