"1Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,
To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus."
Ephesians 1:1
It will be helpful at this point to look at the account in Acts of the founding of the church at Ephesus, to give us something of the flavour of the place and of the background to this epistle. There is a brief reference in Acts 18:19ff to a visit paid to Ephesus at the end of the second missionary journey, with the promise of an early return visit, recorded in Acts 19, which begins with the story of the twelve disciples who were clearly, in Paul's estimation, seriously lacking in authentic experience. It is enormously encouraging that these disciples were the first members of the church founded in that strategic city. There is hope for any of us, isn't there, in the light of how they ultimately shaped! That incident may well shed some light on the concern Paul shows that the believers in Ephesus might enter into the fullness of their inheritance in Christ. The sequence of teaching in the epistle bears this out, from the statement in 1:13, 14 about being sealed by the Spirit, then the prayer in 1:17ff, that the eyes of their understanding might be opened to know the immeasurable greatness of the power at work in their lives; then the statement in 2:22 about being 'an habitation of God through the Spirit'; then the prayer in 3:17 'that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith ... that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God' - and then in 5:18 'Be filled with the Spirit' as if to say 'Let that gracious indwelling be all it was meant by God to be'. Paul was determined to leave no stone unturned in establishing them on a true and solid foundation. He was a true pastor to his people.