So I'm reading through the Bible tonite and my fingers flipped over to Ephesians. I recalled a blogger asking what it said on Peter Lumpkins' blog this morning, so I paused to read it again. Then I thought to myself. Why don't I just pray about this chapter of Ephesians and take it verse by verse and tell you my personal thinking on it.
WARNING! I am not going to look up anything in any commentaries. I'm going to take it and pray about it and tell you what comes to my mind as I read it. Now my thoughts and thoughts of learned scholars, such as some of you who frequent this blog are bound to differ. But that's okay. I'm not going to ask you to agree with me on anything. I'm just gonna share what I feel the Lord is teaching me through it.
Now some of the verses within this chapter have effected my life in major ways. And if I can recall some of those things as I write, I'll share them with you. So, this is Ephesians ONE according to selahV.
Verse One:
"Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God."
I've never put much thought into this verse before. Just sorta read right through it. I know it was customary in Paul's days to begin their letters by signing who was writing the letter. Unlike we, today, who sign ours at the end. As I look at that verse, I'm thinking...how would that read if I were the one writing to the church at Ephesus? Here's what I think it would say:
SelahV, a disciple of Christ Jesus by the will of God.
Now...this is the tricky part. I'm seeing the will of God is what God wanted for me before I was even born. He wanted me to be a disciple of Christ's at the moment I was born. Unlike some folks, I believe that God wants that for everyone. It is God's will that all folks be disciples. It wasn't God's will that all disciples be apostles, though. As I've been taught through the years, the apostles are the ones who saw Christ and were set apart by him to preach the gospel after He ascended to the Father in Heaven.
So in verse one we have Paul (who once was Saul) letting the church know right off the bat that he, under the authority of his apostleship by the will of God had something he wanted to share with them.
That's kinda like me. I, selahV, a disciple of Christ Jesus by the will of God have decided I wanted to share my thoughts on this particular chapter with you. So...that's the first verse. I suppose we could discuss in depth what "by the will" of God means. But I tend to think it means what it says.
It was God's will that Saul was an apostle of Christ's and it was God's will that Paul be writing to the church of Ephesus. Personally, I think it is God's will that I'm writing this right now. So...that's it for tonite. selahV
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