| |
Book: Ephesians
 Print ( PC Only )
Ephesians 1:2
I. Grace be to you and peace.
A. Paul begins here the opening salutation to the church.
1. Verse one is like addressing the envelop.
a. Up in the left hand corner he puts his name
and title.
b. The envelop is addressed to the saints in
Ephesus and the faithful in Christ Jesus.
2. He now begins his letter with a common salutation at
least among the apostles.
a. Paul begins all of his letters with this
salutation. There is only a slight variation
and that is in his letters to Timothy and
Titus, where he adds mercy.
b. Peter uses it in his letters.
c. John uses it in his third letter.
B. They are called the Siamese twins of the New Testament in that
you so often find them coupled together.
1. They are a combination of the Greek and Hebrew common
greetings.
a. The Greek Charis was used much like the
Hawaiian word aloha, that is, it was used when
meeting or departing.
1. The word means rejoice, or that which
causes joy or pleasure.
2. When used in a greeting it had the idea
of every kind of favor, blessing, good.
b. The Hebrews to the present day use the word
shalom, in the same fashion. The word of course
means peace.
2. When used in the scriptures you will note that the word
grace always precedes the word peace. I believe that
this is by design for you can never truly know the
peace of God until you have known His grace.
C. There are two ways by which men seek to approach God, by works
or by grace.
1. Grace and works as a means of approach to God are
mutually exclusive.
2. A true experience of the grace of God will produce
fruit in a persons life, and a part of that fruit is
peace.
3. For years I sought by works to receive the grace of
God.
a. I wanted to earn His blessings and favor.
b. I worked hard to develop my relationship with
Him.
4. As long as I was seeking to relate to God on the basis
of my goodness and good works, my relationship was
tenuous.
a. There were times I felt very close to God
because I had some commendable thing for Him.
b. Most often I felt alienated because of some
nagging sin in my life.
c. If I had driven on the freeway without getting
frustrated and angry. I hadn't honked my horn
or shaken my fist at some stupid driver I felt
free to commune with God and even ask a favor
or blessing.
d. But if I had lost my temper and laid on the
horn, then I felt like turning around and going
home, no sense even going to church tonight for
God certainly will not want to speak to me much
less bless me.
5. I relate to God on the basis of His goodness, or my
goodness.
a. Note how broken that relationship often is if
it is based on my goodness.
b. Yet it is unbroken if I relate to Him on His
goodness.
6. Thus as I relate to God on the basis of His grace, the
result in my own life is peace.
II. This grace and peace comes from God the Father, and our Lord Jesus
Christ.
A. In learning of the nature of God we realize that one of the
foremost of all His traits is His graciousness.
1. God said in Ex.22:27 "For I am gracious."
EXO 33:19 And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and
will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be
gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on
whom will shew mercy
2KI 13:23 And the LORD was gracious unto them, and had compassion on
them, and had respect unto them, because of his covenant with
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not destroy them, neither
cast he them from his presence as yet.
NEH 9:17 but thou [art] a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and of great kindness,
PSA 86:15 But thou, O Lord, [art] a God full of compassion, and
gracious, longsuffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth.
PSA 111:4 He hath made his wonderful works to be remembered: the LORD
[is] gracious and full of compassion.
PSA 112:4 Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness: [he is]
gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous.
PSA 116:5 Gracious [is] the LORD, and righteous; yea, our God [is]
merciful
PSA 145:8 The LORD [is] gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger,
and of great mercy.
JOE 2:13 And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the
LORD your God: for he [is] gracious and merciful, slow to
anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.
JON 4:2 And he prayed unto the LORD, and said, I pray thee, O LORD,
[was] not this my saying, when I was yet in my country?
Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou
[art] a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of
great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil.
B. It is the desire of Paul that they be the beneficiaries of this
grace.
C. His second desire is that they might experience the peace of
God, and of our Lord Jesus Christ.
1. Paul uses the phrase the God of peace, 4 times in his
epistles, and if he is indeed the author of Hebrews,
5 times.
2. Isaiah prophesied that the name of the Son that would
be given would be Wonderful Counselor, The Mighty
God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.
a. Jesus said to His disciples, "Peace I leave
with you, My peace, I give unto you, not as the
world giveth give I unto you, let not your
heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
b. A troubled heart and a fearful heart is not a
heart of peace.
III. Again I would like to point out that Lord Jesus Christ is not His
first middle and last name.
A. Lord is not a name at all, but a title. It is much like and
synonymous with the title of God. It is the one that rules over
your life. The one that you chosen to serve. Elijah cried to
the people choose ye this day whom you will serve, if Jehovah
is God then serve Him, but if Baal be god, then serve him.
1. The title Lord signifies relationship. If Jesus is my
Lord, then I am His servant.
2. It means that I am obedient to Him.
a. He said that there were many who said Lord,
Lord, that would never enter the kingdom of
heaven.
b. He questioned, "Why do you call Me Lord, Lord,
and yet you do not the things that I command
you?"
MAL 1:6 A son honoureth [his] father, and a servant his master: if
then I [be] a father, where [is] mine honour? and if I [be] a
master, where [is] my fear? saith the LORD of hosts unto you,
O priests, that despise my name.
B. Jesus is His name. It is one of the compound names of Jehovah
that declares what God has become to us.
1. Jesus is Greek for the Hebrew name Joshua which is
a contraction of Jehoshua, which is the first name
that Moses gave to his servant, it was later
contracted to Joshua.
2. The name describes His mission. He said that He had
come to seek and to save those who were lost.
3. The angel said to Joseph, "Thou shalt call His name
Jesus for He shall save His people from their sins."
C. Christ is the Greek translation of the Hebrew word mashiach
which means anointed and was used concerning the priest or
king for they were anointed with oil when inaugurated into
their office. The English word is Messiah.
PSA 2:2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take
counsel together, against the LORD, and against his
anointed, [saying],
1. When Peter said, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the
living God." he was saying you are the Messiah.
2. The High Priest commanded Him, "Tell us plainly, are
you the Christ the Son of God." The question was are
you the Messiah.
3. Martha said to Him, "I believe that you are the Christ
the Son of God." She was saying you are the Messiah.
D. Grace and peace come to us from the Father and His Son, our
Lord, Jesus, the Messiah.
|