Ephesians 1- Your Identity in Christ.

Identity discovery is huge for me. The battle with self-discovery is something I have witnessed working with teenagers and young people. Scattered all around scriptures are different lines and verses that describe our identity in God, how He sees us, who we are because we are in Christ and our gains as a result. The epistle written to the Ephesian Church is a very key scripture on the matter of identity. I don’t know why Paul had to take a lot of time to write to the Ephesian believers to make them understand this subject. Could it be that among other churches, he picked that they had the most problems with an identity crisis?

Get Ready for an exposition on the 1st chapter of the Book of Ephesians.

When I first studied that scripture, I was teary-eyed as I wrote and personalized every line that struck me. Grab your Bible and study with me!!

Key points from Ephesians 1

God has blessed me with EVERY blessing in heaven (vs 3).

Why? Because I belong to Christ.

Just by identifying with Christ, I have a spiritual inheritance.

Every spiritual blessing is at my disposal.

Not some. Every. I have an abundance of spiritual wealth and access to heaven’s resources.

Therefore, it is Biblically incorrect for me as a New Testament believer to pray and ask God to bless me. He has already done so. He is not hoarding it anywhere. I only need to come into that recognition and access my inheritance.

Long ago, before God made the world, He CHOSE me to be His very own (vs 4).

This wasn’t an afterthought. God had me in mind even before I was created. He had a choice not to but He chose to. He knew I will mess up being human but He chose me nonetheless.

He DECIDED to make me holy in His eyes, without a single fault (vs 4).

I am not sure you are getting this gist. He knows I was not born holy. But He decided to see me as one who is holy because I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.

He PLANNED to adopt me as His Son. (vs 5)

Which means I am an heir and joint heir with Christ. Therefore, for every right and privileges Jesus has with the Father, I have the same. Because I have been adopted as a son!

He TOOK AWAY my sins (vs 7).

All because of what Christ has done. This further proves that holiness which is put in another way as righteousness is simply “right standing with God”. It is a position I am placed in; not earned through work. It has nothing to do with what I did or didn’t do, but is simply a result of what Christ has done.

So this scripture tells me that I am able to access all these because of Christ’s death and sacrifice. When God looks down from heaven, He doesn’t see me as dirty, sinful, or full of faults and weaknesses. He sees me as holy, precious in His sight, without blemish.

As a matter of fact, it couldn’t have been earned through works because this decision was taken long ago, long before God created the world or made me (vs 4, 11).

Long before I took my first breath, said my first word, carried out my first action, or had my first thought.

I merely stepped into that “pre-destined position” when I accepted Christ and became saved.

He SHOWERED down upon me the richness of His grace which He made to abound towards me in all wisdom and prudence. And He POURED OUT His favor upon me (vs 8)

Not a sprinkle. He showered grace and poured out favor in a lavish and overwhelming manner. So much that I am drenched in and swimming in it.

He PLANNED I will be with Him in Christ forever in the fullness of Christ (vs 10)

He has this fantastic plan of getting me to spend eternity with Him.

Before I go on to describe one more point, let me explain all of the above properly.

First of all, this is not just for me. In case, you are wondering and feeling undeserving. All these are God’s plans/choices/decisions for EVERY saint who puts his or her faith in Christ.

If you are reading this and you haven’t done so, kindly do the needful. Else, the rest of what I am going to say will not be relevant to you.

In Christ, I have been redeemed and saved from the consequences of sin. Through His blood, I received forgiveness and pardon. I became discharged and acquitted. No longer guilty. I have been washed clean by the blood and I stand holy in God’s sight, without a single fault or blame.

But He didn’t stop there.

God adopted me as His son. He chose me as His own. I have a Father who loves me dearly. Who loved me even when I was yet to come into a knowledge of Him.

He bequeathed me an inheritance and blessed me with every blessing that pertains to life and godliness.

I am not an orphan. I am accepted. I am loved. I have a family. I belong to God. I am His son. I am a gift to God that He delights in because of what Christ has done.

I know, some persons may start to form “gray-hair Christians” and gloss over these lines because, in their minds, these are “basic teachings they learned when they were few months into Christianity”.

But it is not enough to have a head-knowledge of it. You must walk in the understanding that you are all these in order to utilize all the rights, access and privileges of your sonship.

And now to the point that gets me doubly excited:

He SEALED me with the Holy Spirit!

The Holy Spirit exists not just for speaking in tongues and manifestations of spiritual gifts.

The presence of the Holy Spirit in my life proves two things according to this passage (vs 13-14):

• That I belong to God. -The Holy Spirit is a Marker and a Seal; proof of God’s ownership.

So, you can tell who belongs to God and who doesn’t by the presence or absence of the Holy Spirit in their lives.

• He was a promise to early believers that was finally fulfilled. His presence, therefore, GUARANTEES that God will give me ALL that He has promised.

He is proof that my inheritance as a son is real. He is a daily reminder that I will get EVERYTHING God has promised. It a proof that my life is going to be amazing in God. It’s proof that this whole Christianity thing is not hogwash.

Now, it may be hard for our human minds to fully grasp these truths about God, all that Jesus did, and the resultant blessings. That is why Paul did not just end with sharing these revelatory truths with the church in Ephesus, he went further to pray constantly that:

• God will give them the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him (vs 17-18).

This enduement is necessary because it will enable them to see clearly and really understand who Christ is and all that He has done for them.

Without that, they can not understand all that Apostle Paul shared with them in the preceding verses. Neither will you.

The spirit of wisdom and revelation causes enlightenment in 3 ways (vs 18-21):

a) You will catch a glimpse and see something about your calling in God and the future He has called you to share. This is what gives you an IDENTITY.

b) You will come to a realization of how God sees you – as a gift and an inheritance

God feels rich and is one proud Father because you belong to Him. Better believe that!

c) You will realize that His power is available to help those who believe in Him.

This is not just anyhow power.

This power is incredibly and exceedingly great and it is the exact same power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead and exalted Him to sit at the right hand of God in heavenly places, far above principalities and power.

And God is saying that that same power is available to help you.

That same power. Nothing less. It may be hard to fully grasp all of these but they are all true.

You are not weak. You have tremendous power at your disposal. You are probably not tapping into it.

No wonder Paul said boldly, “I can do ALL things through Christ that strengthens me”. He surely knew of this power.

In conclusion,

If you are clueless about the future or you struggle to understand how God sees you or how much you are of worth and value before God or you feel very weak and afraid to wield your believer’s authority, what you need to do is to pray that your eyes are flooded with light and revelation. Until you grasp this understanding, you will continually operate below your status as a child/son of God.

Let’s tie this post to a close. Thank you for coming this far……. Is Jesus the Lord of your life? No…. Please say this prayer below.

Dear Lord Jesus,
I know that I am a sinner, and I ask for Your forgiveness. I believe You died for my sins and rose from the dead. Today, I turn from my sins and invite You to come into my heart and life. I want to trust and follow You as my Lord and Savior. In Jesus’ name. Amen and Amen.

Congratulation if you said this prayer and welcome to the family.

Please kindly share any insight you got from Ephesians 1 in the comment session below.