*Ephesians 1:3-23
In Christ, God blesses believers with spiritual gifts, reveals their predestined adoption, and explains the surpassing power of Christ.
- Spiritual Blessings in Christ:
- Paul begins by praising God for the spiritual blessings bestowed in Christ, emphasizing that believers are chosen in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless.
- He speaks of God’s grace that destined believers for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, according to His pleasure and will.
- Redemption and Knowledge of God’s Will:
- Believers have redemption through Christ’s blood, which includes the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of God’s grace.
- God made known to them the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Christ.
- Inheritance and Sealing of the Holy Spirit:
- Believers were chosen to be God’s possession and to praise His glory; they first hoped in Christ and were marked with the seal of the Holy Spirit.
- The Holy Spirit is described as a deposit guaranteeing their inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession.
- Paul’s Prayer for Wisdom and Revelation:
- Paul prays for the Ephesian believers that God may give them the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so they may know Him better.
- He prays for the eyes of their heart to be enlightened to know the hope to which He has called them, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints, and His incomparably great power for believers.
- Exaltation of Christ:
- The passage underscores God’s mighty strength which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly realms.
- Christ is placed above all rule, authority, power, and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.
- Christ as Head Over All for the Church:
- God placed all things under Christ’s feet and appointed Him to be head over everything for the church, which is His body.
- The church is described as the fullness of Him who fills everything in every way.