[This year, the little Bible study group that meets around our kitchen table is working  through The Wiersbe Bible Study Series, “EPHESIANS: Gaining The Things That Money Can’t Buy,” by Warren Wiersbe, published by David C. Cook, 2008.

I pray this series of reflections will continue to be a blessing and encouragement that reaches far beyond our kitchen table.]

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KEY TAKEAWAYS from LESSON TWO (Ephesians 1:15 – 2:10)

PAUL’S PRAYER for EPHESIANS BELIEVERS (v 1:15-23): 

Paul thanked GOD for the believers’ strong faith in the LORD and love for GOD’s people.  He asked the LORD that they would grow in spiritual wisdom and knowledge of GOD:

• the confident hope we have in CHRIST
• the riches of His glorious inheritance for His holy people
• the immeasurable greatness of His power demonstrated when He raised CHRIST from the dead and seated Him in a place of honor in the heavens
• He is far above any other authority or name or title
• He is the Head of the Church, His body, whom He makes full and complete by CHRIST
• He is the One who fills all in all in every way

Everything stems from knowing GOD, His Word, His purposes, and His heart better: awe, worship, trust, relationship, and a Godly pattern for attitudes and actions. Knowing His true desires for us enables us to do what delights rather than grieves Him. Learning His heart helps us understand His original intentions in creating and then redeeming us.

One of our study members beautifully shared her thoughts about the HOPE we hold because of the salvation we have received by faith alone in CHRIST alone.  She pointed out that the difference in this HOPE from all other forms of hope is its certainty!  Peter describes it as a living hope (1 Peter 1:3) – not dead, or false, or misguided, but sure and steadfast, and growing!  Hebrews tells us it is an anchor for the soul! (Hebrews 6:19)

Our study friend went on to share this wonderful progression of verses about our GOD, who is rich in mercy and love and brought us alive through salvation:

• the source of salvation is “grace” (1 Peter 5:18) 
• the object of salvation is “you” (lost sinners) (Ephesians 2:1-3)
• the certainty of salvation (Ephesians 2:8, 1 John 5:13) 
• the assurance of salvation (John 5:24, Romans 10:9)
• the content of this salvation is “saved“ – from the penalty of sin (Romans 8:1), from the power of sin (Romans 6:14), from the presence of sin (Revelations 21:22)
• the medium of salvation is through faith in CHRIST (Ephesians 2:8-9, Acts 4:12)

Like Paul, we should pray for (and encourage) others to grow in their knowledge of (and therefore nearness and love for) GOD.  Our greatest desire for those we care about should be for them to understand GOD’s best plan for them, beginning with His great salvation and including spiritual growth and surrender to the LORD for His good purposes.

TRANSFORMATION of THE BELIEVER (v 2:1-10):

Once we were dead …

“The unbeliever is not sick; he is dead!  He does not need resuscitation; he needs resurrection.  All lost sinners are dead, and the only difference between one sinner and another is the state of decay.  … This means that our world is one vast graveyard, filled with people who are dead while they live (1 Tim 5:6). … Is it any wonder that the unsaved person is disobedient to GOD?  He is controlled by the world, the flesh, and the devil, the three great enemies of GOD!  And he cannot change his own nature or, of himself, overcome the world or the devil.  He needs outside help, and that help can only come from GOD.”  (W. Wiersbe, pp 31-32)

His statement is jolting but so true.  Dead is dead – in and of itself, there is no hope of revival!  We need NEW life breathed into us and the only possible source of the breath of true, eternal life is the Creator Himself.  

The spirit of the enemy is at work in hearts of those who refuse to obey GOD, causing them to be disobedient, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature (flesh & mind).  On our own, we have no power against the commander of the unseen world. BUT He that is in us is greater than ALL, including the enemy of our souls.

It was always GOD’s choice to provide redemption/rescue for us, for His Son to pay the price to buy us back to Himself, to reclaim us as His own, to stand in that gap and defeat the enemy on our behalf.  When we receive the gift of His salvation, He defends us against the enemy’s accusations and assaults and says, affectively, “you can’t have her, she’s Mine!”

Our world can offer nothing to us – for sure, it cannot offer us hope.  The quote from a recent online image is so poignant: “if the world around us beats us up and wounds us deeply, why do we persist in returning to that same world to find hope or healing?”  Only GOD can meet our needs – we need to run to Him!  The One who spoke us into existence to begin with and holds our breath in His hands is the only One who can offer hope because He can speak a new word of creation over us!

But GOD …

The wages of sin is death, the wrath of GOD.  Rebellion against GOD is deserving of that wrath.  In His mercy (withholding the death we deserve), by His “incredible wealth of grace” (generously giving us what we do not deserve), He saves us (He provided the all-sufficient blood of CHRIST to cover us). 

Our salvation is not of us at all – it is a gift from GOD (His grace).  As humans, pride is so real and present, we long to think there is something we can do to alter our own fate.  We are so fiercely self-sufficient, we deceive ourselves into believing that we can take care of it, that we can fix it.  We wrestle for control, never fully understanding that we never had any control and don’t truly want it and don’t need it, because CHRIST has already done it all!

Made alive in CHRIST …

“The same resurrection power that saved you and took you out of the graveyard of sin can daily help you live for CHRIST and glorify Him [replace your graveclothes with a robe of righteousness!].  At great expense to Himself, GOD worked for us on the cross.  And today, on the basis of that price paid at Calvary, He is working in us to conform us to CHRIST.”  (W. Wiersbe, p 35) 

Although covered by CHRIST’s blood, and abundantly provided for by a gracious Father, our hearts are so fickle and drawn so easily back into self-reliance, or impacted so deeply by the harsh world we live in that we work overtime, thinking we need to earn GOD’s approval. In truth, our flesh-fueled efforts never could earn anything in His eyes to begin with, why do we think they could make a difference now?  

Scripture tells us that without Him we can do nothing.  How different would our journey look if we hand over our faulty efforts, shed our misguided tendencies, and instead, step into His plan and His path for us, following in CHRIST’s footsteps?  

He never moved a muscle without direction from the Father.  He trusted His case to the One who judges rightly.  He stood firm, unshaken in the face of tremendous opposition and false accusation because He was fully confident in the flawless timing and fulfillment of the Father’s will.  The Holy Spirit within us is working to teach us the right way, to draw our attention to refining that needs to happen (convict us and lead us to repentance), to guide us with truth.

As His redeemed children, we are GOD’s masterpiece, His continual creation, His handiwork.  He creates us anew in CHRIST so we can do the good things He planned for us to do.  He orchestrates the circumstances and prepares and equips us to fulfill the plans He has for us.  We are a work in progress, but praise GOD, with His help, we are steadily being transformed into the image of His Son by the same power of His endless life!

How do we know what GOD is calling us to do?  As we begin to recognize His voice and His hand on our lives, more detailed direction from His Spirit and His Word will come.  But we can rest assured of a few simple but vitally important truths:

#1 – we are called to know GOD

#2 – we are called to love GOD

#3 – we are called to tell others what we know and love about GOD

To know Him and make Him known – this was Paul’s prayer for the Ephesian believers and for us!  As we concluded in lesson one, as we grow in our knowledge of GOD, our hearts will respond in due awe and praise of the One who alone is worthy!  To Him be all the glory, always.