September is always exciting. After Labor Day, our Women's Bible Study starts up again. I can't even remember how long this has been anchoring the rhythm of my life, but anchor it does. I love women's Bible studies. And this year, as always, I have a group of really bright women who are going to keep me on my toes; seeing things I didn't see, asking things I don't know, experiencing God in their own intimate way that I can learn from.
So Ephesians! I've been anxious to teach Ephesians this fall. I know it will help us all to grow.
The story of my early attempts at Christian growth has been shared many times. I'm a "How" and "Why" person who grew up in a just do as your told church. I'm not a good pretender. Every struggle in my young life was answered with read the Bible more and pray more. Good advice as far as it goes. If I still pursued help [I can hardly believe that I did!] I was encouraged to rededicate my life to Christ. I may be the most re-dedicated person around.
I often compare it with those soccer games where kids on the field... you know, the cute ones with t-shirts hanging past their knee pads... are running their little hearts out. But they don't know what to do. We used to call it "swarm soccer" as they players would converge and swell like bees. Sweaty faces, gasping for air; all they knew was to try to get to the ball.
And on the sidelines the coach, sweaty and red faced as the players, persistently yells throughout the game; "try harder!"
I felt like those kids so many times. I was trying as hard as I could, but I didn't know what to do!
Ephesians gets us well started on what to do. But it starts out, in chapters 1-3 with why we do it. Specifically in the verses we introduced the book with, 1:1-14 it starts out with what God has done. And the way Paul writes these introductory verses we are able to see the all encompassing plan of God being accomplished. All that has happened in the spiritual realm has been according to His will; His plan from beginning to end.
The most amazing thing about this plan of His is that He has adopted us into it. Imagine! He made us His children, His friends and His instruments to accomplish the rest of the plan.
This passage reminds me so much of Jesus' last discourse to the disciples in John 15. "I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made know to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit--fruit that will last." [vs. 15-16]
God has entrusted His plan for eternity to us...not individually but as His church. In Ephesians Paul is spelling out that plan to us; those chosen to carry it out. He was given the unveiling of the mystery of the church. He will go on to tell us how Jews and Gentiles are one in this undertaking. It certainly took a revelation from God before anyone saw that one coming. He will tell us what we should know about God. He'll tell us how we should live. What a relief to know those things!
The most beautiful outline I've ever seen of Ephesians was taught by a Chinese believer,
Watchman Nee, and printed in a book called Sit, Walk, Stand. First Paul wants us to see ourselves seated in the heavens with Christ, because that is where we are. The things accomplished in the spiritual realm are reality we can live by on earth. When we see what God has done and who we are, we're to walk in a manner worthy of those amazing truths. Then the final illustration of Ephesians exhorts of to be strong! To stand and stand firm! And we can do that living in the truth of chapters 1-3 according to the skills taught us in 4-6.
I'm excited to study Ephesians. It is a book that can take us from where we are, no matter where on some imaginary spiritual slide rule we believe that to be, to higher. "For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight." [Ephesians 1:4]
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