Ephesians 1:3-7 — Laying Out God's Plan

READ THIS: Ephesians 1:3-7

7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8 that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, 9 he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10 to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.

WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY?

Did those sentences make anyone else's eye twitch? 

Okay, so, let's do a verse-by-verse translation into normal English: 7 In Jesus, we are saved because His death on the cross gave us forgiveness for our sins. That whole thing is called "redemption," which is God's free gift 8 that He gives us in abundance. God is super wise and knows a bunch, and so with that wisdom, 9 God let us know His plan by sending Jesus, which had been His plan for a long time but was super mysterious because before Jesus came we only had hints of God's plan in the Old Testament. But, He delights to let us in on His plan 10 which is going to continue to unfold until the end of everything. But, at the end, everything is going to be the way it's supposed to be, with everyone and everything united under the rule of Jesus!

THINK ABOUT IT:

1. Why do think Paul is saying all of this? He's writing to people who already know about Jesus...it's a church after all.

2. Why do you think God let His plan be mysterious in the Old Testament?
 
TRY THIS:
 
Never, ever, EVER just take someone's interpretation of the Bible for the ultimate truth. You have to test what we say! So look between the verse-by-verse translation and the actual verses. Do you agree with our interpretation??? If you have any hesitations/questions, then comment below or text!

Comments

  1. YooonahApril 26, 2023 at 4:55 AM

    I HATH RETURNED

    I think Paul is doing this because he wants to reaffirm the church’s faith

    I think God kept his plan mysterious so that we would have to truly believe for ourselves that Jesus’s was the messiah

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AnonymousApril 27, 2023 at 1:28 PM

      YONAH! WELCOME BACK DUDE! Such great thoughts on why God could have kept His plan a mystery! - Bau & Mo

      Delete

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