It is given multiple times in Paul’s epistle to the Ephesians that Christ’s work in the lives of the believer are out of an outpouring of God’s grace. Those who trust and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ then become the objects of God’s mercy motivated by grace (4:7, 2:8). The Holman Bible Handbook affirms this thought referencing Ephesians 2:4-6.
By His grace He has granted new life to believers (2:4–6). The basis for the new life is God’s great love and mercy. Believers have been united with Christ in His resurrected life. Formerly people apart from Christ were dead, enslaved, and objects of wrath. In Christ believers are now alive, enthroned, and objects of grace.[1]
To get a better understanding of the work of Christ, it is best to understand the person of Jesus Christ outlined in this epistle. In the Trinitarian relationship between the Father and the Son, the Father has willingly exalted the Son as ruler and authority over all things, particularly the church; the body of Christ.
…according to the working of his great might 20 that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 22 And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. [2]
Christ is exalted and reigning as the head of the body (5:23), and because we are members of his body (5:30), he (the Father through Christ) graciously blesses us and gives to us all spiritual blessings in the heavenly places, choosing us as his own, so that we may be holy and blameless all for the glory of God the Father (1:3-6). Christ is the chief cornerstone that holds everything together (2:20 cf. Ps 118:22, Isa 28-16). Because Christ is the glue, if you will, that holds all things together, the people that are drawn together in His one body, the church, are peacefully aligned. The worship pastor would do well to take that bit of information and chew on it at length. In fact, as a ministry staff, the idea that Jesus is the glue holding the church together ought to be meditated on and kept as the foundation of any endeavor that that team pursues in their ministry. In Ephesians 2:14 it says that He “himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility…” Where Jew and Gentile were thought never to coincide, Christ brings together in unity. Can you see how this very truth is what makes an argument about any sort of style or form futile if in the context of church growth?
It is only in response to the cross of Christ (called faith in 2:8) that peace exists vertically between humans and God and horizontally between humans. This new society, called the church, is depicted at the end of chapter 2.
The church is pictured as a nation (“fellow citizens,” 2:19), a family (“a household”), and a “building” (2:21). This new building is “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone” (2:20). The purpose of the church is for believers to be “built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit” (2:22).[3]
As the head of the body, Christ is the master (6:5-9). It is such terminology and understanding of Christ as master, that James, in his epistle, addresses himself as a “servant (James 1:1).” Having this mindset motivates a believer in a life of obedience, seeking to honor their master with their actions. In fact, Christ, is referenced in Ephesians as the “light” and “teacher.” He is the “light” that exposes sin in the life of the believer (5:10, 13-14), encouraging and teaching the believer then in the truth as motivation for purity and righteousness in Him (4:21, 6:4). So the view of Christ as a “Slave master” in contemporary connotation would be negative, but in the gracious nature of our Lord, it is the most positive of terms. See, Christ is THE loving master, both in terms of a ruling authority, but also a gracious and merciful healer and encourager to the believer who has a constant struggle with sin. Christ acts as the light to expose that sin, and then the teacher to instruct and lovingly admonish the believer on the track towards righteousness, that is sanctification IN Him.
It is the person of Jesus Christ, as “light,” as “master,” as “ruler,” as “teacher,” and as the embodied “peace” that unites all believers, that is implicit to His works. Ephesians 2:18 says, “For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.” Those who have access to the Father, in the Spirit, and through Christ then are gifted with every spiritual blessing through Christ (1:3-14)! Why? Again, this is the mystery of the Gospel and the chief motivation of the worship pastor charged with cultivating a biblical culture of worship. Why would God choose to love, freely give mercy, reconcile unto Him, through Christ’s sacrifice, those who were lost and hopeless through the receiving of the gift of faith in Jesus Christ? There is no answer that man can comprehend, but that doesn’t stop us from responding accordingly to the truth of it.
