I recently finished preaching through the book of Ephesians. I’ll share some more of my observations from this incredible book in the future; for now, I thought I would just share a short synopsis of the overall flow and message of the book.
In chapters 1–3, Paul explains that God plans to reconcile and consummate all things in and through Jesus Christ, who is Lord over all (1:10). He expounds that part of how God is accomplishing that consummation is through the church walking in good works that bring honor to Christ (2:10) and demonstrate the character of Christ, thus putting the wisdom of God on display to both heaven and earth (3:10).
Then, in chapters 4–6, Paul begins to articulate what some of those good works are which we were created for, and how our lives are to reflect—to image—the character of God. So his overarching exhortation for chapters 4–6 is that we walk (live) in a manner worthy of the calling to which we’ve been called—a calling out of the old, lost humanity in Adam into a new, redeemed humanity whose head is Christ. As we walk in the imitation of Christ, Paul says that we are to walk in unity (4:1–16), walk in holiness (4:17–32), walk in love (5:1–6), walk in light (5:7–14), walk in wisdom and in the Spirit (5:15–6:9), and stand in the strength of Lord (6:10–20).
Paul then closes with a farewell expression of love and prayer (6:21–24). In the context of the grand message of Ephesians, this love for one another, demonstrated so often by our prayers for one another, is a key component in our properly displaying the character of Christ, thus fulfilling our calling to walk in a manner that glorifies God, which, as Paul has framed it in Ephesians, is the role we are to play in God’s great plan for history to reconcile all things in and through Jesus Christ, who, by his death and resurrection, has won the victory over Satan, sin, and death, and has been declared Lord of all!
Ancient Paths 