Who Do You Think You Are?نموونە

Get ready to begin the journey in Ephesians

The beginning of a letter often seems like boring, insignificant details that can be skipped. But don’t be fooled into skipping the opening words in your New Testament letters. The beginning of these biblical letters gives us the keys to understanding the letters as a whole.

Let’s jump into the first verse of Ephesians: we know from the beginning verse that Paul wrote it. He doesn’t need to put any more detail than ‘Paul’ because he is so well known to the audience. And he is under authority to write this letter, as he has been ‘sent’ (apostle means “one who is sent”) by Christ Jesus, willed and endorsed by God himself. That is a pretty good CV – I’m ready to listen to this ‘sent by Jesus and Father God’ guy! Then, he continues to God’s holy people in Ephesus – notice that little ‘a’ above Ephesus in your Bible, for it shows you that this letter is meant to be read by all of Paul’s Churches; it’s a circular letter. It is meant to be passed around, so it’s going to be full of power and spiritual truth for the body of Christ!

You can imagine Paul in prison, thinking of his people facing the challenges of the city: Who Do you Think you Are? The intimidating posture of the Temple of Diana or Artemis, which was the commercial center of Ephesus and architecturally impressive- ‘do you really think your Jesus is more powerful than the grandeur of the god that I house?’ The mocking voices of the crowds- ‘do you really think your Jesus is more powerful than the gods whose name I call upon? Who Do You Christians think you are?’

In this letter of Ephesians, Paul answers: In Christ, we are chosen, we are blessed with every spiritual blessing, we are strong in unity, we love, we forgive, our households reflect our God, we know the incomparable great power of our God and we stand in the armor of God. Who Do You Think you Are: I am strong in the Lord and his mighty power!

Prayer Point: I pray Lord that as I study Ephesians, your Word will establish a stronghold of truth in my life. I pray that it will set me free and that it will be the loudest voice. Then I will know who I am in you and be released into the plans that you have for me.