Ephesians "God's Plan For His People's Victory"
Each book in the Bible gently guides God's people into a more intimate relationship with their Creator, as He knows must occur, for His people to receive Him in the depth of the relationship that He purchased for them. Each day we are covering, in sequential order, one of the twenty-seven books of the New Testament and expecting people’s lives to change through the revelation of His leading in this way.
Today is the tenth day of the series, and the book is, Ephesians, the tenth book in the New Testament as it appears in our Bible. Ephesians is a letter written to a Christian community that had doubts about how things were going to work out as they endured the trying times of being Christians in the world they lived in, and today is no different for Christians that stand for what they believe in and receive persecution all over the world. This letter helps God’s people understand why what is happening to them is occurring and how they can be thankful for all things as they live the life that God has set before them.
In the first chapter, Paul writes, “In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:” There are no mistakes with God, and God is in the place of ultimate control of all things as He has set them in motion, and watches them come to completion as time passes His people in their individual-collective journeys.
In the second chapter Paul writes, ”For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;” This is the first time Jesus is referred to as “He is our peace.” Jesus has been referred to as the Prince of Peace and it is prophesied: “this man shall be the peace”, “He shall speak peace to the heathen”, “My covenant was with Him of life and peace”, but until this point in the Bible it was not stated directly that He is our peace. This is a life changing statement for all who can receive it. This states even more clearly that there is no need to earn peace with God; which, God’s peace is the only true peace that anyone can ever attain. His people just need to receive who God sent and has accomplished their peace for them.
This leads us into his statement about the mystery that had been hidden from the foundation of the world which is, the Gentiles becoming fellow heirs through Jesus, “According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:” Jesus was not an after-thought, and these lives that God’s people are experiencing is not God’s “Plan B.” God has an eternal purpose for Jesus and has given His people the ability to understand Jesus as He truly is.
Paul again makes an incredible statement, “Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,” Paul is speaking of the Holy Spirit that equips God’s people with God’s abilities to do amazing works that are not humanly possible; however, all things are possible through Him, and now through His people as He leads and guides them with His Spirit.
In chapter five Paul instructs us, “Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;” this is another one of those impossible things for any human being to do in their own ability. There are endless possibilities of things that are not comfortable for the outward part of a person let alone the things people deal with inwardly on an ongoing basis; then there are things that, “just happen,” and God instructs His people through Paul to always give thanks for all things unto God. This is a huge breakthrough for everyone who goes through this transformational revelation. The only way for anyone to receive this perfectly is to understand what was stated earlier in this blog in a practical way. “God works all things after the counsel of His own will,” is not just a foreign theological idea, but a part of who His people are and this enables them to be in peace throughout every situation knowing their God has worked it all out as it should be. This idea of God having it all worked out can be twisted and breed sin into people’s lives just like all of the rest of the Scriptures, but with the right spirit, God’s people will actively receive the confidence that is an automatic when they realize Whose plan is coming through them and everything around them.
Paul finishes His letter by telling God’s people how to be protected and fight the spiritual warfare that every Christian is in. The war is real and not a choice, it does not depend on anyone’s desire to be in it or not, and the battles are fought with a holy covering and the spiritual weapon. God’s people get to experience this war, battle by battle, and grow through the incredible life that is set in front of each one of them by Him.
The examples in this blog are only a limited sample of the deepening relational revelation described through the letter to the Ephesians which displays how God works all things after His will, Jesus Christ is our peace, we should be thankful for all things, and the spiritual warfare is real and we have all things that we need already given to us, so we get to take them and be victorious every moment of our lives.
The intent of the blog is to demonstrate the difference in the revelation that God gives to His people as they intently follow Him and focus on what He has told them through their individual lives and the revelation they’ve received through the Holy Spirit and His Holy Bible.
