Never Get Over It

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 1:2

The apostle Paul penned this letter of Ephesians around A.D. 62 while in a Roman prison. Though Paul was at risk of losing his life there, he was concerned about the spiritual needs of the churches God founded through him. After nearly ten years, Paul began his ministry in Ephesus, and he was concerned about the spiritual needs of these young believers. This letter was likely a circular letter in that it was sent from church to church in the area in which the gospel had spread, so that they may grow in their understanding of the Christian faith.

Paul’s letter-writing skills followed a precise writing form of the day, yet he had changed the content so that he communicated the most important spiritual truths from the beginning in the introduction of the letter. 

The two words he uses to begin his message to the Ephesians are a blessing: a type of prayer. Paul asks God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ to give them grace and peace. “Grace” is God’s unmerited favor and love toward His children. “Peace” comes from the word “shalom,” meaning the well-being of our whole lives because of being rightly related to the Lord. 

More than a decade earlier, Paul was known as Saul of Tarsus. He was a devoted rabbi and the leader of the anti-Christian movement in Jerusalem. As a young man, he held the cloaks of the witnesses to the stoning of Stephen as he gave approval to the martyr’s execution (Acts 7:58-8:1). 

Saul’s persecution against Jerusalem Christians continued until Jesus stopped him on the road to Damascus, and he was converted (Acts 9). Following this life-transforming event, Saul was known as “Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles.” God used him to spread the good news of Jesus Christ on three missionary journeys throughout the Roman Empire in one of the greatest evangelistic endeavors in church history. He wrote thirteen books in the Bible, including Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus, and Philemon. And, in each letter, Paul speaks of grace and peace.

Paul never got over the gift of God’s grace and peace to him. Paul suffered greatly as he shared the gospel from town to town. This often resulted in being arrested and confined by Roman chains. Yet Paul came back to grace and peace in his letters again and again.

A few years ago, I read the biography of Darlene Deibler Rose, a missionary to Japan during World War II. Darlene and her husband were captured by Japanese troops and sent to separate encampments. Several years into her incarceration, Darlene received word from the cruel Japanese officer who gave oversight to her encampment that her husband had died. Her response was to take the opportunity to share with the Japanese officer that she did not grieve as those who have no hope. She shared the gospel with him and told the officer she did not hate him; she wanted him to know that God loved him. The man went into his room and closed the door. Darlene could hear him crying as she sat quietly, praying for his salvation. As the days of sorrow and suffering went on, Darlene learned the comforts of the Holy Spirit. As she said, “The sword of sorrow had pierced deep within me, but He had bathed the sword with oil”. 

Darlene Deibler Rose never got over the gift of God’s grace and peace. 

Though we do not have the same callings by God as the Apostle Paul or Darlene, we are all going to face trials, sorrows, and even persecution for our faith in Christ Jesus. We need to be reminded of the amazing gift of grace and peace given to us by God the Father and our Lord, Jesus. Christ. I am excited to study the book of Ephesians for the next eight months as a church, aren’t you? I need to be reminded each week of the meaning of these two blessings Paul prayed for me. I need to hear what the gifts of grace and peace mean in my union with Christ and the way it guides me to live well in this world. 

And my prayer for all of us is that we never get over the gift of God’s grace and peace.