A Theological Mouthful
Facing Prometheus: A Letter to the Ephesians and the Future Church Dilemma
Week 2 | Pastor Jason Parrish
Scripture Focus
(Eph 1:3-6) “3 Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavens in Christ. 4 For he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in love before him. 5 He predestined us to be adopted as sons through Jesus Christ for himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace that he lavished on us in the Beloved One.”
Some passages of Scripture unfold gently. Others arrive all at once.
As Paul moves from greeting into theology in Ephesians 1, his words begin to cascade. Pastor Jason Parrish invited us to picture this section as though the words are “just falling out of Paul’s mouth.” They are urgent, impassioned, layered with meaning, and dense with purpose. And all of it centers on one defining truth:
our identity in Christ.
This is Paul’s first major theological statement in the letter, and he wastes no time easing into it. Before instruction, before correction, before vision, Paul establishes who God is, what God has done, and what it means to be truly blessed.
A Necessary Technical Note
Before unpacking meaning, Pastor Jason paused to do some important structural work in the text.
In the original Greek, Ephesians 1:3–14 is a single, complex sentence.
It is long, sweeping, and intentionally unbroken. Paul uses this stream-of-consciousness style throughout the letter to communicate urgency, scale, and wonder.
John Stott famously described this sentence using a collection of images: a gateway, a golden chain, a kaleidoscope, a snowball, a racehorse, an operatic overture, and the flight of an eagle. Each image captures the sense of movement, grandeur, and theological depth Paul is conveying.
Paul repeatedly uses words such as:
- blessed
- blessing
- chose
- holy
- blameless
- predestined
- adoption
- will
- good pleasure
Together, they make one thing unmistakably clear: Paul is speaking about the believer’s identity in Christ.
These opening verses serve as the foundation for everything that follows, including the well-known “in Christ” or “in Him” statements that appear throughout verses 7–14. Before Paul explains what believers receive in Christ, he first establishes that they belong to Christ.
A Bigger Framework at Work
Paul is not simply praising God emotionally. He is laying out a carefully constructed theological argument: everything begins with God. Blessing, faith, identity, and salvation all originate with Him.
Paul also introduces a phrase he will repeat throughout the letter:
“in the heavens” or “in the heavenly places.”
This signals that believers live in two realities at once. We exist physically on earth, but spiritually we are already connected to the heavenly realm through Christ.
Another critical structural observation appears here as well:
a trinitarian distribution of thought.
- Ephesians 1:3–6 emphasizes the work of the Father
- Ephesians 1:7–12 emphasizes the work of the Son
- Ephesians 1:13–14 emphasizes the work of the Holy Spirit
Paul is not being poetic by accident. He is carefully showing how each person of the Trinity participates in the work of salvation and blessing.
Three Truths from Ephesians 1:3–6
1. What You Identify as Your Source Will Always Initiate Your Praise
Paul begins with worship because worship reveals sourcing.
Praise is not generated by emotion but by understanding. Paul’s praise, and therefore our praise, is initiated by recognizing Christ as our true source.
When people misunderstand where blessing comes from, praise becomes misplaced. Money, relationships, work, education, success, or comfort quietly become objects of worship because they are perceived as the source of life.
Underwhelming praise comes from an unappreciative heart.
And an unappreciative heart usually stems from a misunderstanding of what has already been received in Christ.
Proper worship, therefore, is the proper assessment of our sourcing.
2. Understanding Our Position in Christ Will Always Define Our Purpose in Life
Paul’s use of the word “chose” is intentional and precise. To be chosen is not to be elevated for status, but to be selected for purpose.
Identity precedes direction.
How we see ourselves shapes how we live, how we relate, and what we pursue. Paul contrasts the “old self” found in Adam with the “new self” found in Christ. Formerly, humanity belonged to a fallen identity. Now, believers belong to a redeemed one.
To be chosen by God is not an idol position; it is a calling.
Paul explains that believers are chosen to be holy and blameless. Holiness is not withdrawal from the world but a different way of engaging it. Blamelessness carries sacrificial language, describing a life offered fully to God.
Paul is not dealing in abstraction.
He is grounding singleness, marriage, parenting, work, attitudes, and decisions in the reality of being chosen by God.
The truth of being chosen becomes an antidote to destructive life choices because it reframes worth and value at the deepest level.
3. God’s Work in Christ Moves Us from Estrangement to Familial Belonging
Paul concludes this section by introducing adoption.
In the Roman world, adoption represented a complete and irreversible change of status. An adopted child received full legal rights, inheritance, and identity within the family. Even those formerly enslaved could be adopted and elevated to heirship.
Paul uses adoption language to describe salvation, not sentimentally, but legally and relationally.
Adoption flows from God’s divine love.
Adoption defines a comprehensive change in identity.
Adoption exists for the praise of God’s glorious grace.
Believers are not designed to live as spiritual orphans. They are welcomed into the family of God to receive what a good Father gives His children.
Why This Matters
Before Paul calls the church to live differently, he tells them who they are.
Before obedience, belonging.
Before behavior, identity.
This is not theology for the sake of information. It is theology for formation.
