Ephesians 1

SPEAKER 01 : 0:08

Welcome to Add Bible, an audio daily devotion from the Ezra Project. Allen J. Huth shares a Bible passage with comments from over 35 years of his personal Bible reading journals and applies the Word of God to our daily lives.

SPEAKER 03 : 0:23

Today we begin the book of Ephesians. Ephesians is one of the epistles in the New Testament, and I’ll use my English Standard Version Study Bible book introduction to help us understand a little bit more about Ephesians. The Apostle Paul visited the Asian port city of Ephesus and pastored the church there for about three years. Ephesus boasted of the Temple of Artemis, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, and a grandiose theater where over 20,000 Ephesians chanted, Great is Artemis of the Ephesians. That’s the environment Paul was in. About five years after his visit, Paul was imprisoned in Rome in about 62 AD. From there, he wrote back to the Ephesians. There was no specific occasion or problem that inspired the letter. The two main themes of the book of Ephesians are one, Christ has reconciled all creation to himself and to God. And secondly, Christ has united people from all nations to himself and to one another in his church. These two things happen by faith alone through his grace. Paul also encourages the Ephesians and us to live lives that are a fitting tribute of gratitude to our Lord Jesus Christ. We will find some of the greatest doctrines of our faith in Ephesians. Grace, eternal election, and redemption by the blood of Christ. The book of Ephesians is also about God’s gifts to the church. Apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers, all gifts to mature the body of Christ. We’ll also hear about the most complete explanation that salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, through Christ alone. A complete description of the armor of God needed by every believer to do battle against Satan. We’ll learn about Jesus as the head of the church. We will hear the term in Christ ten times in this letter, a favorite expression of the Apostle Paul. Ephesians’ six chapters will take them one a day. Our guest readers for the book of Ephesians is a family affair. I invited two of my granddaughters to read a chapter each. Myla is a fifth grader and is ten years old. Her sister Camden is a seventh grader and is twelve. They live near Terry and me in the Denver area. Myla will read chapter 3, Camden will read chapter 6, and my wife Terry and I will share the reading of chapter 5. In between, we’ll enjoy the drama readings of Faith Comes by Hearing. So let’s begin with Ephesians chapter 1, as recorded by Faith Comes by Hearing.

SPEAKER 02 : 2:58

Ephesians Ephesians 1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God. To the saints who are in Ephesus and are faithful in Christ Jesus, grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 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, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of His will, to the praise of His glorious grace, with which He has blessed us in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches of His grace, which He lavished upon us in all wisdom and insight, making known to us the mystery of His will according to His purpose, which He set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in Him, things in heaven and things on earth.” In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In Him 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, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of His glory. For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him.” He says, 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. And he put all things under his feet, and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

SPEAKER 03 : 6:00

To help us through the book of Ephesians, I’ve selected three of my personal Bible reading journals. One from 1992 when I read the New Testament, one from 2002 when I was reading a book a month, and one from 2012 when I read 20 books in that year, including Ephesians. So 10 years apart, three different decades. From that first journal in 1992, after reading Ephesians 1, I wrote, Be holy and blameless before him. And I was referring to verse 4. I went on to write, He lavishes his grace upon us, according to verse 8. That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him. And that was referring to verse 17. And I finished with, Your heart may be enlightened, according to verse 18. Before I look into my journal in 2002, 2002 was a very special year in my life. It’s the year we started the Ezra Project. When I went to look for a journal concerning Ephesians, I found this one in 2002 and it happened to coincide exactly with the first week I started the Ezra Project after leaving a position in the consulting world. In 2002, as I mentioned, I was reading a book a month. So I read Ephesians three times in the month of April. Yes, friends, sometimes it’s good just to stay in a book for a long time and let that book go through you as you go through the book over and over. So that’s what it was like for me in 2002 as I was reading Ephesians. Here’s how I started my journal entry on April 1st, 2002. The first day of the rest of my life. Today I begin a dream, a passion to work on the Ezra Project full time. What a way to begin the day after Easter. Praise God for this marvelous opportunity. On that first day of the Ezra Project, I read the whole book of Ephesians, and I wrote as a summary, In Him, You, Far Off, Brought Near, a book about the church, very appropriate. After Ezra and Nehemiah laid the foundation for the Ezra Project, now I read about the audience. Thank you, Lord, for guiding my schedule of reading. in 2002. In February, I’d read the book of Ezra. In March, I read the book of Nehemiah. So that’s what I was referring to as I was leading up to April 1st, now in Ephesians. I look forward to sharing some more stories about the beginning of the Ezra Project as we go through the book of Ephesians. But let’s look at 2012. In 2012, I read Ephesians 1 and 2 different days. So I split it up so I read 14 verses on the first day and verses 15 through 23 on the second day. Sometimes it’s also good to slow down the pace of your Bible reading and just take it a bit slower. I wrote about the first 14 verses. What or who am I by the will of God? And I was referring to verse 1. We have access to every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, according to verse 3. We are to be holy and blameless before him, verse 4. Next, I put in quotation marks, in him, in him, Jesus alone. We have redemption through his blood or through his death on the cross. We also have forgiveness through that very same act. And I was referring to verse 7. I went on to write, On the second day, when I finished the book of Ephesians, starting with verse 15, I wrote, a spirit of wisdom and knowledge of the Father, enlightened hearts, to know the hope he has for each one of us, an inheritance and the greatness of his power. And then I continue to write, Jesus was raised from the dead, is seated at the right hand of the Father, according to verse 20. Jesus is above every rule and authority, above every name that is named. He is head over all things, including his church. Those conclude my journal entries on Ephesians 1. So let’s summarize Ephesians chapter 1. What do we have in Christ? Verse 3. Every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. Secondly, that he has chosen us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and blameless before him. In him we have been predestined for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will. And in him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace. In him we have all wisdom and insight, making known to us the mystery of his will.” And in Him, we have obtained an inheritance. And in Him, after we’ve heard the word of truth and accepted it, we’re sealed with the promise of the Holy Spirit, who guarantees our inheritance, eternal life. We praise the Lord that according to verse 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, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might, that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places. In Him, we have it all. In Him, we have everything we need. In Him, we can live a spiritual life on earth. Hallelujah, Lord Jesus. Thank you for every blessing that we just read about in Ephesians chapter 1. Thank you that in you, we have been saved from an eternal death and given an inheritance of eternal life. Our prayer is one of thankfulness, a grateful heart for your powerful, redemptive work on the cross. To God be the glory. Great things you have done. Amen. Thanks for listening to Ad Bible today. It’s the holiday season, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s. Research tells us Bible reading usually tanks around the holidays. We get busy with the holidays and can’t find time to read our Bibles? Really? What if God got too busy at the holidays and couldn’t find time to hear your prayers or provide for your needs or send out his angels to protect you while shopping? Fortunately, he is never too busy for us. Aren’t you thankful? I encourage you this holiday season to stay the course, keep the pace, and stay spiritually disciplined. Keep listening or reading your Bible. I hope you’re never too busy to invest in your relationship with God, whom we celebrate this time of year. We count our blessings at Thanksgiving. I hope we count His blessings at Thanksgiving this year. My family has a tradition. Around the Thanksgiving table, we each share one thing we’re thankful for. Try it this Thanksgiving and see if even the Lord even shows up in what we’re thankful for. Next, we celebrate the birth of Jesus at this holiday season, at Christmas. Is it acceptable to stop reading His Word as we lead up to that celebration? John 1.14 reminds us, And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. He is the Word. best way to honor the season of his birth is to stay close to him in your Bible. So my encouragement is for you to stay the course this holiday season. My guess is you will have a more peaceful holiday season by staying close to the one we thank and celebrate.