Sent by the King: Our Mission from Ephesians 1:1

Good morning. My name is Pastor Simon, and welcome to the preaching ministry

of Dillingham Moravian Church.

May the Lord work in us to abide in Christ as we study the Word of God together. Let's pray.

Oh, Heavenly Father, what a wonderful opportunity it is to be able to come into

your presence, to be able to hear your Word.

May you teach us. May you show us what your Word means.

And may we, by the power of your Holy Spirit, be able to apply it to our lives

and be able to go out and live it for you and for your glory.

May we be able to make disciples for Christ and live for you in all things.

So again, Father, teach us and guide us and use us. In your precious Son's name,

Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen.

Turn with me in your Bibles today to Ephesians 1, verse 1, where Paul wrote,

Ephesians 1:1

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the saints who are at

Ephesus and who are faithful in Christ Jesus.

Before we start Paul's letter to the Ephesians, it's important to give you a

little background to the city in which the recipients of Paul's letter lived.

According to one Bible dictionary, Ephesus was on the west coast of Asia Minor,

and was the capital of the Roman province of Asia Minor, or modern-day Turkey.

Ephesus was the largest city in the Roman Empire. Its population was estimated

to be around 250,000 people during the time of early Christianity.

And in its time, Ephesus was an enormous city and economically important to

the region and one of the gateways to the east.

Ephesus was located at the mouth of the Keister River on the Aegean coast,

in the southwestern corner of present-day Turkey.

Roads from the city spread out in every direction along the coast and through

the interior of the province.

Ephesus is the setting for Acts 19, where Paul taught daily for two years.

The elders from Ephesus came to see Paul on his last journey to Jerusalem in Acts 20.

Ephesus was also the location from which most of Paul's letters originated,

1 Corinthians, Philippians, Galatians, Philemon, and the largest portion of 2 Corinthians.

It's also thought that Paul's letter to the Ephesians would not have gone just

to one group of house churches in the city, but rather that it had spread throughout

the entire Roman Empire and even farther because of all the roads and commerce interconnecting

Ephesus and the East.

And as we turn in our Bibles to study Ephesians chapter 1, there are two major.

Ephesians 1 · chapter mention

Overarching truths that I would like to bring to your attention.

The first timeless truth that I see in this verse is that as believers in Christ,

we are messengers sent by the will of God.

In today's world, we can send messages in a variety of ways.

We can send messages via our cell phones or landlines, by calling people ourselves,

by texting, instant messaging, tweeting, WhatsApp, email, FaceTime,

or video messenger, or Skype.

Depending on the speed and availability of internet and cell service,

as we know well here in Bush, Alaska, dictates how fast the message gets to its target audience.

Yet in the ancient times, messages were sent by people, and writing utensils

and paper was often very expensive.

So, the human messengers often would have to memorize the message and retell

the message exactly to the intended recipient of the message.

This concept of a messenger delivering a message is what Paul was explaining

about in Ephesians chapter 1, except that he was called to be a messenger of Christ Jesus.

Ephesians 1 · chapter mention

Ephesians chapter 1, verse 1, Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God.

Ephesians 1:1

There are three principles that I want you to see in this first part of Ephesians 1.

The first principle I want to bring to your attention is that Paul was sent

by Christ Jesus as an apostle.

In our modern Western world, we address letters first to the person we are sending

it to, and then at the end, we put the name of the writer to tell the reader who the letter is from.

But in the ancient world, the writer first identified himself or herself as

the author of the letter and then addressed who the letter was being sent to.

And that is what Paul did in this letter. Yet Paul addressed himself as Paul,

which is his Gentile name, rather than his Jewish name, Saul.

This is important because his recorded letters were not addressed to a Jewish nation.

Or cities, rather to the believers of Christ in the non-Jewish world.

Paul didn't just give his name, but he also explained his authority to be able

to write these letters that the churches were to follow and obey.

Paul wrote, Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus.

The word for apostle meant someone or something sent, derived from the verb to send out.

In the New Testament, this word usually refers to someone sent as an authorized

agent by Jesus or the Christian community.

Meaning that Paul was sent out by Christ Jesus or the Messiah,

the anointed King of Israel and Savior of the world.

Now, before we go any further, we need to understand that Paul was not referring

to himself as one of the apostles that were chosen by Christ when Christ was

alive and they were with Jesus.

Mark, in Mark 3, verse 14 to 19, wrote,

Mark 3:14–19

And he, meaning Jesus, appointed twelve whom he also named apostles,

to be with him, and to send them out to preach, and to have authority to cast out demons.

And he appointed the twelve, Simon, to whom he gave the name Peter,

James, the son of Zebedee, John, the brother of James, to them he gave the name Boaginaries,

which means sons of thunder, and Andrew and Philip and Bartholomew and Matthew

and Thomas and James, the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus and Simon the zealot,

and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.

Paul himself recognized the authority of the apostles that were with Jesus because

Paul called the apostles by their title, the Twelve.

In 1 Corinthians 15.3-10, Paul wrote.

For I delivered to you, as of first importance, what I also received,

that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that he was buried,

and that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,

and that he appeared to Cephas, Peter, and then here it is, to the twelve.

After that he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time,

most of whom remained until now, but some have fallen asleep.

After that, he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all,

to one untimely born. This is what I want you to see.

He appeared to me also. For I am the least of the apostles, and not worthy to

be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me did not prove

vain, but I labored even more than all of them.

Yet not I, but the grace of God with me.

Back in Ephesians chapter 1, Paul stated that he was an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God.

Ephesians 1 · chapter mention

And this leads us to the second principle I want you to notice.

Not only was Paul sent out by Christ Jesus, but Paul also recognized that he

belonged to Christ Jesus.

The word of is a belonging word. That is why Paul wrote that he was an apostle of Christ Jesus.

Yes, Paul was sent by the anointed king of Israel and the savior of the world.

Yet Paul also belonged personally to the Messiah savior.

Paul no longer was his own person, but he belonged body, mind,

and soul to Christ Jesus who had invited and included Paul into his family and

into the mission of Christ the Savior.

The third truth I want you to notice is that Paul, who belonged to Christ Jesus,

was an agent or emissary sent by Christ Jesus by the will of God.

Meaning that Paul, being an apostle or sent one, was ordained by God's choice

for God's mighty purpose.

Although Paul was not with Jesus in the same way as the twelve were,

and he wasn't discipled and trained by Jesus as the twelve were,

Paul was commissioned by Christ and with the same grace of Christ as Peter and

the other apostles were commissioned with.

Let's look at Galatians 2, verses 7-9.

Galatians 2:7–9

But on the contrary, seeing that I have been entrusted with the gospel to the

uncircumcised, just as Peter had been to the circumcised, For he worked in Peter

unto his apostleship to the circumcised.

He worked in me also unto the Gentiles. And here it is, verse 9.

Recognizing the grace that had been given to me, James and Cephas and John,

who were reputed to be pillars, gave to me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship

so that we might go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised.

So what can we as Christians learn from these truths? that we are.

Sent out by Christ Jesus to share the gospel of Jesus Christ by the will of

God to the world and make disciples for Christ.

What does this mean to you and I as disciples of Christ?

Paul in 2 Corinthians 5, verse 18 to 21 proclaimed this,

2 Corinthians 5:18–21

Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ,

and gave us the ministry of reconciliation,

namely that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself,

not counting their trespasses against them.

He has committed to us the word or message of reconciliation.

And please pay attention to this verse 20. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ.

As though God were making an

appeal through us, we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

He made him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf so that we might become

the righteousness of God in him.

It is so essential that we, you and I as believers in Christ,

understand that we are already ambassadors for Christ.

We're not apostles like the Twelve or like Paul and Barnabas,

yet we are ambassadors sent out for and by Christ Jesus.

No matter where we are, whether we're at home alone or with our families,

we're at work or fishing or hunting or berry picking or out in the community,

we as Christians who have been born again in Christ, we are already sent out

ambassadors for Christ.

We may not be very good ambassadors, and we may be doing more harm to Christ's

reputation than good, but God is making an appeal to the world with the gospel

of reconciliation through us.

And the question we, you and I, need to ask ourselves is, by the grace of God,

are we succeeding in being godly ambassadors for Christ, sent out on Christ's mission?

The second application that we can learn is that we must realize that we do

not belong to ourselves, but we belong to Christ who bought us through the price

of His shed blood and broken body on the cross.

In 1 Corinthians 6, verse 18-20, Paul, referring to the context of sexual immorality,

1 Corinthians 6:18–20

makes the point that we as Christians are not our own.

In verse 18, flee sexual immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside

the body, but the sexually immoral man sins against his own body.

Or do you not know that your body is a sanctuary of the Holy Spirit who is in

you, whom you have from God? And here's what I want you to see.

And that you are not your own.

For you were bought with a price, therefore glorify God in your body.

What then is the response of the believer to the truth? that we belong to Christ.

Our response is to glorify God in our body.

And how we do this is by trusting that we've been chosen by God in Christ Jesus

and bought by God in Christ Jesus.

And then to actively and intentionally represent Christ through every action

we make and every word we speak.

So far, we have learned that Paul started his letter by identifying himself

as being chosen by the will of God to be a sent one or a messenger of Christ.

Now that the writer has been identified, the question you and I need to ask

is, who is the letter addressed to?

To answer this question, we need to look at the second half of Ephesians 1,

where we are taught that as believers in Christ, We are holy and faithful in Christ.

As a pastor here in Dillingham, I have dealt with the Dillingham police or the

state troopers in a number of areas.

Sometimes I have been called to a scene of an incident to help out or give counseling.

I used to do also Bible studies for a while for the city of Dillingham Jail.

As former foster parents, my wife and I dealt with the OCS, the DPD,

and the state troopers in a variety of different ways.

I also used to steam with the previous chief of police and many of the other

Dillingham Police Department.

My point is that although we may know police or troopers personally,

some of them may be friends.

When they don their uniform, they go from just being a friend to being set apart

as a representative of the law, especially if they're armed.

We often give them a wide berth and be on our best behavior,

especially when we're driving.

Similarly, as Christians, as a result of the sacrificial death and resurrection

of Jesus Christ, we have been made holy. We have been set apart unto God.

We have also been called to live as holy and set apart for God,

dedicated to His mission and to the Lord.

In Ephesians 1, verse 1, Paul continued on, to the saints who are at Ephesus,

Ephesians 1:1

and who are faithful in Christ Jesus.

I want you to see that Paul wrote this letter to the Ephesians,

and not just the Ephesians, but to the saints who lived in Ephesus.

There are two facets of this word for saints that Paul used.

First off, saints, or holy ones, are those set apart for God's use,

being dedicated or consecrated to the service of God.

However, the word holy also meant perfect, without blemish.

And thus Paul was addressing the people as holy ones who were set apart for

God's service, and that they were also seen by God as holy or perfect,

without blemish or blame.

Paul in Ephesians 1, verses 3-4 instructed, Blessed be the God and Father of

Ephesians 1:3–4

our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the

heavenly places in Christ. Here it is, verse 4.

Just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we would be what?

Holy and blameless before him. The second facet that I want you to see is that

Paul called the Ephesian believers faithful in Christ Jesus.

The word for faithful referred to being characterized by steadfast affection

or allegiance to someone or something.

I think it's important that we notice that Paul did not write that the Ephesian

believers were faithful to Christ, but rather he wrote that they were faithful in Christ.

Why is this so crucial to point out?

Now, Paul obviously loved the Ephesian church, and he was praising the believers

in Christ in the church at Ephesus for their faithfulness.

But Paul also knew that it wasn't the Ephesians living full of faith by themselves.

Rather, it was within the abiding relationship in Christ Jesus that they could be faithful.

It is only from Jesus, by the virtue of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross and His

resurrection through the power of the Holy Spirit, that anyone has the power

to live full of faith in Jesus Christ.

Now, how do we apply this to us as believers in Christ today?

In Christ, because of what Christ has done on the cross, you and I are holy

or set apart for Christ's mission in this world, and we are now seen by God

the Father as without blame, as perfect and full of faith.

I must point out that practically here on earth, we are also saints who sin.

In our bodies, we are tainted by the original sin of Adam.

We are incapable of being perfect, of living full of faith in Christ by ourselves.

But because the Father looks at us through the lens of Christ's sacrificial

blood on our behalf, the Father sees cleanness and purity where we see dirt and stain.

When the Father looks at us in Christ, He sees us as completely steadfast and

loyal to His beloved Son. And the Father sees us as the priesthood of believers

who have been consecrated to His holy service.

However, we need to realize that God knows everything, anywhere, at all times.

He knows about your and my sins better than we do.

And yet, because of Christ's sacrificial blood slaughter on the cross,

God sees us as if we have never sinned before ever. Isn't that incredible?

Isn't that such an amazing truth that it should compel us to live life abiding

or staying in Christ so that we live that way here on earth too?

And as Christians, we must trust in Christ, in who He is.

And we must trust in who we are in Christ.

As we believe Christ, Christ's power will work in and through us so that we

can accomplish the mission that Christ has set us apart for. Thank you.

What then has Christ been teaching us through His Word today?

The first truth that we've been taught is that as Christians,

we are messengers who belong completely to Christ, who have been sent out to

share the gospel of reconciliation to God with the world.

Secondly, you and I as believers in Christ, as a result,

of what Christ has done on the cross, we have been set apart for Christ's mission

in this world, and we are now seen by God the Father as without blame,

that's perfect and full of faith.

With the abundant blessings that the church in America has received from God,

living according to the mission of Christ is very low on all our priorities.

One of the latest stats that I've heard on the number of evangelical church

members who make disciples for Christ in this country is less than 2%.

It doesn't have to be this way.

The Almighty and ever-living God of the universe has chosen you and me to go

out into our homes, into our communities, to make disciples for Christ and to

spread the message that God has come,

that He has lived and died and rose again so that all of us may be reconciled

to God through faith in Jesus.

Let me leave you with this question.

What is your mission? Let's pray.

Heavenly Father, we are so grateful for the truth of your word,

because we know that your truth sets us free.

Help us, O Lord, to cling to you, to love you, to trust in you, Lord.

May we live by faith in your Son, Jesus Christ, who died for us,

gave himself up for us, in his great love for us. Thank you, Lord.

Use us may we go out into our communities and wherever we are and share the

wonderful greatness of christ and this wonderful salvation that he has made us,

as messengers for in your precious son's name jesus christ i pray amen,

i'll leave you with this blessing from first peter chapter 4 verse 11.

1 Peter 4:11

Whoever speaks, speaks as one who speaks oracles of God.

Whoever serves as one who serves by the strength that God supplies,

in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ.

To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Have a wonderful Sunday. May the Lord bless you all.