An Introduction to the Book of Ephesians
Good morning, it's good to be here on this very wintery of mornings. If you were here last week, you had the privilege of hearing Pastor James recite for us the entire book of Ephesians. That is quite an accomplishment considering there are 154 verses in the book.
James inspired me and so for this week I worked feverishly to memorize my text for this morning. If you want to, you can open your Bibles to Ephesians and follow along, in case I mess up somewhere.
Ephesians 1:1, "Paul"! Ok, you can close your Bibles, I nailed it. That's our text for this morning. James said that we were going to be camping out in Ephesians for quite a while, and one word at time we might be here till the second coming.
But this morning as an introduction to the Book of Ephesians, Paul, the author of Ephesians, the apostle whom God chose to take His message of redemption to Gentile world, serves as a great introduction and summary to this book.
Judi and I are in the having babies stage of life right know. And for anyone who has ever been there, or is even planning on being there, you know that choosing names for children is a big deal.
For Judi and I, it was basically Judi who came up with all the ideas and I would go yay or nay until we finally came to one we agreed upon. Choosing a name is a big deal, because every name means something and every name represents a story.
Sometimes the meanings of names can be very meaningful and a lot of fun. For example, our son, Caleb Scott Petker, will be pleased to one day find out that Caleb means "dog" in Hebrew and Scott they believe means "tattoo". So basically his life path is set, he's going to be a tattooed biker with the nickname "Dawg". You can start praying for him. Our daughter on the other hand is, Hannah Grace! Hannah, actually means "Grace" and since we liked that so much we thought that her first name should be the same as her second. So she will go through life being known as Grace Grace Petker.
I've actually brought a book of names along with me this morning. And I was wondering if there were any kids who would like to come up here and to find out what there name means. Any volunteers!
3 volunteers!
Names are a lot of fun, and sometimes they have a lot of great meaning and sometimes they don't. But one thing that every name has is a story. Ever person in human history has a story and so today we want to look at Paul's story. Because I believe it serves as a great introduction and summary of what he was writing about in the book of Ephesians.
I've titled today's message, "A Journey towards Something New". Because newness, seems to be the over arching theme of the book of Ephesians. First of all in, the first couple chapters, Paul talks about the new life that we can live through Christ. Next his focus changes to a new society or group known as the church and how it is central to the mission of God in the world. Finally, Paul touches on a new way of living, within this new life and new society, the church. Ephesians is a book that points to the newness of life that is found within Jesus Christ and his body the church.
Therefore, Paul, and the transformation that occurred in his own life, serves as a great example and summary of what he is telling us throughout Ephesians.
New Life
Kid's, before Paul became known as the apostle Paul what was his name. That's right, it was Saul. He was a young Pharisee, who had progressed quite rapidly in his understanding and practice of the Jewish law. In Philippians 3:5-6 Paul gives us a little biographical sketch of who he used to be, he says, "If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee, as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless."
Here Paul is telling us, that matching up against any other Jew; he was the cream of the crop. There were not too many people who could match up to who he was as a Jew. As I like to say, he was a poster boy of what they thought God's people should look like.
Saul's misguided zealousness drove him so hard that he even became a persecutor of the church. Here the Bible scholar N.T. Wright, gives us a good modern day comparison of whom Saul would have been like. He tells the story of Yigal Amir, who was a Jewish Law student, not unlike Saul. On November 4th, 1995 Amir, shot and killed Israeli President Yitzhak Rabin, because he believed Rabin's policy of Middle Eastern peace, was a compromise of what the Nation of Israel was to become. Saul was zealous even to the point that today we would likely consider him a terrorist, not unlike Amir or Osama Bin Ladan or any other extremist militants.
It was this Saul, this zealous Pharisee, who one the road to Damascus, had a life altering experience with his Saviour, who experienced first hand for himself what new life in Christ was all about.
And so Paul pens for us incredible words, like those found in Ephesians 2:1-10.
Paul came to deep understanding of God's love, mercy and grace on the road to Damascus and he also came to and understanding of God's purpose and mission for his life. Saul, found in Jesus Christ, a new life that was worth giving everything up for, and living with reckless abandon. Through Ephesians, Paul invites us to experience that same New Life through Jesus Christ.
New Society, the Church
The second theme that comes out loud and clear through Ephesians is Paul's love for the new order or new society that God is creating, the body of Christ, the church.
First of all, we need to again be reminded of who Paul was in his former days as Saul. Acts 8:3 records some incredibly damning words, were it says, "But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison." These words are recorded in history and would have resonated often within the mind of Paul, whether he liked it or not they were apart of his story. He had attempted to destroy the church, this new society that God was creating.
That is why Paul writes with such humility in passages like, Ephesians 3:7-8 when he says, "I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God's grace given me through the working of his power. Although I am less than the least of all God's people, this grace were given me: to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ."
The greatest irony comes in that as Paul writes the book of Ephesians to the churches, he is in prison for his actions. Saul the persecutor became Paul the persecuted, for the sake of God's church being built up.
For Paul coming to this understanding of what God was doing in Christ, had to be nothing short of earth shattering for him. Saul the Pharisee would have had an intense disgust and disdain for anything associated with the Gentiles. For the Jews, the salvation that they were waiting for was for them. It was liberation from domination, at the hands of the Gentiles. For them the new society was going to be when Israel was once again a prosperous and powerful nation.
So when Paul writes in Ephesians 3:1, "For this reason I Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles." We can understand, Paul, through incredible insight from God, has come to see this new society that God was ushering in, as salvation for both the Jews and the Gentiles, worshipping together in unity in the body of Christ, the church. The church that Saul had worked so feverously to destroy, Paul now sat in prison for, suffering to see it built up.
Paul is passionate about the body of Christ, the church living with unity and purpose. And so as we embark on this journey towards something new, we hope to see within Ephesians a vision for God's new society, the church that we have been called to be.
New Way of Living
In Ephesians 4:25, Paul makes one of his famous "therefore" statements. Up to that point he has unpacked for us, this new life that we can have through Christ and this new society, the body of Christ the church. And finally he gets down to the practical, the details of what this all means for our lives.
Paul's "therefore" statement in 4:25, sets the tone for the rest of the book, essentially saying in light of what God has done for us through Christ, this is how you should now live.
Again, if we revert back to the life of Saul, we would understand that he is no stranger to living in a certain way because of God. Saul was a Pharisee and as he says in Philippians 3, in regards to legalistic righteousness, he could be found faultless. As a Pharisee, Saul, adhered to the strictest of rules and regulations that a Jewish person could, but he came to see these laws as nothing more then misguided piousness and self-righteousness.
So as Paul writes to us, in Ephesians 4:17 and on, he is not reverting back to his days of misguided piousness and legalism but rather he is encouraging us to live in grace motivated holiness.
Paul encourages us in Ephesians 5:1, to "Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God."
Paul's message to us is to embrace this new way of living. Lives of holiness motivated by God's love and grace.
Conclusion
Over the next several months, we are going to be wading through verses of Ephesians. It is my hope and prayer for you, as well as myself, that we will embark on a journey towards something new. The Pharisee Saul, through the power of Jesus Christ, experienced new life, a new vision for what God was doing through the church and a new motivation for living a life of holiness unto God. As we dig through the words of Paul in Ephesians, may we experience this newness that Paul wrote about and lived!
Let's Pray!