… the gospel of your salvation.
Summary: What is the gospel? What is salvation? Is it really important to know?
Continue reading “Ephesians 1:13c – Good News!”Ephesians 1:13b – What is Truth?
… when you heard the message of truth …
Summary: Paul points us to the “message of truth.” When we think about it, the question, “What is truth?” echoes throughout history. Even in our contemporary world, the question still applies.
Continue reading “Ephesians 1:13b – What is Truth?”Ephesians 1:13a – Included in Christ
And you also were included in Christ …
Summary: Some passages are a challenge for the translators, and this is one of them. Perhaps because there are many ways to look at the passage, there are many things to learn.
Continue reading “Ephesians 1:13a – Included in Christ”Ephesians 1:12 – Praise and Glory
… in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory.
Summary: Understanding Paul’s words in this verse requires having a glimpse of God’s glory.
Continue reading “Ephesians 1:12 – Praise and Glory”Ephesians 1:11b – God’s Plan
… according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will,
Summary: The opposite of a plan is worse than no plan at all. It is the willful interruption of a plan. God has a plan, and his enemy is constantly working to disrupt it.
Continue reading “Ephesians 1:11b – God’s Plan”Ephesians 1:11a – The Predestined Choice
In him we were also chosen, having been predestined …
Summary: Being “chosen” and “predestined” might sound like a contradiction, but only from a human point of view. God’s point of view of our lives is quite different.
Continue reading “Ephesians 1:11a – The Predestined Choice”Ephesians 1:10b – A World At War
… to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.
Summary: Paul’s words reveal a lot about his thinking. While we can’t see into his mind, we can glimpse how he sees the world and our role in it.
Continue reading “Ephesians 1:10b – A World At War”Ephesians 1:10a – What Paul Knows
… to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment …
Summary: Paul gives us a lot of information in the opening lines of his letter to the Ephesians. Unfortunately, we cannot ask Paul to clarify what he wrote in this life. (I will have questions for him when I see him in heaven!)
Continue reading “Ephesians 1:10a – What Paul Knows”Ephesians 1:9b – Cross Purposes
… according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ,
Summary: Words can be tricky! Today’s meditation looks at the word “purposed” to try and understand what the purpose of “purposed” is.
Continue reading “Ephesians 1:9b – Cross Purposes”Ephesians 1:9a – More Mystery
… he made known to us the mystery of his will …
Summary: Some mysteries can be solved with good detective work. Others, like the mystery of God’s will, is beyond us, until God, in his timing, decides to explain.
Continue reading “Ephesians 1:9a – More Mystery”