In Ephesians 1: 15-23, Paul showed a father's love for his son to the saints in Ephesus: thank God for making them progress and guiding them to see how great God's grace and power are, and let them see that Jesus is the head of the church! His tone is completely father's loving tone, comforting tone, encouraging tone, full of the warmth and love of the Lord! As Paul said in 1 Corinthians 4: 15, although you have thousands of teachers, not many of you are fathers, because I gave birth to you in Christ Jesus.
Ephesians 1: 15- 16? This passage is a prayer of Ephesian believers for God's provision.
Ephesians 1: 17? This sentence is to continue praying and point out that knowing God means eternal life. Jesus prayed, "Knowing you, the only true God, and knowing Jesus Christ whom you sent: this is eternal life." (John 17:3) This is one of the functions of the Holy Spirit accepted by all saints. "If the Spirit of God abides in you, you are not of the flesh, but of the Holy Spirit. If a man does not have the spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. ”(Rom。 8:9) Paul did not pray for them to receive the Holy Spirit. Because he said they had accepted the Holy Spirit. He prayed to the Holy Spirit to give them the wisdom and revelation of God.
Ephesians 1: 18- 19? Keep praying! "Hope, abundance and ability" are the three themes of Ephesians. Hope itself is a feeling of expectation, because it believes that something will happen in the future. "Hope" can also refer to something or a state that will happen in the future.
The hope he calls for is a perfect state in the future. We should stand before God as holy and flawless as Christ, have a close relationship with Christ and show ourselves as the son of God. It is one thing to agree with this truth ideologically, and it is another to understand its meaning. Because the revelation of this fact will affect a person's behavior, as the scripture says, "Dear brothers, we are children of God now, and what will happen in the future has not been revealed. But we know that if the Lord appears, we will be like him, because we will see his true body. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure. " (1 John 3:2-3)
Ephesians 1:20? The resurrection of Christ is a powerful image. We know that we deserve our sins. The rivers and mountains may change, but not one's essential nature However, in the resurrection of Christ, we see that God can do things that are impossible to the world. For ourselves, our sinful body will become brand-new and perfect after resurrection. (see chapter 15)
Ephesians 1:2 1-23? These three verses emphasize the authority of Christ and make believers aware of their right to practice Christian life. Notice how the authority of Christ is applied to the following points:
Christ is the Lord:
When they saw Jesus, they worshipped him, but some people wondered. Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make all nations my disciples and baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. )。 Teach them to obey everything I command you, and I will always be with you until the end of the world. " (Mt. 28: 17-20)
His authority also means the following eternal guarantees:
Christ is the savior;
Just as you gave him authority over all flesh, so that he might give eternal life to those you gave him. (about 17:2)
His authority also includes the authority of Christ's judgment.
Christ will be judged:
"Because he is the son of man, he has the right to judge." (about 5: 27)
As the body of Christ, the church is the external image of Christ, just as an ambassador represents his sending country. But in a more intimate sense, Christ operates in the world through the cooperation between the Holy Spirit and the believers who live in it.
Hallelujah!