Author: Kristen Kansiewicz, LMHC

“However, he has given each one of us a special gift through the generosity of Christ. That is why the Scriptures say, ‘When he ascended to the heights, he led a crowd of captives and gave gifts to his people.’ Notice that it says ‘he ascended.’ This clearly means that Christ also descended to our lowly world. And the same one who descended is the one who ascended higher than all the heavens, so that he might fill the entire universe with himself.”

Paul winds his way into a side point in these verses that is a bit confusing to follow. Recall from yesterday that he was writing about how there is one God and one faith. We all share one calling. But you know as well as I do that we are not all exactly the same. God has given us each different spiritual gifts, and Paul will get back to describing them in verse 11, which we will read tomorrow.

Paul references Psalm 68:18, and I would encourage you to read all of Psalm 68 in order to understand why Paul would quote this here. This psalm describes the victories of God, including his final victory in which he crushes the head of his enemy. In verse 18, it talks about God receiving gifts from  people when he ascended, but Paul mentions God giving gifts. How does this make sense? Remember where Paul began this letter to the Ephesians: a description of how God has adopted us and is giving us an inheritance. In Psalm 68 when God receives gifts and conquers his enemies, how does he divide his spoils? That’s right, he gives it to us as his children.

Here’s your freedom for today: everything God has is yours. When the kingdom of God has come in full, we will be able to walk freely as sons and daughters of God. He will not withhold any good thing. Jesus came and walked among us, stooping down far below his royal position, in order to rescue us. He ascended back up to the throne in victory, having crushed Satan as he overcame death. It’s all his. We’re his. And he loves to give good gifts to his children. We Americans may jump right to thinking about material possessions, but God’s eternal gifts are far greater. We’ll explore this more tomorrow!

“For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all, in all, and living through all.”

Some people say there are many paths to God. Some say there are many gods. Some think all religions are basically the same. But the Bible is quite clear (and very different from other world religions): there is one God. There is one body of believers who worship God as a united whole. There is only one hope for the future.

Christians often talk about the “trinity,” a word you won’t find in Scripture. But passages like this give us an understanding that there is a mystery to the way God speaks about himself. These verses say there is “one Spirit,” “one Lord,” and “one God and Father of all.” The word “Lord” is certainly a reference to Jesus given the context of the letter. So we know that there is one God, and almost interchangeably there is one Spirit, Lord, and Father. Three aspects of who God is that cannot be separated but are one united whole.

Here’s your freedom for today: God brings all things together. God himself embodies unity in ways we can only partially describe well. He rules over all and unites his family together in ways we can only get glimpses of. We have one hope and one faith. There is one way to access the Father — the path that Jesus created when he died on the cross and then rose from the dead. God can’t be fully explained or fully understood by our limited minds. This limitation is why we must cling to hope and faith — he is bringing all things together and if you trust in him then you get to be a part of his amazing work.

“Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God. Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace.”

When Paul tells his readers to “lead a life worthy of your calling,” a few questions rise to the surface. First of all, what is my calling? Second, what does it meant to lead a life worthy of that calling? Paul makes a statement: “you have been called by God.” Sometimes we thinking “calling” means we have a specific job or mission, but all of us have been called by God to follow Jesus’ example in all we do.

Paul highlights some specifics of what “living like you’re called” means. Humility and gentleness are at the top of the list, followed by patience, love, unity with other believers, and living in peace. For most of us, that’s a to-do list that will take the rest of our lives. We don’t need more specifics on a calling when we already have our work cut out for us.

Here’s your freedom for today: God has called you into a life of freedom. Imagine for a moment if you and the other Jesus-followers you know were humble, gentle, patient, loving, and living peacefully in unity. If that’s not an inspiring picture of freedom, I don’t know what is. God’s calling is like a beckoning: “Come, live a better life. Just follow me.” Are you living like you’re called today? What is one area in which you could ask God to help you become more free?

“When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.”

When Paul thinks about God’s plan and the way Jesus has given us access to the Father, he just falls to his knees. Prayer and praise is the appropriate reaction when we think about the incredible love of God and the salvation he offers us. What is deepest in Paul’s heart is for the Ephesian believers to be empowered by the Spirit. Surprisingly, the reason Paul wants them to be empowered is not to do more miracles or even share the Gospel more effectively. He wants something much deeper for them: intimate knowledge of God.

When we are empowered by the Spirit and see with spiritual eyes, we start to see glimpses of the riches of God’s love. When we taste this goodness, we trust him more and more. We get stronger, just as trees grow taller and wider as their roots grow deeper. All of this is too much for our finite minds to fully understand, but even the small bits we can grasp are sweeter than anything else we can imagine.

Here’s your freedom for today: God is working harder on your life than you are. He’s working with you, but he’s also at work behind the scenes, accomplishing far more than we could ever ask or think. We don’t know what we need, but God does and he’s already doing it. My children don’t have a clue how much I do for them when they are busy playing. And frankly they don’t appreciate it (yet). But having a clean house to live in or food to eat benefits their lives whether they have asked me to care for them or not. A “thank you” is nice, but I’ll keep taking care of them even without it. Why? Because I love them. And if I as a human being can do that, how much more is God meeting needs you don’t even know you have? Praise him today for all he is doing that is far beyond your comprehension.

“God’s purpose in all this was to use the church to display his wisdom in its rich variety to all the unseen rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was his eternal plan, which he carried out through Christ Jesus our Lord. Because of Christ and our faith in him, we can now come boldly and confidently into God’s presence. So please don’t lose heart because of my trials here. I am suffering for you, so you should feel honored.”

What do you think of when you hear the word “church”? Maybe you picture a great cathedral, or stained-glass windows, or a steeple. Perhaps you think of holidays or a place you see your friends every Sunday morning. In the Bible, “church” is not a building or a place, but it is the word for the collective body of Jesus-followers. God has chosen this “church” to reveal his wisdom to the supernatural realms. Verse 10 is easy to gloss over quickly, but pause to take it in. We are displaying God’s wisdom to those in the unseen realms.

Pausing on that thought reminds me of a word Paul has been using quite a bit in this letter: mystery. We have almost no real concept of how God’s plan is fully playing out in the supernatural realm. We see glimpses, part-truths, but we cannot comprehend God’s plan or even how he is using us to fully display his glory.

Here’s your freedom for today: we can come to God with bold confidence. God has given us access to himself and permission to come. We are part of his active work — we are participants in an eternal and supernatural story. Our boldness is not because we are worthy, but because he has chosen to love us and include us and make us worthy. Why should we wonder what God thinks of us? He is not sizing us up to see if we are good enough. He simply says, “Come on in!” and we walk through the door in prayer, unaware of just how many supernatural dominoes that starts tipping over.