2 Kings 4:42-44; Psalm 145:10-18;
Ephesians 3:14-21; John 6:1-21
As Paul wrote, "All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing" (
Ephesians 1:3).
That's why Paul's words in
Ephesians are so important to keep in mind.
Today's texts from Matthew and
Ephesians use all the terms I just used, grace/mercy/love, and more, to speak of both halves of the double theme, God's love for us and God's life through us.
Finally, Paul emphasizes that our beliefs before Jesus--whether as Gentile or Jew, Greek or pagan--are unimportant compared to our faith in Jesus, which unites us all in one Spirit: "In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit" (
Ephesians 1:13).
For God 'accomplishes all things according to the counsel of his will' (
Ephesians 1:11).
If we are not grounded in those teachings then as
Ephesians says in chapter 4:14 "Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching ...."
is quoted as saying, "We want to be God." Indeed, the Bible does tell us to be imitators of God in
Ephesians 5:1.
[Jesus] gave up his life for the [church], to make her holy and clean (
Ephesians 5:25-26).
Ephesians 1:3-14--Authorship is contested for this book.
Ephesians 2,12 ASKED to suggest the saddest word in the English language, Alexandra Tolstoy replied: "The saddest word in all languages, which has brought the world to its present condition, is 'Atheism'."
The Bible says: "Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, just as in Christ God forgave you" (
Ephesians 4).