Med#15: ..the Fullness..
Ephesians 1:22&23 And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
Who are we? There are certainly some issues I have with the church; because it is a people centred entity, it is bound to display some flaws. Just read Revelation 2&3. However, she continues to thrive because of her Leader. And never forget that you and I are people.

Reflection Questions
Do these final thoughts of Ephesians 1 affect your view of the church?
How does v23 define the church?

Join us for breakfast on Saturday at 9am by signing up below.

Med#14: ..more ‘in Christ’..
Ephesians 1:19b – 21 These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every other name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.
The word ‘resurrection’ is not quoted here but is certainly the main thought.

Reflection Questions
What does this passage relay about Trinity?
Why do you think ‘resurrection’ is not mentioned in the blessings of the first half of the chapter?
What is the significance of ‘every name’ and ‘every age’?

Join us for Saturday Breakfast by signing up below.

Med#13: Pray in this way..
Ephesians 1:17 – 19a ..that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe.
So, we have just read an array of the most powerful blessings in the universe and they are now in our heads. Why, then, is Paul praying for us to get it? He must know how leaky I am. Take a minute and pray these concepts over your life…

Reflection Questions
Who is the Father of glory?
Whose inheritance?
How will/has this passage affected your prayers?

Med#12: With all this knowledge, you really need prayer.
Ephesians 1:15&16 For this reason I too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you and your love for all the saints, do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers;..
When I pray, I make distinctions between weak folks and strong ones where the strong get little or none of my prayer time. Paul hears of their ‘faith in the Lord Jesus’ and it seems that inspires him to do 2 things: give thanks for them and pray for them. Maybe I need to pray less for the weak and strong and more for all the saints.

Reflection Questions
Thoughts?
In which category do you place yourself?
Consider Hebrews 7:25.

Med#11: Sealed..
Because these verses are so packed with stuff – prepositional phrases included – we will break it into 2 sub meds. The first ‘in Him’ reaches all the way to ‘you were sealed’ as its modifyee.
Ephesians 1:13 In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation – having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise..

Reflection Questions
What does ‘sealed’ invoke in you?
What is the role of the Holy Spirit?
When some scholars refer to Holy Spirit, rather than the Holy Spirit, what are they trying to convey and how are you affected by that language if at all?
The repetition of the pp ‘in Him’: error or emphasis?

Ephesians 1:14 ..who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession to the praise of His glory.
Notice the repetition, a well-used tool in not only Paul’s writings, but all the NT authors. See II Peter 1:13 and 3:1. ‘Inheritance’, ‘redemption’, and ‘TTPOHG’ (See Meditation #10) are all repeated in this conclusion of ‘the blessings’.

Reflection Questions
Are these repetitions necessary?
What do these concluding words say about Holy Spirit?

Med#10: TTPOHG: this is what we are.
Ephesians 1:12 ..to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be To The Praise Of His Glory (TTPOHG).
This JPP (Jesus Prepositional Phrase) is pretty straightforward: ‘hope in Christ.’ A prepositional phrase functioning as an adverb modifying the verb ‘hope’. It is necessary, I think, to pause over the phrase ‘to the praise of His glory’, which is repeated 3 times in the chapter: v6, v12, and v14. It seems obvious that we are given over and over in Scripture the mandate to ‘praise ye the Lord’; but how often do we see ourselves as praise?

Reflection Questions
How are we praise?
What are the implications of such a role?
Is it wise for God to make us feel so special?

Med#9: More pregnant words…
Ephesians 1:11 In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will..
So, if it wasn’t enough that Jesus should include us in His plans, He adds to the aforementioned blessings the idea of inheritance – and there’s that word ‘predestined’ again. Does this mean that way before you and I were born, He decided to put us in His will?

Reflection Questions
How does this truth make you feel?
How is this inheritance similar to its earthly counterpart?
What is His will and what does it mean that ‘He works all things after the counsel of (it)’?

Med#8: The Summing: sounds like a title for a curious novel or movie.
Ephesians 1:10 ..with a view to an administration suitable to the fulness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth.
I will attempt to retell this verse in my limited capacity as an amateur Bible scholar: Some day, Jesus will make everything that is wrong in the universe right and we get to be involved.

Reflection Questions
My goodness, what are some of the implications of such a ‘summing’?
How did/does/will Jesus do this?
What should this stir in us?

Med#7: Mystery…oooh..
Ephesians 1:8b & 9 – In all wisdom and insight He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him..
‘..purposed in Him..’ In Jesus, we get a view of a glorious and permanent future, which is sort of the present.

Reflection Questions
Why does God want to show us the future?
How is this a mystery, given that He is so eager to reveal it?
How are some ways that we know the future is now?

Med#6: Redemption: one of those unavoidable, pregnant NT words.
Ephesians 1:7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches of His grace..
I am aware that believers often lose their unbelieving friends in conversations about Jesus because we use language that is almost foreign to them. I do not think we need to dumb down the gospel, but some words could be replaced with better synonyms. However, some words are irreplaceable, and maybe clarification of these massively meaningful words could be a part of conversations with skeptics; words like gospel, salvation, adoption, predestination, redemption.

Reflection Questions
How would you explain the word ‘redemption’ to an unbeliever?
What is the connection of redemption and blood?
What other life aspects besides your own sinful soul have been redeemed in your life?