Throughout June and July, as a church we’ll be focusing on Paul’s epistle to the Ephesians. Our sermons will be based on Ephesians. Our Discovery Groups will discuss Ephesians. In the next two months, Paul’s Ephesian letter will help mould our minds as we learn to walk closer with God.

Why Ephesians? One answer is that it has been a favourite for many. The English poet Coleridge said it was “the divinest composition of man”. William Barclay, a noted Church of Scotland minister, writer and Bible professor, called it “the Queen of the epistles”. Ephesians was also the favourite letter of the 16th century French reformer, John Calvin. More recently, Eugene Peterson, translator of The Message, titled his course on Ephesians as “Soulcraft”, dubbing it as a manual for Christians growing into maturity.

My reasons for liking Ephesians are more prosaic. Firstly, it’s short. It has 6 chapters and takes only 15-20 minutes to read. Secondly, it’s meaty. Sure, it’s not as meaty (thankfully!) as the 16 chapters of Romans. But it’s meaty enough. In it Paul tells us about God’s cosmic plan for mankind. It sketches grand scenes of glory; it tells of God’s generous grace; it explains Jesus’ mighty work of reconciliation at the Cross.

The longest sentence in the New Testament is in Ephesians. In the Greek text, Paul’s prologue of praise from 1:3-14 is one long complex sentence of 201 words. (Most English translations have to chop it up to 6-10 sentences.) John Stott describes this praise opening as a “continuous cascade”. Hendriksen says it’s like “a snowball tumbling down a hill, picking up volume as it descends”. If you haven’t read the prologue for awhile, read it soon. It takes your breath away.

I also like Ephesians because it’s practical. The 6 chapters are evenly divided between orthodoxy (right doctrine) and orthopraxy (right action). In the first 3 chapters, there’s not a single command. It’s just praise, prayer, explanation, exultation. In the last 3 chapters, there are lots of commands – but in the form of appeals, exhortations, instructions. Here Paul talks about how we function as a church: a diverse mob holding to the key notions of being in one body, one in Spirit, having one hope, subject to one Lord, of one faith, immersed in one baptism, honouring one Father. Here he tells how families – husbands and wives, parents and children – should relate to one another. Here are instructions for slaves and masters (employees and employers). Here are pithy principles of personal conduct which have stood the test of time, e.g.: “Be angry; but do not sin” (4:26); “speaking truth in love” (4:15).

Finally, I like Ephesians because it isn’t a problem-based epistle. Unlike his other epistles, Paul didn’t write this letter to fix a particular issue in a particular church. In fact, some scholars say it wasn’t addressed specifically to the church at Ephesus; it might have been a circular letter to a number of churches (the absence of personal greetings to individuals tend to support this). In any case, Ephesians is an instance where Paul, inspired by the Spirit, writes freely, with no specific problem to address. It’s the closest thing we have to Paul describing what a fabulous church-family-Christian-life is like.

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” (Ephesians 3:20-21)