Ephesians 3:1-13 (2)
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1 For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles— 2 assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for you, 3 how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly. 4 When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, 5 which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. 6 This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.
7 Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God’s grace, which was given me by the working of his power. 8 To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, 9 and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things, 10 so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. 11 This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, 12 in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him. 13 So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory.
Start and end of this set of verses tells us about how we should interpret what’s in between:
1 For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles—
13 So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory.
For this reason
Of what has gone before in chapter 2. It has been the glorious work of savior to bring about the new covenant that demolishes the exclusivity of the old covenant in fulfilling the law and bringing one new man of the two Gentile and Greek, united to God. It had glorified God to shut up everything under the law before Christ which brought separation between these two people, but now the manifold glory of God is revealed in Jesus fulfilling this law and thus bringing unity between these two different groups of people.
The only reason why Jews in the Old Testament should have prized separation was out of love for God and his law. But they showed their sinful hatred of their neighbor in that even when Jesus came and fulfilled the law and institutionalized the spread of unity between these groups, they still hated them and wanted nothing to do with them.
But Paul, being saved by Jesus and called out to be his servant, took this gospel truth and was now in prison because of it.
I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles
Paul was not a prisoner for breaking God’s law. He was a prisoner for breaking man’s law that contradicted the authority from heaven to preach the gospel to all nations. When we are a prisoner of a certain nation for a crime of theirs that matches God’s law, it is no badge of honor. But here, Paul connects his prisoner status with Christ Jesus. Christ Jesus is the ultimate authority in heaven and earth:
18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
And this authority over all things has given a command
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
And Paul, was commissioned specifically by this same sovereign to spear head this work to the nations
15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. 16 For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.”
And so Paul was a prisoner of Rome, in Rome, but it was for obeying the Lord which is what makes him a prisoner of or for Christ Jesus.
The other side of this section will give us a full rounded understanding of Paul’s mind as he wrote this section of Ephesians
13 So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory.
So
Or based off of what I just wrote about this (as we will go over the next couple weeks)
I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you
Paul did not want a negative reaction from the gentile believers because of this suffering he was experiencing, being in prison in Rome.
He didn’t want them to have the reaction of losing heart, or to be disheartened.
This makes sense that it would be a concern for Paul, since in the normal flow of things, man is run down and emptied by suffering. Being in a state of suffering drains you physically, and mentally. Thus, after hearing that their beloved Paul was suffering physical discomfort in a Roman prison, a typical human response would be to lose heart, be disheartened, or be discouraged. And such an attitude will leave the person immobilized, or without action.
13 As for you, brothers, do not grow weary in doing good.
9 And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.
Instead he says do not fall into this state of mind and action (inaction) because his suffering is for
your glory.
Glory is fame or honor displayed. Man has not glory of his own, but we do participate in the glory given by God.
Kind of like a moon having no light of its own but simply reflects the light given by the sun.
So man can have glory that is given by God.
And Paul says his suffering is for the sake of their glory as they participate in the glory of Jesus Christ.
Our endeavor the next couple weeks is to see that played out specifically. How Paul’s ministry serving Christ and the gentile people landed him in suffering, but yet the nature of the ministry makes the suffering something not to lose heart over.
This truth right here is vital as we look at how to suffer well, and how we are to view those who are suffering well.
Suffering is always a result of sin. But it can be through participating in it, or conquering it through Christ (glory participation).
12 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. 14 If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. 15 But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. 16 Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name.
12-13 Glory revealed is his fame for overcoming evil
14 Notice sharing in that glory
15 The other kind of suffering for participation in sin
16- Suffering as a Christian means participation in the glory of God.
Thus, Paul tells the Ephesians that just because they see him suffering do not be discouraged or lose heart. For his suffering is of the kind that is joining Christ in conquering sin; comes with suffering but it is of a glorious kind.
Since suffering is always the result of sin (whether participation or conquering) it is always painful to go through. The teaching of Paul here is not to ignore the pain associated with suffering or to act like it doesn’t exist. Instead, despite the hardship of suffering, when it is experienced for good reason, one should not let the pain bring about a spirit of discouragement. But rather, the spirit can maintain its encouraged state by looking at Jesus at the center of all our suffering.
And so beneath these verses of Paul encouraging the gentile church to not be discouraged over Christ-centered suffering that he is enduring, we gain a strong doctrine that can help us in any suffering we may go through, or see others go through.
We see an unbeliever suffer the fate of death. This is the ultimate display of physical decay that causes the body and soul to cease to exist as we know it amongst the living. This is the ultimate judgement for sin, the fully realized curse of the fall. Without the hope of the conquering savor, this becomes a very bitter pill to swallow for all who see this spectacle.
But for those in Christ, the death is no longer a fruit of sin, but a conduit to eternal life in Christ. Sure there is still the suffering of the heart that failed to beat, and the bodies failure to be the home for the soul, but what awaits on the other end is endless glory participation. Thus, the pain of loss is surely felt, but it is overshadowed by the engagement of glory that the believer can experience.
The same can be said with any form of suffering. Doing it for the glory of Christ causes the paradigm to shift into a pain that is not ended in faint heartedness, but rather a hope that is beyond fully comprehension.
Thus, the time you enter into a realm of suffering, or a witness of it, instead of the first response being to flee from it, ask yourself, is this suffering as a result of sin or the conquering of sin? If it is the latter, it may still be appropriate to flee from it, but at the very least such a conviction enables the sufferer to do so like a Christian.