The Power of God in Christ


Audio version https://anchor.fm/mike-sprott/episodes/The-Power-of-God-in-Christ-eahkp4/a-a1co5ji

The devotions from Ephesians are previews of what I’ll be preaching Sundays as we go through Paul’s letter to Ephesus. I think it will be profitable. I hope these truths will cement in my heart, and yours, as we spend time in these devotionals and through the preaching of the Word.

Today, I want to talk about the key components of the book of Ephesians.  

As I mentioned in the last post there are two main sections in the letter: 
  1. The Calling of God in Christ Jesus (chapters 1-3) 
  2. The Corresponding Conduct of those called in Christ Jesus (chapters 4-6)  

The second half of the book of Ephesians has 41 commands for the believer to obey while there is only one in the first 3 chapters. This is an extremely important detail to understand. Why is there such a dramatic contrast? I want to illustrate the contrast’s importance.

The Impossibility of Obeying Without Christ

Imagine if your boss at work told you, “Go to the parking garage. Get in the company vehicle and drive to the store. Get us a bag of ice.” So, you go to the garage and get into the vehicle.  You put the key in the ignition. You turn the key, and nothing happens. You try it again and nothing happens. So, you call the boss and tell him, “The vehicle won’t start.” He says, “Check under the hood and make sure the battery is attached.” So, you pop the hood and walk to the front of the car. You are immediately shocked. 

There is no engine or battery!

This car has no ability to take you anywhere. You call your boss and say, “Hey, what’s going on here? There is no engine in this car.” He says, “Of course there isn’t. Hurry up! Go get some ice in the car! Quit messing around!”  
I know this seems like an insane circumstance. It would cause you to question the intelligence of your boss. You might become extremely discouraged. “This is an impossible task! I can’t do this!” Well friends, this is what obeying the second of half of Ephesians looks like without reading the first half of Ephesians. 

The commands are impossible to obey without the WHO’s, WHY’s, BY WHAT MEAN’s, and HOW’s presented in Ephesians 1-3. Driving a car without an engine is like obeying Christ without understanding who Christ is, no, without believing the truth revealed about Christ in the scripture.

Impossible.

The calling of God in Christ Jesus is the who, why, by what means, and the how of obeying the Lord Jesus. It should be our goal to know the answers to these questions. This is the journey we will embark on as we read and reread the letter every day in February. 

Thankfully the glory of our calling in Christ is revealed clearly. In fact, the truth is so awesome that it causes the Apostle Paul to break away and praise the Lord twice in the first three chapters.  

Let’s read Ephesians while looking for the answers to these questions:
  • Who is the Lord?
  • Who are we in the Lord?
  • Why should we obey the Lord?
  • By what means are we enabled to obey the Lord?
  • How do we obey the Lord?

As we read the second half of the book let’s try to answer the following question: 
  • What should we do, considering God’s calling of His own in Christ Jesus?

In the comments below, tell me some possible answers to these questions with the corresponding Scripture references from Ephesians.

Heavenly Father, please give us a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of You. I pray that the eyes of our hearts may be enlightened, so that we will know what the hope of Your calling is. What are the riches of the glory of Your inheritance in the saints? What is the surpassing greatness of Your power toward us who believe? In the name of your perfect Son, we pray, Amen!

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