6:1-4
We can't get any more plain than this. Children, obey your parents. Do this because God said so and it is right. Beyond just obedience children should honor their parents. This is one of the ten commandments which has a promise attached to it. Why honor your parents? So you will live a long life.
When the law was first given to Israel if a child did not obey their parents or honor their parents they did not live a long life. The same is true today. Those who rebel against authority - starting with parents - will not live a long and full life. Rebellion always bring hardship, pain, and suffering. The way of the transgressor is hard.
Here is an instruction to fathers on raising kids. Fathers were told how to raise kids, whereas there was no instruction to mothers on raising children. Fathers were told not to provoke their children to wrath.
I think this means fathers can be hard on their children. There is a danger that the child might lose hope and rebel against the father. How can fathers do this?
Kids need discipline but they don't need to be punched in the face or have a branch on their backs. Don't abuse the child. Children need godly discipline but they do not need to have their spirit broken.
Fathers were instructed to train their children in the Lord. This means taking time to teach, show attention, listen, and understand their children. It takes time to love children and to bring them up in a nurturing instruction.
I did not have this growing up, but my heavenly Father provided several men who provided godly discipline and instruction for me. I am thankful for those men who became fathers to me when I did not have a father at home. I am thankful the Lord showed mercy and grace to me and extended his love towards me through godly men who knew me and disciplined me.
6:5-9
Servants could also be "slaves". Slavery was common in human history and was common during the period Paul lived in. These servants came to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus and needed instruction on how to live as a Christian. Paul taught them to be obedient and to have an attitude of reverence and respect. Paul taught that by serving their masters they were serving Christ. They served their masters as serving Christ Jesus the Lord. This runs against rebellious human nature which does not want to submit to others. Humans are born with an attitude of rebellion against authority, but especially against any authority that culture says is unacceptable.
Of course, slavery was wrong. But the Bible did not address slavery as a topic. Instead, it taught slaves to live for Christ in the situation they were in.
The principle was to live for the Lord no matter what situation we are in. No matter where we may be we must see our labor as working for the Lord Jesus Christ. If we are a Christian then we are servants of Christ. We are bond-slaves of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Masters were instructed as well. They were forbidden to threaten those which they had authority over. They were taught to remember that their Master was Christ himself and they were to be the same kind of master that the Lord Jesus Christ was.
What kind of master is the Lord Jesus? We are to be the same kind of masters. What kind of servant is the Lord Jesus? We are to be the same kind of servants.
Jesus is all in all.
6:10-11
Only after we know who we are in Christ and have sat down with the Lord in the heavenly places, and only after we are walking in victory, only then can we take our stand against the wiles of the devil.
There is a real enemy for the Christian. This enemy goes through the whole world looking for someone to devour. He is like a lion always on the prowl and looking for victims to take down.
This battle against the enemy never ends while we are on this side of eternity. We must always be on guard against this enemy. How do we prepare? How do we fight?
Paul gave instructions in this final chapter of Ephesians on how to prepare and fight this enemy.
We must be strong in the Lord! How are we strong in the Lord? We do not put any confidence in our ability to fight or overcome or stand. We put our complete faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and the work he accomplished at Calvary. Jesus died on the cross for our sins, he was buried, and he rose again on the third day. Our faith is in his finished, completed work.
The way to be strong in the Lord is to hold the gospel and reject all the lies of the world system, religions, and the allure of prestige in the world. We take our stand and overcome by humbling ourselves under the mighty hand of God. It is by humility we overcome self, sin, the world, and the devil. God opposes the proud, but he gives grace to the humble. When we humble ourselves before the Lord then he will lift us up.
Our battle is the Lord's battle. He has fought and won this battle on our behalf. Our part is to have faith and stand in the victory of the Lord Jesus Christ. Don't be moved from the gospel to something else. The world has a lot of alternatives it offers to replace the gospel. There are many religions out there in the world and many systems of philosophy. But the name of Jesus is above all other names. At the name of Jesus every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
Paul described the whole armor of God. He used a word picture to describe spiritual things. He used something he saw every day in the Roman world. He looked at the armor the Roman soldiers wore and thought that would make a good illustration on how the Christian should be prepared spiritually. Our battle is not against flesh and blood. Our battle is against the power of darkness. We also have armor we need to put on every day just like a Roman soldier put on his armor every day.
As far back as I can remember I put on the armor of God while praying. I understand this is a word picture but it brought me comfort to think of myself putting on armor every day. Lord, help me to put on the helmet of salvation, the breastplate of righteousness, the belt of truth, the shoes of peace, the shield of faith, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.