ALL THINGS UNDER JESUS' FEET

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Ephesians 1:3 ESV

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,

Last Sunday, we read Paul’s anthem of praise unto God.

What are these spiritual blessings?

Election

This means that God chose

He chose us.

In love, He elected us to be confirmed into the image of His Son

Holy & blameless before Him as His holy family

Which leads to another spiritual blessing:

Predestination

God predestined

He predecided to adopt us through Jesus

John 1:12-13 ESV

12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

Jesus is the personification of God’s grace

It is through Jesus we have →

Redemption

It is through Jesus we have →

Forgiveness

Jesus is the wisdom of God

Spiritual insight & Understanding

Knowledge of God

To understand the mystery of God’s will

We believe in Jesus…

He gives us a measure of the Holy Spirit…

So that we are guaranteed to be His.

1 John 3:3 ESV

3 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.

We are children of God

We are heirs

We have an inheritance

What is his prayer for them?

To know God more

May God allow us to know Him more

Ephesians 1:15-23 ESV

15 For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus

and your love[g] toward all the saints,

16 I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers,

17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory,

may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him,

18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened,

that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you,

what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,

19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe,

according to the working of his great might

20 that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead

and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places,

21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion,

and above every name that is named,

not only in this age but also in the one to come.

22 And he put all things under his feet

and gave him as head over all things to the church,

23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

Ephesians 1:15-16 ESV

15 For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love[g] toward all the saints, 16 I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers,

‘For this reason’ or ‘Because of this’ → points back to verse 13

Ephesians 1:13 ESV

13 In him [Christ] you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,

Paul has a particular interest in their conversion

Paul has good reason to give unceasing thanks for them

He is elated to hear good news about them

What is the good news that Paul has heard?

He has heard of their FAITH in the Lord Jesus

And their LOVE toward all the saints

Why is Paul hearing of their faith?

Why is there no mention of a personal relationship?

So what has Paul heard?

He has heard of their FAITH in the Lord Jesus

And their LOVE toward all the saints

Ephesians 1:15-16 ESV

15 For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love[g] toward all the saints, 16 I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers,

Faith and Love

2 major themes of this letter

Paul gives clues as to what the letter is going to be about

Even in the greeting, Paul writes →

Ephesians 1:1 ESV

1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,

To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful[a] in Christ Jesus:

Faithful

FAITH

Paul has heard of their FAITH in the Lord Jesus

They have trusted in the Lord Jesus for salvation, by FAITH

They are in Christ by FAITH

Ephesians 1:15-16 ESV

15 For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love[g] toward all the saints, 16 I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers,

Paul has also heard of their LOVE toward all the saints

How might we treat one another so that our love toward one another might be heard of by others?

The theme of LOVE is of particular interest to Paul in this letter

The LOVE of God for Christians (2:4, 3:17, 6:23)

The LOVE of Christ for Christians (3:19)

The LOVE of Christians for Christ (6:24)

The LOVE of Christians for one another (1:4; 4:2, 15, 16; 5:2, 25, 28, 33)

Paul has given us the outline for his letter

Faith in the Lord Jesus (1-3) →

What we believe.

God’s Story.

Love toward other saints (4-6) →

How we are to live

Our story.

The rest of chapter 1, 2, & 3 will be about strengthening our FAITH

Ephesians 1:15-16 ESV

15 For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love[g] toward all the saints, 16 I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers,

Paul begins the content of his prayer

Intercession

Teaching & seeking to build them up their FAITH

Ephesians 1:17 ESV

17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him,

Paul prays to the God of our Lord Jesus Christ

This reveals the centrality of Jesus Christ to all of God’s purposes

God is the God of Jesus.

He is God.

Christianity is an incredibly exclusive religion.

John 14:6 ESV

6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Jesus is the way

Jesus is the truth

Jesus is the life

John 1:1-4 ESV

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life,[a] and the life was the light of men.

John 1:14 ESV

14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son[d] from the Father, full of grace and truth.

This is the God of our Lord Jesus Christ

This is the one & only God…the God of the Bible

This is the God that Paul prays to

Ephesians 1:17 ESV

17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him,

The God of our Lord Jesus Christ…is a Father

God is proud of His Son Jesus

What Jesus has done

What he has said

What he has accomplished

God, the Father of glory, will see to it that Jesus gets the glory He deserves

Ephesians 1:17 ESV

17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him,

The Holy Spirit is the one sent to allow us to know Jesus

John 16:13-14 ESV

13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 14 He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

We need the Holy Spirit to reveal to us

Who Jesus is

What Jesus has done

As we grow in our knowledge of Jesus →

We will grow in our capacity to experience all that God has for us in this life →

Which will grow us in our capacity to bring Jesus glory.

Ephesians 1:18-19 ESV

18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might

The Holy Spirit comes to give us spiritual eyes

This is God’s doing

This “enlightenment” prepares us to know some things:

To know Jesus → revelation of the knowledge of Jesus (v17)

But also…to know 3 other things:

Ephesians 1:18-19 ESV

18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might

HOPE

INHERITANCE

POWER

1) HOPE

Hope is a firm conviction.

2) INHERITANCE

We are God’s inheritance

How should we then live?

3) POWER

Paul prays that they will understand the vast magnitude of God’s power

How has God exercised His great power on their behalf?

Ephesians 1:19-23 ESV

19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might

20 that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places,

21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.

22 And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church,

23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

God’s great power→

raised Jesus from the dead

Seated Jesus in victory & honor at the right hand of God the Father

Put all the cosmic enemies of God beneath Christ’s feet

Ephesians 1:22-23 ESV

22 And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

He gave Jesus to the church

He has been victorious

His victory is ours

Ephesians 1:22-23 ESV

22 And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

The church is Christ’s body

Without the head, the body would be dead & lifeless

We are filled by Christ…who is filled by God

Colossians 2:9-10 ESV

9 For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, 10 and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.

All the fulness of God dwells in Jesus

We are His body

In Christ, we have been filled with all the fulness of God

God is making us into a glorious inheritance for Himself

All for the glory of the One who set aside His glory for us

Ephesians 3:14-19 ESV

14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family[c] in heaven and on earth is named, 16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.