God’s Salvific Purpose is in the Pronouns

Ephesians 1:1-14

Have you ever struggled for belonging for find yourself wondering if you were in the right family? Ever felt like you weren’t good enough or important enough? The Land Before Time really connected to me as a kid with the found family the dinosaurs created while on the journey together. God created a found family and gave it purpose. Paul introduces his readers into this new found family as he begins the letter to the Ephesian church.

Starting with an introduction to the “saints”, Paul (through the Holy Spirit) gives us a picture of belonging – SAINTS. Though we define that word with weight now, it just means a person who has trusted in Christ and therefore is inducted into the family of God. This is what it all comes down to – family. Paul shows this with an incredible word picture of the Trinity – different roles, but perfect ONEness. This is how we will walk through the passage.

The Blessings in Christ

We join this family by trusting in Christ. But it has always been God’s plan to utilize the family structure as the way in which to share His blessings with the world. This all started in Genesis 12 with the calling of Abraham and the beginning of the family of God. “In you, all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (12:3). Being on this side of history, we have the extra blessing of looking back and knowing that blessing God was promising through Abraham is Jesus – the lamb of God who gave Himself so we could be made right with God. This is highlighted by the fact that Paul, as he starts off this letter, was very specific in his use of pronouns.

Notice the consistent use of shared pronouns. In verses 3-11, Paul uses a shared pronoun 10 times! He does this, as the church in Ephesus is made up of a mix of both Jews and Gentiles. Picture the scene as the letter was being read the first time. They would be together in the reading of this letter where all ethnic groups would hear this collective language, and all be called saints. It is faith in Jesus who brings us into the family of God.

The Plan of God

Not only was this God’s plan all the way back in Abraham’s time, it has been God’s plan throughout eternity past. Verse 4 says we were chosen into the family before the foundation of the world and 2 Timothy 1:9 supports that when Paul said “God’s grace was given to us in Christ before the ages began”. Simply put, the redemption plan came before creation. This is all done in Jesus and with the intention of bringing us all together under Him. This is what leads us to the central thesis statement for the letter and the main theme of the book of Ephesians – UNITY in Christ (verse 10). God planned this so we could all be unified and brought together. This is why salvation happened – for all of us to be brought together in Christ – this is unity in its purest sense, connecting to the word picture of the Trinity, and is what the rest of the letter will be about. No matter who you are, we are all ONE.

The Unifying Work of the Holy Spirit

At least until we get to verse 12. Paul continues his very specific usage of pronouns, but this time he does create a separation between the Jews and Gentiles. He makes a distinction between the first who were to hope in Christ (early Jewish believers) so that he could double down on the fact that the later believers (mostly Gentiles) still receive all the same benefits. This showcases the Holy Spirit as a deposit given to all believers, guaranteeing their eternal placement by His presence in their lives. This is where Acts 2 comes in. When Peter is giving his famous sermon at Pentecost, he emphasizes that this message is not only for those who were near (Jews) but also those who were far off (Gentiles). Thus, all who believe in Christ are given the HS, which brings us all together and unifies us under the banner of God’s love.

Next Steps

God is building a multi-generational, multi-ethnic family and you fit in there! And that means – we are all stuck together (which only becomes more important as continue through the letter). The focus today, though is simply understanding the depth of God’s gift of grace for EVERYONE. You can do that in these ways:

1. Celebrate your place in God’s covenant family.
2. Engage with believers in your community–but not like you–to culture an “US” mentality towards others.
3. Examine yourself and see what might keep you from experiencing full unity with others in the family of God.
4. Ask the Holy Spirit to introduce you to pre-believers you can invest in.

It’s not about you – it’s about God who is for US. No matter who you are, whenever you became a Christian, or what you look like on the outside—if you have placed your trust in Christ for salvation, you are one of US. Always. No matter what.