"Ephesians 2-6"
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Plato told a famous story about prisoners chained up in a cave, with a fire burning behind them. The prisoners couldn't see anything except the shadows of whatever passed by the fire. To them, everything looked like shadows; that was all there was. But then a prisoner was freed to experience the world above. After seeing this fuller reality, he returned to tell the other prisoners about it, but they thought he was crazy and sent him away.
For Plato, the story illustrated the philosopher's life. But it raises a lot of other questions for me. Do I see things as they are? What am I missing? Is there a reality beyond the shadows, a greater meaning to life?
As we bring these questions to our readings in Ephesians this week, let's notice three phrases that lift us to see "the eternal purpose" (Eph. 3:11) — the epic, cosmic story behind everything.
The Heavenly Places
Last Friday, we read about the "spiritual blessings in the heavenly places" (Eph. 1:3). This week, on Monday (Eph. 2), we learn that God saved us by grace and seated us with Christ "in the heavenly places" (Eph. 2:6; cf. 1:20) to display his "immeasurable riches" of kindness toward us (Eph. 2:7). But later in the book, we'll see that the "heavenly places" are also the spiritual realm where dark forces exist. To see the world beyond the cave, we must realize that "we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places" (Eph. 6:12).
The Mystery
God hid his plans for a long time, but God has now revealed "the mystery" (Eph. 3:3), and "when you read" Paul's letters, you can grasp the insight God gave him (Eph 3:4). God has brought people from all nations together with Jewish Christians as "fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ" (Eph 3:6).
In Tuesday's reading (Eph. 3) Paul explains "the plan of the mystery hidden for ages … so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places … according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ" (Eph. 3:9-11). God shows his wisdom in the church! By his redemptive love, believers unite with Christ as a bride to a husband. As Paul says, "this mystery is profound" (Eph. 5:29-32).
The Walk
One of Ephesians' striking features is how it shifts seamlessly from three chapters of lofty ideas to three chapters of practical applications. On Wednesday (Eph. 4), the second half of the book begins, "I therefore … urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called"(Eph 4:1; cf. 4:17).
On Thursday, Paul says to "walk in love" (Eph. 5:2), "walk as children of light" (Eph. 5:9), and "walk, not as unwise but as wise" (Eph. 5:15). If our affections rest with Christ in the heavenly places, it changes life below, in our earthly walk.
The book closes on Friday (Eph. 6) with a call to arms, urging us to equip ourselves with God's character and join the battle against evil (Eph. 6:10-20). Flawed as we are, God aims to make you and me his holy instruments of love and righteousness — that's the point of it all!
