Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,

To God's holy people in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

It's one thing to stand in a position of authority and know you are qualified for the job. I experienced this as a high school teacher; I had gone to school, done my clinicals, tested for my license, and been hired at the school. Was I totally flying by the seat of my pants those first few years? Well yes, obviously. BUT, I was qualified for the job, and there was some security in that knowledge that I could fall back on when I doubted myself or had a hard day.

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But it's entirely another thing to find yourself in a position of authority that you realize you really aren't that prepared for. Maybe you’ve felt this if you have become a parent: The nurses hustle you out the door with your tiny human, assuming you'll figure it out! Or maybe you've stepped into a job like this and had to build the plane as you also learned to fly it - hopefully not literally. Or maybe, like me, you've felt this in your life as a believer.

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It can feel like you're supposed to know a lot when you become a believer, but the Bible is a big book! You've been living your entire life by a different paradigm and putting on the way of Jesus feels foreign (Newsflash: that never entirely goes away! See Romans 7:15). Or maybe you've been a believer for a while, but in this season, God has been using you in ways and areas of ministry that feel so out of your comfort zone, that you're not sure how you even got there.

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Wherever you're at, take comfort knowing that a giant of the faith, the apostle Paul, seemed quite familiar with this feeling, too. In the first sentence of his letter to the Ephesians, considered by many to be one of his most iconic letters, he reminds us that he is in this position of authority for one reason alone: the will of God.

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This is coming from a man who persecuted believers, used to rely deeply on his religious heritage, and came to faith through an incredibly humbling ordeal (Acts 9). But it’s also coming from a man who, at this point in his life, is respected by the entire Christian community and has endured and suffered much for his faith. As he writes Ephesians from prison in Rome, we could say that he has earned his position! But he doesn’t lean on any of that. Paul reminds us that he is who he is only by the will of God.

We are embarking on a study of Ephesians the next six weeks in which we'll walk into deeper life with Jesus by learning the truth of our identity in Christ. And as we begin this study, we start by noticing where Paul, the one whose words will be instructing us, has his identity rooted. He doesn't start by reminding us of his qualifications. Instead, he begins in the same place that we can today: with nothing significant to our names except the grace of God over our lives. He says, I am who I am by the will of God. That's it.

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And so I ask you, were you to write a letter to believers in the future, what might you be tempted to list after your name? Maybe a role in the church or serving, maybe schooling or relationships or connections so people know who you are. I know the labels I'd be tempted to write.

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But, can we let those fall as we begin this study together?

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They might be true. They might even give you some qualification that does matter. And ultimately, there's nothing wrong with those labels. It's just that they're secondary.

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The enemy loves to convince us they're primary to our identity, that who we are is built on those labels. But for the next six weeks, we're calling out that lie. We're reminding ourselves, or maybe even learning for the first time, that we are who we are by the will of God. That's it. And that's enough.

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Here's where we start our study, friends, with this simple foundation for our identity:

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[Your Name Here], a servant of Christ Jesus by the will of God.

That's enough.

Father God, I am yours and here in this place and position and time by your will alone. Thank you! During this series, strip away the lies I've believed about who I am that don't align with who YOU say I am. Please rebuild in me an understanding of my identity in you alone. I trust you with this process, God! Amen!