Here are a few of my ponderings from Ephesians 1…
This is one of my favorite chapters in all of Scripture. It is so rich in so many ways.
Verses 3-14 – Paul is overcome by all the ways that he (we) have been blessed by God and spends one incredibly long sentence recounting these: We are chosen, we are loved, we are predestined, we are adopted, we are redeemed, we are forgiven, we are marked – and all to the praise of His glorious grace. This litany is a great place to start when you are looking for a way to offer God the praise He so rightly deserves.
Verses 15-23 – Paul spends some time here telling the Ephesians how he is praying for them. This is one of my go-t0 passages when I am praying for others and don’t really know what to pray. This prayer is so much more robust than the way that I generally pray. My prayers tend to be very mundane. Paul’s prayers tend to be so much more theocentric. I think there is so much that believers today can learn about prayer by listening to the way that Paul prays for others. I know I have.
Here are a few questions to get you thinking about Ephesians 2…
v.3 – How do even “good” people gratify the cravings of their sinful nature?
v.3 – What does it mean to be an object of God’s wrath? What does God’s wrath for sinners look like?
v.4 – Why is the word ‘But” such a pivotal word in this passage?
v.7 – What might these “incomparable riches of His grace” be?
v.8 – Where does faith come from? Think back on your spiritual journey. Can you trace how this is true for you coming to faith?
v.10 – Do you know what the ‘good works” are that God has prepared in advance for you to do?
v.19 – What are some of the rights that you have as a citizen of the Kingdom of God?