Ephesians Study 1: Why Do We Serve God?

Introduction

Hello and welcome to everyone who is listening or reading along with me today. My name is Sarah Bradbury, and you are listening to Garden to Glory: The Mystery of God.

Today is a very special podcast because it is the very first one I have ever done!

You all are making history with me today, albeit perhaps rather boring and unimportant history! However, Lord willing, we will have some fun today, and I will do my best to give you some good things to think about as we begin this study of the book of Ephesians.

The Beginning

So let’s dive right in by reading the first few verses, Ephesians 1:1-3:

This letter is from Paul, chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus. I am writing to God’s holy people in Ephesus who are faithful followers of Christ Jesus. May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.

All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ.

In the first few verses of the book of Ephesians, we learn several things.

First, we see that it was written by Paul who was an apostle.

The most generic definition for the title of “apostle” is someone who encountered Jesus in person and has been sent to spread the message of Jesus to other people. Paul was specifically sent to spread the message of Jesus to the Gentiles, which is a term for all non-Jewish people.

The next thing we see is that the original audience of the letter was believers in and around the Ephesus area.

However, the thing that I find most interesting about the first few verses of this book is that Paul – whether introducing himself, sending good wishes, or beginning this teaching – continually points out the same basic things.

Paul emphasizes that God is the source of all things and worthy of all praise; Jesus is the means of all benefit to us; and believers are the recipients of God’s love, wisdom, and blessing through and because of Jesus Christ.

If you are a Christian, the idea of giving thanks to God probably seems pretty natural. You’ve undoubtedly heard that glorifying God is the chief aim of humanity, and who is not familiar with the cliché of movie stars, musicians, and athletes taking a moment to thank God in their acceptance speeches when they receive awards?

Yet we may still wonder: why exactly is Paul so focused on giving thanks to God? Why does praising God matter? And how do we know that there even is a God? Aren’t most people today atheists, anyway?

Is there a God?

Let’s see if the Bible has answers for this. In Romans 1:19-20, we read:

They know the truth about God because He has made it obvious to them. For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see His invisible qualities – His eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.

In this passage, the apostle Paul is describing mankind’s understanding of God prior to Jesus coming to the world.

Paul argues here that humans – at least those who have mentally developed enough to observe the world and reason from it – are aware of God’s existence because they can’t look at creation without seeing that it must have been created. There are attributes of God that humanity as a whole can clearly see just by looking at the natural world.

Thus, Paul concludes his argument like this in Romans 1:21-23:

Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship Him as God or even give Him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused. Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools. And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people and birds and animals and reptiles.

Atheism – the belief that there is no god – is not the primary default of mankind. In addition to the Bible and our history books showing us numerous examples of people worshiping false gods instead of not worshipping at all, we can even look at current data from our own country to confirm this.

A quick Google search tells me that only 4-5% of Americans identify as atheists today. So, while the idea of evangelism may provoke the image of passionate speeches declaring that God is real, the actual task at hand is helping people identify who God is and what He is really like.

Imaginary Gods and Why the True God is Better

But first, what exactly is the problem with serving false gods? Why does it matter? And how is serving the one true God better?

In Psalm 115:1-8, we read:

Not to us, O Lord, not to us,
but to Your name goes all the glory
for Your unfailing love and faithfulness.

Why let the nations say,
“Where is their God?”

Our God is in the heavens,
and He does as He wishes

Their idols are merely things of silver and gold,
shaped by human hands.

They have mouths but cannot speak,
and eyes but cannot see.

They have ears but cannot hear,
and noses but cannot smell.

They have hands but cannot feel,
and feet but cannot walk,
and throats but cannot make a sound.

And those who make idols are just like them,
as are all who trust in them.

Jeremiah 10:1-16 says:

Hear the word that the Lord speaks to you, O Israel! This is what the Lord says:

“Do not act like the other nations,
who try to read their future in the stars.

Do not be afraid of their predictions,
even though other nations are terrified by them.

Their ways are futile and foolish.
They cut down a tree, and a craftsman carves an idol.

They decorate it with gold and silver
and then fasten it securely with hammer and nails
so it won’t fall over.

Their gods are like
helpless scarecrows in a cucumber field!

They cannot speak,
and they need to be carried because they cannot walk.

Do not be afraid of such gods,
for they can neither harm you nor do you any good.”

Lord, there is no one like You!
For You are great, and Your name is full of power.

Who would not fear You, O King of nations?
That title belongs to You alone!

Among all the wise people of the earth and in all the kingdoms of the world there is no one like You.

People who worship idols are stupid and foolish.
The things they worship are made of wood.

They bring beaten sheets of silver from Tarshish and gold from                                      

Uphaz, and they give these materials to skillful craftsmen who make their idols.                

Then they dress these gods in royal blue and purple robes made by expert tailors.

But the Lord is the only true God.                                                                                            

He is the living God and the everlasting King!

The whole earth trembles at His anger.                                                                                  

The nations cannot stand up to His wrath.

Say this to those who worship other gods:                                                                                                  

“Your so-called gods, who did not make the heavens and earth, will vanish from the          

earth and from under the heavens.” 

But the Lord made the earth by His power,
and He preserves it by His wisdom.

With His own understanding
He stretched out the heavens.

When He speaks in the thunder,                                                                                              

the heavens roar with rain.

He causes the clouds to rise over the earth.
He sends the lightning with the rain
and releases the wind from His storehouses.

The whole human race is foolish and has no knowledge!                                                      

The craftsmen are disgraced by the idols they make,
for their carefully shaped works are a fraud.                                                                      

These idols have no breath or power.

Idols are worthless; they are ridiculous lies!
On the day of reckoning they will all be destroyed.

But the God of Israel is no idol!
He is the Creator of everything that exists, including Israel,                                                  

His own special possession.
The Lord of Heaven’s Armies is His name!

Friends, we do not serve an imaginary God. The real, true God of the Bible exists. He is active in creation. He showed Himself to the nation of Israel over and over again throughout the Old Testament, and He showed himself the most clearly in the person and work of Jesus Christ. We have overwhelming evidence for this, both inside and outside the Bible.

Real but False Gods

However, not every false god is imaginary. We humans have not limited our worship merely to idols of our own creation. Instead, history shows that we have elevated many parts of the created world to the status of god.

In some cultures, people have looked to deceased ancestors for help and guidance. In most places throughout history, it was common to worship emperors and kings. This was actually a very logical thing to do. These rulers not only legitimately existed, but they wielded great earthly power over their subjects. It was possible to gain an audience with them and persuade them to help you.

This elevation of a mere human to the status of a god was understandable because the money, position, and armies these rulers had gave them immense power that was almost unfathomable to the average person. With just an order, they could have their subjects killed or their livelihoods saved.

This major wealth and power disparity was so great that it became challenging for the common peasant to look at a king without seeing them as some sort of deity. Of course, the demanding egos of many power-hungry rulers would not allow those under their authority to treat them any other way.

We have an example of this in the Old Testament with King Nebuchadnezzar in the book of Daniel. He made his image into gold and commanded everyone to bow down to it with the penalty of death for those who refused.

We can see similarities to this in most rulers throughout history and in a number of societies today. North Korea is one example that comes to mind. In a book called The Girl with Seven Names, a North Korean defector describes the importance of caring for the portraits of the ruling family in their home when she was growing up.

The portraits were required to be hung in a prominent place in each house. There were rules for how to care for them, and failure to do so well would result in serious consequences. This duty was of such importance that when this woman’s home caught fire in her youth, her father risked his life to rescue these portraits.

The worship of the image of a real but creaturely god demanded everything from them yet gave them little in return. Worshipping a false god that actually exists and has real power over you cannot be dismissed as easily as imaginary gods made by human hands.

Yet in all of this, what exactly is our motivation for worshipping any god?

Why Do We Worship Any God?

Thanks to a particularly interesting history teacher I once had, I learned most of what I now know about pagan idol worship at a Christian high school! One thing that always struck me while learning about Greek mythology was just how rotten the Greek gods were.

This same sentiment struck me again years later when I started to read Rick Riordan’s “Percy Jackson & The Olympians” series.

If you are unfamiliar with this set of books, it is a saga that imagines ancient Greek mythology to be true and shows what this secret mythical world would look like in modern America.

Throughout the series and the ancient Greek myths, we see a portrait of these false gods that shows them to be chaotic, vengeful, jealous, gluttonous deities. In their best moments, they might use their powers to show a bit of favor to the people who are serving them. However, even then, your allegiance to these gods must far outweigh any help they might give you.

When humans begin to come up with false ideas of who God is, the resulting gods end up looking a lot more like sinful humanity or creation than the one true creator God. The list of the fruits of the flesh in Galatians 5:19-21 would sum up the Greek gods nicely.

The same could obviously be said about actual human rulers like kings, emperors, and presidents. They are fallen humans that have limited power and are often quite selfish.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abendego were thrown into a furnace for refusing to bow down to Nebuchadnezzar’s statue. A family in North Korea would be risking their very lives to not honor the portraits of their leaders.

Pleas to earthly rulers are often necessary to save lives and live peacefully, and many of these rulers demand an outpouring of praise to even be heard.

These rulers and their imaginary deities do not love and care for their subjects. Instead, they simply want the praise, power, fame, and privilege that comes from being worshipped. In doing this, the rulers show that they, too, are serving the false gods of money, power, success, fame, ease, pleasure, and self.

All these things are real powers in this world, and some of them even represent legitimate needs. We do have needs like food, clothing, safety, love, and purpose. However, it is the God who created all these things who deserves our worship, thankfulness, and devotion. We should not worship the blessings He created or the people charged with stewarding power over those blessings.

The more I looked at the ancient Greek gods and the gods people serve today, the motive behind worshipping them became abundantly clear: it is always fear.

Fearing God

The main goal of ancient idol worship was to appease the gods so they would not send a flood, tornado, war, pestilence, or some other type of calamity in your direction. Maybe, if you were lucky, they would even give you a leg up in the world.

If you bow down, overflow with praise, or risk your life to follow the rules of earthly leaders, you might be able to live, work, and protect your family.

If you devote your life to making money, you might be spared the effects of being poor. If you spend all your time and energy at the gym and make sure you only ever eat the right things, maybe you will live a little longer. If you have power, you can crush your enemies instead of being crushed by them.

The list goes on and on.

The worship of these gods is not about an overflowing love for them or a gratefulness for our lives and the things we have been given. It has always been an attempt to protect ourselves from a potentially vengeful deity or a negative effect of this broken world.

When humanity looked at creation, they saw God’s eternal power and divine nature. When they began imagining who God was, the resulting gods needed to express this power and otherness. The natural and correct reaction to the realization that someone has power over you is fear.

This is true even when we look at the one true God.

Proverbs 9:10 says:

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,
and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

To respond to the awareness that you are powerless and at the mercy of someone or something else in all of life without a healthy fear of the one who holds that power is lunacy.

This natural fear is amplified all the more when you assume that the only reason these powers might take pity on you is because they need you to serve them. We are nothing but slaves to these false, corrupt gods.

What the followers of these false gods lacked was the knowledge of Jesus, God’s Holy One. He is the one who gives us understanding of God and the only one who could provide the help people actually needed.

God Does Not Need Us

Our God is not a vengeful, evil deity who tolerates humanity in order to enslave us. In fact, our God does not even need us to serve Him at all.

In Psalm 50:9-15, God says:

I do not need the bulls from your barns
or the goats from your pens.

For all the animals of the forest are mine,
and I own the cattle on a thousand hills.

I know every bird on the mountains,
and all the animals of the field are mine.

If I were hungry, I would not tell you,
for all the world is mine and everything in it.

Do I eat the meat of bulls?
Do I drink the blood of goats?

Make thankfulness your sacrifice to God,
and keep the vows you made to the Most High.

Then call on me when you are in trouble,
and I will rescue you,
and you will give Me glory.

In Acts 17:24-25, Paul describes God to the people of Athens by saying:

He is the God who made the world and everything in it. Since He is Lord of heaven and earth, He doesn’t live in manmade temples, and human hands can’t serve his needs – for He has no needs. He himself gives life and breath to everything, and He satisfies every need.

What are we supposed to do with a God like this?

If our God doesn’t need us, what is stopping Him from destroying us? If we need Him and He doesn’t need us, how can we guarantee that He will give us what we need? And if He doesn’t need us, why did He bother to create us?

The Reason God Cares for Us

Let’s go back to Ephesians 1 and look at verses three through the beginning of verse eight:

All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. 

Even before He made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in His eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into His own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ. This is what He wanted to do, and it gave Him great pleasure. 

So we praise God for the glorious grace He has poured out on us who belong to His dear Son. He is so rich in kindness and grace that He purchased our freedom with the blood of His Son and forgave our sins. He has showered His kindness on us.

Why would a God who does not need anything from anyone care to create people and provide for them? Only out of a familial love for them.

Blessed child of God, before God created the world, He loved you. He decided this world was not complete without your presence. He saw your shortcomings. He saw your sin and rebellion towards Him, yet He loved you anyway. He chose to be your Father.

Like a good earthly father loves and provides for his children, God loves and provides for us no matter what tantrums or bad behavior we have thrown at Him. Our heavenly Father has no limit to His love, goodness, and ability.

He chose to unite you to Jesus Christ to make you whole. He has given you every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places through Christ so that when He looks at you, He sees you as holy and blameless! And He did all this not because He needed us or because we earned or deserved any of it. He did all of this because it gave Him great pleasure to love us.

This is the reason we care to give praise to God. This is the reason we love and honor Him. Fear is the natural response to knowing someone has power over you, but love that results in praise is the natural response to God’s love for us.

As we read earlier, the beginning of Proverbs 9:10 says:

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.

However, unlike the followers of ancient gods, we believe in a God who casts out fear with His love.

1 John 4:16-18 says:

We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in His love.

God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face Him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world.

Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced His perfect love.

Warnings and Encouragement

So, as we conclude our time together today, I have four applications that I think we can use in our lives:

1. Beware of serving false gods that do not exist and therefore have no power.

The gods of the ancient world have mostly been forgotten, yet there are still religions today whose practices include bowing down or praying to statues, artifacts, and images.

Similarly, superstitious practices like rubbing a lucky rabbit’s foot or even “manifesting” your desired future cause us to put our trust and hope into an object or imagined power that simply does not exist and therefore cannot help us.

2. Beware of serving false gods that do exist but are temporary and limited in power.

Psalm 146:3-4 reads:

Don’t put your confidence in powerful people;
there is no help for you there.

When they breathe their last, they return to the earth,
and all their plans die with them.

Kings, emperors, presidents, and wealthy people all have power of various kinds. These people do exist, and they can help you to one extent or another, but their help is limited and temporary.

The same is true for things like money, power, fame, ease of living, pleasures of life, success, physical health, and man-centered reputations.

It is fitting to appeal to human authorities to act in love and do what is right. It is appropriate and good to appreciate the joys God has given us in creation and to steward those gifts well. However, we must recognize the difference between the created, temporary, and limited powers in this world and the eternal, all-powerful, loving Creator who made them.

Do not give your life, your worship, or your adoration to the things God has created. Instead, worship God and thank Him for every bit of goodness He has given you through His creation. Do this while resting in the hope of what He has not yet done for us.

In contrast to trusting powerful people, Psalm 146:5-9 tells us:

But joyful are those who have the God of Israel as their helper,
whose hope is in the Lord their God.

He made heaven and earth,
the sea, and everything in them.
He keeps every promise forever.

He gives justice to the oppressed
and food to the hungry.

The Lord frees the prisoners.

The Lord opens the eyes of the blind.

The Lord lifts up those who are weighed down.

The Lord loves the godly.

The Lord protects the foreigners among us.

He cares for the orphans and widows,
but He frustrates the plans of the wicked.

Blessed be God who has provided every good thing we have ever experienced and who will provide every good thing for us in eternity.

3. Beware of looking at the attributes of God – whether in creation or in scripture – and distorting them into a false god of our own imaginations.

The warning we saw in Romans 1 shows us that all of humanity is prone to twist the revelation we are given about God’s character and to “think up foolish ideas of what God is like.”

Let’s be careful not to become “utter fools” in the middle of our claims to have wisdom. Just because we name our false idea of God after the true God of the Bible does not mean we are, in fact, serving Him.

Jesus says in Matthew 7:21-23:

Not everyone who calls out to Me, “Lord! Lord!” will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of My Father in heaven will enter. 

On judgment day, many will say to me, “Lord! Lord! We prophesied in Your name and cast out demons in Your name and performed many miracles in Your name.” 

But I will reply, “I never knew you. Get away from Me, you who break God’s laws.”

We will talk about this subject in more detail in our next study on the book of Ephesians, and we will take a look at how we can know if we are truly serving the God of the Bible in our third study.

4. Seek after the one true God who created everything and takes pleasure in loving you.

When we look at creation, we can see God’s eternal power and divine nature. While we should guard against our tendency to twist the truth about God in our attempts to understand Him, we also should avoid the temptation to just ignore Him.

In Mark 12:29-31, we read these words of Jesus:

The most important commandment is this: “Listen, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord. And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ 

The second is equally important: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” No other commandment is greater than these.

Thank you for joining me today in this search to understand and love the Lord our God together.

As we part for now, I will leave you with this desire I have for you all:

May the God of perfect love take great pleasure in casting out all fear in you because of His glorious grace that is poured out on us who belong to His dear Son.

To help you meditate on the principles we have discussed today, I have made a short Spotify playlist that you can find here.