A Study through the Book of Ephesians

We’re beginning a new series through the book of Ephesians called “Christ at the Center.”  When we read through the book of Ephesians we discover that it’s all about Jesus.  It was written by the apostle Paul from prison originally to a group of believers in the ancient city of Ephesus. Today the city of Ephesus is nothing more than ruins in modern Turkey.  But in Paul’s day it was a thriving metropolis of 300,000 people.  Starbucks would have had 50 locations there at least.  As a capital city in the Roman province of Asia it was a leading trade center, economic center, and political center.  It was a beautiful city, very sophisticated, very cultured, very wealthy, and very educated.  It was also a very pagan city, the location of the temple of the Roman goddess Diana… one of the wonders of the ancient world. 

In the midst of this busy city was a community of Christ followers who were struggling between who they once were as lost, irreligious people and who they had become as “Christians.”  Naturally this confusion resulted in lives that inconsistently reflected the person and practices of Jesus to the world around them.  And this or course  is all too common as many people who follow Jesus share in this same struggle today. With this concern in mind, Paul writes to these ancient followers this ‘epistle’ or letter. 

And this letter is all about Jesus.  Since its original writing, these pages have been divided up for easy reference into 6 chapters totaling 155 verses.  And within those 155 verses, Paul speaks the name of Christ 48 times.  That’s an average of over one out of every three verses making it clear that Christ is at the very center of Paul’s thoughts.  He’s at the very center of everything he has to say to the Ephesian believers and to us today. 

The book of Ephesians is about putting Christ at the center.  And what we will find as we journey through this letter over the next several weeks is that when Christ is at the center, everything else falls in step with who He is… everything.  My prayer is that by the time we complete this study we won’t be the same people and we won’t be the same church.   Please join me in that prayer as we journey through this timeless text!   

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