Monday, October 26, 2009

Ephesians 3

In verse 8, you can get a sense of Paul's humility. He's a prisoner in Rome and but that's all we know. He doesn't complain of his conditions but only expresses concern for the members of the church. Verses 14-21 are a prayer for them. I think verse 15 indicates how everyone on this earth is God's family. Until Christ's birth, the responsibility of the gospel rested with a particular family and for the 1500 years until Christ, that family was Israel and the Jews. With the church in Christ's time, now the responsibility for the gospel goes to the whole family of God's children on the earth. To not be a Christian at that time and be told they were no longer the chosen people, but all people could become a part of Israel, must have been an insult to the non-believing Jews.

The first thing Paul prays for is that the people would have the Spirit. In the Book of Mormon, when the 12 apostles prayed, "They did pray for that which they most desired; and they desired that the Holy Ghost should be given to them." (3 Nephi 19:8-9) And you probably remember that when Joseph Smith appeared to Brigham Young after the saints were in Utah, he said the most important thing for the members of the church was to have the Spirit. Paul is praying that the saints will have the Spirit so that they, through their faith, will have Christ in their hearts. If they do, they will be rooted and grounded in love, they will "know the love Christ, which passeth all knowledge." That is a something worth seeking.

No comments: