Yesterday, we began our introduction to Ephesians. As I went through marking references to Paul, God/Jesus Christ, and us, I quickly realized that doing a whole chapter in one day was a bit of a stretch. My apologies! We are going to break it down and take it slowly. There is just so much richness and goodness to absorb!

According to J. Vernon McGee theme of Ephesians is, “Ephesians reveals the church as God’s masterpiece.” In Beyond Suffering’s Study Bible (By Joni and Friends), it states that the theme is “To strengthen believers by explaining the nature and purpose of the church, the body of Christ.” GOOD NEWS… if you have trusted Jesus as your Savior, these themes both refer to you, no matter your disability or circumstances. Your identity is a child of God and a member of the Church. Remember this today!

Let’s begin by looking at Ephesians 1:1-2:
1. Who wrote it?
2. How did he identify himself?
3. Do you know where he was when he wrote this?

Just by looking at this, we can see some things already. Paul was in prison when he wrote this epistle. Yet, he didn’t identify himself as a Roman prisoner, but as an apostle of Jesus Christ. His circumstances did not define who he was. They were not his identity. Wow.

As he is in prison or under house arrest, he is writing to the faithful saints at Ephesus. Ephesus was a very large commercial city. (The link on Ephesus gives much information on Ephesus as well as other Bible verses that reference the city. We will explore these a bit more tomorrow. Today, we will simply think about the fact that this large city had a church with faithful followers there. It makes one wonder what they had to endure to be faithful Christians there. Hopefully our study of the other Bible passages will help us learn about that!) Paul is thinking about them and writing to them while he is in prison. He wants to help strengthen the believers there even while he is suffering. This fact shares his heart!

Paul greets these faithful saints with a greeting of grace and peace in Jesus Christ as he often does. Think about that… grace and peace. Don’t we need both desperately in our daily lives?

Just in the first two verses, we see the stage set for this epistle that will help us see our identity and purpose in Christ no matter our location or circumstances. I can’t wait to see what is next! See you tomorrow!