God of Jesus Christ,
give us a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Christ,
so that the eyes of our hearts might be enlightened.
Help us to know the hope to which you have called us,
the riches of the glorious inheritance in the saints,
and the immeasurable greatness of your power at work in us.
Through Christ, our Lord. Amen.
—based on Ephesians 1:17-19, NRSV
In Paul’s letter to the Romans he didn’t address specific problems that were creeping up there, at least not in such a direct manner as he did with the two letters to the Corinthians and the one to the Galatians. Here as he writes to the Ephesians there is again no mention of specific issues that have come up. Paul’s main themes are how Christ has reconciled all of creation to himself and to God, and that he has brought together people from everywhere into his one body, the church.
The church in Philippi was the first church that Paul planted. You can hear the love in his letter. The theme is encouragement to live their lives as members of the kingdom of God, and the greatest example is Christ himself. 2:6-11 is one of the most beautiful and meaningful passages on that subject.
Paul’s letter to the Colossians emphasizes Christ over all. Part of that is Christ over all the things in the world that compete for our allegiance and attention. Since Christ defeated them by his death and resurrection, we are now free to live for him. Much of this letter is spelling out what that Christ-centered life looks like.
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