Paul's letter to the Ephesians contains
basically two themes (yet, it is really only one): the majesty of Jesus
Christ and His consequential manifestation of Himself among His people.
From the first chapter where the mystery of the Father's will is
proclaimed until the last chapter where the mystery of Christ's power is
manifested in the believers, Paul continually sets Christ forth as the
essence of all things.
His prayer for the Ephesians was that
"the eyes of [their] understanding [might be] enlightened; that [they
might] know what is the hope of [Jesus'] calling, and what the riches of
the glory of [Jesus'] inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding
greatness of [Jesus'] power to [them] who believe . . ." (1:18,19).
Paul wanted them to see Jesus!
With Paul using the little phrase "in
Christ," or its equivalent, over ten times in the first fourteen
verses of Chapter One, he reveals not only the secret of the Ephesians
letter but the secret of life as well. Moreover, Paul's closing
admonition ("Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the
power of his might" [6:10]) also reveals the source of life and the
essence of his letter, the revelation of being in Jesus Christ. The
believer does not live for Christ. He lives in Christ.
Consequently, because Jesus was raised from
the dead by His heavenly Father, it enables the believer to be
"quickened . . . together with Christ." It enables the
believer to be "raised . . . up together, and made [to] set together
in heavenly places in Christ Jesus" (2:5,6). Being in
Christ, the quickening power of the Heavenly Farther is experienced by the
believer. He lives because he experiences the Christ, the essence of
life.
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