Title: Saints (Ephesians 1:1-2)
To believe in Jesus means to have met God. Faith is when you decide to live and depend on God only, and your life will change and change as you meet God, throwing away everything you had depended on and believed in until this point. When you meet Jesus, you have the experience that everything you had or believed in fell apart in one day is the form of faith. Why do you have to throw away everything you have? It is because the God he met is so great and excellent. Because it is so great and great that what he had or believed in was so insignificant that he had no choice but to throw it away like garbage. A person who has had this experience is called a saint.
Also, if you are not a member of the church, you will treat this letter as just nagging from God. A lot of mail is coming. But most of that mail goes to the trash. However, when a letter arrives, you are expected to look at it again and again. That is why God sent a letter to the faithful among those who lived in Ephesus. Then we have to be concerned about who the faithful are, that is, who the saints are here. The saints use the expression “in Christ Jesus” in today’s text. What does this mean? What did humans originally look like? was a sinner. In the eyes of God, who created the heavens and the earth with His Word, humans were truly insignificant and deserved death.
What did Isaiah find when he entered the temple? The words that came out immediately were that they were destroyed by fire. I was surprised to find out that I was a sinner. However, God sent Jesus for mankind who were under sin. That Jesus came to this earth with a mission to gather the saints. So they gathered the saints. These saints came into existence through the sacrifice and death of Jesus. That is why these saints were able to represent and testify to the one who made the one who saved them special.
This is what the saints look like. Then the question is what the life of the saints will look like. It is about whether those who live in the presence of the One who created this world, providence and guide all things, will live with regrets in this world and live in fear of this world. The problem is that there are many churches today and there are many people who claim to be saints, but they are insulting God. Because I met the One who made the heavens and the earth, but he couldn't show me what kind of person he was. Showing only who is greater? It means that they are bragging with the world's standard of who has more.
As a result, God has become less than the tycoon of this world. God is not a toy in the hands of this world. They say that they are saints who have met God and that they go to church, but they are just trembling in the world. Those who are trembling with people and trembling with money are the people who say they go to church today. That is why they are painting the face of God. Where does the power of the saints come from? Just inciting people to believe in Jesus, holding evangelism conferences, doing a lot of volunteer work, making buildings bigger, and attracting a lot of people doesn't show their ability.
Power is a way of living knowing the things of this world in a funny way because you met the One who created the heavens and the earth and leads all of this world. That is why we live in a relaxed and generous manner. That's what ability is. Believers are those who have this. It is the ability to despise anything in the world that makes God God. God is interested in these saints, and God sent a letter to such people. Therefore, through this letter, God is not trying to teach how to be successful in this world and live as a powerful person in this world, but rather to teach what the saints are and what doctrines are. There are many churches today and there are members.
This is what the saints look like. God is interested in such a person today, and he sent a letter to convey his intention and will to such a saint. What are your strengths and abilities? Are you God? Then, live like a saint. Living like a saint does not follow religious rules, but reveals the great God and lives by showing that I am a very small point and existence. It changes your life and your life changes. As you read this letter to Ephesians, you will know how great God is and how ugly you are.