Sermon25-33 Eph1 Guide

Eph 1:15-23 theme verse Eph 1:23

The praise and honor and glory be to our heavenly Father who seeks true worshipers who worship Him with the Spirit and truth.

In this twenty eighth Sunday of 2025, on Pentecost Sunday, I pray that His grace of the application of all the benefits which Jesus earned for our salvation and also the glorious ministry of the proclamation of His kingdom by the power of the Holy Spirit may be full in our life. Last week, we looked at the fact that Christ is the source of eternal salvation to those who obey to Him, yet this week, we would like to look at the church through which we may bear our mission after becoming her member together.

1)    First, to summarize today's text. Paul prays that God may give the Ephesians the spirit of wisdom and revelation so that they may know God, and also enlighten the eyes of their hearts so that they may know the hope in His calling and the riches of His inheritance in the saints, and finally work with His power to make them realize the immeasurable greatness of His power that He has given to them who believe. And he continued that this power of God worked in Christ to raise Him from the dead and to seat Him at His righthand and to put all things under his feet far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and names, not only in this age but also in the age to come and also made Christ the head of the church and the church His body so that may fill the church to fill all things through His church.

2)    Here the Greek word translated as “church” in today’s text is ecclesia(ἐκκλησία), which refers to the church in the New Testament. And this comes from the Hebrew of the Old Testament, ‘kahal’(קָהָל) which refers to the gathering of the people, meaning “to call.” And ‘Ecclesia’ is a combination of two words, ‘Ek’(ἐκ) meaning ‘from’ and ‘Kaleo’(καλέω) meaning ‘to call’ so that ‘Ecclesia’ means ‘a community which belongs to God who called them out of the world’. In other words, the Ecclesia is not a church building, but a community called out of the world by God, belonging to God. So, as the owner of the church, God establishes and operates it. And the Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 54 calls this church a ‘holy catholic church’ saying that the Son of God, through the Holy Spirit and the Word, gathers, protects, and preserves for Himself a community that has been chosen from all mankind, for eternal life. We all belong to this community of God now and will remain members of it forever.

3)    And here the Holy Catholic Church does not refer to the Roman Catholic Church. Rather it means the universal church which means that the church is universal and whole, in other words, there is only one church, the church of Jesus Christ, which is not limited to a specific nation or region, but is open to all the people in the world. Although there are various denominations and local churches, the church of Christ is united as one with Christ as its head, composed of all believers in heaven and on earth, originating from God, following the teachings of Christ and the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and practicing God's love in the world.

4)    And the meaning of Christ as the Head of church is that a) Jesus Christ is the highest authority of the church, and leads and governs the church. In other words, all decisions and actions of the church must follow the will of Christ. (Eph 1:22-23) b) And Christ is the shepherd who leads and governs the church so that the church must follow His guidance and also follow His teachings and example. (John 10:3) c) Also, as the head of the church, Christ is the source of life, so the church receives the life and power from Christ and grows in His grace and love. (Eph 4:16) d) And also, this means that the church is His body so that all the saints are members who receive gifts and roles, and they must unite in Christ, the head, to form a united community (Eph 4:3, 13) e) And finally, the church must follow the example of Christ, the head, and serves and ministers to one another and practices love. (Eph 4:11-12)

5)    And regarding this church, Belgic Confession article 27 confesses that “We believe and confess one single catholic or universal church - a holy congregation and gathering of true Christian believers, awaiting their entire salvation in Jesus Christ, being washed by his blood, and sanctified and sealed by the Holy Spirit. This church has existed from the beginning of the world and will last until the end, as appears from the fact that Christ is eternal King who cannot be without subjects. And this holy church is preserved by God against the rage of the whole world, even though for a time it may appear very small to human eyes as though it were snuffed out. For example, during the very dangerous time of Ahab the Lord preserved for himself seven thousand who did not bend their knees to Baal. And so this holy church is not confined, bound, or limited to a certain place or certain people. But it is spread and dispersed throughout the entire world, though still joined and united in heart and will, in one and the same Spirit, by the power of faith.”

6)    In speaking of the church, I think several distinctions come into consideration. First, the Church in the present dispensation is a militant church, that is, she is called unto, and is actually engaged in a holy warfare. She is duty bound to carry on an incessant warfare against the hostile world in every form in which it reveals itself, whether in the Church or outside of it, and against all the spiritual forces of darkness. The Church may not spend all her time in prayer and meditation, however necessary and important these may be, nor may she rest on her oars in the peaceful enjoyment of her spiritual heritage. She must be engaged with all her might in the battles of her Lord, fighting in a war that is both offensive and defensive. If the Church on earth is the militant Church, the Church in heaven is the triumphant Church. There the sword is exchanged for the palm of victory, the battle-cries are turned into songs of triumph, and the cross is replaced by the crown. The strife is over, the battle is won, and the saints reign with Christ forever and ever. Secondly, the Church of God is on the one hand visible, and on the other invisible. The term “invisible” has been variously interpreted as applying (a) to the triumphant Church; (b) to the ideal and completed Church as it will be at the end of the ages; (c) to the Church of all lands and all places, which man cannot possibly see; and (d) to the Church as it goes in hiding in the days of persecution, and is deprived of the Word and the sacraments. This Church is said  to be invisible, because she is essentially spiritual and in her spiritual essence cannot be discerned by the physical eye; and because it is impossible to determine infallibly who do and who do not belong to her. The union of believers with Christ is a mystical union; the Spirit that unites them constitutes an invisible tie; and the blessings of salvation, such as regeneration, genuine conversion, true faith, and spiritual communion with Christ, are all invisible to the natural eye. On the other hand, the Church becomes visible in Christian profession and conduct, in the ministry of the Word and of the sacraments, and in external organization and government. And thirdly, the distinction is made between the church as an organism and the church as an institution. The Church as an organism is the communion of believers, who are united in the bond of the Spirit, and exists charismatic: in it all kinds of gifts and talents become manifest and are utilized in the work of the Lord. On the other hand, the Church as an institution is the mother of believers, a means of salvation, an agency for the conversion of sinners and the perfecting of the saints and exists in an institutional form and functions through the offices and means which God has instituted. So the two are co-ordinate in a sense, and yet there is also a certain subordination of the one to the other. The Church as an institution is a means to an end, and this is found in the Church as an organism, the community of believers.

7)    Regarding this, the Christian Reformed Church of the North America stated in the church order that the church mission are worship, faith formation, pastoral care, evangelism and mercy ministry. In other words, a) Regarding the first mission of the church as to worship God, as Jesus summarized the contents of the first to fourth commandment in the first stone tablet of the Ten Commandments as the first great commandment to love God, worship God is to love God. b) And regarding the second mission of the church of the faith formation of the believers, church has to prepare a plan for the education and implement it for adults as well as children, to help them grow in the knowledge of God. c) And regarding the pastoral care, as Calvin likened the church to the ‘mother’ of believers, church conceives, gives birth to, and raises believers and takes care of their spiritual life, providing spiritual nurturing and protection to believers. d) And also the church has carry out mission and mercy ministry in the world. Here evangelism is to carry out the Lord's great commission to make disciples of all nations, and mercy ministry is to serve God's creation as the cultural mandate.

8)    By the way, in verse 23, it says that “The church is the body of Christ, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.” This means that the church plays a role in filling all things with the fullness of God in all things after being filled with God’s fullness first. Here, fullness can mean the fullness of His presence, power, life, and guidance, and also this ultimately can include the consummation of all things in the end. Yet, this filling of all things with God’s fullness is said to be done through the church, I mean, first God fills the church with His fullness, then fills all things through the church. In other words, the fullness of God fills internally into the church and then outwardly toward the world.

9)    Therefore, we as His church have to be filled with the fullness of God first to fill the whole earth with it. And that’s why immediately after creation of humanity, God blessed them and gave them the cultural mandate to be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth, subdue it, and rule over all living creatures. And also that’s why Paul prayed in Ephesians 3:19, “I pray that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” And that’s why Habakkuk sang in Habakkuk 2:14 that “For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” And that’s why Ezekiel saw in Ezekiel 47:1-12, that the water from the temple fills the whole earth and the river flows into the sea, filling the whole earth and sea with new life. This is the meaning of what God will do through the church, of which His Son is the head. Therefore, I pray that this year, we will all be filled with the love, life, and grace of Christ, and that we will all be able to flow out that fullness throughout the earth for God’s glory.

Key Questions as Small Group Activity

Q1 Through today’s text, we became to know that the church of Christ is the one who is filled with the fullness of God through Christ. So, meditating on His grace of fullness and thinking who much we are filled with God’s fullness, I hope we could share our thought and experience with our team members together to learn from each other.

Q2 And, also we became to know that the reason why God fills us with His fullness is to fill all in all with His fullness through His church. So after reviewing if we fill the world with God’s fullness, I hope we could share our thought and experience with our team members together to learn from each other.

Love you. Thank you. God bless you.

Prayer Note

Dear ( God’s attribute which you found Today ) God!

Thanks for ( something you received through the sermon or  even during the week )

Praise, gratitude and glory be to You, Lord!

Today, I realized my sin (pains) that ( the sin God reminded through the sermon ),

please forgive (or heal) me and help me not to repeat ( the sins you recognized   ).

I learned that ( something you learned through the sermon                                    )

Please help me to live in that (  learned way of life                                                )

I pray in ( Jesus’ attribute you find ) Jesus’ name. Amen.