OUR FATHER WHO TRANSFORMS BY HIS LIGHT

In verses 8 - 14 the fifth chapter of his letter to the Ephesians, the apostle Paul continues to emphasize that Christians have changed citizenships. They are no longer carrying passports of the kingdom of darkness but are now citizens of the kingdom of light and in fact are illuminated by the Lord.  We were once creatureds of darkness but are now creatures of light. As such, our lives should emanate the light of goodness,  righteousness and truth where we each actively pursue the understanding of what God would find acceptable in His sight.

 8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light 9 (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), 10 finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. 11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret. 13 But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light. 14 Therefore He says:

“Awake, you who sleep,

Arise from the dead,

And Christ will give you light.”

Paul cautions believers that they should have no entanglements with the things of the kingdom of darkness but rather, the light we carry should bring illumination upon things that are generated in darkness and this light will make the activities of darkness recognizable for what they are and be revealed as fruit of darkness.

Possibly quoting Isaiah chapter 60 verse 1, (which reads; Arise, shine; For your light has come! And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you.),  the apostle Paul declares that the light that Christ gives believers is an active ingredient in transforming them from beings that were engulfed in darkness into beings that were carriers of Godˋs light and glory.

Amen.

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OUR FATHER WHOSE WRATH IS DIRECTED AT EVIL DEEDS

Continuing in the letter to the Ephesians in chapter 5 from verses 1 - 7, the apostle Paul prescribes that believers pattern their lives on the life of Christ who sacrificially gave Himself up for us in love and whose sacrifice was a pleasing incence before God. Paul tells us that imitating Christ is our guide in how we should conduct ourselves and to make sure that the conduct that drew Godˋs wrath was not practived in our midst.

1 Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. 2 And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.

3 But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints; 4 neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. 5 For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. 6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. 7 Therefore do not be partakers with them.

Aman.

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OUR FATHER WHO CREATED A NEW MAN IN US

The apostle Paul, in the fourth chapter of the letter to the Ephesians from verses 17 - 32, adjures believers to comport themselves in a way that is befitting of those who have been granted access to the knowledge of Christ.

To emphasize the change of conduct believers must undergo, Paul contrasts the former way of life that was driven by dark impulses guided by darkened minds with the new way of life of righteousness and holiness.

17 This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, 18 having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; 19 who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.

20 But you have not so learned Christ, 21 if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: 22 that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, 23 and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24 and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.

25 Therefore, putting away lying, “Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor,” for we are members of one another. 26 “Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, 27 nor give place to the devil. 28 Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need. 29 Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. 32 And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.

The apostle gives a listing of behaviors and attitudes that are symptoms of the fallen man;

• Futility of mind
• Darkened understanding
• Alienated from God
• Ignorant
• Blind at heart
• Insensitive
• Unclean
• Greedy
• Corrupt
• Lustful
• Telling lies
• Thievery
• Corrupt speaking
• Bitterness
• Wrath
• Anger
• Clamor (obstreporously noisy)
• Malice

To counter these tendencies of the old man, the apostle also gives us a listing of righteous conduct in our passage;

• Learning of Christ
• Listening to Christ
• Teachable by Christ
• Renewed mind
• Truthful
• Longsuffering
• Crowding out the devil
• Generosity
• Edifier of the body
• Peace with God 
• Kindness
• Soft-hearted
• Forgiving

Amen

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OUR FATHER WHOSE SON DISPENCED GIFTINGS AMONG THOSE IN THE BODY

In the letter to the Ephesians chapter 4 verses 9 - 16, the apostle Paul delves into the facilitation made available to the one body of Christ to which we are joined in order for the body to be able to function in the world even though it is surrounded by enemies who constantly seek to destroy it..

He writes of the gifts that Christ provided as per the prophesy recorded in Psalm 68 verse 18 that foretells that the ascension from the underworld to the heights of heaven.

This dispensation that Christ innuagurated as He ascended was to be served by contingents of human ministers who were given supernatural capabilities as apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. These specialists are given understanding and power to equip and edify all believers in various measures of ability in the services needed for the healthy funtioning of the body of Christ on earth.

7 But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. 8 Therefore He says:

“When He ascended on high,

He led captivity captive,

And gave gifts to men.”

9 (Now this, “He ascended”—what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? 10 He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.)

11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

The Lord  Jesus directly appointed those who would carry and exemplify the types of ministry needed to build and strengthen the body of Christ so that the body would be unified and the all would grow in the knowledge of the Son of God until each person the fulness of the stature in Christ.

Paulˋs emphasis regarding the body fo Christ is that there be a reliable conveyer belt that conveys us all to increased maturity where new believers are received at the beginning and the organs of the body function together to lift them to their full potential in Christ over time.

As the body of Christ operates in the world, Paul is concerned about the hazards that it is  vulnerable to;

• Perpetual immaturity
• Unstable and drifting doctrines
• People being gullible
• Infiltration by deceitful men

In this passage, Paul tells us that the remedy for these hazards is that the truth be always spoken in love and that every individual continue to mature in Christ such that they can participate in bringing what their gifting is to the table so that the body of Christ can grow and be healthy as Christ has provided for.

Amen.

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OUR FATHER WHO CALLED US INTO ONE BODY.

In the fourth chapter of the letter to the Ephesians verses 1 - 6, the Apostle Paul encourages the beneficiaries of the elaborate and wonderously orchestrated plan of salvation to conduct themselves in a manner that was worthy of the role to which they were called. The characteristics of worthiness are lowliness, gentleness, longsuffering, love, unity and peace.

1 I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, 2 with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, 3 endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

The singularity of the loving family to which we are joined consists of a singular body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is above all and in all of us.

Amen.

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OUR FATHER WHO LOVES US BEYOND WHAT WE CAN GRASP

In the letter to the Ephesians chapter 3 verses 14 - 21, the apostle Paul, in awe of the Father, kneels in prayers for those who believe in Jesus and through Him have been adopted into the family of God. He asks the Father to strengthen, by His Spirit, the inner man of each believer so that they may be able to grasp the immeasurable width and length and depth and height of the love of Christ towards them.

14 For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, 17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— 19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, 21 to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Paul glorifies the Father whose vast capability surpasses understanding in the awesome power that He has deposited in us forever.

Amen.

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OUR FATHER WHO CREATED ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST JESUS

The Apostle Paul, in the letter to the Ephesians in chapter 3 verses 8 - 13, reveals how he, the least of all saints, was made a minister to the Gentiles to take to them the salvation fashioned among the Jews but made efficaciouse to all men on earth by a wisdom that was hidden in God from the beginning of the ages.

The unfolding of this plan made known to all creation the multifaceted wisdom that God deployed to the glory of Jesus Christ.

8 To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, 9 and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ; 10 to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places, 11 according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, 12 in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him. 13 Therefore I ask that you do not lose heart at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.

Paul, having revealed the centrality of this plan to the eternal purposes of God, we can be confident in the part we are given to play in this great enterprise and we can remain undaunted in the face of difficulty.

Amen.

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