Recently, I have felt God telling me to write a whole set of days about the book of Ephesians. I believe that He has something to share about it, and that it is a book that will really relate to some people's lives. Because of this, the next set of days I have decided to focus on Ephesians, from start to finish. Today, however, I thought I'd just talk about the idea of Ephesians, to help you (and me) get ready for what's gonna come up during this period.
The book of Ephesians is basically a letter. It's a letter that was sent to the people of Ephesus, a major port city of the Ancient World. Most people believe that the guy who wrote the book was Paul, while he was in prison. Paul had previously visited the city for about 2 years, and so he probably knew most of the people there very well. The letter may have been written to one or a group of churches in the area. The town of Ephesus had it's own 'Goddess', Artemis, the 'goddess' of hunting and the wilderness in Greek Mythology. The people of Ephesus were not from a Jewish background, so the idea of one God was new and different to what they had been accustomed to. In his letters, Paul emphasised the point that the Christians in Ephesus needed to escape from their pagan ways and remember that God was the one true God.
Probably the main theme of Ephesians is the Church being the body of Christ. It's about how as Christians, we should unite and get along with one another. We may be different, but we all have one purpose: to serve God. Another theme in Ephesians is keeping the church holy for God, and living through Christ as Christians. It describes how our lifestyles should reflect God's love and compassion. Furthermore, it tells us about giving up sin and renouncing pagan ways. A major section in Ephesians is about the armour of God, which many of you will have heard of. This is how we should fight our battles, not with blood, pain and death, but with faith, truth and the Holy Spirit.
Prayer
Dear Lord,
Thank you for your word. Thank you that we can learn from it. Thank you that you have made it accessible to anyone and everyone. Please help us to tell when something in the book of Ephesians applies to us now. Please help us to understand what you are trying to tell us over the next set of days. And most importantly of all, help us to enjoy learning more about what you have called us to do and find it interesting, not like something from a textbook.
Amen