Kress Biblical Resources :: Worshiping in Light of Our Riches as the Church (Eph 1, 2, 3)

Detailed Outline of Ephesians

Our Riches in Christ Unify the Church, and Manifest His Glory in the Heavenly Realm

2. Worshiping in light of our riches as the Church (Eph 1; Eph 2; Eph 3)
   1. Rejoice in the Triune God for what He has done for you (Eph 1:3-14)
      1. Praise the Father Who planned your redemption (Eph 1:3-6)
         1. His Person—worthy of praise (Eph 1:3a)
         2. His present to us in Christ (Eph 1:3b)
         3. His predetermined plan (Eph 1:4-5)
            1. Election in Christ (Eph 1:4)
               1. An eternal plan
               2. An excellent purpose
            2. Predestination in love (Eph 1:4d-5)
               1. Adoption as sons through Jesus Christ
               2. According to grace
         4. His purpose—to the praise of the glory of His grace (Eph 1:6)
      2. Praise the Son Who purchased your redemption (Eph 1:7-12)
         1. In Him we have redemption through His blood (Eph 1:7a)
         2. In Him we have the free and full forgiveness of sins (Eph 1:7b-8a)
         3. In Him the Father has made known the mystery of His will (Eph 1:8b-10)
            1. The provision of wisdom into this mystery (Eph 1:8b-9)
            2. The purpose of God’s revealed mystery—Christ as over all (Eph 1:10)
         4. In Him we have been sovereignly allotted an eternal inheritance (Eph 1:11-12)
            1. The reality of our inheritance (Eph 1:11a)
            2. The reason for our inheritance (Eph 1:11b)
            3. The result of this redemption in Christ and inheritance we have (Eph 1:12) [note—to the glory of His grace]
      3. Praise the Spirit Who personally guarantees your redemption (Eph 1:13-14)
         1. The Holy Spirit seals you in Christ, through the gospel you received by faith (Eph 1:13)
            1. He seals the believer in Christ (Eph 1:13a)
            2. He does so through the gospel message, to those who listen and believe (Eph 1:13b)
         2. The Holy Spirit is the down payment of our inheritance (Eph 1:14)
            1. The pledge of our inheritance and ultimate redemption (Eph 1:14a)
            2. The purpose of our Spirit-sealed redemption (Eph 1:14b) [note—to the praise of His glory]
   2. Recognize the surpassing greatness of God’s power toward you (Eph 1:15-23)
      1. God’s power can be made known through the intercessory prayers of other believers (Eph 1:15-16, 18-19)
         1. Prayer based on the glorious truths of redemption (Eph 1:15a; cf. Eph 1:3-14)
         2. Prayer because of the evident faith and love of those prayed for (Eph 1:15)
         3. Prayer bathed in thanksgiving and thoughtfulness (Eph 1:16)
         4. Prayer based on the sovereign power and promises of God (Eph 1:18-19)
      2. God’s power is connected to knowing the Person of God (Eph 1:17)
         1. The God of our Lord Jesus Christ
         2. The God Who is the Father of Glory
         3. The Giver of wisdom and of the revelation of the knowledge of Him
      3. God’s power is connected to knowing the promises of God (Eph 1:18-19)
         1. Concerning the past (the hope of your calling) (Eph 1:18a)
         2. Concerning the future (the inheritance of the saints) (Eph 1:18b)
         3. Concerning the present (His power toward us) (Eph 1:19)
      4. God’s power is connected to understanding the preeminence of Christ (Eph 1:20-23)
         1. God’s power is preeminently displayed in the resurrection and exaltation of Christ (Eph 1:20-21)
            1. God’s power and Christ’s resurrection (Eph 1:20a)
            2. God’s power and Christ’s ascension to the right hand of God (Eph 1:20b)
            3. God’s power and Christ’s exaltation over all authority, power, and dominion—in every age and for all time (Eph 1:21)
         2. God’s power has put all things in subjection to Christ and made Him head over the Church, which is His body (Eph 1:22-23)
            1. God’s power and Christ’s rule over all things (Eph 1:22a)
            2. God’s power and Christ’s rank in regard to the church as His body (Eph 1:22b-23)
   3. Remember who you were before Christ and who you are now in Christ (Eph 2:1-22)
      1. You were dead spiritually—but now you are alive in Christ (Eph 2:1-10)
         1. You were spiritually dead (Eph 2:1-3)
            1. The declaration (Eph 2:1)
            2. The details (Eph 2:2-3)
               1. You walked in the ways of the world (Eph 2:2a)
               2. You walked under the influence of Satan (Eph 2:2b)
               3. You lived out the desires of your fallen nature (Eph 2:3)
         2. You were made alive in Christ (Eph 2:4-10)
            1. The Source of your spiritual resurrection (Eph 2:4)
            2. The stunning reality of your spiritual resurrection (Eph 2:5-6)
               1. Life came out of death by the sheer grace of God (Eph 2:5)
               2. Now you share the resurrected life and exaltation of Christ Jesus (Eph 2:6)
            3. The stunning purpose for your spiritual resurrection (Eph 2:7-10)
               1. To reveal the surpassing riches of His grace in the ages to come (Eph 2:7)
               2. To reveal that the grace at work in your spiritual resurrection eliminates any human boasting (Eph 2:8-9)
               3. To reveal that the grace at work in your spiritual resurrection produces divinely ordained good works that we are responsible to walk in (Eph 2:10)
      2. You were hopeless, without God—but now you are part of the Holy Temple of God (Eph 2:11-22)
         1. You were separated from God’s people and hopeless apart from the gospel (Eph 2:11-12)
            1. Without the sign of the covenant—circumcision (Eph 2:11)
            2. Without the covenant promises (Eph 2:12)
         2. You are now are united to God’s people in Christ (Eph 2:13-18)
            1. Brought near by the blood of Christ (Eph 2:13)
            2. Barriers removed by Christ, Who is our peace (Eph 2:14-18)
               1. The summary—Jews and Gentiles are one in Christ (Eph 2:14)
               2. He fulfilled the demands of the Law that separated (Eph 2:15)
               3. His death puts the division to death (Eph 2:16)
               4. His message is peace to both Jew and Gentile (Eph 2:17)
               5. He is the means by which we have access in one Spirit to the Father (Eph 2:18)
         3. You are now in the family of God and part of the Holy Temple of God (Eph 2:19-22)
            1. No longer strangers and aliens—but rather fellow citizens and family (Eph 2:19)
            2. Now part of the holy temple of God (Eph 2:20-22)
               1. The foundation—the apostles and prophets (Eph 2:20)
               2. The Cornerstone—Christ Himself (Eph 2:20b)
               3. The community being constructed into a living, holy Temple of God in the Spirit (Eph 2:21-22)
   4. Recognize the unique purpose of the Church, Christ’s love, and God’s power toward you (Eph 3:1-21) [see Eph 3:10]
      1. The purpose of the Church and the Church itself had been a mystery prior to the Apostolic age and Paul’s ministry (Eph 3:1-13)
         1. Paul’s ministry and the mystery of Gentile inclusion in the body as fellow partakers of Christ (Eph 3:1-6)
            1. The ministry given to Paul (Eph 3:1-3)
               1. As a prisoner of Christ (Eph 3:1a)
               2. As an apostle to the Gentiles (Eph 3:1b-2)
               3. As a recipient of divine revelation (Eph 3:3)
            2. The mystery revealed to Paul (Eph 3:4-6)
               1. Its communication (Eph 3:4-5)
                  • Paul had previously written about the divine revelation he had received concerning the mystery (Eph 3:4)
                  • It had not been known to prior generations (Eph 3:5)
               2. Its content—Gentile inclusion in the body and fellow partakers of Christ (Eph 3:6)
         2. Paul’s ministry of grace and the magnification of God’s glory in the heavenly realm (Eph 3:7-13)
            1. The gift of gospel ministry (Eph 3:7)
            2. The gift of Gentile ministry (Eph 3:8)
            3. The gift of a revelatory ministry (Eph 3:9-12)
               1. Revealing the administration of the mystery (Eph 3:9)
               2. Revealing the wisdom of God in the heavenly realm through the church (Eph 3:10)
               3. Realizing God’s eternal purpose in Christ (Eph 3:11)
               4. Resulting in confident access to the heavenly realm in Christ (Eph 3:12)
            4. The gift of a suffering ministry (Eph 3:13)
      2. The prayer of the Apostle is that the Church comprehend and experience the love of Christ and the power of God—to the glory of God (Eph 3:14-21)
         1. The recognition of God’s grace, wisdom and sovereign authority (Eph 3:14-15)
            1. The resumption of thought—“for this reason” (Eph 3:14a)
            2. The reverence before the Father (Eph 3:14b)
            3. The recognition of the Father as Source and sovereign over all (Eph 3:15)
         2. The request for God’s empowering and illuminating grace, and sovereign glory (Eph 3:16-19)
            1. Praying for spiritual strength in Christ (Eph 3:16-17a)
               1. Spiritual strength that has no limit (Eph 3:16a)
               2. Spiritual strength that is divinely wrought (Eph 3:16b)
               3. Spiritual strength that is inextricably bound to faith in Christ (Eph 3:17a)
            2. Praying for supernatural comprehension of Christ’s love (Eph 3:17b-19)
               1. The reality is that love is already your foundation (Eph 3:17b)
               2. The request is for a unified grasp of the infinite and incomprehensible love of Christ (Eph 3:18-19a)
               3. The result culminates in being filled up to the fullness of Christ (Eph 3:19b)
         3. The recognition and reverence of God’s wisdom, power, and glory (Eph 3:20-21)
            1. Recognize His incomprehensible wisdom and power (Eph 3:20)
            2. Reverence His glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus forever and ever (Eph 3:21)