Many have written about what the Lords want from us, and still, many are unsure about how they can please him. Many use authority and obedience and sacrifice and service but there is something simpler, something everyone can excel at and that is described in Ephesians 5:18b–20 “be filled by the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and singing praise in your heart to the Lord, 20 giving thanks always for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to the God and Father”. In the end, it is not about parent or child, husband or wife, slave or master, it is about keeping our eyes on Jesus and as in Ephesians 6:6 “doing the will of God from the heart” because God is faithful and in Ephesians 6:8 “you know that each one of you, whatever good he should do, this he will receive back from the Lord”.
Understand What the Will of the Lord Is
Ephesians 5:17–24
People often get hung up on “authority” when reading these verses. And, yes, there is a right authority in the kingdom of God, in a nation, and even in a household between a husband and wife. It does say “the husband is the head” and “wives should be subject” in
Ephesians 5:23–24 because the husband is the head of the wife, as also Christ is the head of the church (he himself being the Savior of the body). 24 But as the church is subject to Christ, thus also wives should be subject to their husbands in everything.
And, “While the cultural model for marriage in the Graeco-Roman world emphasized male patriarchal leadership, Paul’s model is based on mutual love and respect (Eph 5:28, 33) and grounded in the ot creation story (v. 31 cites Gen 2:24). See note on Eph 5:21; note on v. 25”.1 The main point is not the head and the subject, the main point is “be filled by the spirit” in
Ephesians 5:18b–20 “be filled by the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and singing praise in your heart to the Lord, 20 giving thanks always for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to the God and Father”
You will know this has happened when you are “singing praise”, when you are “giving thanks always”. This is “the will of the Lord” in Ephesians 5:17.
Cleansing Her With the Washing of Water by the Word
Doing the Will of God From the Heart
Ephesians 6:1–9
Again, people often get hung up on authority and miss the main point here. Yes, it is right for children to honor their parents, and there is a promise associated with that in
Ephesians 6:3 “in order that it may be well with you, and you may live a long time on the earth.”
and parents, fathers, are not to be harsh but loving and nurturing. Sadly, many men have the idea that “discipline and instruction” only mean the rod, but much of proper discipline and instruction is simply doing what you say you will do, being steadfast in your own behavior.
And, there isn’t any difference between slave and master. Today we would say employee and employer, but it isn’t the threatening and harsh employer that gets results and it isn’t the slothful and rebellious employee that prospers. As it says in
Ephesians 6:8 “because you know that each one of you, whatever good he should do, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether slave or free”.
All of us are to keep our eyes on Jesus “as slaves of Christ doing the will of God from the heart” as it says in Ephesians 6:6.
Our Struggle is Not Against Blood and Flesh
Ephesians 6:10–20
That You May Know Our Circumstances
Ephesians 6:21–24
Things Which Must Take Place
The Alpha and the Omega
Revelation 1:4–8
We have a record of Jesus as the man, moved by compassion in Matthew 9:36. We have witnesses that were with him as he laid down his life in John 10:14-15. And we have the testimony of the power of the Holy Spirit working extraordinary miracles in the church after his resurrection in Acts 19:11-12. Soon, we will see him fully as he is in
Revelation 1:7–8 Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even every one who pierced him, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over him. Yes, amen. 8 I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God, the one who is and the one who was and the one who is coming, the All-Powerful.
and all of this was for one purpose, He is in
Revelation 1:5–6 “the one who loves us and released us from our sins by his blood 6 and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father—to him be the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.
Study Verses
- Ephesians 5:17–24 Understand What the Will of the Lord Is
- Ephesians 6:1–9 Doing the Will of God From the Heart
- Revelation 1:4–8 The Alpha and the Omega
Today’s Reading
- Ephesians 5:17-24
- Ephesians 6:1-24
- Revelation 1:1-8
References
- 1. Barry, J. D., Mangum, D., Brown, D. R., Heiser, M. S., Custis, M., Ritzema, E., … Bomar, D. (2012, 2016). Faithlife Study Bible (Eph 5:22). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
