The Book of Ephesians

The New Testament offers a rich view of the Greek and Roman worlds through the eyes of the early church, made up of a colorful blend of people from myriad cultures and ethnicities, a tapestry of peoples celebrated through the coloring pages below.

Ephesians 6:21-34 - Farewell

As Paul says goodbye to his friends and loved ones in Ephesus, he commends them to the Lord, wishing them peace and love and faith. The gospel unites us in a way that gives us just a taste of life in the Kingdom of God when Jesus returns. The warmth and familial ties that Brough people of such differing backgrounds together in the ancient world still unites and ties Christinas around the globe together in anticipation of what God is doing int he earth.

This will also conclude the regular production of coloring pages (there will be more, just not every week) as I have some other exciting projects in the works!

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Ephesians 6:10-20 - Armor Of God

This comes from something I did over a year ago, so I reworked it for this weeks coloring page!

”Another project I've been working on lately has been reimagining the "Armor of God" imagery from Ephesians 6. My intention was to bring some of the colorful, diverse, and beautiful armor and style from the Ancient Greek world to bear on the kinds of armor that might actually be representative of the region of Ephesus (being the western Turkish coast). I pulled most of the more stylistic choices from Phrygian and Thracian (a bit north of Ephesus really) in order to give something other than "generic Roman" or even "medieval knight" when you look for an image to illustrate this much used text.

Below are my references and sources for some of the pieces:

Belt of Truth - τὴν ὀσφὺν ὑμῶν ἐν ἀληθείᾳ -
Phrygian Belt Fragment (MET): www.metmuseum.org/art/collecti…

Breastplate of Righteousness - τὸν θώρακα τῆς δικαιοσύνης -
Typical Bronze Cuirass (MET): www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-o…

Shoes of readiness of gospel of Peace - τοὺς πόδας ἐν ἑτοιμασίᾳ τοῦ εὐαγγελίου τῆς εἰρήνης
Gorgon Greaves (British Museum): research.britishmuseum.org/…

Shield of Faith - τὸν θυρεὸν τῆς πίστεως -
Thyreos, a large oblong shield used by Thracian and Asians. This is based of a Thracian design found on this model: rr-zinnfiguren.com/ARMIES-AND-…

Helmet of Salvation - περικεφαλαίαν τοῦ σωτηρίου -
Phrygian Winged Bronze Helmet (Christie’s Auction): www.christies.com/…/a-ph…

Sword of the Spirit - τὴν μάχαιραν τοῦ πνεύματος -
Based off a Greek Kopis (the Machairan probably wasn’t curved, this was an artistic choice that still fits the bill and offers something widely used then and cooler looking than a plain straight sword).”

Ephesians 6:5-9 - Servants And Lords

This is a tricky text to be sure, because we are very much removed from the society and world of the ancient Greco-Roman world. What I think I would point out is that the Bible is in no way condoning the thought of "owning" another human who is made in Gods image, so let's get that straight. That said, there were definitely class and societal structures in place that the way of Jesus cut straight through (think of the letter to Philemon). There were people who worked for themselves, and there were those who for one reason or another were bound to a "master" (actually the word κυριος which is generally translated lord). Just like any part of the work force today, there were abuses, especially when someone is working for you in your estate doing any number of jobs that needed to be done running larger homes and enterprises. So Paul is addressing that relationship, the lord of the house and those who work under him. There is to be mutual respect and going back to how the entire chapter starts, submission - the worker to the lord and the lord to the humanity of those "under" him.

I wanted to depict this somehow, understanding it's not easy at all. So here we have a Lydian nobleman (depicted using the likeness and style of the most famous Lydian king, Croesus) lavishing those working hard for him with a raise and vacation. Now, I understand I'm reading a bit of our modern understanding backward, but that's intentional as I want to somehow connect to the way the gospel transformed those ancient relationships from one of using one another to pouring out an inexhaustible well of love, care and concern for our fellow man, no matter where we all fall in our cultures hierarchy.

Perhaps there's something we can learn there as well.

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Ephesians 6:1-4 - Children

A Lydian father plays and wrestles his kids. Remember that Paul is working through what "submission to Jesus" looks like throughout the family, here focusing in the kids after having explored what it looks like for a husband and wife to serve one another. So a family devoted to Jesus and to each other looks like kids that obey their parents, but also go beyond to honor them, not just follow whatever rules are set in place. It looks like fathers who don't provoke their kids to anger, an interesting thing for Paul to point out. But how many times is that the case? Sometimes our kids are angry because of their choices, and sometimes there's some blame to share because we've needled them and egged them on in a way that is not showing them either self-control, or Christ-like affection. Sure, there's lots of room to grow here, but within the family, devotion and affection to Jesus plays out in some very tangible ways.

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Ephesians 5:22-33 - Love And Respect

To begin with, Paul makes it abundantly clear that he is calling all believers to submit their will and rights to the loving care of Jesus, something he states just prior. But also, every member of the family is called to live self-sacrificing, giving lives of submission to each other, not grabbing for power or selfish ambition but devoted to each other and their well being.

For the husband that looks like self sacrifice with the love of Jesus in mind that gives everything you have for the betterment and building of the wife. This is how the man submits to the wife, he gives everything of himself so the rest of the family, especially the wife, can thrive.

The woman gives by trusting submission to her husband, one who loves and cares for her and would give everything for her. It’s not in any way being a “doormat” as some might assume, but trust in the one who lives to see her grow and flourish.

In this way, the gospel transforms family from a power grab to people devoted to God and each other and willing to give it all to allow the others to flourish.

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Ephesians 5:15-21 - Speaking In Song

The gospel invites us into living in line with Kingdom values, to set aside the selfish and and indulgent ways our hearts tend toward. So here instead of drowning our sorrows or numbing the pain of the world and checking out with sheer drunkenness, we are to be filled with the spirit, expressed in song and truth. When we sing as people of God, it moves beyond our own enjoyment or “what I get out of it” and transforms into a service to our fellow man. The gospel always moves us to life beyond ourselves.

Here then, I wanted to portray some Ephesians believers playing local instruments (a Baglama) and singing while others indulge in the spirits. Behind them I wanted to portray the huge Temple of Artemis of Ephesus. While there is literally only one partial column left of this ancient wonder, it was gigantic and impressive!

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Ephesians 5:1-14 - Light vs Dark

This beautiful text in Ephesians paints a clear picture of what it means to live in the reality of the light the gospel pours over life itself, revealing what is true, right and good. It's not just about avoiding vices and doing good things, but living in the reality of the Kingdom, the future and permanent reign of a good God over His creation. So the things that we know won't be present then shouldn't be okay to live with, engage in, much less celebrate and embrace now. It's not about whacking "sinners" over the head, but more about how we live our life, not as selfishly ambitious carless individuals, but those who hold very loosely to our own rights and ambitions for the good of others, and the glory of our Creator.

Here I wanted to portray this with a bit of humor, people stumbling around in darkness, running into their own vices, while blinding themselves, versus throwing off the cloak (he did say previously to "put off", which means that precisely) and living in the reality of the light of the gospel.

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Ephesians 4:25-32 - Old-v-New

This part of the text spells out what the previous paragraph introduced - the old self versus the new self. This part lays it out - lying vs truth, short fuse vs long suffering, stealing vs generosity, anger and rage vs kindness and compassion. Here I wanted to take a sequential / comic form to lay out the comparison and contrast.

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Ephesians 4:17-24 - New Self

The gospel transforms us from something old to something new, from the old way of living to a life full of purpose and Hope and love for one another. So here I wanted to depict that old way of life that Paul described as a decrepit version of oneself burdened down with sin and Vice and how the gospel of Jesus transforms us into something beautiful and full of love and vitality.

The characters are dressed in traditional Lydian attire.

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Ephesians 4:8-16 - Building Up

The Christian was never meant to live or grow alone, here Paul lists out the gifts to the church: apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, and teachers. The point is that we don't grow by ourselves, God has given us, in the church, the gift of those who dedicate their lives to the study of, explanation, and application of the gospel. The goal is that we grow fully into maturity in Jesus, a goal that lasts all our lifetime.

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Ephesians 4:1-6 - Bond Of Peace

The Spirit working in the heart of those in Christ brings unity and peace among the widest and broadest sorts and types of people, bringing together peoples from every walk, area, and season of life together in the body of Christ.

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Ephesians 3:14-19 - Fullness

Here is the hope of the Christian faith, a future that is filled and fulfilled by Jesus, the one we pursue and strive for, not power or fame or fortune. In Him, we find now and forever the meaning, affection and understanding we so crave. Here I wanted to picture a future hope, the walking with Jesus that now is spirit and faith, then will be quite tangible and as real as anything we know now. I tried to capture the beauty of creation as well as the comfort of Jesus' presence and some imagery from the prophets about children walking about with wolves and other presently dangerous animals. It's a future filled with peace (Shalom really) and hope.

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Ephesians 3:7-13 - Bold Access

This beautiful text speaks of the hope, future and vindication we can look forward to in the gospel, the good news of God, through Jesus, bringing all things together under His authority. This text is incredible as it speaks of a beautiful scene - God revealing His plan of redemption to all the heavenly host, and his children having both boldness and access to approach Him through Jesus.

So this scene is su-posed to look unexpected. First of all, I didn’t include angles simply because of space, but secondly, angles are not described in the Bible as being winged. What we have here are Cherubim, who are NOT some creepy winged baby head, but are described as human like but with two sets of wings (simplified to one set for space), and bearing a resemblance to a bull. Eagle, and lion - all symbols of strength. They are protectors, surrounding the heavenly throne and guarding Eden after the fall. Most of their description comes from Ezekiel.

Then there are the Seraphim, literally meaning “fiery one’, and translated apart from Isaiah 6 as “fiery flying serpent”, most famously in the Exodus account where Moses fashions a bronze Seraph to save the people from the infestation of fire snakes. So I imagine something like an Asian dragon, serpentine, fiery, but beautiful and majestic rather than scary and threatening.

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Ephesians 3:1-6 - Fellow Heirs

In this beautiful text about the inclusion of the nations into the promises made to Israel, I wanted to pull in several cultures and peoples to show their acceptance into the family of God.

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Ephesians 2:19-22 - Citizens

This text from Ephesians welcomes in the stranger, the foreigner into citizenship in Jesus, a part of a community that spans all cultures, times and ages. I wanted to capture some of that here, picking out various people from history, biblical and church. So we have two Ephesian Christians being welcomed into the citizenry by Jesus in the center. Then, from left to right, we have: John Calvin, John the Baptist, Martin Luther King Jr, Martin Luther, an Ethiopian Coptic, Cherokee Baptist, Moses, St Augustine of Hippo, Jonathan Edwards, Charles Spurgeon, Frederick Douglas, and Joshua.

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Ephesians 2:11-18 - Reconciled

Depicting this line of text, Jesus breaks through the wall of hostility, as Paul called it, breaking through the restriction and weight of the law to reach the sinner, those under the burden and crushing demands of law. He comes through offering peace with God and reconciliation for we who are in open rebellion against our own Creator. It's beautiful imagery, that I hoped to capture in some way here.

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Ephesians 2:8-10 - Grace Gift

One of the most familiar texts in Ephesians makes it clear that the rescue from ourselves has nothing to do with our ability to save ourselves. It's a gift from a loving, nurturing God, who steps in to rescue and save. I wanted to illustrate this using the woman at the well, or Samaritan woman, who came to Jesus with nothing to offer, no part to play other than to accept the gift of living water He offered.

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Ephesians 2:1-7 - But God

Crushed under the weight of our own sin, God steps in to the middle of our mess and redeems sinful mankind to himself. The incredible thing is that God doesn’t wait for us to clean up, but invites us to himself broken and guilt ridden as we are. Jesus offers us relief and freedom and forgiveness, it’s the beauty of the gospel.

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Ephesians 1:15-23 - Dominion

Paul prays that our hearts can be opened to the reality of Jesus' present domino and authority over all things, kingdoms and power on earth. It's not a power play, it's the reality that God is over all and in control of everything that happens - a fact that is far too complex for us to truly wrap our heads around. So here I wanted to depict in some minuscule way how that may look. This leans into the abstract as a way to visualize that!

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Ephesians 1:11-14 - Inheritance

This part of Ephesians talks about our inheritance, also described as our portion or our hope. When we are in Christ, all that is his is ours, which means a new creation, within us now and all encompassing in the future. So here our Phrygian friend has lost his home, but his hope is in Jesus, and that is where his piece of this world is to be found. Everything else can be taken away from us, whether something we own, someone we love, a tradition we hold to, or even the world as we know it. Things change and blessings come and go. But we have an inheritance in heaven and in the future hope that cannot be touched by change and loss!

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Ephesians 1:7-10 - Heaven & Earth

Jesus brings all things together through redemption, here depicting the culmination of the gospel, the coming together of heaven and earth, of kingdom and goodness and all things being made new and right. As a note, the heavenly scene is depicting angelic and other heavenly creatures, in particular the cherubim. These are not described in the Bible as some weird winged baby head, but as mighty winged (often weapon bearing) creatures that take on the shapes of bulls, lions, etc... Also, again, angels themselves are never described as winged, they are often more human in appearance.

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Ephesians 1:3-6 - Adoption

Paul uses the imagery of adoption to depict the way that God through Jesus has redeemed us to himself. Here I wanted to depict a Phrygian family adopting a boy. Orphans were more common than one might expect and abandonment was all too prevalent. To be welcomed into the arms of new family where once you had none is a beautiful picture of the grace and joy offered in salvation.

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Ephesians 1:1-2 - Greetings

Paul, imprisoned in Rome, rights to the Christian community in ethicist. This was an amazing City located in south western Asia, modern day turkey, and featured many marvels of the ancient world including the gigantic temple to Artemis, The home of cult worship which Paul ran up against many times. Paul is featured on the left with Rome in the background, and the Ephesians are pictured on the right with the library of Celsus behind them.

The Ephesian characters are here depicted as Lydians and Phrygians, featuring some of the headwear that they might’ve worn and some armor that was found in that region.

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