Who He Is and Who We Are
I took a New Testament survey class last spring, and each week we were supposed to pick a chapter of one of the books we were reading to study. Ephesians 1 was one of the chapters I chose to do, and I did something different when studying that chapter. Instead of the usual observation questions, I went with this list of questions: who is Jesus, what has He done, who am I, and what am I called to do? When looking at Ephesians 1 through these four questions, it really pulled out who Christ is and who we are in Him.
Paul starts his letter wishing the Ephesians grace and peace in the Lord, and then he says,
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. Ephesians 1:3-6
In this first section, we learn that Jesus is the Son of God and the Beloved. Jesus has made us holy and blameless before God and enabled us to be adopted by God.
In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us. In all wisdom and insight He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth. In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory. Ephesians 1:7-12
This section tells us that Jesus is our redemption, forgiveness, inheritance, and hope, and everything is summed up in Him. He gave us redemption through His blood, forgiveness of sins by His grace, and an inheritance, and He has lavished His grace on us. I love that word “lavished” in verse 8. The Greek word is perisseuō, which according to Strong’s Greek Lexicon, means to “superabound,” to have more than enough, leftovers, and abundance. I love that reminder that Christ’s grace is more than enough, that it overflows us, that we have an abundance of it. We will never run out of His grace.
In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory. For this reason I too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you and your love for all the saints, do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers; that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all. Ephesians 1:13-23
The chapter finishes up showing us that Christ is raised from the dead and seated at God’s right hand, that He is above all rule, authority, power, dominion, and every name, and that He is head over the church. Christ brings God’s strength into our lives and has all things in subjection under His feet.
Pause for a minute and read back over who Christ is – Son of God, Beloved, our redemption, forgiveness, inheritance, hope, that everything is summed up in Him, He is above all, and He is head over the church. What an amazing Savior!
This chapter also tells us a lot about who we are in Christ. The phrases “in Him/in Christ” appear 11 times in this chapter. It’s so important to remember that key phrase, “in Christ,” when thinking about who the Bible says we are as believers. Apart from Christ, we are nothing. It is because of His death and resurrection that we are brought to God. It is by His grace and strength that we are made into His image, not our own strength. That’s the amazing thing about Christianity – it’s all about Christ and His work in and through us, not about our own strength that so often fails us. What a wonderful gift we have in Him!
Here’s what Ephesians 1 tells us about who we are in Christ. We are:
- Saints
- Blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ
- Chosen so that we would be holy and blameless before Him
- Predestined to adoption through Him
- Redeemed and forgiven
- Lavished with grace
- predestined for an inheritance
- the praise of His glory as those who hope in Christ
- sealed in Him by the Spirit of promise
- part of the church, Christ’s body
We have:
- the mystery of His will made known to us
- the Holy Spirit as a pledge of our inheritance and redemption for God’s glory
The final question in the study was, “what am I called to do?” Verses 18-19 say that we are called to know the hope of our calling and to understand the riches of our inheritance and His surpassing power toward us. We are called to know and understand our salvation, to know and understand Christ’s power, and to know and understand our inheritance. As believers, we are to keep knowing Christ and His amazing grace more.
As mentioned earlier, we are called to live in Christ, which means living by His strength instead of our own, His will instead of our own, His glory instead of our own. We are to live in light of who He says we are instead of who the world says we are. The world’s definitions of who we are and our worth will always change, and we will never measure up. But when we are in Christ, our identity is found in being children of God.
When I was little, I loved it when there were children’s stories or sermons that would say that we were princes and princesses because we were children of the King of kings. I loved it because it meant I was special and had amazing worth in God’s eyes. And you know what? I still love that reminder. We are still princes and princesses when we are children of God, and that is pretty awesome!
I hope you are encouraged today to remember who Christ is and who you are because of Him. Don’t ever forget your worth in Him. Let us continually praise Him for who He is and what He has done in us and for us.
With love,
Kelsey
