Riches....

Ephesus was the major city of the Roman province of Asia Minor, what we know as western Turkey. It was a bustling seaport with a cosmopolitan population. The hills around the city were dominated by a temple to the goddess Dianna.

Paul was involved in the founding of a Christian community in the city, which probably grew out of the prosperous Jewish population. Later he returned and spent three years there, using the church as a mission centre to the neighbouring cities. Remembering this it’s no surprise that Paul writes to the Ephesians with a great deal of affection….

Ephes. 1:1-10 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,

To the saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus:

[2] Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

[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. [4] For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love [5] he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— [6] to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. [7] In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace [8] that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. [9] And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, [10] to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfilment—to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.

What has Jesus done for us?

Sometimes it is hard for us to notice. But Paul wants us to look beyond what we can see and start to think in eternal terms – and when we do this we see that Jesus has given us everything. I think Paul deliberately wants us to think in spiritual terms, because he wants us to raise our eyes heavenwards and away from what we can see around us. Because if we spend too much time dwelling on the ‘blessings’ of this world we can take our eyes off away from our part in his mission for the world.

So here Paul tells us just what eternal riches we have in Jesus, especially in our restored relationship with God. We are adopted as sons of God, a theme that Paul returns to again and again in his writings, which means that we are to share in his inheritance. And here we find that God is a rich father. It is his pleasure to do these things for us, he wants to lavish these gifts on us. For the Ephesian Christians, probably poor people in a rich city it was important for them to know the heavenly riches that God wanted to pour out on them.