Ephesians 1.1 - Part 3

Growing up my picture of a “saint” was confined to either a picture on a wall that some people cherished (or even a keepsake/good luck charm in their pocket) or they were the cute little old men and women in the church that could barely hear, stand, talk, or even get to the church but yet were considered the pillars and the saints of the congregation… whom would often testify of the goodness of the Lord each Sunday while giving a full recount of their entire life story… without a detail omitted.

Yet as I continue to discover the depths of Paul’s writings I am forced to come to “a second thought.”

Ephesians 1:1 – “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by God’s will: To the saints and believers in Christ Jesus at Ephesus.”

“Believers” in this verse must not been seen as a separate group from the “saints” but rather another name for them… “saints also called the believers/faithful in Christ Jesus.” With that said it is interesting to note that Paul is referring not to cute old men and women of the church (though no doubt there were some cute ones there you’d just want to reach out and hug) but rather to NEW believers and people making mistakes (look at the church in Corinth whom he calls saints). Even later in Ephesians Paul refers to the church’s saints as babes in Christ. The church had not been long established but rather was recently new and thus all the believers living there were not “I helped found this church back in 45BC” but rather all were relatively new believers!

Therefore, if Paul was not referring to the age of a believer or how long they were believers. What was he referring to?

In a previous email I had stated that the word for “saint” is the Greek word “hagios” which was taken from the pagan Greek religions. It expressed a devotion to the gods. It literally had the idea of being “set apart” for the gods. But the New Testament writers, in essence, redeemed the word and “set it apart” (okay bad pun). For the majority of this past month in saturation I began looking at places and uses of this word to get a glimpse at the depth of what Paul was referring to…

The first time the word “holy/holiness/saint” shows up in the Bible is Exodus 3 with Moses and the butane bush. What is so fascinating is that the mountain upon which God shows up was not a new mountain that Moses just happened by chance to be on. Rather he had walked the ground many times throughout his 40 years of shepherding. Yet on THIS DAY… he walks upon the mountain and is told the place is holy (hagios). What changed? This is the same mountain, the same dirt, the same place his sheep ate and slept and well… did what sheep do. I would not consider this to be a very holy place… yet Moses was commanded to throw off his sandals because God was there. The mountain was not holy unto itself… it was holy because God was there.

You can begin to trace the movement of God and His holiness throughout the Old Testament. God commands His people to build an ark… wood that was unholy one day is now so holy that if you tried to catch it while it fell, you died (see 2 Samuel 6). Why was the wood holy? Later the Israelites had built a tent in which was used for worship and in the middle of the tent was an inner sanctum where only once a year a priest would enter (with a rope tied to his foot… in case he died) – it was the Holy of Holies… the very dwelling of God. This became the temple later in Old Testament history.

Can you just imagine: out of the entire universe God picks our galaxy. Out of the entire galaxy God picks our solar system. Out of the entire solar system He picks measly earth. Out of all the earth He chooses a little strip of ground in which He calls the land of Israel. Out of this entire land He picks a city called Jerusalem. Out of all of Jerusalem He chooses a little mound of dirt on which to build His temple. Out of the entire temple He picks a 20x20 square to call the Holy of Holies and dwell the literal presence of God. Whoa.

One of my favorite verses in the Old Testament is Ezekiel 36:23 – “The nations will know that I am Yahweh when I demonstrate My holiness through you in their sight, declares the Lord” I love this picture! Here is Israel whom has time and again profaned God’s named and turned away and yet in the midst of it because of His holiness and His GREAT name He is not only going to reveal His holiness but literally demonstrate it through their lives.

You jump into the New Testament and what do you find… you find people who no longer have to go to a building to worship God. God is literally within the person themselves…demonstrating His holiness through them!!! Whoa. And think of this – we are called the temple of the Holy Spirit! (see 1 Cor. 3:16-17). You see: Out of the entire universe God picks our galaxy and out of the entire galaxy… and out of all the earth He chooses YOU to literally dwell the actual literal presence of Himself! (what more could you ever want?). And you yourself are not producing holiness – you were just like the mountain dirt that Moses and his sheep had walked on over and over… yet God comes upon your life and shazam. Where God is there is holiness. Not a quality He posses like a personality trait…but literally who He is. Just as God is love, God is holy. In fact, Wesley called holiness “perfect love.” So we are partakers of His divine nature!

Okay so we understand that holiness is not something we can produce nor is it something we one day become. I can’t pull it off… I can’t live the life I want to live. He must display and be holiness in and through my life. Being a saint is to be set apart. Yet today what we normally consider being “set apart” is what normality looked like 50 years ago. I don’t want to be set apart to 50 years ago! I don’t even want to be set apart to 500 years ago or 3000. I want to be set apart to Christ, for Christ, and IN Christ!!! You see… to really be set apart is to be so completely different there is literally NO SIMILARITY to the original. It is not like when someone says you know this movie… yea its like that one. Being set apart is in a whole different category. So distinguished that you can’t compare anything to it.

God is holy. He is in a completely different category. Nothing even comes close to comparing to Him. And we are called “saints” – ones who are set apart… because of Him in our lives.

Oh how I want to totally set apart! I deeply desire for Christ to reveal to the nations who He is because He is demonstrating His holiness through me in their sight! To be holy/perfect/sacred not because of anything I can pull off (the best I can pull off is about the same as what sheep do) but because I’m sourced and indwelt by the very presence and Person of Jesus Himself! The temple was a reflection of God’s glory… Lord let me be Your reflection!

Ephesians 1.1 - Part 2

Though I have been progressing forward in my study in Ephesians, I was pulled back into 1:1 lately by a friend who was asking me about God’s plan for life. We often see God’s will for our life as something tangible to find and hold… as if we could somehow grasp it we would suddenly have all the answers we need: Where should I study school? Whom am I suppose to marry? Am I suppose to marry? Do I make this choice or that one? Do I go here or wait and perhaps go there? What is the square root of 1,938,435? And if we could somehow find the “map” of God’s plan for our life… shazam! (insert fanfare music here) we would suddenly know what we are suppose to do! It was then that Ephesians 1:1 came into mind…

Ephesians 1:1 – “Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints who are in Ephesus, and faithful in Christ Jesus”

Though I had mentioned it earlier in an accountability email… I suddenly had a fresh revelation. What if the entire will of God is not contained in anything but being “of Jesus Christ”? That it doesn’t matter what I do (if I am a student, engineer, baker, candlestick maker, or lion tamer) that the entirety of the will of God for my life is wrapped up in the Person of Jesus.

It is interesting that the root word translated “will” in Ephesians is found 96 times in the whole Bible and an amazing 7 times in Ephesians alone (that is more than one use per chapter!). In the Old Testament the word is often translated: desire (see: Psalm 107:30; 145:19), delight (see: Psalm 1:2; 40:8), favor (see: Psalm 30:7), and pleasure (see: Esther 1:8). As you progress through the variety of Old Testament meanings you begin to see a picture of a king ruling and from within himself he desires and wills something to happen… and it does. It was never something that the king mapped out (like a battle plan he wished to happen) but rather it was found within the internals of the king himself. “What a phenomenal concept!” The will of God for my life is not found on any piece of paper… as if I could ever find it and see how my life is to take shape. Nor is it 5 easy steps and purposes we are to fulfill. Rather from the internals of who God is, He has a will (which just happens to be His good desire, delight, favor, and pleasure… see Eph. 1:5) that is found in the Person of Jesus Himself (see as a side note: Eph. 1:9).

Therefore, all that God has in store for me and my life is contained within His Person. His will is Jesus and Jesus alone. It does not matter what I do, where I am, my occupation, schooling, or if I am a great lion tamer or not – God’s sole purpose and will for my life is Jesus. He is the answer to my every question and need! I am to be “OF Jesus Christ” called a saint and faithful “IN Christ Jesus”. May it be so in my life!

Ephesians 1.1 - Part 1

INTRODUCTIONS

Ephesians 1:1 – “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by God’s will: To the saints and believers in Christ Jesus at Ephesus.”

“Tom this is Sally. Sally this is Tom.” How many times do we go throughout our lives being introduced to new faces? Experts say that we tend to size people up and make judgments about them within the first thirty seconds. Within Ephesians 1:1, Paul in essence is making introductions. It is as if Paul is writing a memo and wants to clearly state from whom and whose authority it is written as well as describing the recipients of the “memo.” Within this short introduction (these first “thirty seconds”), Paul wants to make it very clear to his readers the substance from which he is writing… this essence and focus of the entire letter. Paul seems caught up and consumed with the concept (the essence and focus) of being IN CHRIST and allowing everything else to be an outflow from that “being.” You can’t read the first chapter of Ephesians without being hammered with being “in Christ.”

The emphasis of “being in Christ” in verse one is contained within the words “OF” and “IN.”

Paul: Apostle OF

Paul begins his book by disclosing himself as an apostle of Christ Jesus. Apostles, who were eye witnesses to the life of Jesus, were literally the first evangelists of the early church. Though the word “apostle” (used 79 times throughout the New Testament, 35 of which are contained with Paul’s writings) has the idea of being an ambassador or messenger, the focus is being sent or commissioned with the authority of and responsibility to the sender. In classic Greek, the idea of “apostle” was used to describe a high ranking officer in the navy specifically referring to the commander in charge of a fleet or embassy. It is as if a king sends out a messenger who literally speaks and acts with the authority of the king. The listeners must take every word of the ambassador as if the king was standing before them speaking the words himself. The ambassador, literally being the voice and representation of the king, is responsible to the king for being an authentic witness. Paul, in this passage, seems to clarify specifically who he is an ambassador for: of Christ Jesus.

However, this apostleship that Paul is claiming is not a job but literally who he is. Being an apostle is not a role or position he has, but rather Paul is “in” Christ who happens to be in the position of apostleship. The focus is not on doing a position or claiming a title, but literally being “of” Christ Jesus. The essence of who Paul is, is being so intertwined with and focused upon Jesus that it is no longer Paul being an ambassador FOR Christ but literally Jesus is the messenger THROUGH Paul: Paul, an apostle OF Christ Jesus. Jesus is the source and focus of who Paul is. In Philippians, Paul is so strong in this that he states living is Christ (Phil. 1:21).

Further, Paul states that his apostleship is by God’s will. Paul seems captivated by God’s will, for he uses the word several times throughout Ephesians 1. In verse five he states He predestined us to be adopted through Jesus Christ for Himself, according to His favor and will. In verse nine Paul says He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure that He planned in Him. And again in verse 11 In Him we were also made His inheritance, predestined according to the purpose of the One who works out everything in agreement with the decision of His will. However, in verse one, Paul is very clear in that the “will” is not a command (as in Paul had no choice in the matter) but rather because God willed it, Paul couldn’t help but be an apostle. The Greek word “will” is an expression or inclination of pleasure toward that which is liked, pleases, and creates joy. Therefore, as we get into the will of God, we find it is not demanding (“oh I have to”) but it becomes something we GET to do, which brings an expression and inclination of pleasure. If you notice in both verses five and nine, closely connected to the will of God is His good pleasure.

Believers: Saints IN

Language is often interesting to study, especially New Testament language. Paul was confined to the Greek language when writing and thus at times had to “borrow” words to express ideas and concepts. The word “saints” used in verse one was originally a term Paul took from pagan Greek religions. In such religions, a saint was one who expressed devotion to the gods. For example, a Greek worshipper would bring an offering to a god as a gift and devote it to that god. This idea of devotion can also be found in the magnificent temples the Greeks built which were devoted to a certain god. These temples were set apart from any secular use and consecrated to the worship of a particular god. Though the temples were often filled with immoral practices that were a part of their worship, for example a temple in Corinth had 3,000 ‘sacred’ prostitutes, the temples were considered holy and pure – as in non-secular and thus religious in nature. The term “saint” was also used of persons who were devoted to the service of a god (thus they were “non-secular”) but distinctively religious in nature and occupation. Therefore everything these individuals did was set apart and devoted to that god.

In Greek, there are five synonyms for “saint” expressing the understanding of holiness. However, the word hagios, which Paul uses in Ephesians, is the only one of the five synonyms that is used in the Old and New Testaments to express the Biblical concept of holiness. It will aid out understanding of the word hagios by looking at the contrasting synonyms. The first synonym is hieros which is the formal consecration and contains the idea of something being “sacred.” Hosios is being “right” or “hallowed” by divine character. Semnos is about being honorable. Hagiazo is to ceremonially purify something – to make something holy. Though these four synonyms have the idea of being “holy,” hagios is all about sacredness. It is wrapped up in being physically pure and morally blameless. It relates to purity from defilement, which can be seen throughout the Old Testament as God commanded the Israelites to abstain from certain things (such as corpses). But as we move into the understanding of holiness and “saint” we begin to see that it has the concept of being morally pure, upright, blameless in heart and life, virtuous, holy, and set apart. Yet this is not a one time experience! We do not become “holy” and sit back and live out the rest of our lives; nor do we wait to die before we are considered a saint. Paul is strong in the idea that this is not a one time thing but a life-long movement toward and into holiness (the literal person of Jesus). Saints are not dead people who have lived a good life and are now idolized and hung on our walls. Rather, Paul is addressing “saints” in the church of Ephesus (and it is fascinating to point out that these people have not been Christians for a long period of time) though he calls them saints several times throughout the book of Ephesians (1:1, 1:15, 1:18, 2:19, 3:8, 4:12, 5:3, 6:18). “Saints” in Paul’s understanding are not dead but alive and continuing to grow and move closer to Jesus. They are completely focused upon Jesus yet they are not done being “saintly” – needing the grace and peace of verse two found IN CHRIST.

Additionally, the adjective “saint” (hagios) in verse one is dative which suggests personal interest and shows possession. These saints belong to God. Perhaps a better way to state this is that saints don’t try to be saints. They are being sourced by God and hence they are saints. Once again, like Paul being an apostle, it is not about position (apostle or saint) but about source. It is about getting into the Person of Jesus and allowing Him to produce Himself and live through your life.

What would it look like if I lived in a constant awareness of Him? Continually being sourced by Him alone? Paul stated that he is an apostle OF Christ and that we are saints IN Christ. Oh to have a life OF and IN… where everything that happened in our lives was Him flowing through us. Where our focus is on Jesus and the outflow of Him in our life is holiness (saints). I want to dive in and get wrapped up in that! Do you?