The Author's Intention of Ephesians

I'm preparing to lead a study on Ephesians 1. Here are some good quotes from Peter O'Brien's commentary on Ephesians, "The Letter to the Ephesians."

“He [Paul] writes Ephesians to his mainly Gentile Christian readers, for whom he has apostolic responsibilities, with the intention of informing, strengthening, and encouraging them by assuring them of their place within the gracious, saving purpose of God, and urging them to bring their lives into conformity with this divine plan of summing up all things in Christ (1:10). Paul wants to ‘ground, shape and challenge’ his readers in their faith. In other words, the main purpose of his letter is ‘identity formation’. (O’Brien, p. 57) brackets mine

Cosmic reconciliation and unity in Christ are the central message of Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians. (O’Brien, p. 58)

The aorist infinitive ‘to bring all things together’ does not point to the past, but signifies purpose: the summing up of all things is the goal to be achieved. Yet the implementation of the divine plan is already under way. The letter makes it quite plain that significant steps have already been taken to set in motion the achievement of this goal: in particular, it is through Jesus’ saving work that the revelation of the mystery’s content has come about (1:7-9), while God’s placing all things under his feet and appointing him to be head over everything for the church (1:22) is an important step towards the fulfillment of this goal. But the summing up awaits the consummation, which will occur at the end. (O’Brien, p. 60).

O'Brien has a quote by Cargounis about "the summing up of all things." or anakephaloaiosis.

In his stimulating monograph dealing with the mystery in Ephesians, Chrys Caragounis claims that as Paul proceeds to amplify and explain the meaning of the anakephaloaiosis throughout the letter, he concentrates on two main representatives of these spheres, namely, the powers representing ‘the things in heaven’, and the church (particularly in relation to Jews and Gentiles in the body of Christ) representing ‘the things on earth’. Caragounis further suggests that the two obstacles which need to be overcome before the divine purposes of bringing everything back into unity in Christ can be fulfilled are (a) the rebellion of the powers, and (b) the alienation of the Jews from the Gentiles (2:11-22, as well as the estrangement of both from God, 2:16). Much of the rest of Ephesians is given over to explicating, with reference to each of these two spheres, the steps in the process that God has taken in order to ‘bring all things into unity in Christ’.

The Great Dividing Line between Rome and the Reformation

Sinclair Ferguson in his introduction to John Owen's book, The Holy Spirit: His Gifts and Power, comments on the role the doctrine of the Holy Spirit has in church history.

Indeed the famous counter-reformation Jesuit missionary to England, Edmund Campion, once said that the great dividing line between Rome and Geneva lay along the axis of the doctrine of the person and work of the Holy Spirit. In effect, in the place of the Holy Spirit the Roman Catholic Church had substituted the role of the church--its teaching authority, its priesthood, and its seven sacraments. In this respect, Owen stood on the shoulders of the Genevan reformer John Calvin whom B.B. Warfield insightfully called 'The theologian of the Holy Spirit.'

Like Calvin before him, however, Owen's exposition of the Spirit's ministry is not only set over against Roman Catholic sacramentalism but also against contemporary teaching that tended to separate the Spirit from the word of God and focus attention on individual revelation by the Spirit rather than on the Spirit's illumination of the revelation in Scripture. (p. 24)

The Joy of God's Love

R. A. Torrey writes in his book The Person and Work of The Holy Spirit about a father's love for his child. The example he gives is quite moving.

Some years ago there was a father in the state of Illinois, who had a child who had been deaf and dumb from her birth. It was a sad day in that home when they came to realize that that little child was deaf and would never hear and, as they thought, would never speak. The father heard of an institution in Jacksonville, Ill., where deaf children were taught to talk. He took this little child to the institution and put her in charge of the superintendent. After the child had been there some time, the superintendent wrote telling the father that he would better come and visit his child. A day was appointed and the child was told that her father was coming. As the hour approached, she sat up in the window, watching the gate for her father to pass through. The moment he entered the gate she saw him, ran down the stairs and ran out on the lawn, met him, looked up into his face and lifted up her hands and said, “Papa.” When that father heard the dumb lips of his child speak for the first time and frame that sweet word “Papa,” such a throb of joy passed through his heart that he literally fell to the ground and rolled upon the grass in ecstasy. But there is a Father who loves as no earthly father, who longs to have His children realize that they are children, and when we [pg 140] look up into His face and from a heart which the Holy Spirit has filled with a sense of sonship call Him “Abba” (papa), “Father,” no language can describe the joy of God.

It may be said, I think, the measure of joy in a relationship is the measure of love in the relationship especially in the parent's love for their children. Our greatest joy should be that God joys over us.

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 1 John 3:1

The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you (Zephaniah 3:17)

but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8, ESV)

God's meaningful universe

John Frame in his book, The Doctrine of God, explains the significance of decrees and the job of humanity in understanding them.

God's decrees display his lordship attributes. In an obvious way, they display his control, for they are efficacious and universal. God's intentions will certainly be fulfilled, and they will be fulfilled for everything in the created world.

They also display his authority, for they are meaningful thoughts--wise plans or counsels for the world. As such, they interpret the world; they determine the meaning and significance of everything God makes. God's interpretations, of course, are always supremely authoritative. When he declares the significance of something for his purpose, that is the significance it has. So the doctrine of the decrees implies that God has authoritatively preinterpreted everything and every event. As Van Til emphasized, the interpretation of the facts precedes the facts. Our world is a world that is exhaustively meaningful, because it is the expression of God's wisdom. Among human beings, interpretation is not the work of trying to assess for the first time the significance of uninterpreted facts. Rather, ours is a work of secondary interpretation, interpreting God's interpretation. (pp. 316-317)

In theology, the universe is not random. The events and created objects are purposely created by God to declare His glory (Psalm 19:1-2) and His wrath (Romans 1:18) to anyone who will listen, and we all will listen one day. For those who love God, these facts express God's omnipresence and omnipotence and thus bring comfort and joy.

Genesis 17:1 -- "Walk before me and be perfect."

In his commentary on Genesis, Allen P. Ross quotes Benno Jacob (First Book of the Bible, pp. 109-110) who has some excellent insights into "I am God Almighty; walk before me and be blameless."

If you want to become whole, which is my request for you, you must walk before me; you place yourself under my exclusive supervision, guidance, and protection. The image is taken from the shepherd who walks behind his herd directing it by his calls, or from the father under whose eyes the child walks. It is more than the walking "with" God of Enoch and Noah who were practically lead [sic] by the hand.

When questions arise you shall take directions only from God and be devoted to him without reservation. This word does not refer to moral conduct, for that would be too insignificant in this situation and is self-understood. The high demand corresponds to God's, "Be you mine, and I will be yours." (Creation and Blessing: A Guide to the Study and Exposition of Genesis, p.331)

Ross goes on writes that the Hebrew word "perfect" (tamin includes meanings of "without fault" and "complete" or "whole.") In other words, holiness and separateness is part of the meaning of the word.

C. S. Lewis and Hebrews 1:3

A friend of mine posted on Facebook from the "Science is Awesome" website. ***********************************************************************************************************

You are currently on a 4.5 billion year old spaceship

A self sufficient, organic, complex spaceship.

You are orbiting a power source that is a million times larger than your ship.

There are 200 billion more power sources, possibly with ships like your, in your group.

There are 40 more groups in your particular neighborhood.

Your neighborhood is moving at 2 million miles per hour to an object that is 150 million light years away.

Welcome to life. It's more exciting when you think on a larger scale.

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My friend attributed this quote to Carl Sagan, but the web site does not say. I must agree that it is in the spirit of Sagan. This quote raises many questions. Why does astronomical sizes and millions of years make life more exciting? If that is the case, should not contemplating the end of the universe be our most exciting meditation? The most popular theory of the end of the universe is "The Big Freeze." The universe will keep expanding until it approaches absolute zero. No life, no light, nor even matter as we know it will exist. It will be the big zero. The end of the universe is a big whimper. It is indeed an exciting end to contemplate.

The author of the quote introduces meaning or purpose through the words spaceship and direction; However,  in Carl Sagan's universe, the earth is not a spaceship, but the result of random events. In Sagan's view, we are just the product of time and chance. There is no design. In Sagan's universe we do not have a direction. We are on top of a spinning globe, which is spinning around a star, which is spinning around a galaxy, which is spinning around a local group of galaxies. There is no one driving. We are literally spinning out of control. The biblical world view offers an alternative. Life has meaning; the earth has meaning; and the universe shouts meaning. Read these two quotes.

When Hebrews 1:3 speaks of Christ "sustaining all things by his powerful word," sustain is the Greek verb phero, meaning "bear, carry." This not a picture of Christ as a kind of Atlas, holding up the world on his shoulders ("upholding," KJV), but a dynamic image of him carrying the world from one point to another through time. There is a destination, and Christ's purpose is to bring the world process to that goal, that conclusion. John Frame, A Theology of Worship Volume 2: The Doctrine of God, p. 276 by John Frame.

But already in the New Testament this "Son" is identified with the Discourse or reason or Word which was eternally "with God" and yet also was God. He is the all-pervasive principle of concretion or cohesion whereby the universe holds together. All things and specially Life, arose within Him, and within Him all things will reach their conclusion--the final statement of what they have been trying to express. (C. S. Lewis, Miracles. p.76)

Christ has an ultimate end in mind for the universe, it is for his glory; and He will bring it about.