HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 1434
Ephesians
I N S P O R T S , teamwork almost always overcomes raw individual
skill. When players learn to appreciate and complement each other’s
talents, they begin to play as one. The unity with which they work
together is an amazing thing to watch.
What you will be
The church of Jesus Christ works much the same
reading about
way. Whether a local congregation or the world1:1– 2:10
wide body of believers, the church is made up
How wonderful our salvation
of people of all temperaments and backgrounds
really is
who believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and are
2:11- 22
committed to serving and obeying him. If they
The unity and peace that
appreciate the gifts God has bestowed to varicome from being a
Christian
ous individuals, recognize their unique roles in
God’s Kingdom, and work together as one body,
3:1-21
All are welcome to join
mighty things can happen. This was Paul’s mesGod’s family
sage to the church in Ephesus, and it remains
4:1-16
God’s message for the church today.
We are one body in Christ
Ephesus was a center for pagan worship,
4:17– 6:9
where temples to a variety of gods stood as a tesLiving as a new person
timony to rugged individualism. In everything
6:10 -20
from commerce to worship, people were in it for
Spiritual warfare
themselves, wanting only to achieve their own
6:21-24
interests. What a fitting place to receive Paul’s
Paul’s final greetings
letter about the unity of believers in worshiping
and working together to serve the one true God.
Paul visited Ephesus on his second missionary journey, left Priscilla and
Aquila there to minister, then once again lived in Ephesus for several years
while on his third journey. He and the Ephesian Christians had come to know
each other well. He did not write to them to correct a heresy or solve a problem.
He did not have to defend his authority to write, as he had done in other letters. He is encouraging believers by helping them understand the nature of the
church and how it should function.
Paul wrote this letter from a prison in Rome. There, chained to a guard for
preaching the gospel, surrounded by the darkness of confinement and the loss
of personal liberty, Paul’s mind and heart soared to write of majestic things.
While this letter is a practical guidebook for the church and Christian living,
it is also a book of superlatives, a walk with sublime images and language.
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