Introducing Ephesians - Our Riches in Christ

Pretend with me that a rich man came up to you and said, "I am putting aside $1,000,000 to meet all your financial needs the rest of your life. All you have to do is go and take some out to meet whatever need you have today." You would probably be excited. I know I would. (We would also probably look around for the hidden camera to see if we were on some goofy tv show!)

A long time ago the Apostle Paul wrote a letter to the Christians at Ephesus and the surrounding area. In it we find an offer from God, a promise, sort of like our story above. But instead of money, He offers something much better: spiritual blessings. Read Ephesians 1:3: "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ." The Good News Bible puts it this way: "Let us give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! For in our union with Christ he has blessed us by giving us every spiritual blessing in the heavenly world."

This would have been both wonderful words but also challenging words for the Ephesian believers to hear. They came from a town which was a power center for Roman rule and politics. Their city was home to the famous Temple of Diana, a goddess that the people believed gave them the good things they needed. Their city was also a very busy commercial center. It had a major port and good roads to support a thriving trade business. Also, there were businesses of all kinds right in the city, many supported by the Temple of Diana.

Naturally, the people of that city might feel their security came from politics, religion and money. Paul wanted the believers to know that true security can never come from any of those sources. True security was found in God and His Son, Jesus Christ. It is Christ who 'blesses us with every spiritual blessing." These are the true source of riches.

And so all of the book of Ephesians relates to this theme. Ephesians 1-3 is about things which we must understand and believe such as: how we came about getting these riches; what are my true needs now and what is my part in acquiring them. Ephesians 4-6 is all about how I live now that I understand I have these riches. How do I behave towards others, especially my fellow Christians. How do I relate to my spouse, my children, my neighbor, my boss and my employee. Finally, how do I defend this rich inheritance from theives.

Paul says that these riches are found in the 'heavenly realms'. Why there? Well, that is where Jesus Christ lives right now, right next to the right hand of our Heavenly Father. Together they distribute this great wealth to those in need.

But it is also in heaven for security reasons. Lets go back to the illustration we started with, suppose we were to ask that rich man, "Where do I find this money?" And suppose he were to say, "Go to the corner of Hastings and Burrard Streets in Vancouver." (For those not familiar, this is a kind of a pretty rough area of the city with a lot of homeless and drug addicts living on the street). Our rich man continues, "There on the corner in a cardboard box you will find the money. Go and take some whenever you like. You'll lknow the box because it says LOTS OF MONEY INSIDE on it." You and I would think he was crazy to leave it there. It wouldn't be there very long at all.

Well, in our case, our spiritual riches are found in heaven because they are very secure there. Nothing or nobody has access to them that aren't allowed. But you and I are access. Jesus said so. "Come unto me" is the invitation. "Come as you are" is the requirement. "Take as you need" is the offer.

There are blessings of all sorts: forgiveness, cleansing, strength and power, wisdom and understanding, a permanent place in God's family, God's presence with us always, the Holy Spirit living inside us and on and on and on. It would take many web pages to cover them all and even then we couldn't do it. There's help for all those difficult problems we face: health problems, money issues, relationship problems and struggles with sin and attitudes and addictions and mre.

Jesus gently says come. Come as you are, come with all your failings and shortcomings. Come. "Come and believe in Me' Jesus asks. And he will share all good things with those who come and trust.

In the coming weeks we will look at what that means from the Book of Ephesians. This week, try and read the whole book two times. It doesn't take that long. Its just 6 short chapters long.

Next week we will look at the Apostle Paul's life and see how God carefully and thoughtfully weaves all the pieces of our life together to accomplish His purpose in us and through us (even those areas we don't especially like).

As always, if you have any questions or would like a handout of today's lesson, just drop an email to me at scott-on-ephesians@hotmail.com