Main Idea
God was never caught off guard by the fall of humanity. Before the foundation of the world, God had already established His eternal plan in Christ.
Teaching Notes
Paul writes to the saints in Ephesus and to faithful believers in Christ Jesus. Ephesus was a city shaped by culture, religious pluralism, and the Temple of Artemis. Paul is not simply teaching them how to survive in Ephesus. He is teaching them how to live in Christ.
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,
To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (ESV)
Teaching Notes
The story does not begin with sin. It begins with God’s intention. God created humanity in His image and gave them blessing, fruitfulness, dominion, relationship, and purpose.
Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” (ESV)
Teaching Notes
Genesis 3 shows humanity stepping outside of God’s design. Romans 3:23 shows that the problem did not stop with Adam and Eve. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.
Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. (ESV)
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (ESV)
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (ESV)
Teaching Notes
Ephesians takes us even further back than Genesis 1. Before the foundation of the world, God already had a redemptive plan in Christ. God was not surprised by sin.
The Mystery Revealed
The mystery is that God’s answer to humanity’s fall was already established in Christ. The plan the enemy thought he had ruined was already accounted for in God’s eternal purpose.
Teaching Notes
The mystery is not only that believers are placed in Christ. It is also that Christ lives in us. This makes the message personal, powerful, and practical.
To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. (ESV)
Teaching Notes
Ephesians 3 explains the mystery more specifically. Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ through the gospel.
When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit.
This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. (ESV)
Teaching Notes
Believers are not trying to earn spiritual blessings. In Christ, believers already have access to every spiritual blessing needed to live the life God has called them to live.
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. (ESV)
Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (ESV)
Teaching Notes
God’s purpose is bigger than personal improvement. God is restoring, uniting, and gathering all things in Christ. The believer’s life is meant to bring praise to His glory.
As a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.
In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will,
so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. (ESV)
Teaching Notes
The Church is not an afterthought. The Church is central to God’s revealed plan. Through the Church, God displays His wisdom.
So that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.
This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord,
in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him. (ESV)
And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. (ESV)
Closing Reflection
Closing Prayer
Father, thank You for revealing the mystery of Your will in Christ. Thank You that before the foundation of the world, You already had a plan. Thank You for redemption, forgiveness, adoption, inheritance, access, and every spiritual blessing in Christ. Help us live as people who are not merely in church, but truly in Christ. Use our lives and our church to reveal Your wisdom, display Your glory, and advance Your purpose in the earth. In Jesus’ name, amen.