Week 1 – Ephesians 1:1-14 – September 24, 2017 –

OVERVIEW The book of Ephesians has been called the "queen of the epistles", "the Switzerland of the New Testament", "the crown of Paul's writings." Written from prison (as were Colossians, Philemon and Philippians), Paul portrays the beauty and fullness of the church, which is the Body of Christ its Lord. Through Ephesians God tell us what we need to know about our new identity as believers, our spiritual blessings, how to function as a church, how to live with our families, friends and co-workers, and how to do spiritual battle with unseen foes. Ephesians is like a blueprint for living the Christian life.

SCRIPTURE “1 Paul an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus: 2 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace 8 that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. 9 And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10 to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment – to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ. 11 In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, 12 in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. 13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession – to the praise of his glory.” Ephesians 1:1-14

QUESTIONS 1. Whose idea was it for Paul to become an apostle? What is an apostle?

2. Ephesus - where is it, does it still exist, how did Christianity come to it, how was it doing spiritually when he wrote? (Use a Bible dictionary.)

3. Grace & peace: the first is a typical Greek word, the second comes from the Hebrew "shalom". Why would Paul greet them with these words? (Does he do so in other letters?

4. LIST all the spiritual blessings you can find in verses 3

5. Does every Christian have the Holy Spirit? (See also Romans 8:9)

6. What do these "theological" words mean?

• Predestined • Adopted • Redemption • Grace

QUOTE “The ritual of adoption must have been very impressive. It was carried out by a symbolic sale in which copper and scales were used. Twice the real father sold his son, and twice he symbolically bought him back; finally he sold him a third time, and at the third sale he did not buy him back. After this the adopting father had to go to the praetor, one of the principal Roman magistrates, and plead the case for the adoption. Only after all this had been gone through was the adoption complete. When the adoption was complete it was complete indeed. The person who had been adopted had all the rights of a legitimate son in his new family and completely lost all rights in his old family. In the eyes of the law he was a new person. So new was he that even all debts and obligations connected with his previous family were abolished as if they had never existed.

In the ancient world, when a sack or a crate or a package was dispatched, it was sealed with a seal, in order to guarantee that it came from the sender, and that it was intact. The seal indicated from where the package had come and to whom it belonged. The possession of the holy Spirit is the sign and seal that a man belongs to God.” - William Barclay

APPLICATION 1. How many times does the word "praise" occur in this passage? Who is being praised and why?

2. Has your heart been worshipping God lately? Or have the problems of lift been overwhelming you? What truth from this Scripture speaks to you about worship?

3. What does this passage tell us about...

• God the Father • God the Son • God the Holy Spirit

4. What does this passage tell us about Christians?

5. Do you think you see yourself the way God sees you? Or do you tend to think of yourself solely based on according to how well or poorly you are performing at work or in your relationships? How can you incorporate the teachings of this passage into your self- image?

6. Has some truth here opened your eyes to spiritual realities that you didn't know before, forgot about, or have been ignoring?

7. How does it make you feel that you have been “chosen by God?”