How BIG is Paul's idea of the church, the body of Christ, as expressed in Ephesians? (Is Paul meaning the universal, global, 'over the ages' idea of the Church in Ephesians chap.1 as well as the various gatherings of Christians today throughout the world?)
Can you clarify how the word cloud works? I assume the largest print words are the most important.
I find the concept of us blessing God a bit confusing, or is it just that we use the wrong word and it is more in the sense of praise or 'speaking well of'?
Can you explain again the concept of God's glorious grace (at the end of last Sunday's talk)? I had thought that 'glorious' was describing God's grace as being wonderful or amazing, but it is obviously much more than that.
When discussing V13 concerning being marked with the seal of the Holy Spirit, the question was asked do babies have the Holy Spirit ie are babies, who haven't had opportunity to repent, saved?
In chapter 1 v12, who does the first to put their hope in Christ refer to- the Jews? Does that then imply that the 'we' refers to Jews?
Given the fact that the Holy Spirit is a deposit, will the Holy Spirit be irrelevant in the end (at redemption)? Ephesians 1:14
You spoke about predestination on Sunday and about faith etc. Can you explain your point with the 2 different options on predestination (Calvinism/ Arminianism)?
Can someone choose God if he hasn't first chosen and predestined them to be saved? Can someone resist God's choice to save them? Does free will exist for people or just real choice?
A) God loves all people, why doesn't he choose to save all people? B) if God has chosen who will be saved, before we existed, why should I pray since its already decided? C) if God's choose is powerful and determines who is saved, is my choice of Christ robotic or real? Is this just a cosmic game God is playing with people as his playthings? D) if God always planned to save us from sin thru Christ, did God also plan for us to sin? Why when he could have stopped us?
Is "the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints..." referring to God's holy people as a rich inheritance for God? Or is it more to along the lines of our rich inheritance in God in a similar way to 1 Peter 1:3-9?
I think I have an issue with what she thinks is the most important thing in verses 1 to 14. Personally I don't think you can go past as central and most important. After all the whole Gospel reads on this.... RICHES OF God's grace LAVISHED ON YOU v.7 8
The repeat of the phrase For the Praise of his glory seems to mark the end of each section. You could start each sentence with In him or In Christ in the section on Jesus. Do you think it was part of the early liturgy ?
We were struck with how lavishly generous God is with his many blessings. Other religions fear their Gods and have to make continuous sacrifices to placate them – the worship at the Artimus temple being an example of this.
V6 - if we are already praising or ‘blessing God’
Is there any difference or reason for describing God’s actions differently in repeating verses? v6 ‘glorious grace’; v7 riches of grace; v9 good pleasure.
V6 - if ‘in him’ is so important (we know it starts a clause) why does he say One he loves in v6?
V10 - when do the times reach their fulfilment?
V11 if God has already predestined His plan how can we identify His Will,
What’s the Greek translation for v14 “- to the praise of his glory”
V18 What does it mean by eyes of your heart? (Knowing the purpose is for the hope we are called for)
Is it in regards to the resurrection of Jesus in v19-20
V22-23 What does it mean that Jesus fills everything in every way?
You were speaking about Gods glory in Exodus 34, but left out the rest of v7 and Gods Judgement character - are we not to praise God for his perfect righteous justice?
vs 22-23…God place all things under Christ's feet and appointed him head of the church. Where does sin fit within this scheme?
