Be the Church God Wants to See in the World
March 15, 2026 · Ephesians
Scripture referenced 5 passages
The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.
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Ephesians 1:1-2 read and expounded as the opening address and greeting of the letter, establishing Paul as apostle by God's will and introducing grace and peace
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, to the saints who are at Ephesus, and the faithful in Christ Jesus:
2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
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Keep this verse
Ephesians 1:3-14
identified as the longest sentence in the New Testament, covering election, predestination, redemption, the mystery of God's will, and the sealing of the Holy Spirit
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ;
4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and without defect before him in love;
5 having predestined us for adoption as children through Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his desire,
6 to the praise of the glory of his grace, by which he freely gave us favor in the Beloved,
7 in whom we have our redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,
8 which he made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence,
9 making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he purposed in him
10 to an administration of the fullness of the times, to sum up all things in Christ, the things in the heavens, and the things on the earth, in him;
11 in whom also we were assigned an inheritance, having been foreordained according to the purpose of him who does all things after the counsel of his will;
12 to the end that we should be to the praise of his glory, we who had before hoped in Christ.
13 In him you also, having heard the word of the truth, the Good News of your salvation—in whom, having also believed, you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,
14 who is a pledge of our inheritance, to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of his glory.
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Ephesians 1:15-23
the main passage for the sermon, Paul's prayer for the church covering wisdom and revelation, the hope of his calling, the riches of his inheritance in the saints, and the boundless greatness of God's power toward believers
15 For this cause I also, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which is among you, and the love which you have toward all the saints,
16 don’t cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers,
17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him;
18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of his calling, and what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
19 and what is the exceeding greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to that working of the strength of his might
20 which he worked in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and made him to sit at his right hand in the heavenly places,
21 far above all rule, and authority, and power, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in that which is to come.
22 He put all things in subjection under his feet, and gave him to be head over all things for the assembly,
23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.
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Psalm 8
cited as the Old Testament source behind the phrase about God putting all things under Christ's feet
1 Yahweh, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth, who has set your glory above the heavens!
2 From the lips of babes and infants you have established strength, because of your adversaries, that you might silence the enemy and the avenger.
3 When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have ordained;
4 what is man, that you think of him? What is the son of man, that you care for him?
5 For you have made him a little lower than the angels, and crowned him with glory and honor.
6 You make him ruler over the works of your hands. You have put all things under his feet:
7 All sheep and cattle, yes, and the animals of the field,
8 The birds of the sky, the fish of the sea, and whatever passes through the paths of the seas.
9 Yahweh, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
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Philippians 4:12-13
quoted at the close as Paul having learned contentment in every situation and being able to do all things through Christ who gives strength
12 I know how to be humbled, and I know also how to abound. In everything and in all things I have learned the secret both to be filled and to be hungry, both to abound and to be in need.
13 I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me.
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Recap
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
This message worked through Ephesians 1:15-23, the second longest sentence in the New Testament, as Paul's prayer for the church at Ephesus and for any believing community that reads it. The sermon asked what it means that God has chosen the church, not military power or political force, to carry the fullness of Christ forward in the world. That question pressed on everyone in the room, not just as individuals, but as a body together.
What was said
Pastor Mark opened by placing Ephesians 1:15 in its context. The phrase "for this reason" points back to the longest sentence in the New Testament, the opening doxology of Ephesians 1, which blesses God the Father for choosing us, God the Son for redeeming us, and God the Holy Spirit for sealing us. All three persons of the Trinity are praised in that first sentence, and everything that follows grows out of it.
From there Paul moves into what he actually prays when he mentions these people. His prayer is not for their comfort or their circumstances. It is that God himself would give them a spirit of wisdom and revelation, an opening up, so that they would know him more deeply, not merely know about him but know him the way the Old Testament prophets meant when they spoke of experiential knowledge of God.
That prayer has three specific targets. Paul wants them to know the hope of God's calling, which in the New Testament is not a wish but an absolute certainty that has not yet arrived. He wants them to know the riches of God's glory in his inheritance in the saints, meaning there is a treasure already present in the church, not only waiting in heaven. And he wants them to know the boundless greatness of God's power toward those who believe right now, in the present, day to day.
The proof of that power is the resurrection. God raised Christ from death and seated him above every rule, authority, power and dominion, not only in this age but in the one to come. Christ is interceding from that place for the church, and the same power that raised him is the power source available to believers walking out their calling today.
Then comes the turn that Pastor Mark said should be sobering. God put all things under Christ's feet and made him head over all things, but the next word is "to the church." The church is his body. It is the fullness of the one who fills all in all. God did not choose to topple kingdoms by force. He chose to be himself in the church, and the church is his plan. There is no plan B.
That means the rest of Ephesians, the practical chapters about how to treat one another, cannot be read honestly without first sitting with this. If you skip to the behavioral instructions before letting this theology humble you, Pastor Mark said, you end up judgmental and proud. But if you receive it, you find yourself an ordinary person called into something far larger than yourself, empowered by God, sent to show a better way. That better way is love, the same rescue mission Christ came on, now carried forward by his body in the world.
Doing a Bible study?
Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages in order, questions for the group, and room to write.
- Paul describes himself as an apostle 'by the will of God' rather than by his own choosing. Where in your own life have you seen God redirect you toward something you would not have chosen for yourself?
- The pastor prayed before the sermon that God would help us know His will generally and specifically. He also pointed out that Paul prays for the Ephesians to receive 'a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him.' What is the difference between knowing about God and knowing God, and which one would you say you are more practicing right now?
and 3 more questions in the guide
Read the full transcript 6,454 words
Speaker 2Yes. After we do the because
Speaker 3the benediction, you guys play again. What part needs
Speaker 1to Yeah. It's playing or you're playing?
Speaker 3Play it
Speaker 2out. The last one. Always the last one. The last person says it's playing. We're do one first.
Yeah. We're gonna I gotta go give to my family. Okay. Good morning, church family. I'm thankful you are here this morning.
Will you please stand up and let's worship the Lord? The fact that you are here this morning, it's a sign that almighty God wants to say something to you. While we worship through the music, through sermon, through all that we do here, would you please whisper that beautiful sound to the Holy Spirit? Say, Lord Jesus, say something to me this morning. Amen?
Let's make it special.
Speaker 1Amen.
Speaker 3We're delighted you're here today. We do have a bunch of people streaming in. So if you got space between you, would you consider squeezing in next to the person around you to make space for the people who are about to come in here in just a second. There's there's plenty of stuff going on here at First Baptist this week. One of them is new batteries for our clicker.
Isn't that exciting? It's time. Hi, Blake. Would you switch to the next one for me? Oh, you got it now.
Okay. Volunteer sign up is ready for VBS. Vacation Bible School is a blast. It's cowboy themed, so start working on your southern draw. And come on in everybody.
We love to have volunteers of all shapes and stripes to help out in various kinds from snacks to being on stage playing music to puppetry. Whatever you got going on, would you let us know? We'd love to have you June twenty second to twenty fifth, and block that off your kids to come participate as well. The sign up for the kids is not quite ready yet. One is happening tomorrow.
Right? I don't think there's any objections to that. 44 05:45 to 07:30 tomorrow. It's our kids program in here. It's a it's a huge blast.
New music and message is happening. It's the second and fourth Wednesday of the month. And just to test you, I put it in the email wrong this week. So if you if you believe that, you weren't paying attention, and it's really your fault. And it was my fault.
I'm sorry about that. But it's it's a blast. 70 people show up. It's really worshipful worshipful, and there's a lot of people we don't recognize. It's really cool to see so many people come in there and participate.
So would you consider marking that off on your calendar for a place to visit? And, Blake, I think we have one more thing. What oh, yeah. Sister Saved by Grace is still going on. Thursdays at 06:00 in the in the basement.
Building of Strengths is the book they do. And we have more of those copies in the office. So you check out there for something fun to do because there's always something going on. I think that's it. You check out there for something fun to do because there's always something going on.
I think that's it. If anybody has anything else? No? Okay. Would you stand up, greet one another, and we're gonna bring you back with a song.
Speaker 2Let's worship the Lord. Amen. It's falling from the clouds, a strange and lovely sound. I hear it in the thunder and the rain. It's raining in the sky.
The cannons in the Father God, we praise you this morning for giving us the privilege and the opportunity to be here gathered together as a church. Lord, I pray with all my heart that you would reach our hearts, Lord. Our hearts and mind, both together. They're connected. May we understand your will because you speak to us through your word, and may we experience through our emotions, and may we practice your will.
Lord, it's not easy, but we trust you that you are always with us and give us the strength and the power to continue and to follow you. May we be blessed today, but whatever we do here, but you be glorified in the midst of our congregation. In the name of Jesus, I pray, amen. Amen. And may we never be ashamed to share the good gospel.
Amen? We we don't have to say it too loud. We don't wanna bother too much. But we can live it out and be nice to people, be kind to one another. And that's a beautiful sign right there that we know almighty God.
When we respect people in our community and be kind and be nice and be considerate, that's a sweet beautiful way to say, God loves you. Amen? Amen. Praise the Lord. And the gospel is that Jesus Christ, the son of God, came down on this beautiful planet and died for our sins.
And he says like this, whosoever believes in me shall not perish but have everlasting life. Amen? We we enjoy this life here, but also we have the promise of eternity with him. Amen. And you will see the song of the operatory speaks about that.
Okay? Oh, I love this song. I practice with Carl all week. I wrote down. I count his rhythm.
He's measure anything. Still, it's not the same. But we are here to worship the Lord. Amen? Amen.
Praise the Lord.
Speaker 1It's time the ushers are coming forward. This is the operatory time. We call it the worship through giving. Yeah. And what we want to do is bring our hearts together, lord, before you and claim, lord, that we don't know exactly what your will is, how exactly it is to be carried out.
We know generally, but we wanna know specifically, lord, exactly how you would like for this church, this little local church as a group to go forward, how you would like for each of us individually to go forward. So Lord, I pray for your direct connection with us in our mind, in our heart, by your spirit. Lord, would you communicate what your will is for us for today? And, Lord, may we understand that we have access to resurrection power to carry it out. May we understand by your spirit, Lord, that you are the one who guides our steps.
In Jesus name, I pray that you would do your will here among us and through us
Speaker 2Amen.
Speaker 1In your way, Lord, whatever that is. In Jesus name, amen.
Speaker 2Amen. And I if I and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also be there where I am. Amen. That's that's what Jesus said. And also says, I am the resurrection and life.
The one who believes in me will live even though they die. We have the hope to be with him in eternity. Amen? Amen. Now let's sing with all our hearts this song.
Amen. Praise the Lord.
Speaker 1Amen. Amen. Thank you, Ben. It's time for children's church downstairs. Whoo.
And there they go. That that's made a little space up here if you wanted to come forward. Not that anybody ever has, but I always offer it. This week, we are up to Ephesians one fifteen through 23, and I'm talking to people in the vestibule beforehand and say, well, I wasn't here last week. I wasn't here last week.
Is what are you gonna preach on? I said, the second longest sentence in the New Testament. The second longest sentence in the New Testament is Ephesians one fifteen through 23. And they said and three people out of three said, what's the longest? I said, you missed it.
It was last week. So last week was, we'll cover it again. Why not? But Ephesians one fifteen through 23 is a really, really good foundation for the study of the book of Ephesians. It tells you everything that's gonna be in there and sort of the purpose.
Oh, gracious. This was this week. I put it in there for something else, but I'll tell you about it. We had the guy in the front we know, and he had four friends and it's spring break in the Southeast, Southeast, and they came out here. I won't say they came out here to ski.
They came out here and they skied, but it wasn't exactly a ski trip. I think they skied 2.5 on Snow King at one time while they were here, but they built the biggest snowman we've ever had in my front yard before they left since it's in the New Testament. And Ephesians one fifteen starts off the like this. It says, for this reason, now whenever you see it, therefore, you have to see what it's there for as thousands of pastors have said in the past. But when it says for this reason and that's where we're starting, y'all might just go, well, what is the reason?
You know? Oh my goodness. For this reason is the is the longest sentence in the New Testament, and this is how the book starts. This is the outside of the envelope. Okay?
This is just who's it from and who's it to. Paul, think about that from what you know of Paul, Saul of Tarsus, dramatically converted though he was opposing Christ. He now is an apostle, one who is sent out by Christ Jesus and he says, and this underlies the whole letter, he is an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God. If it were by the will of Saul, he might still be fighting against followers of the way. But he recognized that by the will of God, he has been called out of his affiliations and into the ecclesia, the church.
The book of Ephesians is about the church. Okay? So Paul, an apostle, one who sent out by Christ Jesus by the will of God to the holy ones who are in Ephesus and it could be anywhere. This is what most people, most scholars agree this is more of a cyclical circular as my my dad was a mailman for a long time. And the circulars, when the circulars would come out that went to everybody.
You know, you got your own mail but the circulars went to everybody. This is sort of a circular letter to the saints. Yeah, the ones who are in Ephesus, but also the ones who are in Jackson. The faithful in Christ Jesus, grace to you, unmerited favor, though you do not deserve it, he's given it. Grace to you and peace, the absence of turmoil, outer or inner from God, our father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.
And then the longest sentence starts right here. One main verb and it is praise or bless. Y'all bless and it's a sort of imperative. Bless God the father of our Lord Jesus Christ who's blessed us in Christ Jesus with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. He says, this is already true of you.
It's already true that you have been chosen in him before the foundation of the world and you should be holy and blameless before him. In love, he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Christ according to the purpose of his will to the praise of his glorious grace with which he has blessed us and the beloved, that's not the end of the sentence. It keeps going. For two more slides. In him, Christ, we have redemption through his blood, Christ's blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses and sins, and that is all according to the riches of God's grace, which he lavished upon us in all wisdom and insight, making known to us the mystery of his will.
If you hit that and you go, God has made known to us the mystery of his will. I just prayed that I don't know what your will is, Lord. I do know that his will is that people come to know him experientially and be saved. I do know that. I don't know how that process is gonna work itself out.
Right? But the mystery of his will is that we be saved and sanctified and be a part of the going forward of the good news of the gospel. According to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time to unite all things in him, things in heaven, things on earth. In him, we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to in Christ. You were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit.
God gives of himself, of his spirit when we believe in Christ. You've been sealed with the promised Holy Spirit who the Holy Spirit is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it to the praise of his glory. So, if I were to go back those slides, I'd say, blessed be God the father, blessed be God the son, blessed be God the Holy Spirit. That's a good way of looking at that. In fact, the last line, blessed be or praise to God's glorious grace because he did not have to give of himself, but he did.
Praise of his glory, Christ walked out a perfect human life. Yes. He's fully God and fully man, but he walked it out perfectly, and he had that perfect record to hand over to anyone who would say, I need it. I don't have a perfect record. I am guilty, and I want to be innocent.
I want forgiveness to the praise of his glory. God made that way available in Christ. And then by the spirit who prompts us and convicts us and brings us in to the praise of his glory. So that's the longest sentence in the New Testament. This is second longest.
Here we go. For this reason, I too. So Paul has more to say other than three slides of one sentence. Haven't heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exist among you and your love for all the saints. So he's speaking to the church.
This is not a terribly evangelistic Billy Graham style sermon where he's preaching to a bunch of people who do not yet know Jesus. He is preaching to the church. Haven't heard of the faith that you have in Christ, which means you believed in Jesus and you have the Holy Spirit. So I also know that you love the saints. I therefore do not cease giving thanks for you because I know I'm not alone in this.
Paul's traveled by this point thousands of miles and will travel thousands more before he ends up imprisoned for the gospel, but unhindered as Acts says. I don't cease giving thanks for you while making mention of you in my prayers. Now y'all might see if you're familiar with the New Testament, you might see this and go, oh, yeah. This is Paul being Paul. That's how he starts every time.
I'm blessing the triumned God but I'm also grateful for you. So, if the typical Pauline New Testament letter, if I could say this in just a few lines, it's this, grace and peace. I always thank God for you. Hold on to the gospel no matter what. For the love of God, stop squabbling and acting stupid.
And Timothy says, howdy. Right? That's kind of the format. We're only two two points in, but it's only in the second sentence of this letter, you know. Don't cease giving thanks for you while making mention of you in my prayers.
What is it that Paul prays? Well, this is the content of his prayer. The content of his prayer for this believing body is this, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the father of glory, almighty God, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation or an opening. Revelation is when you see something that you have not seen before. When something is revealed, that is a revelation.
That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the father of glory himself may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation or an opening up about the knowledge of him. And this knowledge in the New Testament, this knowledge of him calls back to the prophets. You remember a few weeks ago when I was going on and on and on about which is the experiential knowledge of God. It's knowing him, not just knowing about him, but knowing him, knowing who he is. The first thing that Paul prays for them when he mentions him in his prayers is that God himself would open them up to new understanding, deeper understanding of who he is.
Wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him. So that's the content that that God will give you all a spirit of wisdom and revelation. Praise God. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be in light. It used to be that almost every time Florine led the music, it was open the eyes of my heart, Lord.
Love that. We sing it all the time. Open the eyes of my heart. I want to see you. Right.
So we're going
Speaker 2We're to We're
Speaker 1them.
Speaker 2Them.
Speaker 1For these folks right here, Sunday morning, when I'm standing up here, I'm hoping that God's given me something that when I say it'll dislodge some logjam in your mind and it'll open up something new about God and about his goodness and his grace and his mercy and his love and that's what Paul was praying for those folks at Ephesus. We know he spent longer at Ephesus than anywhere else. He spent almost three years there. So, he knows these folks and he's thankful for them, but he wants for them to get it in a way that is more profound than they have gotten it so far. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened so that what?
So that you will know what is the hope of his calling. Now we know in the New Testament, Ephesians hope is every time that's not hope. Hope in the New Testament. Every time we see hope in the New Testament, it is an absolute certainty that has not yet come to pass. Okay?
So when we think of hope, I hope so. That might happen or it might not happen. But hope in the New Testament is always an absolute certainty that has not yet come to pass. Can we stick with that for just a second? I want for you to know, Paul says, I want for you to know what is that future certainty that you're still questioning, that you haven't settled in your heart yet.
Now the calling of a person to Jesus or the calling of a person for what he is to do for Jesus or she is to do for Jesus, that calling has an absolute certainty and the fulfillment of it is future. But the calling has already happened, Especially, Saint Paul spent so much time saying before the very foundation of the world. God's got his plan and he's working his plan. And you're a part of this plan, especially church, like collectively, you're a part of this plan. But he's saying, I'm praying for y'all that y'all may all see what it is that God has called you to in the past.
What he had as his plan from the beginning is
Speaker 2for
Speaker 1that hope. Now, is that I've got a home in heaven for sure there in those mansion sublime? Yeah. That's part of it, but that's not all of it. So in the sweet by and by, wonderful song.
Love it. Love it. Love it. It's so much fun to play, so much fun to sing, but that's not all it's about. It's partially there so that you will know what is the hope of his calling.
We have a part church. We have a part in other people having that future hope in the sweet by and by. I think that Ephesians is mainly about how God is planning on using the church to get more people to that future hope. So the calling has happened. The hope is still future, but it's an absolute certainty.
And Paul wants you to understand that it's not just me, my four, and no more. I get my kids saved and that's good enough. It is I wanna be a part of what God is doing in this world. I wanna see the gospel go forward. I wanna see people set free in Christ.
When somebody has the boldness, when somebody has the guts to walk into this empty building and just go, hey, is anybody home? I want for one of us, some of us to say, yep. Here I am. I can't wait to talk to you. You know?
Amen, Connor. So that you will know what is the hope of his calling. So I want your eyes of your heart to be opened to see not just the glorious future for yourself, but the glorious future that you have a part in making for someone else who does not yet know the power of God. So the hope of his calling. And that's something, like I said, that was past, but it's has future ramifications.
So I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened so that you will know what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints. Now if I just stopped at the riches of his glory and the inheritance, everyone of us would think heaven. He's saying that in the saints, in the church, there is a richness. There is plenty, there are plenty of resources within the church. Towards that future but this is this is something that is future but it's in the saints who are here now.
Paul's called them saints. He immediately as an appositive says, and you are the faithful in Christ Jesus. Now, you're only faithful in Christ Jesus. It's because of Christ Jesus you can't be faithful at all. And that's another refrain that Ephesians hits over and over and over and it's in Christ.
And if you have grown up in the church and you've heard, oh, in Christ, in Christ, in Christ so many times or you just think of as Jesus' middle name, you know, Jesus Christ. It's like, if you think of it like that's just a name, it means anointed one, the only anointed one, Messiah Jesus. I had a professor that almost never used Christ unless he was saying Christos in Greek, but he he usually said Messiah Jesus because the hope is in the chosen one. Now, I've said that this letter is about the church. If you really understand the chosen one, let's let's just let scripture say it.
I don't wanna get ahead of myself. What are the riches of the glory of his inheritance? Christ's inheritance in the saints. I hope that you'll know and understand the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints. And what is the boundless greatness of his power toward us who believe?
So Paul is speaking as a living person, a living people at that time. I'm a living person speaking to living people at this time, but y'all are all saints. It was saints then and it's saints now. You don't have to go through canonization to be a saint. Okay?
You do have to go through regeneration to be a saint, but that's what it takes. You receive the righteousness of Christ upon belief. You receive the Holy Spirit upon belief. This what is the boundless power, greatness of his power toward us who believe is present. So, I thought I put that up there.
I did. Here it is. The hope of his calling. So, that calling was in the past. God made a way.
The way that anyone would be saved would be through Christ. The riches of his glory of his inheritance. That is future. Yes. But it's the future of all believers.
And right now, we're still building. Right? Still building that till the fullness comes in. Still building that. And then the boundless greatness of his power towards us who believed.
That is the power source for the present day to day life. This is how it's worked out. And so Paul's prayer is it covers it all. It covers like, hey, you're a part of something that started a long time ago. You're a part of something that's going into eternity future, but we have to walk it out in the right now.
And that's the order it's in. It's past, future, and present. So he centers his focus back on the present time of how are we gonna walk this out and what are we gonna do? What is our job, basically? Now these, all of these things are in accordance with the working of the strength of his might.
And if we were to look backwards, we would see God flex when he pulls those people out of Egypt. Honestly, when he put them into Egypt with a flex too. He grows them up through the wilderness generation dying off into the promised land. Everything we see of God in the past shows his power. But when he speaks of, there will be no more tears.
When he speaks of finding your fullness in him who fills all in all, that is also by the strength of his power. So I just say these are shot God showing off, showing his muscle flexing. The hope of his call and the riches of glory and his inheritance in the saints and the boundless greatness of power, It's boundless towards those of us who believe. What is impossible with man is possible with God. He has all of the power.
He proved it in raising Jesus from the dead. He'll go into that later on in the book, which he brought about in Christ. Here he is. This right there. Like I said later, it's the very next phrase.
The strength of his might, which he brought about in Christ when he raised him from the dead, and when he seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places. And remember back to that first sentence, he said, this is already true. This is already true. And though you're going through it because you're wrestling flesh and spirit, you're wrestling back and forth, and you have a hard time believing what you can't see yet, hope, absolute certainty that has not yet come to pass. He's saying these things are already true.
These show God's flex, you know, like when he raised Jesus. He's far above all rule and all authority and power and dominion and every name that is named, not only in this age, but in the one to come. So would you say Ephesians has a high Christology? Yes. Very, very high.
So these all show God's flock like when he raised Christ. He raised him from death to the place of absolute honor overall forever and ever. So we have that seated in the heavenlies, right hand of God, and you can see that scene, but you're thinking, how does that affect me? Because it says the boundless greatness of his power toward us who believe. What does it say Jesus is doing sitting at the right hand of God?
Interceding for us. Does that just floor you? I mean, first of all, that he could think of all of us at the same time would be enough, but that he's interceding for us and by his spirit, he is empowering us and enlightening us to do his will. Dude, what more could you ask for? That's crazy.
We're almost finished, by the way. He put all things in subjection under his feet. That's an old testament reference. In Psalm eight, it says, God, you have him, the Messiah. Rule over all the works of your hands.
He's the agent of creation and he is in charge. You've And put everything under his feet. And if we look around right now in the world and we think, well, it doesn't look like everything's under Jesus' feet. You know, it all comes out in the end, comes out great in the end. If it ain't coming out great, it ain't the end.
You put all things in subjection under his feet. This is already true. Christ is lord of all. He is. Now, are there people who are rejecting him?
Speaker 2Yeah.
Speaker 1Are there systems that are rejecting him? Yeah. But there's a purpose, and it's moving forward, and it's moving forward. And this is how it's moving forward. God put everything in subjection under Christ's feet and made Christ head over all things to the church.
Oh, wait a second. This is his plan? This is his plan? Yes. Amen, Connor.
You're nailing it, man. Yes. This is his plan. This is plan a. There's no plan b.
So let's keep on going. He made him the head. He's putting him in subjection under his feet and Jesus didn't choose the victory route of military might or power. He didn't choose to topple kingdoms while he was here and he's not choosing to do that right now. He's choosing to be himself in the church.
Amen. And we are to be a part of that and he made him head over things, all things to the church, which is his body. Okay. He's the head and we're the body. Sit with that for a minute.
When we say that we are the continuing body of Christ, this is what, is this what we want for the world to see of Christ? Are we acting like we want the world to see Christ? I I hope we are. I wanna be. I want for y'all to be.
I wanna be myself. But this is Ephesians, the rest of the book of Ephesians is about how it is that we are to get under Christ's feet, under his subjection, under his headship. But we are the plan that God has for the world. He goes on to say in Corinthians, he says, now, you are the body of Christ, church. If you're a believer in Jesus, you're a part of the body of Christ, and you are a part of the going forth of the mission of Christ.
Now, I could go back to Jesus' first sermon in Luke, right? Where he says, set the captives free, you know, heal the sick, all of that sort of stuff. We're to be a part of the same ministry that Christ was a part of when he was here. Love one another. Easy to understand, hard to do.
Right? This passage is easier to understand this week, I think, than last week, but it's harder to do. In order to get the world into subjection under Christ's feet, we need to show them the better way, and the better way is love. The better way is the way of Christ. So Christ is the head over all things and the church is his body.
That should probably be a capital c. It's not just church. It's the church. Okay. The church.
All believers at all times. That's his body, and that is the way that he carries forward. We should be filled with grace and with mercy and with forgiveness and with love. We should be leaning towards other people with favor. When Christ says, I didn't come in the world to judge the world.
I came here on a rescue mission. That's what we need to be on. The church, which is his body, the fullness. Fullness, the church, his body, this is the fullness. Question mark.
This is the fullness. This is how he wants to express himself. This is what he's chosen to do. We say oftentimes that that spreading the gospel is not so much just preaching a message, but it's saying from one beggar who has found bread, this is where bread is to be found. Right?
So we are the fullness. Christ is the fullness. Pleroma comes up a lot. Pleroma means fullness in Greek, and it comes up a lot. It means the sum total of fullness, abundance, even super abundance.
It's overflowing in the fullness. Christ was the in all of the Godhead dwelt in him. He was the fullness of God. And he says that about the church. And that is sobering.
Honestly, it's sobering to think about that. There are 18 different occurrences in the New Testament. You can do your own study if you want to. I'll come to them eventually. The fullness of him who fills all in all, and that's one of those circumlocutions for God where he's just saying, God Almighty.
He is the one who fills all in all and it has to come from him, but the fullness is the church. And so this is the end of the sentence. This is the end of that second large longest sentence in the New Testament. But there's a lot in here. And when we go into chapter two and chapter three and chapter four, we're getting into more theology and underpinning.
But then when we get in four, five, six, we're getting into how to act it out. If you try to go to the passages that say, do this in chapter five, before you understand this and and you're humbled yourself before this, you won't get what the rest of it means at all. You'll you'll be judgy and ugly and proud and everything else. If you get this and allow it to shape you and go, oh my goodness. I'm the normal person that has just been called into a superhero mission, and I'm empowered by almighty God.
I don't think I'm ready for this, Lord. How many stories are in our stories that are just like that? I don't think I'm ready for it, Lord. But you say that I am, I'm gonna trust you. You say what I'm supposed to do, love one another.
Okay. Whoo. They're almost unlovable. So are you. Yeah.
Right? So I got a couple more slides. So I woke up this week one day and I just thought, you remember the phrase and it's been attributed to everybody, but be the change you want to see in the world. It's on bumper stickers. It's usually attributed to Gandhi, although he didn't really say it.
He said something sorta like it. Be the change you want to see in the world. That sounds great. I've heard it from Bob Marley. I've heard it from John Lennon.
I've heard it from a lot of different people. But if they they didn't say that. But basically, what Ephesians is saying is be the church you wanna see in the world. Actually, cross out the q. What it's saying really is be the church that God wants to see in the world.
That's what we need to be. Amen. First, be be the church that God wants to see in the world. When he says, I want you to help people. I want you to pray for people.
I want you to be willing to be interrupted. May we be the church that God wants to see in this community and may we be a part of the church that God wants to see in the greater context of the whole wide world. Since we're here, I say let's start acting here, but we spread from here to the very uttermost parts. That was his design from the beginning. That's the worst picture of Jesus I think I could have chosen.
I just opened my eyes to Jesus, the Orthodox. Sorry about that. But be the church that God wants to see in the world. Would you stand with me? I'm gonna invite the band back up.
I've got a few people to pray for. One of them is Yvonne and Yvonne has asked us to pray for during the announcements for the past few weeks. And she has seen the doctor, and they believe that they're able to do a procedure, a lumpectomy, on the March 23, which is the very first of spring break, which is great for her because she's off work. And then she has another treatment, another consultant consultation on April 2. But we're gonna pray for her that God would be healing her.
We're gonna make the fullness that we have of what God has laid before this church right now. This is our sister who's hurting and we wanna help her. For Carolyn, who is our sister who is hurting and she is in treatment and both of them have a glass half full mentality like you've never experienced before. You need to talk to both of them about what God is bringing them through. It's wonderful.
And for an anonymous guy that actually, two anonymous guys. One of them that I'm praying for and one of them that is Florina's playing praying for. I believe God is bringing them into the kingdom. And I just want for them to be received with goodness and grace to recognize that. And Lord God almighty, don't let us screw it up.
Amen. How deep the father's love for us. Would you sing it out for us?
Speaker 2Let's worship the Lord. Amen? And I just wanna say before we start to sing, thank you, Nick. Thank you, Nick, for being here. Yes.
Thank you. Thank you. It's amazing to see his desire and passion to learn the instruments and to worship together. I'm thankful for you. Yes.
Speaker 1From Philippians four twelve and thirteen, Paul says, I've learned the secret of being content in every situation whether fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all things through him who gives me strength. That is what empowers. Right? He gives strength for us to be able to do the mission of God which is a blessing for all peoples.
May we be a part of the father's business. Amen. Amen.
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