Ephesians Part 1: All Things in Christ
Who Are You in Christ?
Ephesians 1:1-6
If someone asked you to introduce yourself, what would you say?
Most of us would probably begin with our name, followed by what we do for a living, where we're from, or something about our family. We might mention our hobbies, accomplishments, or the things that keep us busy. And there's nothing wrong with any of those answers. They're all part of our lives.
But here's a question worth considering: How much of your identity is tied to things that could change tomorrow?
Our careers can change. Our health can change. Relationships and circumstances change. Even the things we're proudest of accomplishing can eventually become distant memories. If our understanding of who we are is built entirely around those things, what happens when they're taken away?
As we begin our new series through the book of Ephesians, called All Things in Christ, Paul introduces us to an identity that cannot be shaken by the changing circumstances of life.
And he does so before giving the church a single command.
A Letter About What God Has Done
Ephesians was written by the apostle Paul, traditionally understood to have been during his imprisonment in Rome around AD 60–62. The city of Ephesus was an important center of commerce, culture, and religion in the Roman world. It was famous for the Temple of Artemis, and Christianity's arrival challenged the religious practices and economic interests of the city.
These believers knew what it meant to follow Jesus in a culture filled with competing claims about truth and worship. The gospel declared that Jesus Christ alone is Lord, and that message wasn't always welcomed.
Yet when Paul writes to these Christians, he doesn't begin by telling them how to handle opposition or how to become better people. He begins by reminding them of what God has accomplished through Jesus Christ.
That is actually how the entire letter is organized. Chapters 1–3 focus primarily on the glorious realities of our salvation, while chapters 4–6 explain how those truths ought to shape our everyday lives.
The order matters. Christianity isn't about doing enough good things to convince God to accept us. It's about receiving what God has graciously accomplished in Christ and living in response to that grace.
Grace comes first. Obedience follows.
Our Identity Is Received, Not Achieved
Paul begins by identifying himself as an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God. His authority and calling weren't accomplishments he could claim for himself. They were given to him by God.
He then addresses the believers as saints.
Now, when we hear the word saint, we might imagine someone who has achieved an extraordinary level of holiness. But that's not how Paul uses the word. The saints are ordinary believers who have been set apart for God through Jesus Christ.
That means if you belong to Christ, you are one of God's saints. Not because you've lived a perfect life, but because you belong to a perfect Savior.
Paul describes these believers as being both in Ephesus and in Christ Jesus. Ephesus was where they lived, but Christ was where their deepest identity was found.
The same is true for us. We may live in Marysville, Ohio. We have jobs, families, responsibilities, and all sorts of things that make up our daily lives. But for the Christian, none of those things ultimately determines who we are.
We belong to Jesus Christ.
That truth should shape how we understand both our successes and our failures. When life is going well, we don't have to build our worth around what we've accomplished. When life becomes difficult, we don't have to assume that we've somehow become less valuable.
Our standing before God rests in Christ, not in our changing circumstances.
And this identity carries a calling. We don't pursue holiness to become God's people. We pursue holiness because, through Christ, we already belong to Him.
Blessed Beyond What We Can See
In verse 3, Paul writes:
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places."
When we talk about God's blessings, our minds often turn toward the things we can see and touch. We think about our homes, families, health, jobs, or financial provision. Those are wonderful gifts, and we should be thankful for them.
But what happens when those things aren't going well?
Does a difficult season mean that God has stopped blessing us?
Paul directs our attention toward something far greater than our material circumstances. He tells us that God has already blessed His people with every spiritual blessing in Christ.
Notice the tense. God has blessed us. Paul isn't describing something we might eventually earn if we become sufficiently mature or obedient. He's describing what already belongs to those who are united to Jesus Christ.
As we continue through Ephesians, we'll discover more of these blessings: redemption, forgiveness, the Holy Spirit, and the inheritance God has promised His children.
These are not temporary comforts that disappear when circumstances change. They are the riches of salvation, secured through Christ.
And that should affect how we think about our lives.
It's easy to look at someone else's home, career, family, or circumstances and begin to feel that we've somehow been shortchanged. Comparison has a way of making us forget what we've already received.
But Paul reminds us that the greatest blessings of the Christian life aren't measured by what we accumulate here on earth.
A believer may experience hardship, financial difficulty, sickness, or loss and still possess every spiritual blessing God has given in Christ.
That doesn't make suffering easy, but it gives us a reason for hope that suffering cannot destroy.
Chosen and Welcomed Into God's Family
Beginning in verse 4, Paul takes us even deeper into the grace of God:
"Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him."
The doctrines of election and predestination can raise some difficult questions. Christians have spent centuries discussing them, and they certainly deserve careful study. But it's worth noticing how Paul introduces these truths.
He doesn't present God's choosing as a theological puzzle. He presents it as a reason for worship.
Before the foundation of the world, God had purposed to save a people for Himself in Jesus Christ. Our salvation isn't rooted in our goodness, religious accomplishments, or ability to make ourselves worthy. It is rooted in God's gracious purpose.
And notice what Paul says about holiness. God didn't choose His people because they were holy and blameless. He chose them so that they would be holy and blameless.
That's an important distinction. God's grace doesn't give us permission to remain in sin, but neither does our pursuit of holiness earn us His acceptance. Holiness is part of what God saves us for.
Then Paul introduces one of the most beautiful truths in this passage:
"He predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will." — Ephesians 1:5
Think about what that means.
God could have forgiven our sins and left us at a distance. He could have declared us righteous and simply allowed us to go on our way.
But He did something more.
He welcomed us into His family.
There is an important difference between justification and adoption. In justification, God declares the believing sinner righteous through faith in Jesus Christ. Our guilt is dealt with because of Christ's saving work.
Adoption takes us further. The God who has declared us righteous also receives us as His children.
In the Roman world, adoption carried significant legal meaning. An adopted person received a new standing within the family and could share in the rights of inheritance. Paul's original readers would have understood that adoption was much more than a change of title.
And that's true of our adoption in Christ.
We have been given a new relationship with God. When we pray, we approach Him as our heavenly Father. When we struggle, we can rest in His care. When we sin, we are called to repentance, but His fatherly discipline is not the condemnation from which Christ has delivered us.
And as God's children, we are also heirs.
Romans 8:16–17 tells us that those who are children of God are fellow heirs with Christ. Through Him, we have been promised an inheritance that no earthly fortune could ever match.
Everything we build or accumulate in this life will eventually pass away. But the eternal life and future glory promised to God's children are secured through Jesus Christ.
That is an extraordinary reason to rejoice.
All to the Praise of His Glory
Paul brings these opening verses to their proper conclusion in verse 6:
"To the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved."
Why has God done all of this? Why has He chosen, blessed, and adopted sinners through Jesus Christ?
For the praise of His glorious grace.
The ultimate purpose of our salvation is the glory of God. And when we begin to understand the riches of His grace, worship becomes the natural response.
That's where I hope this new series will take us as a church.
We've spent time in Titus learning what a healthy, faithful church ought to look like. In Philippians, we considered what it means to live with Christ at the center of everything. Now, in Ephesians, we're going to explore the extraordinary riches of what God has accomplished for us through His Son and how those truths should transform our lives.
But before we get to what we're called to do, Paul wants us to see what God has already done.
If you belong to Christ, your identity is secure in Him. You have received spiritual blessings that this world cannot provide. You have been welcomed into God's family and promised an eternal inheritance.
And none of it is because you managed to make yourself worthy.
It is all because of Jesus Christ.
As we begin All Things in Christ, my prayer is that we would grow in our understanding of these truths, but even more importantly, that our knowledge would lead us to greater worship, deeper gratitude, and lives increasingly shaped by the grace we have received.
Because the more clearly we see what God has done for us in Christ, the more faithfully we can live for Him.
Reflection Questions
1. When someone asks who you are, what things do you naturally use to define yourself? How much of your identity is rooted in Christ?
2. Paul describes ordinary believers as saints. How does understanding that you have been set apart for God change the way you view yourself and your responsibility to pursue holiness?
3. Why is it important that Ephesians begins with what God has done for us before addressing how we should live?
