What is an Apostle?
Paul opens his letter by calling himself "an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God..." What is an apostle?
The Greek word is apostolos, meaning "one sent with full power of attorney to act in the place of another" (Dake).
This is how Jesus used the word (apostello) in John 17:18, praying to the Father for us: "As You SENT Me into the world, I also have SENT them into the world."
In other words, "As you apostle-ized me with your full power to the world, Father, I apostle-ize them with your full power and send them into the world."
In the Roman Empire of Jesus' time, this same word––apostolos––was used to describe the representative of Caesar sent to proclaim a message ("good news," evangalion) to a territory that "Caesar is Lord" and the "the Kingdom of Rome has come" (Bell, R., NUMA #15). In other words, an apostle was a representative of the king who took new territory and transformed it to be like the parent nation.
In Ephesians, Paul immediately declares himself an apostle. In this case, he is writing to "the faithful in Christ Jesus," yet his commission to take and transform territory is part of his initial greeting. It is not coincidence that the book of Ephesians is perhaps more densely packed with profound revelation than any other of Paul's letters. Paul is intent on continuing to transform the territory of his reader's hearts and lives with the power of the Gospel and all it's glorious implications.
As you read Ephesians, invite the Holy Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation (1:17) to take new territory in your life, to colonize the territory of your heart, and build you into a living temple for the Holy Spirit (2:21-22).
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