EPISTLES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT
Prison Epistles: II
EPHESIANS
Eternal Plan
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1:3 heavenly realms 1:4 before the creation 1:9-11 the mystery of his will...when the times
will have reached their fulfillment...the purpose of his will 1:14,18 our inheritance....his glorious
inheritance 1:20 heavenly realms...rule and authority,
power and dominion 2:1 kingdom of the air 2:6 in the heavenly realms 3:2,4,6 the mystery made known....the mystery of
Christ....mystery through the gospel 3:9 mystery which for ages past was
kept hidden 3:10 rulers and authorities in the
heavenly realms 3:11 his eternal purpose 3:15 his whole family in heaven and on
earth 4:10 ascended higher than the heavens in
order to fill the whole universe 6:11 the devil's schemes 6:12 Our struggle is...against the
rulers...authorities...powers of this dark world, and against the spiritual
forces of evil in the heavenly realms 6:19 the
mystery of the gospel |
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The
seaport, Ephesus, was the capitol of the province of Asia. Its temple to Artemis eventually became
one of the Seven Wonders of the World.
The temple was burned and rebuilt 7 times, each time larger than the
last. Whereas Solomon's temple was
30' X 90', the last temple to Artemis was 164' x 308'. It had 120 columns set in two rows, each
6' across and 60' high. However, the
second temple is the one Paul saw, built during the reign of Alexander the
Great. Her temple was an empty
building except for her statue at one end.
There was also an ampitheatre built in her honor nearby. Olympic-type games were played there. Artemis supposedly fell from heaven into a forest near
Ephesus (Acts 19:35). Her crown
looked like a city wall, her chest was full of breasts as the mother of all
life, and her legs were wrapped together as a mummy and carved with animals
and mystical incantations. These
incantations must have also been printed on scrolls for use in sorcery. As a result of Paul's teachings, such
scrolls were burned publicly, valued at 50,000 pieces of silver (a piece of
silver was a day's wages). Shrines of her temple - sacred dwelling places - were
made and sold to tourists to take home with them or travelers to pack for
their trip so they would never be far from worshipping her, the life giver
and protector. These shrines were
also placed in graves, possibly to provide a place of worship for the spirits
of the departed. Artemis was goddess of the forests and wild animals,
and life in general, and therefore a general life-giving force in
nature. She was especially dear to
women giving birth. Therefore, she
was the goddess of fertility, although she was portrayed as a virgin. Her priestesses were virgins. Her high priest was a eunuch, and under
him were priests who served for only one year to offer sacrifices - anything
of value - in behalf of the city government (never bloody sacrifices) -
probably disguised taxes. Her temple
was used as the treasury building of the Ephesians and the province of
Asia. After three years in Ephesus (Acts 20:31), the old
pagan ways could tolerate Paul no longer.
"A silversmith named Demetrius, who made silver shrines of
Artemis, brought in no little business for the craftsmen. He called them together, along with the
workmen in related trades, and said, 'Men, you know we receive a good income
from this business. And you see and
hear how this fellow Paul has convinced and led astray large numbers of
people here in Ephesus and in practically the whole province of Asia. He says that man-made gods are no gods at
all. There is danger not only that
our trade will lose its good name, but also that the temple of the great
goddess Artemis will be discredited, and the goddess herself, who is
worshiped throughout the province of Asia and the world, will be robbed of
her divine majesty." As a
result, a riot started and progressed to the ampitheatre where the crowd
shouted for two hours "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!" (Acts 19:28-34). Then ensued the riot and Paul's escaping from the city. An interesting and fairly reliable speculation is that
Mary, Jesus' mother, was living here in Ephesus by now. This idea comes from the Apostle John's
ties with Ephesus over the years, and it was to his care that Jesus had
entrusted his mother (John 19:26-27).
Also interesting is the fact that never do any of the New Testament
epistles greet Mary or mention anything about her, even though their letters
were sent to the entire civilized world at that time and she had to be
somewhere among them. Over the next 35 years, four letters were written to
the church in Ephesus by apostles.
This letter of Paul's was the first.
A couple years later after being released from prison, Paul wrote two
letters to Timothy was in Ephesus (1 Timothy 1:3). And thirty years later, the Apostle John wrote a fourth letter
to them as one of the "seven churches of Asia" in the book of
Revelation (Revelation 1:4; 2:1). By
this time, the church at Ephesus had deteriorated (not in size or doctrine,
but in love) as Paul had predicted would happen in Acts 20:28-30. |
1:3 Jesus Christ fell from
heaven, as did Artemis, but then he returned to bless us in the
________________________________.
1:4-5 A separate study of
"chosen" reveals that being chosen relied on being qualified (Jesus
did that for us if we believe he did), and begin in the church, litterally in
Greek the "called out" or chosen ones. This verse strongly infers that the world was created for man.
1:9 The mystery of God was
purposed through _______________________________.
1:10 (Also repeated in
3:6) Here is the theme of the
letter. God put into
_______________________, when the ________________________ reached their
___________________________________, bringing all things in
______________________________ and on earth under one head, Christ. Who do you think is the other who is trying
to be our head? (Hint: 6:5)
________________________
1:13 Some people say the seal
mentioned in Revelation 7:2 is our social insurance number, etc. What does this verse say the seal is?
______________________________________________ (The Bible always interprets itself!)
1:20-21 God raised Jesus back to
life, then seated him in the ____________________________________ realms, far
above all _____________________ and authority, ___________________________ and
dominion.
1:22 God made Jesus head over
everything for the __________________________ which is his
___________________________. In Matthew
16:18-19, Jesus also called his church the _________________________ of heaven.
2:2 The ruler of the
__________________________ of the air is the _________________ at work in the
disobedient. Ephesians 6:5 specifies
who this is:
_____________________________________.
2:6 How did God raise us up
with Christ (Romans 6:4)?
_______________________________________
We Christians are right
now seated with Christ in the _______________________________________________.
2:10 Although we cannot be
saved by a certain number of works, we were _________________________ to do
good works which God ________________________________ in advance for us to do.
2:14 By Jesus' blood, he
"our peace" made both Jews and Gentiles one and destroyed the
_______________________, the dividing wall of ____________________________ by
abolishing the Law of Moses. (Remember,
it was Jews from Ephesus and the rest of Asia who caused Paul's arrest in
Jerusalem leading to his imprisonment in Rome (Acts 21:27).
2:19 Christians of all
nationalities are fellow ______________________ with God's people and members
of God's ________________________________.
2:20 The foundation of this
church is the __________________________________ and
___________________________________.
What does Revelation 21:10 & 14 say the foundation of the New
Jerusalem is?
_________________________________
This would lead us to conclude that the church is the New Jerusalem.
2:21-22 The grand temple to
Artemis in Ephesus was nothing compared to the holy _______________________ in
the Lord. We are being built together
to become the dwelling, not where Artemis lives, but where
__________________________ lives by his Spirit.
3:1 Because of all this, Paul
was a voluntary ______________________________________ of Christ, even though
he was an involuntary prisoner of Rome.
3:9-11 THIS IS WHY THE WORLD WAS
CREATED:
God created all things
so that now, through the _______________________________ his wisdom could be
made known to _______________________________ and __________________________________
in heavenly realms according to his _______________________________ purpose.
Why would God have to
do all this to prove a point? To find
this out, we can trace all the times "mystery" is mentioned in the
Bible (see chart in appendix). The
result is that the "mystery" is forgiveness and salvation. Satan is the accuser (12:10); every time he
influences us to sin, he says to God, "See, I told you they are bad." But what we do, God can undo. Satan and justice insisted on punishing us,
so God sent his son to take our punishment for us. Satan is justice, but he is not mercy. God is both. So when the
punishment was settled, he showed mercy to us and said, "Now I'll pretend
you never did those things; I'll pretend you're perfect." Satan, the accusing one. God, the merciful one. Apparently none of the angels of God or
Satan understand this. So God is
demonstrating it through us. Perhaps,
since God's angels will be casting Satan's angels into hell, they need to know
and understand this.
The rest of the reasons
we're here, we'll have to keep searching the scriptures for. Perhaps you've figured out another
reason. But isn't it wonderful that we
have a God we cannot fully understand?
If we could, he would not be God.
3:13 Apparently the church at
Ephesus was discouraged because of Paul's __________________________________
and perhaps felt it was their fault since it was Ephesian-Asian Jews who got
him in trouble in Jerusalem, leading ultimately to his imprisonment in Rome
(Acts 21:27).
3:14 God's kingdom-family is
both in ________________________________ and on ______________________________.
3:18 Christ dwells in us so we
may grasp how ________________________ and ________________ and
___________________ and ________________________ his love is.
3:20 God can do
_________________________________________________ more than all we ask or
______________________.
4:1 Again, Paul says he's a
prisoner, but of whom?
_______________________
4:4-6 List below the things
there is only one of:
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Check
the ones that are part of the "trinity".
4:8 When Jesus ascended to
heaven, he led _____________________________ in his train. Isaiah 6:1 says the train of God's robe
filled the ________________________________.
1 Kings 8:10-11 says the cloud that filled the temple was the
_________________________________ of the Lord.
Therefore, God's train
is his glory. What is God's glory? Exodus 33:18-23 says Moses asked to see
God's glory. God replied, "When my
glory passes by...you will see my back (train)." List below from Exodus 34:6-7a the traits that create God's
glory:
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Therefore, it is by
these traits in Jesus' "train" that he led captives to heaven. Remember, we were not entitled to heaven
until Jesus overcome death. Everyone
had been held in paradise until his resurrection and ascension.
4:14 Childish Christians are
tossed ______________________________________________ by the waves, blown here
and there by every wind of teaching and by the ___________________________ and
_______________________________ of men in their ______________________________
4:15 Who is head of the
church? ______________________________
4:17 The Gentiles were
_________________________________ in their understanding because of the
______________________ in them due to the __________________________________ of
their hearts.
4:19 The Jews were usually
moral, but the result of the Gentiles hardening their hearts was the loss of all
___________________, giving themselves over to
___________________________________ with a continual ____________________ for
more.
4:32 But if one of our numbers
does any of these since listed in the previous verses, we must
__________________________ because Christ forgave us.
5:3-5 lists still more sins,
which he calls idolatry:
* O
* F
* C
* I
* G
5:18 We can be filled with the
Spirit instead of getting ___________________________.
5:19 We need to speak to each
other with ________________________________________________________________________,
making music by playing
on the strings of our _________________________.
5:21 Men and women are to
submit who?
________________________________________
5:2 Wives are to submit to
who?
____________________________________
5:25 Husbands are to submit to
who? __________________________________
5:32 Wives are compared with what? _________________________________________
6:1 Children are to submit to
who? __________________________________
6:4 Fathers are not to
_______________________________ their children.
6:5 Slaves are to submit to
who?
____________________________________
6:9 Masters are to remember that they have a
Master in _______________________
6:11 We are to put on the
armour of God so we can take a stand against who and what? _______________________________
________________________________________________
6:12 Though we seem to be
struggling only with people and events on earth, actually we are struggling
against rulers, authorities, and powers of this
________________________________________________________ and against the
_________________ forces of evil in the
_______________________________________________________.
6:14-16 Our Christian
armour is:
* Buckle of
______________________________
* Breastplate of
___________________________
* Boots of
_________________________________ with the _________________________ of peace
(not war)
* Shield of
________________________________
* Helmet of
______________________________
* Sword of the Spirit
which is the ________________________ of God
6:20 Paul was an ambassador for
God in _________________________________
6:21 Tychicus, who delivered
Paul's prison letters to both Ephesus and Colossae, was from (see Acts 20:4)
the province of ________________________.