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Our Inheritance
Ephesus was the Roman capital of a province in Asia. It was a major trade center near the coast in Asia Minor and the home of the largest amphitheater in the world, designed to hold 50,000 spectators.
The temple of Artemis, or Diana, was also there and was considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The temple, built in 550 BC, was an architectural wonder of the time. It had 127 colonnades, 60 ft. tall, and was 425 ft. long and 220 ft. wide.
The industry in the city centered around items honoring Artemis.
Paul’s preaching changed Ephesus.
He preached salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. His preaching was so effective that people stopped buying the merchandise related to Artemis. The craftsmen began to lose money.
Luke tells us in Acts 19:24 NKJV, For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Diana, brought no small profit to the craftsmen.” When Demetrius started losing money, he led the other merchants and craftsmen in a riot to try to stop Paul.
Paul continued his missionary journey after gathering the new disciples and admonishing them to remain faithful. He would later come back and continue to work with the church.
In fact, Paul returned on his third missionary trip and stayed two years, preaching and training the leadership of the Church. It was from Ephesus that Paul reached out to evangelize the whole province. The Ephesian Church became a strong center for Christian outreach.
It became so strong that it was chosen four hundred years later as the location of a major church meeting called the Council of Ephesus.
God used Paul there!
Luke records several amazing things God did through Paul in the 19th chapter of Acts of the Apostles.
Items touched by Paul, like handkerchiefs and aprons, were used to heal sickness and even cast out demons. Acts 19:11
While Paul was in Ephesus, he wrote his first letter to the Corinthians.
Another amazing thing happened. The Ephesians accepted Jesus and turned from practicing magic arts. They burned all their magic books. According to Wikipedia, the present-day value of the 50,000 pieces of silver mentioned in Acts 19:19 is around six million dollars.
That is a lot of books and other evil materials to burn. I don’t like the idea of burning books, but as I see more and more evil materials in the library, I wonder if we should burn some of the books we own?
Is it possible that we may have books in our homes that elevate Satan’s cause?
It is getting harder and harder to find good Christian books. While Christian books are becoming more scarce, the shelves are being filled with books encouraging wickedness of every kind.
Other interesting facts about Ephesus:
Timothy was first mentioned as a pastor in Ephesus (1 Timothy 1:3)
Many scholars believe that the apostle John and Jesus’ mother, Mary, lived in Ephesus after Jesus returned to Heaven.
The Church in Ephesus is one of the seven churches Jesus addressed in Revelation 2:1-7. Jesus praises them for standing firm against evil and evil men, but He finds one thing against them: they had lost their first love.
Like many of the churches and individual Christians today, they have lost their love and zeal for Jesus. They were living good lives and obeying God’s Laws, but are not in love with God.
In verses 3-6, Paul defines the origin of the Church.
God’s Holy Chruch did not come from the minds of men. The Church was planned by Our Father God and Jesus Christ, His Son, before they laid the foundations of the world. God planned for us to be with Him as a part of His family. Adopted into His family by the blood of His Son, Jesus.
The Church is God’s chosen family to share in His glory for all eternity.
Take your time as you read Ephesians 1:3-6 NKJV. 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, 5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.
His plan from the beginning was to adopt us into His family, but how could we stand before a holy and righteous God? We are told in Romans 3:23 that, ”we have all sinned and fall short of God’s glory.”
If we have sinned and fallen short, what will happen to us? Is there no hope for us?
How can we be saved?
Paul tells the Ephesians verses 7 & 8.
It is through Jesus’ blood that we who have fallen in sin have hope. He is our only hope. Ephesians 1:7-8 says, 7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace, 8 which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence,
Jesus did the work; now what is required of us?
We hear many different ideas of what we must do to be saved; some are close to the truth. However, when we are talking about our salvation, close is not good enough. And, we can not count on man’s ideas for our salvation.
Paul says in Romans 6:23, For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
We see that we have all sinned, and now we are told that we have earned death.
The wonderful truth is that God provided a way for us to be redeemed through His blood by His grace. We could not do it for ourselves, so God provided a way for us to come into His presence.
Remember, “we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.”
Jesus is the way, the only way!
God’s plan is for all who will come!
God loves all His creation, and gives all mankind the opportunity to come to Him and be a part of His family.
Remember John 3:16, For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
His plan is offered to all, but only those who believe in His plan will be saved. Paul tells us, in Ephesians 1:9-10 NIV, “ 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 reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.”
God’s plan has always been to put everything under Jesus Christ. Romans 14:10-12 NKJV says, But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. 11 For it is written:
“As I live, says the Lord,
Every knee shall bow to Me,
And every tongue shall confess to God.”
12 So then each of us shall give account of himself to God.
Jesus is both the provision for sins and our Judge.
Scripture is clear that we are all sinners in the eyes of God. Not one of us has lived our lives without doing wrong, without disobeying God’s commands. In fact, many have even refused to believe that there is a Creator or Holy God.
We deserve to be separated from God and His mercy. The wages of sin are death, and we are all guilty. However, God has extended His grace to cover our sins if we will accept the redemptive work of Jesus.
Please listen closely to what Paul reveals to us through the Holy Spirit. In Ephesians 1:11-14 NKJV, he says, 11 In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, 12 that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.
God “predestined,” in other words, God planned that those who trusted in Christ would obtain an inheritance. That inheritance is our adoption into the family of God. Our Heavenly Father planned before the foundation of the world for us to be saved by the sacrifice Jesus made on the Cross.
The Ephesians, and today, you and I will receive this gift through our faith.
Paul says, 13 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.
Note: “having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit.” When we believe in Jesus, the Son of God, as our personal Savior, He seals us with the Holy Spirit for all time.
Our inheritance is conditional on our trusting in Jesus’ work of salvation. There were Jewish converts in Ephesus who had a hard time giving up their hope in the Law. They accepted Jesus, but did not want to give up the traditions they grew up with.
We have a problem with our traditions, also. You may be new to learning about Jesus and what He did to save you, or you may have been raised in a church that followed some man-made doctrine that you have to put aside.
Whatever your background, Paul wanted you to know these wonderful truths. He wanted you to know that your inheritance was guaranteed by God and that Jesus gave you His Holy Spirit to mark you for redemption.
Paul ends by mentioning his prayers for them.
Paul tells them, 15 Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, 16 do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him,
His prayer would be just the same for us today. It is the prayer I pray for my Christian friends and my children. If you are a believer, I would hope that you, also, would pray the same for your children and friends.
We all need to be enlightened. At times, we believe things on a physical level, but fail to apply them spiritually.
18 the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,19 and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power 20 which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.
Jesus has been set above all things now and forever. It is by His power that we shall be raised up as His inheritance.
And note this Holy Conclusion
22 And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, 23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
By God’s Holy Grace, we have a part in His Glory.
In our lives, we will see leaders and nations rise and fall. We may even live until Jesus returns and see Him coming in His Glory.
Those of us who walk in faith will be His Holy inheritance.