“Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints
who are in Ephesus, and faithful in Christ Jesus”
– Ephesians 1:1 –
Paul probably wrote this letter to the Ephesians when he was imprisoned in Rome. The theme of the epistile is unity in Christ. Paul writes to a church or churches composed of Jews and Gentiles. Asian and European, slaves and free: all representatives od a broken world that needed to be restored to unity in Christ. This implied the unity of individuals, families, churches and ethnicities.
The restoration of a spirit of unity with others, carried out
within in every believer, is a principle of the restoration of unity
in the universe until God achieves the “restoration of all things” (Acts 3:21).
Chapter 1 of the Epistile highlights the following:
- God chose us and predestined us for salvation. No one needs to be lost unless they want to be lost (v. 5).
- We can be saved because we have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ (v. 7).
- Our assurance of this salvation is the action of the Holy Spirit in our lives (v. 13).
- Those who are saved live having faith in Jesus and relating to eacht other with kindness (vv. 1, 10, 14).
- God wants us to grow in our knowledge of Him through the wisdom He gives us (vv. 8, 17).
- Christ was resurrected and intercedes for us (vv. 4-7, 20).
- He is the head of the church (v. 22).
On January 24, 1990, a nineteen-year-old named Adolfo took a bus from Guayaramerín (Bolivia) to a Brazil University with the dream of studying theology. He had to leave his brothers and mother, who insisted the he not go so far from home. Adolfo left with a small bag of clothes, an old guitar, and just $100. It was seventy hours of travel filled with many expectations summed up by his personal motto: “If I have a dream in my head and God in my heart, He will bless me.”
Years passed and Adolfo not only fulfilled his dream of becoming a pastor, by the grace of God he is also a professor and writer, and has a doctorate in theology. He also formed a wonderful family with his wife and two daughters. Today Adolfo Suárez id the director of the Theological Seminary of the South American Division. God does not answer prayers that are not prayed or fulfill dreams that are not dreamed.
“Let us give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! For in our union with Christ he has blessed us by giving us every spiritual blessing in the heavenly world. Even before the world was made, God had already chosen us to be His through our union with Christ, so that we would be holy and without fault before Him. Because of His love, God had already decided that through Jesus Christ He would make us His children – this was His pleasure and purpose” (Eph. 1:3-5).
What a privilege it is to be the son
or daughter of a God who wishes to save us,
at the cost of the blood of His only begotten Son.
Thank you Lord…