Ephesians – Prison Epistle

After the death and resurrection of Christ the disciples were continuing to go forth and spread the good news of Christ, just as Jesus commissioned them to. The disciples and believers were being called followers of “Christs way” and they would let nothing stop them as they carried forth the message of hope and salvation. The Jewish religious community of Pharisees had been at odds with Jesus during his life, and in death they continued to persecute Jesus. A particularly devout Pharisee named Saul took the actions of the disciples and believers as blasphemy, his anger was very focus driven to hunt down and arrest all the followers of Christ. When he found out that many followers of Christ’s way were gathering in Damascus he went to the synagogues in Jerusalem and was able to gain written authorization to go to Damascus and arrest and bring back any followers of Christ’s way. Saul started out for Damascus, but on his way he had a transformational experience. Jesus appeared to Saul in a great light and specifically asked Paul why he was persecuting him. Saul realized that he had not been persecuting men, he was not persecuting women, he was persecuting Our Lord. After Saul’s encounter with Jesus he was blinded for three days and nights. Upon the return of his sight and direction from God he was changed into a man of God. Saul also was given a new name, we know him today as Paul. Without this amazing story of revelation, redemption and the transformation God had in store for Saul…. as he became Paul, we would have never been given the amazing Pauline Epistles. Each letter written by Paul is a wealth of instruction, and covers issues that are just as critical in today’s church or in the heart of a believer as they were when the church was being founded. If this particular letter had been left out of the Bible when the canon was being compiled the world would be missing out on some of the most vividly powerful Epistles that has ever been written. The Epistle to the church at Ephesus was most likely written while Paul was in his first prison term in Rome and became a circular letter for the churches. The letter to Ephesus is composed of several main ideas that were pressing upon Paul while he sat in Rome incarcerated, but the overall arching message of this book is that God is the same past, present or