Ephesians / Colossians

The Panoramic View of Redemption

Well, church, good to see you again this week. Glad you’re with us. Do me a favor: we’ve got some work to do today, so turn in your Bibles to Ephesians. That’s where we’re going to start. While you’re turning there, go ahead and hold your place in Colossians as well, because we’re going to tackle two books tonight. Simple task, no big deal, right? So we are going to get after it.

This comes on the heels of last week when we looked at the book of Romans, and Brad walked through and showed us Paul demonstrating the robust nature of the gospel—the power of God to save undeserving sinners, to pour out His immense grace, so that through that salvation we might live a life by faith from beginning to end.

What we are going to see this week, as we look at two other letters the Apostle Paul wrote, Ephesians and Colossians, is that Paul addresses some of those same themes, but he backs up a bit. In these two books, we get a panoramic view of God’s redemptive work. Through this wide-angle lens of salvation and God’s plan for the ages, we see the person and work of Jesus Christ with crystal clarity. Paul is going to exalt what we call the supremacy and the sufficiency of Jesus Christ.

Supremacy and Sufficiency

When you hear those words, they can sound like seminary terms: supremacy and sufficiency. But the reality is, they are concepts we are actually very familiar with. The idea of supremacy comes from the word “supreme”—the reality that someone or something is higher in rank, higher in power, and greater than anything else. There is nothing that can contend with it.

I remember the greatest debate we ever had as third graders was over who was more supreme: Batman or Superman? It is a debate that still goes on today. But listen, it is a complete no-brainer: Superman would work over Batman every single time. No guy in underoos with a utility belt is going to conquer heated laser eyes. The Dark Knight cannot conquer the Man of Steel. He dominates that matchup. Superman is supreme; nobody can contend with him.

In the same way, the Apostle Paul shows us in Ephesians and Colossians the supremacy of Christ. There is none who can contend with Him. He is higher than all, more powerful than all, and sovereign over all.

Then you have the idea of sufficiency. When we say something is sufficient, we mean it is enough. It is adequate. We don’t need anything else because this person or this thing completely satisfies and meets every need. I will never forget getting my first iPhone. I thought to myself, “This device is completely sufficient.” I could look at a map, check my email, and surf the internet. I was pretty sure if I dug deep enough into the settings, I could find a way for it to cook a meal for me! It was an all-in-one device. That is, until this past week when I stepped out of my car, dropped it on the pavement, and shattered the screen. Now it is completely insufficient; everything on it is distorted.

In our culture, we constantly pick something or someone and try to make them sufficient for us. We look to them to be all-satisfying. What Paul does in Ephesians and Colossians is exalt Jesus Christ to show that there is nothing and no one more sufficient for you—not only in your salvation, but in your entire life.

These two letters are part of a collection of four books known as the Prison Epistles. A couple of weeks back, Dr. Rick Taylor walked us through the end of Acts. We saw that after Paul’s third missionary journey, he was arrested in Jerusalem. As a Roman citizen, he appealed to Caesar, survived a harrowing shipwreck, and eventually made it to Rome under house arrest. Awaiting trial for the better part of two years, Paul penned Ephesians, Colossians, Philippians, and Philemon.

Ephesians and Colossians are remarkably similar. In fact, out of the 155 verses in Ephesians, 78 verses in Colossians are nearly identical in thought. Paul wrote them almost back-to-back from prison, declaring the exact same foundational truths from two complementary angles.

Ephesians: A Trinitarian Blueprint of Salvation

Let’s start with Ephesians. You might remember the city of Ephesus from Paul’s missionary journeys. He stayed there for about two years during his third journey. Acts 19 gives us a vivid picture of Ephesus: a city steeped in pagan worship, magic, and the occult. At the center of the city stood the Temple of Artemis, one of the wonders of the ancient world.

Acts 19:18-20 (NASB)

Many also of those who had believed kept coming, confessing and disclosing their practices. And many of those who practiced magic brought their books together and [began] burning them in the sight of everyone; and they counted up the price of them and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver. So the word of the Lord was growing mightily and prevailing.

When Paul proclaimed the gospel of Jesus Christ there, droves of people came to faith. Those who had practiced witchcraft brought their spellbooks and incantations to the public square and burned them. Why? Because having put their faith in Jesus Christ, they realized that Christ is supreme and sufficient. Everything else was worthless by comparison. That sparked a city-wide riot among the merchants who made their living selling pagan idols. Paul eventually left Ephesus, but a vibrant church remained. Later, Paul sent young Timothy to pastor that flock.

Revelation 2:1-4 (NASB)

’To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: The One who holds the seven stars in His right hand, the One who walks among the seven golden lampstands, says this: ’I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot tolerate evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them [to be] false; and you have perseverance and have endured for My name’s sake, and have not grown weary. ’But I have [this] against you, that you have left your first love.

In Revelation 2, we see that while the Ephesian believers were doctrinally committed and hardworking, they eventually struggled in their personal devotion to Christ—they abandoned their first love. Paul likely wrote this letter not just for Ephesus, but as a circular letter to be passed around all the churches in that region of Asia Minor, lifting their eyes to the glorious panoramic view of salvation in Christ.

The book of Ephesians divides cleanly into two halves: the first three chapters are deeply doctrinal, and the last three are intensely practical. Chapters 1 through 3 focus on the person and work of Christ, while chapters 4 through 6 demonstrate how we ought to live in light of that salvation.

In chapter 1, Paul outlines a Trinitarian view of salvation. In verses 3 through 6, we see that we have been chosen by the Father. Before the foundation of the world was laid, God chose us in Christ to be adopted as His sons and daughters, putting His glorious grace on display. In verses 7 through 10, we see that we are redeemed by the Son. The vehicle of our redemption is the shed blood of Jesus on the cross, taking the penalty for our sins and reconciling us to God. Then in verses 11 through 14, Paul shows that we are sealed by the Holy Spirit. Our salvation is eternally secure. The Holy Spirit indwells every believer as a down payment, guaranteeing the full inheritance that is ours in Christ.

Ephesians 1:3-14 (NASB)

Blessed [be] the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly [places] in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us. In all wisdom and insight He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, [that is], the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth. In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory. In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation– having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of [God’s own] possession, to the praise of His glory.

Embedded within chapter 1 are ten foundational realities of who you are in Jesus Christ. You can write these down and put them on your bathroom mirror in the morning to remind yourself of your identity:

1. You are blessed (v. 3).
2. You are chosen (v. 4).
3. You are holy and blameless in His sight (v. 4).
4. You are loved (v. 4–5).
5. You are adopted into God’s family (v. 5).
6. You are redeemed and set free (v. 7).
7. You are forgiven of all your trespasses (v. 7).
8. You are united in Christ (v. 10).
9. You are heirs of God’s promises (v. 11).
10. You are sealed and secured forever (v. 13).

Why did God give us all of this? Verse 6 tells us: “to the praise of His glorious grace.” Verses 12 and 14 repeat: “to the praise of His glory.” God saved undeserving sinners like you and me so that Christ would be exalted as supreme.

But God: Our Testimonial Reality

In chapter 2, Paul transitions from a cosmic overview to a personal testimony. Verses 1 through 10 represent the testimony of every single believer in Jesus Christ and provide a concise summary of the entire gospel.

Paul begins with who we were apart from Christ. We were dead in our trespasses and sins, following the course of this world and the prince of the power of the air. We lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and mind, and were by nature children of wrath.

Ephesians 2:1-3 (NASB)

And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.

Feel the weight of that. Whether you came to Christ at age forty or age four, that was your spiritual condition apart from Him: spiritually dead and under God’s righteous judgment.

And then comes verse 4. Martyn Lloyd-Jones called the opening of verse 4 the two greatest words in all of Scripture: “But God.” Right when everything was utterly hopeless, God intervened.

Ephesians 2:4-10 (NASB)

But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly [places] in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, [it is] the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ.”

Paul hammers this truth home: you are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. It is not Christ plus your church attendance, Christ plus your religious heritage, Christ plus your moral effort, or Christ plus your family pedigree. Christ plus anything equals nothing; Christ plus nothing equals everything. God initiated salvation; we simply received the free gift. Christ is completely supreme and completely sufficient in saving us.

Saved Into the Household of God

In Ephesians 2:11 through chapter 3, Paul presents a theological view of the church. The gospel does not merely save us as isolated individuals; it reconciles us into one corporate body. The cross levels the playing field completely. Socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, and education no longer divide us, because our shared identity is rooted in the grace of Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 2:19 (NASB)

So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household,

You are no longer strangers and aliens, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of God’s household. We haven’t just been saved from something (God’s wrath) and saved for something (good works); we have been saved into something: the church, the body of Christ.

Whenever I travel overseas, my American pride always seems to surface. I can be in the middle of the jungle in Thailand, sticking out like a sore thumb, and if I spot another American, I’ll shout, “Hey! Where are you from? Wisconsin? I’m from California! USA!” There’s an instant connection. How much more should that be true of us in the local church? When we gather, we look across the room and see brothers and sisters bought by the precious blood of Christ. None of us deserved it, yet He lavished His grace on all of us.

John 17:21 (NASB)

that they may all be one; even as You, Father, [are] in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.

In chapter 3, Paul explains that the church puts the manifold wisdom of God on display to the entire cosmos. Our supernatural unity across diverse backgrounds is living proof of the gospel’s power.

Walking in Light of Grace: Church, Home, and World

Having established who Christ is in chapters 1 through 3, Paul pivots in chapter 4 with a vital command.

Ephesians 4:1 (NASB)

Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called,

“I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called.”

Like newborn infants learning to take their first steps, we must learn how to walk in light of Christ’s supremacy and sufficiency. Paul applies this to three specific arenas:

1. The Church (Chapter 4): We are called to walk in unity, purity, and love, building one another up into the likeness of Christ.
2. The Home and Private Life (Chapter 5): In verses 3 through 20, Paul commands us to walk in holiness—guarding our speech and our sexuality. When Christ is our sufficiency, we become self-giving rather than self-serving. In verses 21 through chapter 6:9, Paul calls us to mutual submission out of reverence for Christ across three relationships: marriage (husbands and wives), family (parents and children), and work (masters and servants).
3. The World (Chapter 6:10–20): Paul calls us to stand firm in the armor of God against spiritual forces of darkness, resting in the supreme power of Christ.

Ephesians 5:21 (NASB)

and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ.

Ephesians shows us that an exalted view of the supremacy and sufficiency of Christ inevitably leads to heartfelt, practical obedience.

Colossians: The Preeminent Christ

Now turn over to Colossians. The city of Colossae was located near Ephesus in modern-day Turkey. The church there was planted by a man named Epaphras, who had likely heard Paul preach in Ephesus, received the gospel, and returned home to share Christ and establish a church.

While Ephesians focuses on the supremacy of Christ in the church, Colossians emphasizes the supremacy of Christ over the entire cosmos. False teachers had infiltrated Colossae, claiming that Christ was not enough. They promoted a mix of asceticism (harsh self-denial), legalism, and mysticism—worshiping angels, chasing visions, and telling believers they needed secret spiritual knowledge to be protected from evil. It was ancient Oprah-style spirituality. They said, “Christ is fine, but you need Christ plus our special rules and mystical experiences.”

Paul writes to crush that lie and declare that Christ is all you need. In Colossians 1:15–18, Paul writes one of the most majestic Christological passages in all of Scripture.

Colossians 1:15-18 (NASB)

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, [both] in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities– all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.

“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. And He is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything He might be preeminent.”

Paul tells them: whatever power you think evil spirits or angels have, Jesus created them. He predates them, He reigns over them, and He holds the entire universe together right now.

Doesn’t that bring you comfort? No matter what the Hubble Telescope captures, no matter what diagnosis your doctor gives, no matter what trials enter your life, we serve a Savior who is supreme over every square inch of creation. And as Paul adds in verses 21 through 29, that very same sovereign God loved you enough to redeem you through the cross and draw you into relationship with Himself.

Guarding Against Empty Deceit

In chapter 2, Paul warns the Colossians not to let human philosophy rob them of their confidence in Christ.

Colossians 2:8 (NASB)

See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.

“See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.”

Do not let cultural trends or man-made spiritualities define your faith. Christ is fully God and fully man. Through His death and resurrection, He completely disarmed every demonic power.

Colossians 2:15 (NASB)

When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.

He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame by triumphing over them at the cross. He has already won the decisive victory. Christ is enough.

In chapters 3 and 4, Paul applies these truths practically: how to put on compassionate righteousness (3:1–17), how to honor Christ in marriage and parenting (3:18–21), how to work with integrity (3:22–4:1), and how to devote ourselves to prayer and mission (4:2–6).

Making Christ the Center of the Universe

Our pragmatic Western culture loves practical steps. We say, “Skip the theology—just teach me how to fix my marriage, fix my kids, and fix my boss!” More books have been written in the last decade on the practical halves of Ephesians and Colossians than on the doctrinal foundations.

Yet Paul’s structure makes it abundantly clear: you cannot live out the commands of Ephesians 4 through 6 without the gospel foundations of chapters 1 through 3. You cannot walk in the wisdom of Colossians 3 and 4 without surrendering to the preeminent Christ of chapters 1 and 2.

When we take good things—like marriage, parenting, career, or morality—and put them at the center of our lives while expecting Christ to orbit around us, that is the biblical definition of idolatry. Martyn Lloyd-Jones rightly noted that idolatry is taking a good thing and making it an ultimate thing.

Some of you walked in here today with your world upside down. If we are honest, for many of us, it is because we tried to sit on the throne of our own lives. We tried to make ourselves supreme and sufficient. But we make terrible gods.

May Jesus Christ be the undisputed center of our universe. May He be the reason we gather, the reason we marry, the reason we parent, the reason we work, and the reason we love. Let’s pray.

Father, we thank You for the supremacy and sufficiency of Jesus Christ. Thank You that You have given us a fixed North Star who never changes. Forgive us for the times we have treated Jesus like background wallpaper in our lives while chasing our own selfish pursuits. Lord, open our eyes to the beauty and preeminence of Your Son. May He be our greatest treasure, transforming every corner of our lives for Your glory. We pray this in the matchless name of Christ. Amen.