The Apostle Paul’s letter to the Ephesians is considered by many commentators as the high point of Paul’s expression of God’s treasury in Jesus Christ. In his other letters, he has dealt with specific issues, such as the Judiazers, as we saw in the Letter to the Galatians. In this letter, however, there is not a specific issue of the church that Paul is addressing, but rather the entire Christian community as it is found in Jesus Christ. The emphasis of this letter is to bring forth the mystery of God that is Jesus Christ living forth from the church, His body. As we consider this letter, we will see many aspects of what it means to be made alive unto God in Jesus Christ, His Beloved. The Apostle’s language, expressions, and stress are focused upon what is now true in the Body of Christ as ordained by God. 
	It is an impossible task to try to describe every truth contained in this letter. It would take year upon year upon year, our entire lifetime and all eternity to give ample consideration to the reality of Christ described in this letter. We will be fortunate to get but a glimpse of some of the truths of Christ in our time together. 
In all humility, it is a daunting task to try to articulate any of the tremendous treasures of Christ that are held in this glorious letter. It should be with much fear and consecration before the Lord, in reverence to His Majesty, Honor, Glory, and Holiness, that we approach this letter. This is true of the entire Word of God, but especially this book which describes, to the best of human language, the fullness of Jesus Christ in the heart of God. We dare not take such a commission lightly. We need to be in earnest prayer and travail before the throne of God’s Grace each and every time that we look to Jesus, Who is called the author and finisher of our faith in the King James Version of Heb 12:2. He is the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, according to the Revised Standard Version. The Amplified announces Jesus as the Leader and the Source of our faith [giving the first incentive for our belief] and is also its Finisher [bringing it to maturity and perfection]. The New Living Bible describes Christ as the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. And Today’s English version states that it is Jesus on whom our faith depends from beginning to end.
	Whichever translation touches the intense fiber of our hearts, it needs to be with humbleness of being, humility of spirit, and a contrite mind that we consider the passages of Scripture before us this morning, and every morning in the light of Jesus Christ. Let us all seek after the Holy Spirit to open the life of Christ in us as we consider the perfect work of God completed in and by His only Begotten Son. God’s eternal heart and being of Love finds its overwhelming fulfillment in Christ. In that truth, this Letter to the Ephesians gives a glimpse of God’s Glory in His Beloved Son. Hold that truth fast in our inner beings as we delve into this Letter to the Ephesians.
Ephesians 1:1+2 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are also faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 
In this very first, introductory sentence, we have the tremendous plan and purpose of God laid before us in but a few words. Paul announces that his apostleship is by the will of God through Jesus Christ. In the same sentence, he includes us, the saints, we who are also faithful in Christ. We are, as well, chosen by the will God. The Divine and Omnipotent will of God evidences its source, expression, and fullness in the grace and the peace of God that is now our lives in Christ Jesus. Grace and peace are now our very lives because, in Christ, we are brought into proper relationship with God as Our Heavenly Father. 
	While we will not commit ourselves to a word by word exposition of this sentence, we will concentrate on several key words which define our life now in Jesus Christ. We begin with Wuest’s description of the name, Jesus Christ. He gives evidence to the of heart of the Apostle Paul in using this precious name. As Wuest states concerning Christ, Quote …the word does not refer to our Lord in His official capacity of the Messiah of the Jewish nation, but as The Anointed of God, the Person chosen from the Godhead to be the anointed Prophet, Priest, and King to accomplish the purposes of God in the plan of salvation. The name "Jesus" … means "Jehovah saves." In it we find the deity, humanity, and vicarious atonement of the Lord Jesus. God incarnate died for sinners to satisfy the just demands of His law which sinners violated. End of quote. (from Wuest's Word Studies from the Greek New Testament, Copyright 1940-55 by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. Copyrights © renewed 1968-73 by Jeannette I. Wuest. All rights reserved.)
	Jesus Christ, God’s Anointed One, is worthy of all our praise and adoration and honor, not only because of what He did on the cross at Calvary, but because of Who He now is in our lives; because of Who He is in the lives of all the saints who were and are and are still to become members of His Body. The honor due Christ goes far beyond the glorious salvation that is ours by the will of God. He is the One by Whom we are now able to call God our Heavenly Father. He is the One who has made God’s grace to abound to us and in us. It is in Christ that we have peace with God, peace with each other, peace within the depths of our beings. Jesus Christ is our very life. The Apostle knew this in a most wondrous reality as Christ’s Apostle, His messenger, His representative. Paul saw himself as an Ambassador of our Heavenly homeland in this world in which we are strangers and sojourners. The Apostle Paul declared the gospel of Jesus Christ, and did so with the full conviction and in the reality that Jesus Christ is the Lord of all creation. We will see this truth clearly described throughout the course of this letter. 
	We, too, are called to be the representatives of Christ on this earth, as we sojourn through it. We are called His saints, ones who are faithful in Christ. The Apostle Peter gives a wonderful definition of those who are the saints of God in 1 Peter 1:2a chosen and destined by God the Father and sanctified by the Spirit for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: Those to whom Peter was addressing this writing, including all of us, are the saints of God. 
According to Wuest, In consideration of the word saint, Quote The word "sanctification " is from the same Greek word and has the same idea, that of setting apart. As set apart ones by God in His worship and service, they gradually acquired through the sanctifying (setting apart) work of the Spirit, more of His characteristics in their experience. Thus their lives became holy, and they were saints in experience as well as in position. The words "sanctify, sanctification, saint, and holy," are all from the same Greek root and have basically the same meaning, namely, "set apart," to be translated and interpreted according to their context. There is positional sanctification, the act of God the Holy Spirit setting believing sinners apart in Christ Jesus. This is an act resulting in a position. There is progressive sanctification, the work of the Holy Spirit producing in the lives of believers, a set apart life consistent with their new position. This is a process, resulting finally in conformity to the image of Christ in glorification. End of Quote (from Wuest's Word Studies from the Greek New Testament, Copyright 1940-55 by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. Copyrights © renewed 1968-73 by Jeannette I. Wuest. All rights reserved.)
The Apostle Paul wants us to know that we, the saints of God,  were called into this relationship with God, by God. It was nothing that we did or could do. It was all conceived, carried out, and accomplished by the Triune Godhead in the perfect expression of Love, Jesus Christ. Scripture is filled with the truth of our being called unto God, of our being set apart for Him as we sojourn on this earth. 
1 Cor 1:9 God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. This truth is of great comfort and assurance to us as we walk through the course of our lives. To know that God is faithful is such a tremendous reality, so as to keep our eyes focused on Him despite any of the storms that are raging around us. Because He is the One who called us unto Himself in Christ, because He is faithful, because He has set us apart unto Himself, we have the absolute assurance that He will guide and direct every step of our walk on this earth. We know that with each day, we are lovingly, faithfully, and graciously brought into a more excellent and everlasting fellowship with God in Jesus Christ.
	As the Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy in 2 Tim 1:8-10, Do not be ashamed then of testifying to our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel in the power of God, who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not in virtue of our works but in virtue of his own purpose and the grace which he gave us in Christ Jesus ages ago, and now has manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. Our walk on this earth should more and more fully reflect the Lordship and the glory of Jesus Christ. It is not that we run around with placards and flashy statements as in advertising our position in Christ. No! We are called to simply live our lives unto Him. We live our lives in line with the guidance of His precious Word and the Holy Spirit. We live in the fact that He called us to be His saints, members of the Body of Jesus Christ. This is accomplished in the full power and sovereignty of the Holy Spirit’s hand on our hearts and lives.  
1 Peter 1:14-16 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in all your conduct; since it is written, "You shall be holy, for I am holy." This is a very clear and straightforward truth of the lives that we now have in Christ. He has called us unto Himself to live lives that are holy, and utterly consecrated to Him. That holiness is nothing that we can achieve. It is already our lives in Christ. We are to recognize what God has established and then live accordingly by the strength and guidance and obedience to the Holy Spirit and The Word of God. 
This world has no conception of holiness. It is a foreign concept to those who are lost in sin and trespass. Their only idea of holiness is a negative cursing of it because it refuses to participate in the depravity and filth of this realm. They see it as something that is being lorded over them and they attack it with every fiber of their beings. Any earthly display of pseudo-holiness is that type of glorification of self, just how good I am and how awful you are.
Rather than that, the holiness of God, that we now have operating in our lives in Christ, is not anything that lords itself over others. It is the life that expresses the very heart of Christ now indwelling us. It is the life that is laid down for others, not because it makes us look good. Never! We lay down our lives as a living sacrifice of love unto our Lord and Savior, unto our Heavenly Father, unto the comforting guidance of the Holy Spirit. We lay down our lives in the love of God so that this world, family, friends, and enemies, will come to know Jesus Christ.
Rom 1:6+7 including yourselves who are called to belong to Jesus Christ; To all God's beloved in Rome, who are called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Let us pray that we all understand and live in the truth that we belong to Jesus Christ. Our lives no longer belong to us to do with as we please. We have given up any hope in them. We have given up any thought that what we can do of ourselves makes any difference in our lives or in the lives of others. We no longer possess any claim over our lives including time, thoughts, work, play, and feelings. We belong to Jesus Christ. The lives that we live, we now live by the power of the Son of God, as Paul so richly declared to the Galatian saints. Our heart’s focus is no longer what we can get out of this life, including any idea of position or honor, even within the Body of Christ. Our every focus must be the glory of God seen in lives that are lived unto our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ.  
In line with this great truth, we cling to Rom 8:28 We know that in everything God works for good with those who love him, who are called according to his purpose. This is one of the tremendous aspects of being called by God. We have the assurance, the absolute and solid confidence that everything in our lives is used by God for His purposes, which are always good and always perfect. It is because we are called by God to be His saints that we can rest in the knowledge that our lives are fully kept, completely guarded, and absolutely directed by Him. We are set apart unto His purpose. Often, we may not see the immediate excellence of His way in everything that we endure, but we know that it must work together for good. It is not with our eyes that we see this. It is not with our minds that we comprehend this. It is by the faith that is planted in our hearts in Jesus Christ that we live in this truth. It is as those things take place that are not pleasant, not comfortable, not fun, that we learn to trust Him in everything. It is as this world collapses around us that we see the magnificent glory of God manifest in Christ Jesus. Love Him! Trust Him! Honor Him! Thank Him! Let us always hold firm in the truth that all things work together for good in Jesus Christ!
This brings us to Paul’s admonition to Timothy, and to us, in 1 Tim 6:12 Fight the good fight of the faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. It is as we fight the good fight of the faith, as we look to God to get us through every seeming debacle, disaster, trouble, circumstance, and worry, that our faith is tested and proven. We must never give up the life that we have in Christ. We must earnestly cling to His every provision throughout our walk on this earth in order that He will be expressed in all the love of God that is poured into our beings. It is for the sake of the lost that God so richly lavishes us with His great grace. It is as they receive His love as manifested in these lives, that they will truly come to see the love of God that is shed abroad in and by Our Lord Jesus Christ.
	Peter expresses this truth in 1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people, that you may declare the wonderful deeds of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. We are God’s chosen people. We are a royal priesthood in Jesus Christ. There is no family more royal, or more regal, than the family of God and that is now our relationship in Christ Jesus. In Christ, we have been adopted into the place of sonship unto the Lord God Almighty, into His family. He is Our Heavenly Father and our lives must give expression to that truth here and now.
As this morning’s conclusion, let us look at some of the other verses in Ephesians in which the Apostle Paul gives expression to what is part and parcel of being a saint, being called by God, being set apart by Him, unto Him, Alone. 
Eph 1:15-18 For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 
Eph 3:17-19 and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have power to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fulness of God. 
Eph 4:1-3 I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all lowliness and meekness, with patience, forbearing one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 
And, Eph 6:18 Pray at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, 
	We are sojourning through this world together. We are made one in Christ Jesus. We need to pray that the Lord will more and more establish that bond of Christ in us, His Body. There is no place for deceit, no place for slander, no place for gossip, no place for unforgiveness, no place for hostility in the church. We are called by God, to be one in Christ Jesus. We are the saints of God’s making, through no means of ourselves. We belong to Christ and we need to continue to learn what it means to live in that reality. We need to open our hearts to the Holy Spirit for His guidance and for His loving ministry of the development of instant obedience to Him in our lives. We need to more and more cherish the Word of God and give God honor in our hearts and lives. Our desire must be to live our lives in accordance with the great truths and promises that are ours in His Word, in Christ Jesus. Let the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth resound in the chambers of our beings in all the grace and mercy and peace of God that can be found nowhere else. Let our sainthood be the living sacrifice that pleases the heart of God and seeks nothing other than His glory now and forever. Amen 
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are also faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen

Our benediction this morning is from Ps 30:4-12 Sing praises to the Lord, O you his saints, and give thanks to his holy name. For his anger is but for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning. As for me, I said in my prosperity, "I shall never be moved." By thy favor, O Lord, thou hadst established me as a strong mountain; thou didst hide thy face, I was dismayed. To thee, O Lord, I cried; and to the Lord I made supplication: "What profit is there in my death, if I go down to the Pit? Will the dust praise thee? Will it tell of thy faithfulness? Hear, O Lord, and be gracious to me! O Lord, be thou my helper!" Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing; thou hast loosed my sackcloth and girded me with gladness, that my soul may praise thee and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to thee for ever. Amen