A look at the first half of Ephesians 1, with a focus of God's calling in our lives. This calling should evoke a response of grateful appreciation and faithful action.

1. ACE Men’s Bible Study
Ephesians
Spring Semester
2015

2. The Impact of a New Year..
“For last year’s words belong to last year’s
language, and this year’s words await a new voice,
and to reach an end is to start a beginning”.
- T.S. Eliot

3. The Impact of a New Year..
“Twenty years from now you will be more
disappointed by the actions you failed to take
versus the actions you’ve taken. So cast off the
bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor, catch the
trade winds, and risk, explore, discover and
impact!”
- H. Jackson Brown

4. ACE Men’s Bible Study
Ephesians
The “Alps” of the
New Testament

5. The Prison Epistles
• In A.D. 62, Four men left Rome, each carrying a letter to
their home town…
• Epaphroditus – Philippi; Epistle to the Philippians
• Philippians 4:18
• Tychicus – Ephesus; Epistle to the Ephesians
• Ephesians 6:21
• Epaphras – Colosse; Epistle to the Colossians
• Colossians 4:12
• Onesimus (Philemon’s slave) – Epistle to Philemon
• Philemon 1:10

6. The Prison Epistles
• >>PAUSE<<
• Did you catch that display and application of God’s
amazing sovereignty??
• Four regular guys just walked out of Rome carrying
four letters that literally changed the world for all time!
• No guards, no guns, no escorts, no secret rendezvous,..

7. The Prison Epistles
• >>PAUSE<<
• DOES THAT CHANGE YOUR VIEW ON HOW GOD
MIGHT USE YOU TO PERMANENTLY CHANGE
THE WORLD??
• IF NOT, WHY NOT??

8. The Prison Epistles
• Ephesians – Presents the Church, His body
• Ephesians 1:22-23
• Colossians – Presents Christ as the head of the Church
• Colossians 1:18
• Philippians – Presents the Christian life, Christ the key
• Philippians 4:13
• Philemon – Presents Christian living in a pagan world
• Philemon 1:17-18

9. The Key Themes of Chapter One
• Ephesians 1:3-6. God the Father planned the Church
• Ephesians 1:7-12. God the Son paid the price for the
Church
• Ephesians 1:13-14. God the Holy Spirit protects the
Church

10. Ephesians 1:1-5
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the saints
who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus;
2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus
Christ.
3 Blessed by the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has
blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly
places,
4 Even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world,
that we should be holy and blameless before Him.
5 In love He predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus
Christ, according to the purpose of His will,

11. Ephesians 1:6-10
6 To the praise of His glorious grace, with which He has
blessed us in the Beloved.
7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the
forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of
His grace,
8 Which He has lavished upon us, in all wisdom and,
9 Making known to us the mystery of His will, according
to His purpose, which He set forth in Christ,
10 As a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in
Him, things in heaven and things on earth.

12. Ephesians 1:11-14
11 In Him, we have obtained an inheritance, having been
predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all
things according to the counsel of His will,
12 So that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to
the praise of His glory.
13 In Him, you also, when you heard the word of truth, the
gospel of your salvation, and believed in Him, were sealed
with the promised Holy Spirit,
14 Who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire
possession of it, to the praise of His glory.

13. The Mystery of His Will – Divine Election
• God the Father called you by name to salvation
But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob,
he who formed you, O Israel;
“Fear not, for I have called you by name, you are mine!”
Isaiah 43:1
• God the Father gave you as a gift to the Son
I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me
out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and
they have kept your word… I am praying for them. I am not
praying for the world, but for those whom you have given me,
for they are yours..
John 17:6,9

14. The Mystery of His Will – Divine Election
• Isn’t divine election unfair? What about free will??
What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no
means! For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I
have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have
compassion”.
Romans 9:14-15
• But what about free will??
But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is
molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?”
Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same
lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable
use?
Romans 9:20-21

15. What Is Our Response?
• “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the
conviction of things not seen” Hebrews 11:1
• God’s sovereignty is our assurance, God’s word is our
conviction. Faith bridges the two.
• “For we walk by faith not by sight” 2 Corinthians 5:7
• If we walk by sight we trust in ours or others experiences,
but if we walk by faith we trust in the revelation and
authority of God.

16. What Is Our Response?
• Grateful Appreciation, Faithful Action!!
For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from
whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that
according to the riches of His glory He may grant you to be
strengthened with power through His Spirit in your inner
being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith
– that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have the
strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the length
and breadth and height and depth, and to know the love of
Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with
all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:14-19

17. ACE Men’s Bible Study
Ephesians
The “Joshua” of the
New Testament