God has given us marriage as an example of what the relationship of Christ and the Church can but we don't always see it perfectly. To be fully like Christ and the Church, the husband must seek his wife's best, putting his effort into helping her be the best she can be. If husbands love their wives in this way, submission isn't about power, but about being folded into love. Jesus does this perfectly, of course.

It is important to keep Christ a top priority in our our life, and that means rearranging what our life looks like sometimes. We should have close acquaintances that help build up our faith, and we should keep as far away from sin as possible. Not because we can purify ourselves, but because following Jesus means keeping ourselves free of distractions.

When Paul talks about "Gentiles" in this verse, he doesn't just mean non-Jews. He means those who don't follow Christ. And of course, this makes sense. If we are following Jesus, our lives should look different. Not because we're better people, but because our hearts have been changed, our lives are realigned thanks to the moving of the Spirit.

It’s really something else, the way the Church comes together in God’s plan. Certainly, we are all under the rule of King Jesus, and that’s not a bad leader to follow at all. But the plan still includes us. Jesus on earth was teaching others, preparing the way for the Kingdom to come among us. Now, as we participate in the building of that Kingdom, we are equipped to be heirs to it.

Paul once again reminds his young church that in Christ they are one. This isn’t actually a new plan. It didn’t just happen because Jesus showed up and a new idea was born. This was God’s plan all along, to “bless all nations,” as he told Abraham. Of course, the blessing was made complete because God did it, and Jesus made the picture complete.

Paul is talking to a group of Christians who have done well, but we all need to be reminded that what we do isn’t what counts, it’ s what Christ has already done. The Ephesian Christians on their best day still needed to rely on Jesus to save them, and the same is true of us today.

As we remember Jesus’ earthly father today, we should be thankful for the institution of adoption. God’s plan was to have the Son be part of an earthly family, not some supernatural institution that would be unfamiliar to us. The Son came to be God with us, and he really was fully with us. Just as Joseph adopted the Son of God as his own, so does God the Father adopt us through our faith in his Son.

Paul opens the letter to the Ephesians with a strong foundation in Christ: not only that he has redeemed us, but that the plan belongs entirely to God. This takes some of the pressure off us, doesn’t it? We certainly can’t save ourselves, but it goes even further: not only does God want our salvation, God is working it out because God is God.

Paul’s letter to Philemon about his slave Philemon is unique. While it is definitely written to the church (he does mention other people and a house church), he is primarily talking to one person about a slave who has become a Christian, and whom Paul wants to be free to continue as a believer instead of a slave. This is a pretty hefty appeal, not only to release Onesimus from penalties, but to treat him as a brother in Christ. It’s a challenge to Philemon’s faith, and hopefully Philemon responded positively.