By the Will of God

  

DEVOTION

THE LETTER TO THE EPHESIANS

BY THE WILL OF GOD

Eph 1:1-2

1:1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus: 2 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

NIV

Although this is the standard greeting in many of Paul's letters, it still bears some consideration. First, Paul knows that his apostleship, his being an apostle of Jesus Christ is solely due to the will of God. We should note the Greek word apostlos has a direct meaning of a delegate, one sent forth with orders, an ambassador of Christ, and officially a commissioner of Christ, and some translators believe this is accompanied by miraculous powers. We do wonder if being considered an apostle of Christ was limited to just those of the early church. We know the twelve were not the only apostles as Paul and Barnabas were considered to be apostles and of course, by the will of God. However, we do think it is possible that apostles can still be in the church by the will of God. We have to remember that we are humans, and we can be misled into thinking that the power and the will of God would not call others to be apostles of Christ. We surely should be ambassadors of Christ, as being citizens of the kingdom of God living in a foreign land or in a foreign kingdom, this world, we have been called to speak for our Sovereign and that would also mean that we have diplomatic immunity, which means we are not subject to the rules of this world, which would ultimately lead to death. Because we are the children of God, death holds no sting, as it has no power to hold us in the grave, but rather by the power and the will of God we will be raised from the dead. However, to say that we are an apostle might be a stretch, and yet it is possible because it is still up to the will of God. We, humans, cannot determine or make the decision to be an apostle, however, God can decide if he needs us to be an apostle, and if that is his will, then He will also empower us as his delegate. When it comes right down to everything in our lives, it is always about the will of God. The Apostle James even says that we should not make any decision about going to this or that city, spending however much time we choose to make money, but instead we should say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that”. Anything else is boasting. Therefore, let us live according to the will of God and be willing to be whoever He determines we will be. Everything should be by the will of God.