We are walking through Ephesians looking at our identity and the church. Remember the theme? 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.” 

Have you ever stopped to think about how amazing the church of God is? It is a family of believers from all over the world, working together to glorify God. This church is truly God’s masterpiece. Every person in the church has a vital place and purpose in the church.

Now, as the home-bound, you may be thinking that you are exempt or less than, but the truth is that God has a place for you in His church family even if you can’t physically attend a church building. It is true that there is a perception even in the church regarding the home-bound, disabled, etc., which seems to contradict the truth of our being needed by the church. However, the more I study Scripture, the more I see that God chose us to serve Him in specific and important ways despite our limitations. We will be looking at this as we continue to walk through Ephesians. Have hope, dear believer. You are a part of this masterpiece of God!

Chapter 1 introduced us to the Ephesian believers, their testimony, and Paul’s thankfulness and prayers for them. Throughout this, we saw the spiritual blessings from God that we have through Christ as well as a portrait of who Christ is. What promises and hope!

Now in chapter 2, we will be looking deeper into the church. It is a temple constructed by God. How is it constructed? To follow J Vernon McGee’s outline, we will look at the material, method, and meaning of the construction of the church. The first 10 verses of the chapter show who we were before Christ and who we are after accepting Christ. The second half of the chapter talks about unity of believers. What a precious commodity the unity of believers is.

It reminds me of God’s Gift of Ministry – reconciliation. As we are reconciled to God, we now reconcile with others and are God’s ambassadors. We are united in Christ. You and I can and do have a part in bringing others to Christ.

We look forward to beginning our walk through Ephesians 2:1-10 tomorrow.