Reflection on God's Word

DARE TO IMAGINE GOD DOING GREAT THINGS THROUGH YOU

by Tim Thomas

May 9, 2005

Ephesians 1:1-3

These verses provide an introduction to this letter to the church at Ephesus. We are often tempted to breeze through introductions to letters to get to the main part. There are, however, important points for us to grasp.

First, we see that Paul knew exactly who he was and what he was called to do and who called him to do it. In the early years of his faith, Paul may not have known this. But His ministry only became effective when he understood the mission God had given him. The same is true for us. When we start out in the faith, we very rarely have a clear understanding of what God had made us for. We tend to jump from this to that, as we learn more from the Bible and from the Body of Christ and begin to mature in the faith. This is not a bad thing—it is simply the way people mature spiritually. As we mature, however, we begin to discern not only the attributes that God has endowed us with, but also we begin to sense something within us—a fire, a drive, a particular recurring point of view that just stirs our hearts. We also discern the voice of the Holy Spirit, leading us and guiding us in grasping the nature of His call on our lives. Colossians 3:23-24 says that whatever we do, work at it with all our hearts, as if working for God and not man. That says to me that many of us are going to be called to secular work, and yet that work is not secular at all, because we are working for God in it. As we work for God, we find that our work is spiritual, because we are serving God, and that in turn opens up opportunities to show forth our spiritual gifts that will lead some to be attracted to Jesus, and will strengthen the entire Body of Christ.

We have talked about what it means to understand one's calling, but we have not discussed Paul's calling as an apostle of Christ Jesus. What is an apostle anyway? Vine's tells us that the Greek word used means "one sent forth". This implies that Paul was sent forth by God, and by implication, that he was given a particular mission. Elsewhere he describes this mission as presenting the Good News about Jesus Christ to the non-Jewish peoples of the world. One can be sent forth by God with other assignments, but does that make that person an apostle? Fortunately the Bible has a little more to say about being an apostle. 2 Corinthians 12:12 seems to say that one of the requirements of a true apostle is that he or she be empowered by God to perform signs and wonders and miracles. Later in Ephesians (in 4:11), we see that the apostles, along with prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers are charged with equipping believers for ministry. And in Ephesians 2:19 we see that at least in the early church, the apostles and prophets built a foundation of faith on which all believers may rest. I think this is pointing to the fact that in the first century, essential doctrines of faith were laid out by the apostles and prophets, and that many of these are recorded in the New Testament. We can see how essential these doctrines are, because they give us a true understanding of what Jesus accomplished through His death and resurrection, and help us know God more completely, and understand our role in this world. Perhaps a modern-day apostle would also help the church maintain the true faith by keeping the ideas of the age from polluting the Gospel.

Did you know that believers are instructed to desire becoming apostles? When's the last time you heard a sermon on that?! In 1 Corinthians 12:28, Paul states that being an apostle is the foremost spiritual gift, followed by being a prophet, being a teacher, being a worker of miracles, etc., in that order. Then in verse 31, he instructs his readers to "earnestly desire the greater gifts". That means that we should desire to be an apostle or prophet (or teacher, etc.), and in that particular order. Since I try to align my will with God's, I do indeed desire to be an apostle. It is certainly not for the title: "the Apostle Tim" doesn't roll off the tongue as easily as "the Apostle Paul" does. I can, however, imagine how it would build the Body of Christ if God would empower me (or you!) to perform signs, wonders, and miracles, and to be able to establish new believers and new congregations firmly on a true faith in God through Jesus Christ.

This letter was written to the saints, which Paul goes on to define in the text as those who are faithful in Christ Jesus. This means those who believe in and follow Christ. Sounds a lot like us. The Greek word for saint is hagios, which Strong's defines as meaning sacred and consecrated (which I believe means to be set apart for holy purposes). We often don't feel holy, and don't perceive the special purposes of God to which we have been called—but whether or not we perceive it, it is true. It seems to me that we would treat ourselves more kindly, and we would be less involved with trivial pursuits, if we truly grasped this.

Paul wishes his readers the grace and peace of God. These are very desirable things to receive from God. Grace is something we as believers have already received from God, while peace is something that some of us have yet to experience in God. Grace is God making up for all of our shortcomings, and it is because of His goodness and kindness, and not because of anything we have done (though it is because of who we are—His dearly loved children). Peace is a relaxation in our hearts that we experience as a result of trusting God with the details of life.

Paul praises God for the multitude of blessings He has bestowed on us. What blessings are they? This verse is a lead-in to the following verses, which outline a number of the blessings. They include being adopted as His children, being holy and blameless in His sight, having our sins forgiven, being given His Holy Spirit to guide us and be a guarantee of His promises, being given a promise of a wonderful future, and having God's amazing power ready to be exerted on our behalf.

Jesus promised in John 14:11-14 that we would do even greater works than He did (and in context, this appears to be speaking of miracles). In fact, Jesus says that we can ask for anything in His name and He would do it, so that it would bring glory to God the Father. Perhaps this passage in John is just another way of saying what Paul is saying in verse 3, that we have been blessed by receiving EVERY spiritual blessing in the heavenly realm! The challenge comes in translating these blessings in the heavenly realm to realities in the earthly realm. In James chapter 1, we are told that we have not because we ask not. I believe that our lack of faith—which includes failing to be persistent when we pray—has led to a church that is not filled with the same kind of miracles experienced by the first century Church.