Ephesians 1

1 ¹Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by our Father's will, to the saints in Ephesus, and faithful in Christ Jesus: ^a a v1 The earliest manuscripts do not have “in Ephesus.” ²Grace to you and peace from our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Every Blessing in the Beloved

³Blessed be the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens. ^b b v3 Paul's blessing opens an extended doxology running through verse 14 — our Father blesses us in the Son, and the Holy Spirit seals us. The whole shape of salvation is family. ⁴Just as he chose us in him before the world's founding, to be holy and blameless before our Father in love. ⁵He predestined us to be his own sons through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will. ^c c v5 Our Father's eternal purpose isn't rescue alone — it's restoration to sonship. He set out from before the world existed to bring us home as his children through Jesus. ⁶To the praise of his glorious grace, freely given to us in the Beloved — Jesus. ⁷In him, through his blood, we have redemption—forgiveness of our sins—by the riches of our Father's grace, ⁸which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight. ⁹He revealed to us his will's mystery, his good pleasure planned in Christ, ¹⁰a plan for the fullness of the times: to unite all things in Christ — things in heaven and on earth — in him. ¹¹In him we also were made heirs, destined beforehand by our Father's purpose, who works out everything according to his will's counsel, ¹²so that we who first put our hope in Christ might bring praise to his glory. ¹³In him you also, when you heard the truth's word—your salvation's gospel—and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, ¹⁴who guarantees our inheritance until we possess it, to the praise of his glory.

Praying for Eyes to See

¹⁵So I, hearing of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, ¹⁶I never stop giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, ¹⁷that the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so you may know our Father more fully, ¹⁸the eyes of your hearts enlightened, so you may know the hope of his calling, and the riches of his glorious inheritance in our Father's people, ¹⁹and the vast greatness of his power toward us who believe, matching the working of his mighty strength, ²⁰that he worked in Christ, raising Jesus from the dead and seating him at his right hand in the heavenly realms. ²¹Far above every rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name ever named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. ²²And our Father put everything under Christ's feet and gave him as head over everything to the church, ²³which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.