Ephesians – Part 2

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Revelation of God’s Mystery

In personal study and devotion time, you might struggle to understand how deeply God loves you and what it means to be that God raised us up with the Messiah Yeshua and seated us with Him in heaven places (Ephesians 2:6). This week, create a visual reminder of your identity in Yeshua—an art piece or a journal entry that encapsulates what Ephesians says about you. Reflect on phrases that resonate with you daily and pray over them. This can significantly enhance your self-image and help you resist negative self-talk.

Yeshua’s Power and Position

¹⁵ For this reason, ever since I heard about your trust in the Lord Yeshua and your love for all God’s people, ¹⁶ I have not stopped giving thanks for you. In my prayers, I keep asking ¹⁷ the God of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, the glorious Father, to give you a Ruach of wisdom and revelation, so that you will have full knowledge of him.

Wisdom and Revelation: Sha’ul wanted the Ephesian Believers to understand the great spiritual resources in Yeshua. Revelation refers to the insight and discernment that the Ruach will give you, full knowledge of him. God has given Believers wisdom (Ephesians 1:8–9), but Sha’ul prayed for the church not only to understand but also to experience these blessings.

¹⁸ I pray that he will give light to the eyes of your hearts, so that you will understand the hope to which he has called you, what rich glories there are in the inheritance he has promised his people,

When you are adopted into God’s family, your life has a customized purpose. What is your calling?

^19, and how surpassingly great his power is working in us who trust him. It works with the same mightiest strength He used.

The surpassing greatness of His power: God’s power alone can bring Believers safely to the riches of the final glory that will be made available in Heaven. The extraordinary divine power by which Yeshua was raised from the dead is the same power at work in and through Believers.

²⁰ when he worked in the Messiah to raise Him from the dead and seat Him at his right hand in heaven,

 

 

 

²¹ In other words, you, who at one time were separated from God and had a hostile attitude towards Him because of your wicked deeds, ²² he has now reconciled in the Son’s physical body through his death; in order to present you holy and without defect or reproach before himself—²³ provided, of course, that you continue in your trusting, grounded and steady, and don’t let yourselves be moved away from the hope offered in the Good News you heard.

Yeshua’s resurrection was the driving force in Sha’ul’s life. In raising Yeshua from the dead, God did not merely reverse the natural process of decay but transcended it. He raised Yeshua to an entirely new life, giving Him a resurrection body. Not only was Yeshua raised, but He was also seated at God’s right hand, the place of authority from which Yeshua now reigns. Yeshua is above all, indicating that He is infinitely superior. The ascension and exaltation completed the resurrection event, providing hope for Believers as Yeshua became the first fruit for His people.

Sha’ul claimed the Kehilah exists and functions only because of its vital relationship to its Head, Yeshua. As the resurrected and exalted Yeshua, He is without need and is independent of anything. Yet as Head, He is incomplete without the body, which is the Kehilah that fills up Yeshua. So, the body and the Head are one in the truest sense.

Raised from Spiritual Death

2 ¹ You used to be dead because of your sins and acts of disobedience. ² You walked in the ways of the ‘olam hazeh and obeyed the Ruler of the Powers of the Air (Satan), who is still at work among the disobedient. ³ Indeed, we all once lived this way, followed the passions of our old nature, obeyed the wishes of our old nature, and our own thoughts. In our natural condition, we were headed for God’s wrath, just like everyone else.

He begins with the Coroner’s Report. Every person outside of Yeshua is spiritually dead, separated from God. We all once lived this way. Thus, Sha’ul introduces the topic of how Jews and Gentiles have been joined together into a single people of God through the Messiah. This discussion dominates chapters 2–3, having been hinted at already through referring to God’s “secret plan” (Ephesians 1:9). Earlier, in his letter to the Romans, which occupies itself with the same topic, Sha’ul in turn singled out for special attention both Jews (Romans 2:17ff.) and Gentiles (Romans 11:13ff.).

⁴ But God is so rich in mercy and loves us with such intense love

Sha’ul introduces two words that change everything: But God. They remind us that salvation came at God’s initiative. God is rich in mercy, and because of His great love that He had for us.

⁵ that, even when we were dead because of our acts of disobedience, he brought us to life along with the Messiah—it is by grace that you have been delivered. ⁶ That is, God raised us up with the Messiah Yeshua and seated us with him in heaven, ⁷ in order to exhibit in the ages to come how infinitely rich is his grace, how great is his kindness toward us who are united with the Messiah Yeshua. ^[1]

Compare Romans 5:6–8; 6:3–5, 11. Through being in union with the Messiah, Believers share His position and so are seated … with him in heaven“at the right hand of God” (Ephesians 1:20).

In our next post, we continue to examine Sha’ul’s Letter to the Ephesians.

Click here for the PDF version.

^[1] Ephesians 1:15-2:7.