I preached last Sunday on the great final image in Ephesians, namely the armor of God. I actually thought it was the worst sermon I preached in our entire series on Ephesians, but I’m including it below for those of you who are having trouble sleeping.

(Note that because our reading plan broke up Paul’s paragraph over multiple days, I am addressing tomorrow’s passage today and will not be posting tomorrow. Check back on Friday for our final post on Ephesians.)

Some quick thoughts on this passage from Bible scholar Tim Mackie:

“Paul explicitly links his imagery in his letters to the divine armor of the messianic king in Isaiah. The point is that God’s weapons have now been transferred to the new humanity, who are united in and with the Messiah.”

More:

“The command to take up the armor of God is a summons to the community as a whole. Taking up the armor of God is a communal practice integrally tied to the unity of the Church. Paul wants church communities to know that the “schemes of the slanderer” (Ephesians 6:11) will be aimed precisely at the unity and mutual interdependence of the new humanity, which is why they need to be prepared. They have been called to live as a unified new humanity in the Messiah, but they have a real enemy in the powers (note: not an enemy in each other). So whether it be defensive or offensive, they will need to put on the character of the Messiah and be prepared to fight.”

Today’s Reading: Ephesians 6:10-20

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. 19 Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel,20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.