Exalting Jesus in Ephesians

In Ephesians, the Apostle Paul, the great interpreter of the mind of Jesus, opens to us the wonders of Jesus’ person, work, and call! In this class we will soak in the letter the apostle Paul wrote from a prison cell in Rome, from a place of forced self-isolation, to a young congregation in the first century city of Ephesus, located on the landmass we now call Turkey. Ephesians consists of only 6 chapters, 155 verses, and will take you about only 20 minutes to read the whole letter aloud!

Paul composed his letter in two parts: chapters 1-3 and chapters 4-6. The first part begins with the foundational affirmation of the letter: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ” (1:3, ESV). The second part begins with the foundational exhortation of the letter: “I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called” (4:1). We might consider the first half good news, and the second half good advice! The first half of the letter is about the “wonder of grace” and the second half is about the “walk of grace.” As we will discover, grace brings us into intimate relationship with Jesus Christ―“In Christ” as Paul will say again and again. We could title the first half of the letter “The Wonder of Being Alive ‘in Christ’” and the second half of the letter “The Walk of Being Alive ‘in Christ’.”