Ephesians - Overview of Ephesians

 

    This message was preached at Word Of Grace Church on 14th June 2026, by Colin D Cruz. For the audio , please click here.  For the worship, please click here. 

Understanding the Book of Ephesians

Introduction: Understanding the Message

Imagine receiving a message between two people—John and Mary. Before understanding the message itself, you would first ask: Who are they? What is their relationship? Where are they writing from?

In the same way, to truly understand the book of Ephesians, we must first understand its context—who wrote it, where it was written, and who it was written to.

The book of Ephesians is not just a letter; it is one of the most profound revelations of God’s eternal plan for humanity.

The Author and the Setting

The letter to the Ephesians was written by the Apostle Paul around AD 62 while he was under house arrest in Rome. Chained to a Roman soldier, Paul could have focused on his suffering—but instead, he wrote one of the most powerful letters in the New Testament.

Rather than correcting wrong teachings (as he did in other letters), Paul writes Ephesians to reveal God’s grand and eternal purpose.

The City of Ephesus

Ephesus was a major city in the Roman Empire, located in present-day Turkey. With a population of about 250,000 people, it was a center of commerce, politics, and religion.

The city was famous for the Temple of Artemis, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The economy and culture of Ephesus were deeply tied to idol worship, making it a spiritually challenging place for the gospel to take root.

The Birth of the Ephesian Church

The church in Ephesus was established through the ministry of Paul, along with Aquila, Priscilla, and Apollos.

Paul spent about two years teaching daily, and the impact was remarkable:

• People turned away from sorcery and burned their scrolls publicly
• The gospel spread across the entire region
• Lives were radically transformed

However, this transformation also brought opposition, especially from those whose livelihood depended on idol worship.

The Structure of Ephesians

The book of Ephesians can be divided into two main sections:

1. Chapters 1–3: Doctrine (What God Has Done)

These chapters focus on our identity and blessings in Christ:

• Chosen before the foundation of the world
• Adopted as God’s children
• Redeemed and forgiven
• Sealed with the Holy Spirit

Paul emphasizes that these are already accomplished truths—not something we earn, but something God has already done.

2. Chapters 4–6: Practice (How We Should Live)

Based on these truths, Paul urges believers to:

• Walk in unity
• Walk in holiness
• Walk in love
• Walk in light
• Walk in wisdom

The key idea is simple yet powerful:

Right living flows from right believing.

God’s Cosmic Plan

At the heart of Ephesians is a breathtaking truth: God’s plan is not just about individual salvation.

It is about bringing everything in heaven and on earth together under Jesus Christ.

This includes:

• Restoring creation
• Reconciling humanity to God
• Healing divisions between people

God is creating one new humanity—a united people from every background, culture, and nation.

The Role of the Church

One of the most surprising truths in Ephesians is this:

God displays His wisdom through the church.

Not through power, wealth, or influence—but through ordinary believers.

When we:

• Love one another
• Forgive each other
• Live in unity

We demonstrate God’s wisdom to the world—even to spiritual powers.

The church is described as:

• One body
• One family
• One temple

And God Himself dwells within it by His Spirit.

A Message for Us Today

Ephesians reminds us of two important truths:

1. Salvation is Essential

If we do not know Christ, the invitation is open—to receive forgiveness and new life.

2. Our Identity Matters

We are chosen, redeemed, and part of God’s eternal plan.

Even when we feel ordinary, God is working through us to accomplish something extraordinary.

Conclusion

The book of Ephesians lifts our eyes beyond our daily struggles and shows us God’s grand design.

We are not bystanders—we are participants in His plan.

As we live lives worthy of our calling, we become living testimonies of His glory.

The Lord alone is God—and His purpose will stand forever.

 Word of Grace is an Evangelical (Born Again),  Spirit-filled (Charismatic), Reformed, English-speaking church in Pune that upholds the Bible as God's inspired Word for life. We are a church community that has people from every part of India and parts of the world. We are here to put the Great Command and the Great Commission into practice by equipping and releasing every member into works of service.  Word of Grace is part of a wider international family of Churches called RegionsBeyond.To know more about us please log onto www.wordofgracechurch.org. 

Don't Miss the Moment - Part 3

   This message was preached at Word Of Grace Church on 22nd February 2026, by Colin. For the audio , please click here.  For the worship, please click here. 

Don’t Miss the Moment: Rediscovering Giving, Prayer & Fasting

As the weather shifts from winter into spring, we’re reminded that certain seasons call us to refocus. In the Christian calendar, this season is known as Lent—a 40-day period leading up to Easter traditionally devoted to prayer, fasting, repentance, and renewed devotion to God.

The word “Lent” literally means springtime or lengthening. It represents a spiritual awakening—a time to examine our hearts and realign our lives.

But here’s the honest question:
If we were left entirely to ourselves, would we consistently pray, fast, and give?

Probably not.

That’s why seasons like Lent matter. Not because they are legalistic requirements, but because they lovingly call us back to what truly sustains us.

The Heart Behind Spiritual Disciplines

In Gospel of Matthew 6, Jesus speaks about three core spiritual disciplines:

• Giving
• Praying
• Fasting

Notice something powerful—He says “when” you give, pray, and fast. Not if.

These practices are not optional extras for super-spiritual believers. They are expected rhythms of a disciple’s life. But Jesus goes deeper—He addresses not just what we do, but why we do it.

Over and over, He reminds us:
Your Father sees in secret.
Your Father rewards in secret.

These disciplines are not performances for people. They are acts of devotion to our Father in heaven.

1. Giving: A Matter of the Heart

Jesus warns against public displays of generosity done for applause. If recognition is our goal, recognition will be our only reward.

True giving flows from delight in God.

A beautiful example is found in 1 Chronicles 29. King David prepared offerings for the temple and declared:

“Everything comes from You, and we have given You only what comes from Your own hand.”

David understood something profound:
We are not owners—we are stewards.

When we give:

• We acknowledge that everything belongs to God.
• We participate in His purposes.
• We position ourselves for heavenly reward.

The question is not, “How much must I give?”
It is, “How grateful is my heart?”

2. Prayer: Our Lifeline

Jesus teaches that prayer is not about public performance or empty repetition. It is personal communion with our Father.

Let’s be honest, prayer is hard.

The moment we sit down to pray, distractions flood our minds. Bills, appointments, responsibilities. Our flesh resists stillness. Yet Scripture is clear, prayer is essential.

In Gospel of Matthew 6, Jesus gives us the Lord’s Prayer—a model that centers on:

• God’s holiness
• God’s kingdom
• Daily provision
• Forgiveness
• Deliverance

Prayer reshapes our priorities.

It is also powerful when done together. There is strength in agreement. When believers unite in prayer for families, churches, nations, and personal needs, heaven moves.

And again, Jesus promises:

“Your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”

3. Forgiveness: The Hidden Blocker

Right in the middle of teaching on prayer, Jesus addresses forgiveness.

Unforgiveness quietly poisons spiritual life. We all get hurt. Offended. Misunderstood. But refusing to forgive restricts our own freedom.

Lent—or any reflective season—is an opportunity to ask:

• Who am I holding in my heart?
• Where do I need to release someone?

Forgiveness is not weakness.
It is spiritual strength.

4. Fasting: Humbling Ourselves Before God

Let’s admit it—fasting is probably the hardest discipline.

Jesus again says, “When you fast…” Not if.

Fasting humbles us. It quiets the flesh. It sharpens spiritual sensitivity. Throughout Scripture, fasting preceded breakthrough.

One powerful example appears in Book of Esther 4. Faced with national crisis and annihilation, Esther called the people to fast for three days. That fast shifted history. The king’s heart changed. The enemy’s plans collapsed.

Fasting is not about gloom or self-display. It is about desperation for God’s intervention.

In a world filled with injustice, conflict, and turmoil, can we afford not to fast?

This Is Not Legalism

Spiritual disciplines are not about earning God’s love.

We don’t:

• Pray because we have to
• Fast because we have to
• Give because we have to

We do these things because we want to draw near to our Father.

Grace is the foundation. Discipline is the response.

Don’t Miss the Moment

Whether during Lent or any season of life, this is an invitation:

• Grow in generosity.
• Deepen your prayer life.
• Embrace fasting.
• Walk in forgiveness.

There is always room to grow.

The aim is not perfection—but transformation.
The goal is not ritual—but relationship.

And the promise remains steady and sure:

Your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Don’t miss the moment.

 Word of Grace is an Evangelical (Born Again),  Spirit-filled (Charismatic), Reformed, English-speaking church in Pune that upholds the Bible as God's inspired Word for life. We are a church community that has people from every part of India and parts of the world. We are here to put the Great Command and the Great Commission into practice by equipping and releasing every member into works of service.  Word of Grace is part of a wider international family of Churches called RegionsBeyond.To know more about us please log onto www.wordofgracechurch.org. 

Chosen - A People Who Fear the Lord

This message was preached at Word Of Grace Church on February 19th 2023  by Lasya. For the audio & video please click here. To listen to the worship please click here.

The Fear of God 

Q. What is the fear of the Lord? 

The word fear refers to reverential awe. Reverence is defined as a feeling or attitude of deep respect, love, and awe, for something sacred. It is a heart posture. 

It is NOT being afraid of God. In fact, being scared to come into his presence generally indicates a guilty conscience (E.g.: Adam and Eve) and is not the outworking of a reverent awe of God. 

This fear of the lord is not the fear which drives us away from him but the fear that instructs us on how to rightly draw near to him. 

Every good parent trains their child in 2 things with regard to their relationship:

• To know that they are deeply and unconditionally loved 

• To honour them with a reverential fear. 

An imbalance in either direction is detrimental (not to the parent) but to the growth of the child. God is a good father and belonging to him requires us to know these 2 things - that we are unconditionally loved and that he is wholly holy and worthy of our reverential awe. Today we don't have a dearth of messaging - in culture or in the church - that you are loved and worthy of love. But the fear of the Lord is avoided and that’s what we are going to address today. 

Q. Why do we need the fear of the Lord?

There are tons of cautionary tales in the bible right from Adam and Eve, Saul, Solomon, to Ananias and Sapphira. But we don't even need to go that far. We need to fear the Lord because of 2 things 

1. Because of who He is

1. In creation: who is God? Is he the mighty mountain or the blazing sun or the endless ocean? Who is 

Gen 1:1 -5: In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. 3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

Gen 2:7 “then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.”

Job 38 to 42. (excerpts)

“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
    Tell me, if you have understanding.
Who determined its measurements—surely you know!
    Or who stretched the line upon it?
Have you commanded the morning since your days began,
    and caused the dawn to know its place,
that it might take hold of the skirts of the earth,
    and the wicked be shaken out of it?

“Have you entered into the springs of the sea
    or walked in the recesses of the deep?
Have the gates of death been revealed to you,
    or have you seen the gates of deep darkness?
Have you comprehended the expanse of the earth?
Declare, if you know all this.

These questions go on for 4 chapters to answer Job and his friends saying - I am God and you are not. He is the potter and we are the clay, he is the author and we are the pages. We are His creation, the people formed for His good pleasure. 

1. Response - 

1. Awe and wonder: Wonder is defined as “the rapt attention and deep emotion caused by something extraordinary.” Awe is “the feeling we get in the presence of something vast that challenges our understanding of the world.” Our lives have shrunken down to screens- it’s all smoke and mirrors. But the psalmist says in Psalm 8:3-4 “When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?” . We need to behold him.  And when we do, we surrender. 

2. Submission/Obedience to him and to one another (Eph 5:21). When we see his majesty in creation we rightly see ourselves 1 Peter 5:6 (humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God). 

2. In redemption - Hebrews 9:12-14 ”12 he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. 13 For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify[f] for the purification of the flesh, 14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our[g] conscience from dead works to serve the living God.” Millions of people have died before Jesus and after him, some have even been resurrected but not one of them could have purchased eternal redemption for us. He is the redeemer, there is no one else. 

1. Response - 

1. Repentance comes before redemption. Job 42 “ I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes.”, Acts 2, John the Baptist. Repentance is not punishment - it is mercy. It is a gift. 

2. Living set apart (holiness)- 1 Peter 1: 14-19 “14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, 15 but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” Culture can impact how we process holiness. Eg: Lot’s children gave birth to the Moabites and ammonites. So it is important to be set apart by the standard of the word of God. Egs of what the Bible calls sin and are a common practice in culture (lust, gluttony, greed, laziness, wrath, envy, and pride.) - Work related, sex-related, etc. How to recognise and act on the conviction of the Holy Spirit. (Personal example) . The fear of man v. The fear of God 

3. In glory - John referred to himself as the disciple that Jesus loved and reclined on his chest at the last supper, but on the Island of Patmos, he sees this very Jesus in his glory. Rev 1: 12-18, “2 Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. 14 The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, 15 his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. 16 In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.” “When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, "Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.”‭‭ ‭ESV‬‬ The presence of God is not a plaything - it is fearsome! 2 samuel 6:5-7 (story of Uzziah)

1. Response - Worship Rev 4:8-11  “And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!” And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying, “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”

2. Because of what it does for us 

1. It’s the beginning of wisdom - Proverbs 1:7. Wise in your own eyes- illustration - law students 

2. It is for our safety - Psalm 34:7( the angel of the lord encamps around those) Pro 29:25 ( the fear of man lays a snare but whoever trusts in the lord is safe) 

3. To turn away from evil - Job, Pro 16:6( by the fear of the lord one turns away from evil)

4. For blessing- Pro 22:4(riches and honor and life); Pro 8:14(counsel, wisdom, insight and strength); Psalm 115:13 (bless those who fear the Lord) 

We have a prophetic sense that a mighty outpouring of his spirit is coming. We don't just want a sense of the presence of God, we want him! We want to see the power of the holy spirit at work in us and in the world around us. Since we have this expectation, we need to get ready. 

Word of Grace is an Evangelical (Born Again),  Spirit-filled (Charismatic), Reformed, English-speaking church in Pune that upholds the Bible as God's inspired Word for life. We are a church community that has people from every part of India and parts of the world. We are here to put the Great Command and the Great Commission into practice by equipping and releasing every member into works of service.  Word of Grace is part of a wider international family of Churches called RegionsBeyond.To know more about us please log onto www.wordofgracechurch.org.