¹ Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and faithful in Christ Jesus:

Now we launch a study to expose the wonderful teachings of Ephesians. Some have called Ephesians the Alps of the New Testament.

The introduction of Ephesians is found in the first two verses. There are two landmarks of an introduction: the addressor and the addressee.

¹ Paul,

Biblical writers placed their names first in epistles to state up front their authority for writing Scripture.

Paul did not begin his epistles with customary introductions of our day. The salutations of our culture are meaningless. We begin a business letter with the term “Gentlemen” and yet we know that there is not a gentleman in the whole crowd! We write, “Dear Sir,” when we know that they are neither “dear” nor “sir!!” We cannot start a letter with “Hey, you” either!

The name “Paul” means “little.” If there was anyone who could call himself “Mr. Big,” it was the apostle Paul. He was the greatest missionary of the first century. He was one of the great men of his day. In Judaism he had a promising career. He was a Pharisee.

Paul was the outstanding persecutor of the church. He ran out of victims in Jerusalem so he went to Damascus to persecute more Christians: “Then Saul [Paul], still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem” (Acts 9:1-2). He was on his way to murder the disciples in Damascus.

PRINCIPLE:

The Lord Jesus can change the most radical person on earth.

APPLICATION:

On that road to Damascus, Paul met the risen Lord and received Jesus Christ as his Savior. As a Christian he spread the gospel to the Gentile Roman world. The Lord Jesus ruined his previous career of killing Christians! One look at Jesus and it changed everything in his life. Jesus’ worst enemy became his greatest emissary. God can transform our lives as well.