Ephesians Teaching Series

This beautifully constructed letter can best be understood by paying attention to its amazing structure.

9. Eph 2-5 Deepening our Relationship with Father, Son ＆ Spirit

  • We can really deepen our relationship with God when we think of him as three persons.
  • Knowing how each relates to us slightly differently can give us a richer experience of closeness.

Play Audio:

  • Last time we looked at Eph 4:1-6 and saw how the Trinity was woven into the passage,
    as divine examples of how to show love.

God-like behaviors in Eph 4:1-6

  • (Jesus) with all humility and gentleness,
  • (Father) with patience, bearing with with one another in love,
  • (Spirit) keep the unity of the Spirit by the bond of peace
  • The Trinity is woven into Ephesians, perhaps more than any other book
    • Today we are going to step back from our detailed progress through the book, and look at:

Deepening our Relationship with Father, Son ＆ Spirit

  1. Relationship with the Father
  2. Relationship with Jesus
  3. Relationship with the Spirit
  4. Invitation

Goal:

To deepen and enrich our relationship with God.

  • based on Ephesians 3
  • But before than, I’ll read a few verses from Eph 2

Ephesians 2

  1. For he [Jesus] is our peace, the one who made both groups into one and who destroyed the middle wall of partition, the hostility
  2. …He did this to create in himself one new man out of two, thus making peace,
  3. and to reconcile them both in one body to God [the Father] through the cross…
  4. And he [Jesus] came and preached peace…
  5. so that through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.
  • Do you notice anything about the words that are highlighted there?
    • Notice particularly how the three persons of the Trinity are involved
    • Our relationship with God is with all three

The Trinity

The Trinity
  • What does it mean that there is one God, but he’s made of three people
  • This is a very ancient representation of three in one
    • He is not some kind of force, but three persons
  • I’m not going to try and explain the Trinity this morning
    • But focus on how we can have a relationship with each one of the three

Ephesians 3

  1. For this reason I kneel before the Father,
  2. from whom every family in heaven and on the earth is named.
  3. I pray that according to the wealth of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner person,
  4. that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, so that, because you have been rooted and grounded in love,
  • Nowhere in the Bible does it use the word “trinity”
    • But there are places like this where it is just woven into the fabric of the verse

Ephesians 3 cont’d

  1. you may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
  2. and thus to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.
  3. Now to him [the Father] who by the power that is working within us is able to do far beyond all that we ask or think,
    %would you like that?%
  4. to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
  • So the main point here is that
    • there is a real relationship with each of the three persons
    • Each has a different part to play
    • Each one wants us to enjoy the other two
      • Spirit: “I’m just here to give you Jesus, and to appreciate the Father more”
      • Father: “I’m giving you the Spirit so you can experience Jesus in you and know the depth of his love”
      • Jesus: “I love my father so much that I have come to reconcile you to him, so you can love him like I do.”

1. The Father

  • God is not male, he does not have gender—father is just a metaphor
    • Technical term is “anthropomorphism” Like talking about “the hand of God”

Genesis 1

  1. God created humankind in his own image,
    in the image of God he created them,
    male and female he created them.

Relationship with Father God

  • In the history of the church, there has been (rightly) a lot of emphasis on Jesus
  • More recently an emphasis on the Holy Spirit
  • But the Father rarely receives the emphasis that he deserves
  • Yet Paul talks almost as much about the Father as about Jesus
  • In Jesus came to earth for the purpose of reconciling us to the Father
  • [Eph 2:16] “and to reconcile them both in one body to God [the Father] through the cross…”
  • 2 ways it it described: adoption and birth

1 John 4

  1. Beloved, let us love one another,
    for love is from God,
    and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.
  • As a genuine son, you carry the DNA of God, and so behave like him.
    (This idea is the main theme of 1 John)
  • Many people find it easier to relate to Jesus than to the Father
    • Why? because of poor experiences with imperfect earthly fathers
  • We must take our eyes off our earthy fathers, no matter how good they were to us
    • and let the Scriptures describe the true Father
  • So if that is the wrong way, what is the right way: Look at what Jesus teaches us about the Father.
  • e.g. the Parable of the “Lost Son”
    • or better the “extravagantly loving Father’
    • Jesus gives us this teaching to re-define our idea of Father
  • We need a mental image as we are praying to the Father
    • Also there are some wonderful words in the Psalms and the Prophets

Zephaniah 3

  1. The LORD your God is in your midst,
          The mighty one who will save;
    He will rejoice over you with gladness;
          he will quiet you with his love;
                he will rejoice over you with singing.

Ephesians 3

  1. For this reason I kneel before the Father…
  2. I pray that according to the wealth of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner person, 17that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, so that, because you have been rooted and grounded in love,
  3. you may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
  4. and thus to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.
  5. Now to him [the Father] who… is able to do far beyond all that we ask or think, 21to him be the glory… forever and ever Amen
  • This is a prayer to the Father, and this is his heart for us!

2. Jesus

  • Now I’m going to highlight the Jesus references in our passage

Ephesians 3 – Jesus

  1. [I pray] that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, so that, because you have been rooted and grounded in love,
  2. you may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
  3. and thus to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.
  4. Now to him [the Father] who by the power that is working within us is able to do far beyond all that we ask or think,
  5. to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
  • v.18,19 – One of the most amazing prayers in the whole of the Scriptures
    • v.20 more than we ask or think! defines knowledge
  • This theme is throughout Ephesians
    • Reaches it most astounding heights in 5:25-32 (the Bride) (women might relate better to this, but we men have to get used to it!)

Ephesians 5:24-32

  1. Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,
    …
  2. “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.”
  3. This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.
  • It really is a mystery! We’re just given the picture now, but one day we’ll understand.

The Bride of Christ

  • As the bridegroom rejoices over the bride
    So shall your God rejoice over you. [Is 62:5]
  • Rev 21:2-4, 9-11 We are pictured as the Bride and there is a wedding feast
  • Psalm 45 is a song about the wedding of Jesus, similar to the Song of Solomon
  • Heb 12:2 “[Jesus] …who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame…
  • What was this joy? We are!!!, US!!!, We are his joy!

3. The Holy Spirit

Relationship with the Spirit

  • How do we feel this love of Jesus?% —not just read about it!%
  • Through the Spirit—he is the channel of blessing
  • He is a person, not a force. Verses that speak of grieving him (you can’t grieve electricity)

Experiencing the Holy Spirit

  • He is the advanced deposit of our inheritance [1:13-14]
    • i.e. he brings some of heaven to us now
  • For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear,
    but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” (=“daddy”) [Rom 8:15]
  • “The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit
    that we are children of God” [Rom 8:16]
    He makes us “feel fathered”

Communication

  • So how does this communication happen?
  • Times of Prayer
  • Through reading the Bible
  • He answers our prayers
  • A felt sense of his presence through the Spirit
  • Any way God chooses to!
  • One more way we build this relationship which might surprise you:

Ephesians 3 – Jesus

  1. [I pray] that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, so that, because you have been rooted and grounded in love,
  2. you may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,

%What does v.17 mean? The next chapter unpacks it%

  • Ephesians 4
  1. But practicing the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into Christ, who is the head.
  2. From him the whole body grows, fitted and held together through every supporting ligament. As each one does its part, the body grows in love.
  • As you show love, your heart will become attuned to God’s and you will experience this relationship in an ever deepening way.

The Love Story within the Trinity

The Love Story within the Trinity

The Love Story within the Trinity

  • God’s love for his Son Jesus and his joy in preparing a bride for him
  • Jesus’ love for his Father, willingness to do anything for him, especially to restore the relationship with mankind
  • The Spirit’s delight in selflessly lifting up the Son and the Father
  • We are caught up in this embrace %(e.g. my parents)%
  • We need to enter into it
  • We need to pray and not give up
  • Try to develop your relationship with each of the three —don’t treat God as a “force” but as three people.

Invitation:

  • The Father: “I am the LORD your God… Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.” (Ps 81:10)
  • Jesus and the Spirit: “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.”
    The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price. (Rev 22:16,17)

Father, Son & Spirit

  • He will rejoice over you with gladness;
          he will quiet you with his love;
          he will rejoice over you with singing.
          [Zeph 3:17]
  • …who for the joy [wedded to you] that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame… [Heb 12:2]
  • You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.
    I will not leave you as orphans…
    [Jn 14:17-18]

%He brings the feeling of presence. It is through him we can feel the others and cry “daddy. Father”%

Last updated on 9 Jul 2023
Published on 9 Jul 2023