Ephesians chapter 1

vs 12

So it is that we have been chosen to put our hope in Christ so that God might be glorified.

vs 13

Now here's some weirdness. Paul has been using the term 'we' up until this point, and you think he's being inclusive - him and the Ephesians. But now he says "you also"! I didn't see that coming.

So who was the we? The Apostles? Paul and Barnabas? Or Paul and Silas? He doesn't really make it clear. Regardless, it does include the Ephesians now. And now he focuses on them more, putting stuff in their name, including the Holy Spirit, which he describes as a seal.

vs 14

This featured large in my sermon on adoption - the Holy Spirit is referred to lots as the guarantee which marks us as heirs of God. It's also a down-payment on our redemption. So we are owned by God, but are also his heirs. It's important to note that Paul wants the Ephesians to be aware that there is a time coming when the possession will be redeemed in a final sort of way, and that is all part of God's glory.

vs 15

Ephesus's church obviously had a fairly good rap.

vs 16

Paul's a pray-er. This is meant to be an encouraging thought for them.

vs 17

His thanksgiving prayers don't just end at thanksgiving, though. They then go on to ask for things on behalf of the Ephesians too. Now look here - if I told you that I was praying God would give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation so that you could know him better, would you be offended? If I phrased it the way Paul does, probably not, but my point is that Paul is telling them that they're being prayed for, and what he's praying for them.

vs 18

This one might sound a little more insulting - I'm praying you might know what it is you believe (don't I already?) - but in the context of knowing the treasures of the inheritance, it's probably not so bad. I guess you could interpret 'knowing the riches' as having them.

vs 19

Ok, verse guy, you screwed up in Ephesians. Every single verse is smack bang half way between two sentences, and it's driving me nuts.

Knowing God's power I guess is like knowing his riches - that you get the benefit of it too. The TNIV does well in retranslating 'like' to 'is the same as', so we know that God's 'power' and 'strength' are in fact the same thing.

vs 20

The idea being, then, that Paul wants the Ephesians to know God's power, that is, the same power God used to raise Christ. Which is awesome power.

vs 21

But God didn't stop at resurrecting Jesus - he placed him at the top, above all other powers, particularly spiritual ones in this case. I say that because of the 'heavenly realms' reference in the previous verse, and because it just seems to be what he's talking about. It's the vibe.

vs 22

Why did God do this? Not just for Christ, but for the church! Incredible thought.

vs 23

The reason he did it for the church, though, is that the church is Christ's body, so he did it for the church in that the church is essentially Christ.

What does this thing about fullness filling everything in every way mean? I don't know. I'm open to suggestion here.