2000 Years Later

I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 

Ephesians 4:1-3

The city of Houston, Texas is the fifth largest metropolitan area in the United States, with a population of almost 8 million people. It is home to the Johnson Space Center, where NASA runs its manned space flights. It has, perhaps, the world's finest cancer research hospital in M. D. Anderson. The first full-sized indoor baseball stadium, the Astrodome, opened there in 1965. But what will it be like in 2000 years? Will it be inhabited? 

The city of Ephesus is located on the coast of what is now western Turkey. Back in the first century, it was the fifth largest city in the Roman empire with around 250,000 inhabitants. Ephesus had a sports stadium or colosseum that seated 30,000. It also had an amphitheater that held 25,000. Later, they built the Library of Celsus, containing over 10,000 volumes. However, the most impressive structure in Ephesus was a temple constructed to the Greek goddess Artemis, the goddess of fertility, built in about 550 BC. That structure is regarded as one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. In summary, Ephesus was an important city for commerce, trade, and worship.

This is where the apostle Paul, on his third missionary journey, spent almost 3 years, from 54 to 57 AD. 

Paul preached the good news of Jesus Christ. Paul was a Jewish tent maker originally from Tarsus, about 500 miles to the east. He did not hold a political position. He was not in the Roman army. He was not a priest. He was just a man that was filled with the Holy Spirit. He started a church in Ephesus that was so effective in spreading the Gospel that the silver smiths and artisans there started to lose business. The citizens were no longer buying idols of Artemis. As a result, there were riots against Paul and his followers. But while Paul had to flee the city, God's church lived on. 

In about 63 AD, Paul was under house arrest in Rome. While chained to a Roman guard, he wrote a letter to the church in Ephesus. In the fourth chapter of Ephesians, he wrote instructions on how Christians, as representatives of God, should conduct themselves: with humility, with gentleness, with patience, with unity, and with peace. Each of these instructions are easy to understand but incredibly hard to follow. We continue to struggle with these even today. 

Today, Ephesus is nothing but ruins. There are no inhabitants. The temple of Artemis is gone; just a location. The colosseum has been stripped of all its stone seating. All of the scrolls in the Library of Celsus are lost. But the Word of the Lord in the book of Ephesians lives on. "The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of our God will stand forever." (Isaiah 40:8)

In 2000 years, will Houston still be a great city? Perhaps ... only our heavenly Father knows for certain. While the book of Ephesians was relevant and important in the first century, it is still relevant and important today. And it will be relevant and important 2000 years from now. "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work." (2 Timothy 3:16)