Dave's Diary

Today we shift to the apostle Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians, written to the fledgling Church in Ephesus while he was a prisoner in Rome around AD 60-62. It is a glorious presentation of God’s beautiful plan for His people.

Daily Readings: Ephesians 1 and Psalm 138

Starting at the very beginning, Ephesians 1 reminds us that God originally designed human beings to reveal and reflect His beauty, goodness and glory in the world. We were designed to represent God in this created world by bearing His image. Through humanity, the world should see clearly that God is loving, generous, gracious and kind, that God is patient, gentle, powerful and just, and that God uses His power to create life, to bring order and to bless. Our created purpose was (and still is) to be like Him in this world.

When humanity abandoned that purpose in our selfish pursuit of our own will, desires and pleasures, God did not abandon us. Instead, He put His saving grace into action. In the purposes of God, Jesus Christ came into the world as the ultimate revelation of that saving grace. He came to offer us the forgiveness of sins and adoption back into the family of God, which we had abandoned through sin.

Moreover, in Ephesians 1 we see that God’s plan by no means ends there. Paul writes:

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.

Just as we were originally created to be different from the rest of creation as God’s representatives, so God always planned that, after our forgiveness and adoption, we would resume that calling “to be holy and blameless in His sight.” This is the heart of our purpose in the world! In Jesus Christ we are saved and set apart to reveal the beauty and wonder of God’s goodness and glory in our world – “in order that we … might be for the praise of his glory” (v.12).

Now, don’t lose heart. This is not an impossible ideal. God has also freely placed within us the power to accomplish this great purpose. He has placed within us ¹⁹ … His incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength ²⁰ he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead.” This is the power we have, by which to accomplish our purpose!

Life Application: Look for an opportunity to live in such a way today as to bring praise and glory to God. Look for ways to be loving, generous, gracious, kind, patient, gentle, and just. Look for ways to use your power and abilities to make life better for others.