[et_pb_section bb_built=”1″][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”The Faithful Experience The Fullness Of Christ Eph 1 15-23Sermon Notes May 26 2019″ _builder_version=”3.23.3″ text_text_shadow_horizontal_length=”text_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ text_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” text_text_shadow_vertical_length=”text_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ text_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” text_text_shadow_blur_strength=”text_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ text_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” link_text_shadow_horizontal_length=”link_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ link_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” link_text_shadow_vertical_length=”link_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ link_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” link_text_shadow_blur_strength=”link_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ link_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” ul_text_shadow_horizontal_length=”ul_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ ul_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” ul_text_shadow_vertical_length=”ul_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ ul_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” ul_text_shadow_blur_strength=”ul_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ ul_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” ol_text_shadow_horizontal_length=”ol_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ ol_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” ol_text_shadow_vertical_length=”ol_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ ol_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” ol_text_shadow_blur_strength=”ol_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ ol_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” quote_text_shadow_horizontal_length=”quote_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ quote_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” quote_text_shadow_vertical_length=”quote_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ quote_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” quote_text_shadow_blur_strength=”quote_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ quote_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” header_text_shadow_horizontal_length=”header_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” header_text_shadow_vertical_length=”header_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_text_shadow_blur_strength=”header_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” header_2_text_shadow_horizontal_length=”header_2_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_2_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” header_2_text_shadow_vertical_length=”header_2_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_2_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_2_text_shadow_blur_strength=”header_2_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_2_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” header_3_text_shadow_horizontal_length=”header_3_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_3_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” header_3_text_shadow_vertical_length=”header_3_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_3_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_3_text_shadow_blur_strength=”header_3_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_3_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” header_4_text_shadow_horizontal_length=”header_4_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_4_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” header_4_text_shadow_vertical_length=”header_4_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_4_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_4_text_shadow_blur_strength=”header_4_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_4_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” header_5_text_shadow_horizontal_length=”header_5_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_5_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” header_5_text_shadow_vertical_length=”header_5_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_5_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_5_text_shadow_blur_strength=”header_5_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_5_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” header_6_text_shadow_horizontal_length=”header_6_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_6_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” header_6_text_shadow_vertical_length=”header_6_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_6_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_6_text_shadow_blur_strength=”header_6_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_6_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” box_shadow_horizontal_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_vertical_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_blur_tablet=”40px” box_shadow_spread_tablet=”0px” z_index_tablet=”500″]
(1 & 2) Walk Thru The Word: Ephesians 1: 15-19 (& 20-23) Our Faith Motivates A Love of God’s People/Saints & Christ Is Raise Above All Things & Seated At God’s Right Hand
15For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, 16I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, 17that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, 18having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might 20that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 22And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, 23which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.
Footnotes:
f 15 Some manuscripts omit your glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.
(3) Message map Ephesians 1: 15 – 23
Ephesians lesson #3
God’s Goal is For The faithful To Experience the fullness of Christ!”
- Eph 1: 15 15Our Faith Motivates A Love of God’s People/Saints
- Eph 1: 16 Paul’s 16 Unceasing “prayer of thanks”
- Eph 1: 17 — 17We need God’s Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him
- Eph 1: 18-19 God wants us to know & Be Secure In what it means to hope in His great 19power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might
- Happy Memorial Day, 2019! Samuel Adams’ Aug. 1, 1776 “American Independence” speech, acknowledged The Headship of Christ Over Our beloved USA
(4) Eph 1: 15 Our Faith Motivates A Love of God’s People/Saints
15For this reason, because I have heard of your faith (Faith is the “inspiration of Confidence. It is that which God gifts us to believe by inspiring our confidence in Himself) in the Lord Jesus and your love (agapé, Holy Spirit inspired love, benevolence, good will, esteem;) toward all the saints, (those set apart by God for His purposes— includes common people who everyday walk in the unheralded good works that God has prepared beforehand per Eph2:10 which says, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”)
- All “good works” need to be done at the direction of God, and not be “My will for God.” John 10:32 NLT sys, Jesus said, “At my Father’s direction I have done many good works. For which one are you going to stone me?”
- Eph 2:8,9: ” For by grace you have been saved through faith (4102/pistis); and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9not as a result of works, so that no one may boast” (NASU).
(5) Eph 1: 16 Paul’s 16Unceasing prayer of thanks
Life in Christ = Locked into 16Unceasing prayer of thanks
16I do not cease (stopped, been restrained; ceased being stirred by its incitements) to give thanks (acknowledging that “God’s grace works well,” for our eternal gain and His glory) for you, remembering you in my prayers, (the activity in which our wishes are exchanged for God’s. There is a transforming nature or aspect to prayer.) [bctt tweet=”In other words, Knowledge of Christ is practical. It is designed to actually work in our lives, which is how we’ve been transformed from what we were to what we are, and to what we are becoming!” username=”LibertyCF3″]
If prayer does not involve thanksgiving, it hardly is a Biblical Christ-Centered Prayer. Those in Christ have a lot to be thankful for, including…
- All Christ-Centered Prayer involves thanksgiving because …
- Christ is the focal point of God’s purposes on the earth
We give thanks because …
- Psalm 118:1-18 O give thanks to the LORD; for he is good: because his mercy endures forever.\
- Colossians 3:15-17 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also you are called in one body; and be you thankful.
- We have God’s Holy Spirit as a deposit guaranteeing our salvation. 2 Co 1:22 The NLT says “and he has identified us as his own by placing the Holy Spirit in our hearts as the first installment that guarantees everything he has promised us.”
- 2 Corinthians 5:4-7 — 4For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. 6So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, 7for we walk by faith, not by sight.
- BTW — 1Tim 6:20 guard the deposit entrusted to you.
- Eph 5:20 Giving thanks always for all things to God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;
When we guard what God has deposited, we become Christ-centric.
Thus, our lives should reflect “Christocentric” or “Christocentricity” which means your life is focused upon a commitment to Jesus Christ as Lord. (master exercising absolute ownership rights).
We don’t treat God as a vending machine from which we chose options. Instead we commit and submit to Him as LORD, our supreme authority in allotters pertaining to both heaven and earth.
When we give thanks to God in worship, we are fulfilling a central reason for human existence, for God designed human heart for worship, and if it does not worship God, it will worship something else. If we are not Christ-centered, we will be centered on something else. Worship is measured by the amount of time, money, and emotional energy expended that we direct God-ward.
What we worship and idolize can be identified by the level of passionate commitment they evoke in us.
Remember the 4D Positive Paraphrase of 10 commandment #2 and, after a while, we begin to resemble them. We talk about them, think about them, dream about them, and scheme to spend more time with them. People who know us best usually know where our deepest passions lie because worship is hard to hide.
(6) Eph 1: 17 — 17We need God’s Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him
Eph 1: 17 Eph 1: 17 17that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory,(also “glorious – honor, renown; especially divine quality, the unspoken manifestation of God, splendor) may give you the spirit (pneúma— the God-breathed vital principle that animates the God–sensitive aspect of our beings) of wisdom (the application of inspired insight that is right for the context and of revelation (that which God unveils and uncovers, which principally reveals Jesus Christ) in the knowledge (“know how” that is appropriate, ”apt, fitting” to apply within the particular context. “Know how” is determined by “contact-knowledge” that which is appropriate,” apt, fitting” to first-hand, experiential application that is defined by the individual context) of him.
In other words, Knowledge of Christ is practical. It is designed to actually work in our lives, which is how we’ve been transformed from what we were to what we are, and to what we are becoming!
James 2:26 26For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.
- supreme intelligence, such as belongs to God: Revelation 7:12, also to Christ, exalted to God’s right hand, Revelation 5:12; the wisdom of God as evinced in forming and executing his counsels, Romans 11:33; with the addition of τοῦ Θεοῦ, as manifested in the formation and government of the world, and to the Jews, moreover, in the Scriptures, 1 Corinthians 1:21; it is called πολυποίκιλος from the great variety of ways and methods by which he devised and achieved salvation through Christ, Ephesians 3:10. In the noteworthy passage, Luke 11:49 (where Christ ascribes to ‘the wisdom of God’ what in the parallel, Matthew 23:34, he utters himself), the words ἡ σοφία τοῦ Θεοῦ εἶπεν seem to denote the wisdom of God which is operative and embodied as it were in Jesus, so that the primitive Christians, when to comfort themselves under persecution they recalled the saying of Christ, employed that formula of quotation (cf. 1 Corinthians 1:24, 30,etc.); but Luke, in ignorance of this fact, took the phrase for a part of Christ’s saying. So Eusebius (h. e. 3, 32, 8), perhaps in the words of Hegesippus, calls those who had personally heard Christ οἱ αὐταῖς ἀκοαῖς τῆς ἐνθεου σοφίας ἐπακοῦσαι κατηξιώμενοι; cf. Grimm in the Studien und Kritiken for 1853, p. 332ff. (For other explanations of the phenomenon, see the commentaries on Luke, the passage cited Cf. Schürer, Zeitgesch. § 33, V. 1 and references.) [SYNONYMS: on the relation of σοφία to γνῶσις see γνῶσις, at the end. “While σοφία is ‘mental excellence in its highest and fullest sense’ (Aristotle, eth. Nic. 6, 7), σύνεσις and φρόνησις are both derivative and special — applications of σοφία to details: σύνεσις, critical, apprehending the bearing of things, φρόνησις, practical, suggesting lines of action” (Lightfoot on Colossians 1:9); but cf. Meyer on Colossians, the passage cited; Schmidt, chapter 13 § 10; chapter 147 § 8. See σοφός, at the end]
(7) Eph 1: 18-19 Eph 1: 18-19 God wants us to know what it means to hope in His great 19power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might
18having the eyes of your hearts (the mind’s eye) enlightened, (illumined to make evident to the revelation from God sharing His life in us to expose and overcome darkness, ignorance and prejudice caused by sin) that you may know (understanding and appreciation that is a gateway to grasping the reality of spiritual truth and its application on this physical plane in the here and now) what is the hope (the pleasurable anticipation and expectation that gives us confidence directed unto God in appreciation of what He has foretold and promised) to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power (the ability, efficacy, energy that generates God’s marvelous works) toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might.
1 Peter 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
LIVING = actively experiencing God’s gift of life.
(8) Ephesians 1: 20 Christ Is Raise Above All Things & Seated AT God’s Right Hand
20that he worked (energized, exerted, accomplished — to bring events and phenomenon from one stage (point) to the next, like an electrical current energizing a wire, bringing it to a shining light bulb. raised (awakened, aroused, lifted up) him from the dead and seated (made him to sit down, set, appointed, to be seated where He will stay for all eternity) him at his right (dominant) hand in the heavenly (the celestial sphere/realms from where divine spiritual activities emanate and are administered),
(9) Ephesians 1: 20–21 Christ Is raised Above All Things & Seated AT God’s Right Hand
21far above all rule and authority (weighted moral right to command and influence by spiritual power), delegated empowerment (“authorization”), operating in a designated jurisdiction.) and power and dominion (1—lordship, divine or angelic domination, dignity, usually with reference to a celestial hierarchy) name (the manifestation or revelation of someone’s character that distinguishes them from all others. Thus “praying in the name of Christ” means to pray as directed and authorized by Him, bringing revelation that flows out of being in His presence. “Praying in Jesus’ name” therefore is not a “religious formula” just to end prayers (or get what we want)! Christ’s name is inseparable from His person essence and character) that is named, not only in this age (cycle of time, characterized by a specific quality 2—a human lifetime 3—type of existence 4– forever) but also in the one to come.
(10) Eph 1: 22 Christ Is The Head and we are the full compliment of His body
22And he put all things under (subordinated under His authority) his feet and gave him as head (a corner stone, uniting two walls; the most prominent one, ruler, lord, supreme, chief, master, lord) over all things to the church, 23which is his body, (figuratively of the mystical Body of Christ (= the Church, the one people of God).) the fulness (the completed supply and full complement, even to super abundance” which is/has been supplied to the body of believers, as the presence, power, agency and riches of God and of Christ; a body wholly filled and flooded by God) of him who fills all in all.
(11) Happy Memorial Day 2019
America’s Founders Acknowledged The Headship of Christ in Samuel Adams’ “American Independence” Speech August 1, 1776
Samuel Adams delivered his “American Independence” speech from the steps of the State House in Philadelphia, PA, the meeting place of the Continental Congress.
In the speech, Adams declares that by voting for the Declaration of Independence, Americans have restored to the “throne” of America “the sovereign to Whom alone all men ought to be obedient.”
Thus, America’s Founders acknowledged they were submitting American culture and government under the sovereignty of Christ!
(12) Let’s Pray:
Give us the grace for You to manifest Christ as the Lord of our lives.
Help us to walk in the Biblical Truths & Godly traditions You established through Your Body of Christ throughout History!
As we prepare to take communion, let us reflect on Who Christ Is & What He means in our lives!
“American Independence”
Samuel Adams [email-download-link namefield=”YES” id=”383″]
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