As we discussed Kim’s “At a Glance” Chart, we continue to see God's call to Unity in Christ.
Day 1: After you read
Ephesians 1-3 quietly, what was on your heart? Spend a couple of minutes
praying/worshipping from whatever jumped out at you from your reading of Eph
1-3 {see #1, p.17}.
I was so impressed by the idea that God has blessed us with every
spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.
Did you mark the key words? Even though they may not tell you in your homework to keep a running list of recurring words throughout the book, we have found that we often enjoy marking key words throughout the whole book, instead of just marking key words in certain portions. It can be helpful to keep this running list on the back of your bookmark with the Precept key word markings.
Here is how I marked mine:
- In Christ: purple box
- Love: a heart, filled in with red
- In heavenly places: yellow clouds around the words
- According to: underlined in teal and put an x at the end of the beginning and end of the line to indicate the full phrase
- Time: Precepts marking of a green clock over the word (make sure you are remembering to mark before, after, and now- these pop up a lot in this book!
- Grace: pink box
- Holy Spirit: Precept marking
Day 2: What
struck you while you made your list of 5W’s and H about “in Christ”? {p.29}
In Christ
(1:1) faithful in Christ Jesus: faithful because they are in Him
(1:3) we
are blessed with every spiritual blessing
(1:4) we
are chosen in Him
(1:5) He
predestined us to adoption as sons
(1:7) we
have redemption through His blood
the forgiveness of our trespasses
(1:9) He
made known to us the mystery of His will
(1:10) All
things were summed up in Him
(1:11) We
have obtained an inheritance
(1:12) we
were among the first to hope in Christ
(1:13) In
Him, we were sealed in Him with the H.S. of promise
Here are some of the responses ladies made during the study:
- Salvation (1:13) is all dependent on Him: from beginning to the end (seal).
- It is all in accordance with God’s purpose and the kind intention of His will.
- Sealing of the Spirit brings assurance.
- He chose us before eternity (II Timothy 1:9).
- We have so many things in Him. Inheritance is present and future!
- HE, Father God, chose us before the foundation of the earth IN LOVE.
- When looking at the 5 W's, most of the Who’s are God doing something for us- not us doing something for Him.
Do the “According
To’s” {pg 30} tell you anything about God, Jesus or others {pg 19}?
- This is a very organized plan: His intentions, will, purpose, measure, etc.
- Predestination/choosing is always out of KIND love.
- God delights in revealing His plan to us. It makes Him happy, even though He knew that He would have to sacrifice His son. He freely did that!
- He shows us this was His plan from the beginning and the way to Him is through Christ.
- He has kind intentions toward us, this is both loving and personal.
- Predestined our inheritance. As a parent, you are preparing for your child's future from their birth (college plan, etc.).
- Inheritance is present and future.
- Inheritance also includes suffering (out of the kind intention of His will)
- To the praise of His glory…it all comes down to Him-not us.
Day 3: Word Study Day{pg 19-22}
* Note the comments on {page 20} after question 1: It's important to not go beyond what the text tells you. Simply let God say what He says and take Him at His word.
o Don’t
get distracted by possible “controversies”
o When
we get distracted, we …
§
Miss what God wants us to know about being
chosen by Him
§
Disrupt the unity that is the whole theme of
this book!
Here are links to the Greek definitions of these words, followed by the observations we made about the words during class:
a.
chose (Jn. 15:16; I Peter 1:1-2, elect [KJV]; I Cor. 1:26-30; Eph. 1:4)
·
God does the choosing beforehand with a specific
task and plan.
·
God chose us
o In
Him
o Before
the foundation of the world
o That
we would be holy and blameless before Him
·
He chose us we didn’t chose Him
·
He gets all the glory
·
He chose us to be holy and
blameless
b.
predestined (Acts 4:27-28, determined before [KJV]. Romans 8:28-30, predestinate
[KJV], Eph. 1:5,11)
#4309:
proorizo:
· We have small minds and He is a big God…we won’t fully understand
this here on earth.
·
God predestined us:
o To
adoption as sons
o Through
JC to Himself
o According
to the kind intention of His will (His purpose)
o To
the praise of the glory of His grace
·
In the Ephesians passage, where it says "He predestined us", he is
talking specifically to those who have already answered the call to
choose Christ: believers in Ephesus.
c.
redemption (I Peter 1:18-19,
redeemed; Col. 1:13-14; Rom 3:24; 8:23, Eph. 1:7, 14; 4:30)
#629:
apolytrosis
·
The HS is the authentication (seal) or our
redemption
·
We are God’s own possession
· Redemption is a liberating from the penalty of sins. Nothing in this world (I Peter) can
do what Christ did for us.
· Redemption once came in the picture of the Passover Lamb, but it is
now through Jesus Christ.
d.
administration (Eph. 1:10, dispensation [KJV] (Ephesians 3:9, fellowship [KJV])
#3622: oikonomia
·
An administration to the fullness of the times
o The
summing up of all things in the heavens and the earth in Christ
·
Paul was to teach about this administration of
the mystery
o That
the Gentiles were now part of the administration of believers
· Other versions translate the word as "plan".
Grace: God’s unearned and unmerited favor (charis)
#5485: charis
Note its
uses in chapter 1, then see what you learn about grace from Ephesians 2:8-9
Grace is used 156 times in the New Testament.
·
part of Paul’s greeting
·
God predestined us to sons to the praise of the
glory of His grace
·
Our redemption was according to the riches of
His grace
·
Christ made us alive and saved us by His grace
·
God gave us position with Christ to show the
surpassing riches of His grace
·
Saved by grace through faith
·
Our predestination, redemption, salvation,
adoption as sons are all gifts of God’s grace!
·
Glory of His grace, Riches of His grace, a Gift
of God
II Timothy 1:9: How does it connect with
what you learned this week? {question 3, pg. 21}
o God’s
own purposes and grace
o Not
according to what we do
o Did
it from before world was made (“from eternity”)
o Chooses
to lavish His grace on us
o He
did it all before we were born (so it can’t be from anything we’ve done)
-
Very freeing! God’s grace is amazing!
Day 4 {pg 22-24}
Ephesians 1:12, “to
the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of
His glory.”
What did
you find in your study of Day about who is being referred to as “we who were
the 1st to hope in Christ”?
Jews were the first to hope in Christ. (Rom 1:15; John 1:11; Matt 1:1) (Acts 1:1-15;
2:1-5,14,36-41)
{#4 on p. 24} Does Eph 1:3-11 apply to all believers
or just Jews? All
Acts 1:8- went to the Jews first, but His plan was to share
it with others. Eph 1:12 to the Jews first 1:13 “In Him you also…(Gentiles)”
are included in Christ.
Day 5
Did you draw a picture of Eph 1:13-14? {p.25}
Here is the word picture that Kim shared with us (the bolded items were actual pictures):
Message
of truth (gospel)-> ear -> believed -> sealed Holy Spirit -> view
(eye)-> Redemption -> Praise of His glory
What did you learn on
{p. 25-26} about the Spirit and our hope of our inheritance in Him?
Inheritance is present and future. One lady shared her story as a widow:
When my husband died, my sons received things from their Dad that they
enjoy now. Some day they will enjoy things passed on from me when I die.
They enjoy a present and a future inheritance. God has prepared an
inheritance for us that includes: blessing, being chosen,
predestination, redemption, forgiveness, knowledge of His will, and
sealing of the Holy Spirit. Some of those things we enjoy now- but we
will also be able to enjoy them more fully in the future.
sealed: #4972: sphragizo
II Corinthians
1:21-22 and Ephesians 4:30 complement Ephesians 1:13
·
God establishes us in Christ, puts His seal on
us and gives His Spirit as a guarantee
·
Sealed for the day of redemption
pledge [earnest, KJV] #728: arrabon
I Corinthians 6:19-20
·
Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit
·
God gave us the Holy Spirit
·
You are not your own- you have been bought with
a price
·
Glorify God in your own body
·
The HS dwells within me and I have been set
apart and blameless. I should be making choices that are set apart and
blameless. Take care of this temple that God is dwelling in until I get a new
body…making healthy choices.
I John 3:1-3
·
Because of God’s love, we are called children of
God
· We will be like Him. Wow!
·
Everyone who hopes in Him, purifies Himself as
He is pure
·
Are we seeking to be known or point others to
know Him?
I Corinthians
15:50-54
·
Because human bodies cannot inherit the kingdom
of God, when we die (or at the last trumpet), we shall be changed to be
imperishable and immortal.
·
Death is swallowed in victory
· We
have hope! This is light and momentary suffering.
Remember to pray for your
sisters this week!
