Intro to the book of Ephesians from The Message Bible by Eugene Peterson –

Paul’s letter to the Ephesians joins together what has been torn apart in our sin-wrecked world. He begins with an exuberant exploration of what Christians believe about God, and then, like a surgeon skillfully setting a compound fracture, he “sets” this belief in God into our behavior before God so that the bones – belief and behavior – knit together and heal.

He also shows us that in addition to having this work done in and for us, we are participants in this MOST URGENT WORK. Now that we know what is going on, that the energy of reconciliation IS the dynamo at the heart of the universe, it is IMPERATIVE that we join in vigorously and perseveringly, convinced that every detail in our lives contributes (or DOESN’T contribute) to what Paul describes as God’s Plan worked out in Christ, – “a long-range plan in which everything would be brought together and summed up in him, everything in deepest Heaven, everything on Planet Earth.”