Homily 1
"Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and the faithful in Christ Jesus. Grace to you, and peace, from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ." - Eph 1:1-2
Notice that Paul uses the word "through" when referring to the Father. But what does this mean? Should we conclude that He is somehow inferior? Absolutely not.
"To the saints," he writes, "which are at Ephesus, and the faithful in Christ Jesus."
Notice that he calls these people saints: men with wives, children, and servants. We know these are the people he's addressing because of what he says at the end of the letter, where he writes, "Wives, be in subjection unto your own husbands" (Eph 5:22). And again, "Children, obey your parents" (Eph 6:1), and "Servants, be obedient to your masters" (Eph 6:5). Consider how spiritually lazy we've become today, how rare genuine virtue is now, and how abundant virtuous people must have been back then, when even ordinary laypeople could be called "saints and faithful." "Grace to you, and peace, from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ." "Grace" is his characteristic word, and he calls God "Father" because this name is a clear sign of that gift of grace. How so? Listen to what he says elsewhere: "Because ye are sons, God sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father" (Gal 4:6).
"And from the Lord Jesus Christ."
Because for us, for humanity, Christ was born and appeared in the flesh.
"Blessed be the God," he says, "and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Eph 1:3).
Notice this: The God of Him who became incarnate. And whether you like it or not, the Father of God the Word.
"Who hath blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ" (Eph 1:3).
Here Paul is referring to the blessings the Jews received. Those were real blessings, but they weren't spiritual blessings. How did those promises go? "The Lord will bless you and the fruit of your body" (Deut 7:13), and "He will bless your going out and your coming in" (Deut 28:4). But here it's different. Here it says "with every spiritual blessing." What more could you possibly need? You've been made immortal, set free, adopted as a son, made righteous, made a brother, made a fellow heir. You reign with Christ, you're glorified with Christ. Everything is freely given to you. As Paul says, "How will He not also with Him freely give us all things?" (Rom 8:32). Your firstfruits is worshiped by angels, by the cherubim, by the seraphim! What more could you need? "With every spiritual blessing." Nothing here is physical or earthly. That's why Christ set aside all those earlier blessings when He said, "In the world you have tribulation" (John 16:33). He was leading us toward these spiritual ones. Just as people who possessed physical things couldn't grasp spiritual things, so people who aim at spiritual things can't reach them unless they first let go of physical things.
What does he mean by "spiritual blessing in the heavenly places"? He's saying these blessings aren't earthly ones like the Jews received. They were promised, "You will eat the good of the land" (Isa 1:19). They heard about "a land flowing with milk and honey" (Exod 3:8). God told them, "The Lord will bless your land" (Deut 7:13). We don't have anything like that. What do we have instead? "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word, and I and My Father will come to him and make our home with him" (John 14:23). "Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, and it didn't fall, because it was founded on the rock" (Matt 7:24-25). And what is that rock but those heavenly realities that stand above every kind of change? "Everyone who confesses Me before men," Christ says, "I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me, I will also deny" (Matt 10:32-33). Again, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God" (Matt 5:8). And again, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Matt 5:3). And again, "Blessed are you who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for great is your reward in heaven" (Matt 5:11-12). Notice how everywhere He speaks of heaven, nowhere of earth or earthly things. And again, "Our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ" (Phil 3:20). And again, "Don't set your mind on the things that are on earth, but on the things which are above" (Col 3:3).
"In Christ."
In other words, this blessing didn't come through Moses but through Christ Jesus. We surpass the Israelites not just in the quality of our blessings but also in our Mediator. Paul makes the same point in Hebrews: "Moses was faithful in all God's house as a servant, testifying to what would be spoken later; but Christ is faithful as a Son over God's house, and we are His house" (Heb 3:5-6).
"Even as," Paul continues, "He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blemish before Him in love" (Eph 1:4).
Here's what he means. The one who has blessed us is also the one who chose us. He is the one who will give us all our future rewards. He is the Judge who will say, "Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world" (Matt 25:34). And again, "I desire that where I am, they also will be with Me" (John 17:24). Paul is eager to prove this point in almost all his letters: our faith is not some new invention but was planned from the very beginning. It isn't the result of God changing His mind but was part of His divine plan, ordained from eternity. This shows how deeply He cares for us.
What does "He chose us in Him" mean? Through faith in Christ, God arranged this for us before we were born, indeed, before the foundation of the world. Notice that beautiful word "foundation," as if the world were cast down from some enormous height. Yes, the height of God is vast and beyond description, removed from us not by physical distance but by the incomparable difference in nature. The gap between creation and Creator is immense! This is a truth that heretics should be ashamed to hear.
But why has He chosen us? "That we should be holy and without a blemish before Him." When you hear that "He has chosen us," don't assume that faith alone is enough. Paul goes on to add life and conduct. This is the purpose for which He has chosen us, and this is the condition: "that we should be holy and without blemish." This is exactly how He chose the Jews in the past. On what terms? "This nation," He says, "He has chosen from the rest of the nations" (Deut 14:2). Now if people in their choices select what is best, how much more does God? The very fact of their being chosen is both a sign of God's loving kindness and of their moral goodness. He would certainly have chosen those who were approved. He Himself has made us holy, but then we must remain holy. A holy person is one who shares in faith; a blameless person is one who leads an irreproachable life. Yet it's not simply holiness and irreproachableness that He requires, but that we should appear such "before Him." There are holy and blameless people who are esteemed as such only by other people, those who are like whitewashed tombs and like those who wear sheep's clothing. But He doesn't require such people. He requires the kind the Prophet speaks of: "And according to the cleanness of my hands" (Ps 18:24). What cleanness? The kind that is so "in His eyesight." He requires the holiness on which the eye of God may look.
Having discussed the good works of believers, Paul returns to the theme of God's grace. "In love," he says, "having predestinated us." This happens not through any effort or good works of our own, but through love. Yet it's not love alone, but also our virtue. If it were love alone, everyone would be saved. If it were our virtue alone, Christ's coming would have been unnecessary, along with the entire plan of salvation. But it results from both: His love and our virtue. "He chose us," the Apostle says, and the one who chooses knows what He is choosing. "In love," he adds, "having foreordained us." Virtue alone could never have saved anyone without love. Tell me, what would Paul have accomplished, how would he have achieved what he did, if God had not called him from the beginning and, because He loved him, drawn him to Himself? Moreover, His granting us such great privileges was the result of His love, not our virtue. Our becoming virtuous, believing, and drawing near to Him: this too was the work of the one who called us. And yet it is also our work. But that when we draw near to Him, He should grant us such high privileges, bringing us instantly from a state of hostility to the adoption of children, this is truly the work of a transcendent love.
Verses 4-5: "In love," he says, "having foreordained us unto adoption as sons through Jesus Christ unto Himself."
Do you see how nothing happens without Christ? Nothing without the Father? The Father predestined us, and the Son brought us close. Paul adds these words to emphasize the magnitude of what has been done, just as he says elsewhere, "And not only so, but we also rejoice in God, through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Rom 5:11). The blessings we've received are already great, but they become far greater when we realize they came through Christ. After all, God didn't send a servant to us servants. He sent His only Son.
Verse 5: "According to the good pleasure," he continues, "of His will."
That is, because He deeply wanted it. This is, you might say, His passionate desire. The phrase "good pleasure" everywhere means the primary will, because there is also a secondary will. For example, the first will is that sinners should not perish; the second will is that if people become wicked, they will perish. Certainly He doesn't punish them out of necessity, but because He chooses to. You can see something similar in Paul's words when he says, "I wish that all men were as I am" (1 Cor 7:7). And again, "I want the younger widows to marry and have children" (1 Tim 5:14). By "good pleasure," then, he means the first will, the passionate will, the will accompanied by intense desire. To use a familiar expression (and I won't hesitate to use everyday language to make this clear to ordinary readers): we ourselves, when expressing the intensity of our will, speak of acting according to our firm resolve. What he's saying, then, is this: God passionately aims at, deeply desires, our salvation. Why does He love us so much? Where does such affection come from? It comes from His goodness alone. Grace itself is the fruit of goodness. And for this reason, he says, God has predestined us to adoption as children. This is His will, the object of His passionate wish: that the glory of His grace may be displayed. "According to the good pleasure of His will," he continues,
Verse 6: "To the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely gave us in the Beloved."
That the glory of His grace may be displayed, he says, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. Now then, if He has shown grace to us for this purpose (to praise the glory of His grace and to display His grace), let us remain in it. "To the praise of His glory." What does this mean? That who should praise Him? That who should glorify Him? That we should, that angels should, that archangels should, or even the whole creation? And what would that amount to? Nothing. The divine nature knows no lack. So why would He want us to praise and glorify Him? It's so that our love toward Him may burn more intensely within us. He desires nothing we can offer: not our service, not our praise, not anything else, nothing but our salvation. This is His goal in everything He does. And the person who praises and marvels at the grace shown toward himself will become more devoted and more earnest as a result.
"Which He freely bestowed on us," Paul says. Notice that he doesn't say "which He graciously gave us" (echarisato), but rather "in which He showed us grace" (echaritosen). In other words, God hasn't merely released us from our sins: He has also made us worthy objects of His love. Imagine someone finding a leper, wasted by disease and decay, by age and poverty and starvation, and instantly transforming him into a beautiful young man who surpasses all humanity in appearance, whose face radiates light, whose eyes outshine the sun itself. Then imagine this person placing him in the prime of life, dressing him in purple robes and a crown and all the trappings of royalty. This is exactly how God has dressed and adorned our souls, clothed them with beauty, and made them objects of His delight and love. Angels long to look at such a soul, yes, even archangels and all the holy ones. This is the kind of grace He has poured over us, this is how dear He has made us to Himself. As the Psalmist says, "The King will greatly desire your beauty" (Ps 45:11). Think about the harmful words we used to speak, and look at the gracious words we speak now. Wealth no longer attracts us, nor do the things of this world, but only heavenly things, the things that exist in the heavens. When a child has outward beauty and also displays a pervasive grace in everything it says, don't we call it a beautiful child? This is what the faithful are like. Look at the words the baptized speak! What could be more beautiful than the mouth that breathes those wonderful words, and with a pure heart and pure lips, radiating joyful confidence, partakes of such a mystical table? What could be more beautiful than the words by which we renounce the Devil's service and enlist in Christ's service? More beautiful than both the confession made before the baptismal font and the one made after it? Let those of us who have defiled our baptism reflect on this and weep, so that we may be able to restore it again.
Verse 6: "In the Beloved," he says, "in whom we have our redemption through His Blood."
How can this be? The marvel isn't just that He gave His Son, but that He gave Him in such a way that the Beloved One Himself would be killed!
And there's something even more astonishing: He gave the Beloved for those who hated Him. Look at how highly He values us. If He gave the Beloved when we hated Him and were His enemies, what won't He do now that we've been reconciled to Him through grace?
Verse 7: "The forgiveness," he says, "of our trespasses."
Again he moves from high to low: first speaking of adoption, sanctification, and blamelessness, and then of the Passion. But in doing this he's not lowering his discussion and bringing it down from greater things to lesser ones. Rather, he's heightening it, raising it from the lesser to the greater. For nothing is as great as the fact that this Son's blood was shed for us. This is greater than both the adoption and all the other gifts of grace, that He didn't even spare the Son. For while the forgiveness of sins is indeed great, this is far greater: that it should be accomplished by the Lord's blood. To show that this is far greater than everything else, look how he exclaims again:
Verse 7, 8. "According to the riches of His grace, which He made to abound toward us."
The gifts mentioned above are riches, yet this is far more so. "Which," he says, "He made to abound toward us." They are both "riches" and "they have abounded," meaning they were poured out in a measure beyond words. It's impossible to express in language what blessings we have actually experienced. For they are indeed riches, abounding riches, and He has given in abundance not the riches of man but of God, so that in every way they cannot be expressed. And to show us how abundantly He gave it, he adds:
Verse 8, 9. "In all wisdom and prudence, having made known to us the mystery of His will."
In other words, God made us wise and prudent in what truly matters: real wisdom and real prudence. It's remarkable! What kind of friendship is this? He tells us His secrets, the mysteries of His will, as if to say He has revealed to us what is in His heart. This is the mystery that contains all wisdom and prudence.
What can you compare to this wisdom? It has found a way to raise those who were worthless to wealth and abundance. What could equal such a brilliant plan? The one who was an enemy, who was hated, is suddenly lifted up on high. And not only that: the fact that it happened at this particular time was also the work of wisdom, and that it was accomplished through the Cross. It would take a long discussion to explain how all this was the work of wisdom and how He made us wise. That's why Paul repeats the words again:
"According to His good pleasure which He purposed in Him."
That is, this is what He wanted, this is what He worked toward, you might say, so that He could reveal the mystery to us. What mystery? That He intended to seat humanity up on high. And this has happened.
Verse 10: "Unto a dispensation of the fulness of the times to sum up all things in Christ, the things in the heavens and the things upon the earth, even in Him."
Heavenly things, he means, had been separated from earthly things. They no longer had one Head. As far as the structure of creation went, there was indeed one God over all, but as far as the management of one household went, this was not the case amid the widespread error of the Gentiles. They had been cut off from His authority.
"Unto a dispensation," he says, "of the fulness of the times."
Paul calls this "the fullness of the times." Notice how carefully he chooses his words. While he shows that the origin, purpose, will, and initial plan all come from the Father, and that the fulfillment and execution happen through the Son's work, he never once calls the Son a mere servant or agent.
"He chose us," Paul writes, "in Him, having predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself," and "to the praise of the glory of His grace, in whom we have redemption through His blood, which He purposed in Him, for a plan suited to the fullness of the times, to unite all things in Christ." Nowhere in this does he label Christ as simply a minister. But if the words "in" and "through" really do imply nothing more than a servant carrying out orders, then consider what this means. Right at the start of the letter, Paul uses the phrase "through the will of the Father." The Father willed it, and the Son accomplished it. Yet this doesn't mean that because the Father willed it, the Son had no part in willing it. Nor does it mean that because the Son accomplished it, the Father had no part in the work. Everything belongs to both the Father and the Son. As Christ Himself says, "All Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine" (John 17:10).
The fullness of the times, though, refers to His coming. After God had tried everything (working through angels, prophets, and the Law) and nothing succeeded, when it seemed humanity had been created in vain, brought into the world for nothing (or worse, for destruction), when everyone was heading toward ruin more catastrophic than the flood, He designed this new arrangement based on grace. This prevented humanity's creation from being pointless and futile. Paul calls this "the fullness of the times" and "wisdom." Why? Because at the exact moment when people were about to perish completely, they were rescued.
"That He might unite all things," Paul says.
What does "sum up" mean here? It means "to knit together." Let's try to get at the precise meaning. In ordinary conversation, we use the word to describe condensing lengthy material into a brief summary, giving a concise account of matters that were described in detail. And it does have this meaning. For Christ has gathered up in Himself the plans carried out over a long period of time: that is to say, He has shortened them. For "by finishing His word and cutting it short in righteousness" (Rom 9:28), He both included the former plans and added new ones besides. This is what "summing up" means.
But the word has another meaning as well. What is that? He has placed over everything one and the same Head, namely Christ according to the flesh, over both angels and human beings. That is to say, He has given angels and humans one and the same government: to the one the Incarnate Christ, to the other God the Word. Just as someone might say of a house that has one part decayed and another part sound, "He has rebuilt the house," meaning He has made it stronger and laid a firmer foundation, so also here He has brought everything under one and the same Head. For this is how unity will be achieved, this is how a close bond will be created: if everyone can be brought under one and the same Head, and thus have some compelling bond of union from above. Since we have been honored with so great a blessing, so high a privilege, so great a love, let's not shame our Benefactor, let's not make such great grace meaningless. Let's demonstrate the life of angels, the virtue of angels, the conduct of angels. Yes, I beg and urge you that all these things not turn into judgment against us, nor into condemnation, but into our enjoyment of those good things, which may God grant we may all attain, in Christ Jesus, our Lord, with whom to the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, be glory, strength, etc.
