OUR FATHER IN WHOM WE SHOULD BE STRONG AND IN THE POWER OF HIS MIGHT

The last chapter of the Apostle Paulś letter to the Ephesians  ( Chapter 6 ), he continues giving spiritual counsel pertaining to the relationships that occur in our households because their relationships are metaphors for the relationships within the household of God. 

Starting with children, Paul advises them to obey their parents in the same way that the children of God should assidously obey their Father in heaven.

Similarly, Paul advises parents to have a dispostion of  forebearance towards their children taking the time to train them in the way they should go. In the same way, God is longsuffering with us His children and he patiently teaches us the way we should go.

1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 “Honor your father and mother,” which is the first commandment with promise: 3 “that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth.”

4 And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.

Addressing those who were servants in a household, Paul instructs them to be obedient towards their masters with the understanding that their service should be done as unto Christ with sincerity towards God knowing that goodness will be repaid by God whether slave or free.

Towards the masters, Paul instructs them to give up using fear tactics to control their servants with the knowledge that they are under a master in heaven who does not berate us but is impartial and therefore, mistreatment of servants would be met with judgement. 

5 Bondservants, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in sincerity of heart, as to Christ; 6 not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, 7 with goodwill doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men, 8 knowing that whatever good anyone does, he will receive the same from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free.

9 And you, masters, do the same things to them, giving up threatening, knowing that your own Master also is in heaven, and there is no partiality with Him.

The Apostle Paul then moves onto the subject of spiritual contention where  the enemy of our souls  continously schemes to gain spiritual advantage over believers. Paul advises believers to derive their spiritual strength from the Lord and from the power of His might. 

He also gives guidance that believers are not in a battle against the physical world of beings but rather pertaining to spiritual heirachy arrayed against them and he advises the use of protective clothing that we should wear and that is the full body armour of God that protects against the enemy's attempts to derail us. To give us an idea as who would be trying to derail us from our Christian calling, Paul lists the spiritual  hierarchy of ranking as:

• Principalities
• Powers
• Rulers of darkness of this age
• Spiritul hosts of wickedness in heavenly places

In this battle, Paul tells us that wearing the armour of God is what can enable believers to stand in the evil day and that we should expend every possible effort to stand firmly against the spiritual attempts to ruin us.

10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

The apostle tells us to be strong and ensconced in God's mighty power and he gives us specific spiritual virtues and the articles of body armour they represent that would sheild us from the onslaught of the enemy:

• Truth and transparency - Waist and groin protection belt
• Assurance of righteousness - Breast plate over the heart
• Practice in spreading the gospel of peace - Boots
• Faith -  Shield that protects against fiery darts sent by those involved in wickedness
• Knowledge of salvation - Helmet that protects the mind from disinformation
• Knowledge of the word of God - Sword of the Spirit
• Continual watchful prayer in the Spirit with perserverence to protect the saints including Paul who requested prayer for boldness to reveal to men the mysteries of the Gospel. 

14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; 18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints— 19 and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

The apostle Paul then concludes his monumental letter to the Ephesians with a promise to send one of his beloved and faithful brothers named Tychicus would bring the Ephesians up to date on what Paul was involved with and as well as to comfort them.

Paul then prays for peace, love and faith over the Ephesians from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul finalizes his letter with a prayer of grace towards those who sincerly love the Lord Jesus Christ.

21 But that you also may know my affairs and how I am doing, Tychicus, a beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord, will make all things known to you; 22 whom I have sent to you for this very purpose, that you may know our affairs, and that he may comfort your hearts.

23 Peace to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 24 Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Amen.

Amen.

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OUR FATHER WHOSE EXAMPLE WE SHOULD FOLLOW

Continuing in his letter to the believers in Ephesus, the Apostle Paul begins chapter 5 with the guidance that believers shoudl imitate God in the same way that well beloved children imitate their earthly fathers.

Having admonished the Ephesians to eschew their former lives as Gentiles, now Paul gives them a model on which to base their Christian lives and that is to imitate God. The example Paul gives is that the Ephesians should follow God's leading because He loved us and gave His son as a sacrifice for us and the self-sacrificial act of Christ, being a sweet-smelling aroma before God should guide us to live lives of love and self-sacrifice as we imitate what God has done we too will have a sweet fragrance before God. 

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.

In this model of a life of shadowing God, Paul instructs the Ephesians that there is no room for:

• Fornication
• Uncleanliness of all kinds
• Covetousness
• filthiness
• Foolish talk
• Coarse joking
• Idolatry

Paul warns that practicing these things can short-circuit a believer's inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. 

Paul goes onto to say that the believers should not pay heed to anyone who down-plays the seriousness of trangressing in these ways because it is for those practices that the non-believers are subject to the wrath of God and as such, are entirely inappropriate for believers to be entangled in.

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.

Paul contrasts the darkness from which believers originated with the light into which they were called and tells us that as children of light, we should be  yielding fruit of the Spirit (which can be summarized as goodness, righteousness and truth) where we seek out what activities are acceptable to the Lord for each of us individually. 

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.

Paul advises us to be disassociated from  activities that are hallmarks of darkness and in fact we should be transparent about such activities if they intrude into our lives. Whereas leaving such practices secret make such things unpeakably shameful, revealing them so as to be exposed to the light and so doing, these activities are worked out by the light and their power to keep a hold on us is destroyed. It is this phenomenon of light on the works of darkness that is referenced by the saying ( probably a song derived from the Prophet Isaiah's call for the sleeping or the dead to awaken and arise so that the light of God would shine on them.

When works of darkness are exposed to this light, they no longer have the power of shame over believers but their redemtion is made to be an example of the power of God unto salvation. 

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.”

In light of the option to live in light rather than continue in darkness, the Apostle Paul counsels the believers at Ephesus to be circumspect or wise so that they could use the time alloted to this earth to navigate the pathways of righteousness especially the days in which they lived were evil and every opportunity to entrap them in darkness would be deployed against them.

To avoid falling into traps that would derail us from the life that God has for us, Paul advises us understand what the will is for each of us and to avoid getting drunk with wine which is a tecchnique of darkness applied to believers to misspend their energy and annointing. Instead, we should continuously be filled with the Spirit of God and continually speaking psalms and hymns and spiritual songs and remaining immersed in the music of the heart unto the Lord and always being grateful to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and being submissive to one another in the fear of God.

15 See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, 16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

17 Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, 20 giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 submitting to one another in the fear of God.

Paul, having the practices of individual life in Christ, turns to the marriage relationship and likens it to the relationship between Christ and the church. In the metaphor, Christ is the husband and the wife is the church and the mystery of the Christ and His bride are revealed in the headship of the husband and in the submission of wifes to their husbands.  Husbands must demonstrate sacrificial love for their wives in the same way that Christ died for His bride the church and the wife should model respect and  obedience to Christ in the way she obeys her own husband.

22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. 24 Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.

25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, 26 that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, 27 that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. 

28 So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church. 30 For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. 31 “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32 This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. 33 Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.

Amen.

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