1. Cherish your gift of life
Ephesians 2:1-10
ICEL
March 11, 2018

2. In our busy lives how often do we take time
(accessed 08/03/2018)
to reflect on what really matters?

3. http://smallbusiness. co
(all accessed 08/03/2018).

4. Taking time out with Paul and the letter to the Ephesians

5. They way they were before (1-3) And then God… (4-7)
Paul reminds the church at Ephesus where they came from and how they have changed.
They way they were before (1-3)
And then God… (4-7)
So how ‘we’ are now (8-10)
Cherishing the gift
(accessed 18/03/2018)

6. They way they were before
dead in … transgressions and sins, … followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, … gratifying the cravings of our flesh (1-3; see also Acts, chapter 19)
Remarkable: Paul includes himself and other Jews here: “All of us … like the rest …” (3), compare verses 2 and 3.
(accessed 08/03/2018)

7. Religious options at Ephesus in the first century
Agathe Tyche, Aphrodite, Apollo, Artemis, Asklepios, Athena, Attis, Dionysus, Eleusinian Mysteries, Hekate, Hermes, Hermon, Hygieia, Isis, Klaseas, Kore, Marnas (river god), Meter, Meter-Kybele, Phrygian Mother, Pluto, Posidon, Serapis, Sopolis, Theos Hypsistos, Zeus, Zeus Keraunios, Zeus Sabazios [from Miller, 2010]

8. And then God… made us alive with Christ by grace you have been saved
raised us up with Christ
seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus
show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
(see also Ephesians 1: 20-21)

9. Overwhelming emphasis on action and character of God
Actions: make alive with, save, raised up with, seat with, show.
Character traits (which underscore excess and free giving): rich, riches, great, incomparable, love (verb and noun), good, kindness, grace.
The total initiative comes from God in or through Christ, not from Paul and his readers, a transformational perspective.

10. The total initiative has come from God in and through Christ, not from Paul and his readers, a transformational perspective.

11. Enlarging our understanding of grace (thanks to D deSilva (1999)
First of all what did ‘grace’ involve: (1) willingness to grant a favour; (2) the gift itself, the favour that is granted; (3) the response of the recipient, his or her gratitude for what is given.
Second, the lasting responsibility of the one who receives. In both Jewish and Greco-Roman contexts, this obligation is clearly expressed. The one who receives must concretely express this gratitude as a sign of reciprocity.

12. Such a perspective (re) defines the relationship between God and the readers of Ephesians as one of benefaction. In ancient Greco-Roman society, total dependence upon God as patron and benefactor obliged the readers to respond, to show grateful acceptance of God’s actions on their behalf. What should they do?

13. So how ‘we’ are now
Saved by grace through faith (8) … God’s handiwork (poiēma), created in Christ Jesus to do good works … (10).
Handiwork: See Isaiah 29:16 “Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, "You did not make me"? Can the pot (poiēma) say to the potter, "You know nothing"?

14. Cherishing the gift Remember from where we have come
Appreciate what God has done and is doing to transform us
Prepare to do good works

15. Well then what kind of good works?
A place to start:
“I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” (4:1-3)

16. A metaphor from Søren Kierkegaard:
“(H)e compares social relations to an enormous net in which all people are caught. Love demands that all persons, be they high or low, rise above the net and meet in a different way even though the net and the place within it remain the same. For those reconciled to God and to one another in Christ, everything is different though everything remains the same.”
(quoted in Turner, 2015)