The Mystery of Christ

Ephesians 3:1-12 The Mystery of Christ

*Pray **Rise for Reading ***Read *You may be seated You may be saying, “Woah Sam, why are we looking at Ephesians when Christmas is next week? Where are the wise men and babies?” We’ll get to that next week for sure, but this morning I want to ask you a question, “What was Jesus doing before Christmas?” Did He all of a sudden appear on the scene and begin His life as a newborn? Or was He at work before the manger? Actually we know of a heretic from the early church who taught Jesus didn’t exist during the Old Testament, a fella by the name of Arius. And at the Council of Nicea, when our church fathers were discussing the nature of Jesus, a rather not-so-jolly Bishop Nicholas of Myra slapped Arius in the face for his false teachings. Arius must’ve got coal that year. Ephesians 3 is a text that encourages us. It encourages us love, it encourages us study, and to missions. Why is that the case? We’ll see in the text. For this sermon I want us to look at 5 points of explanation and then apply it in 4 points. So 5 brief points of interpretation and 4 brief points of application. But these first 5 points are going to develop an argument, to develop the content of the teaching in Ephesians 3:1-12. So each one advances the argument step-by-step. 1. In the first place then, Ephesians 3:1-12 teaches us that God had or has an eternal plan and purpose. Look at verses 9 and 11 with me. In vs. 9, Paul talks about the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God. A plan, a God plan hidden for ages. And in vs. 11, Paul talks about the eternal purpose of God, which has now been realized, but right now we’re focusing on the plan hidden for ages and the eternal purpose. We note that by way of introduction, moving on to the 2nd point. 2. Paul tells us not only does God have an eternal plan and purpose, but he tells us secondly, that this purpose was previously a mystery. This purpose was previously a mystery. And we see this in verses 5 and 9. In vs. 5, Paul says, “which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed” verse 9, “the mystery hidden for ages.” So there is an eternal purpose, an eternal plan which God has, but in other generations it was not made known in the same way that it is made known now. Rather, it was a mystery hidden for ages. We have to make an important point here: when Paul talks about mystery or when we read about mystery in the scriptures, mystery does not mean that God was hiding it so no one knew about it. Mystery is not a way of preventing people from knowing things. Mystery in the Bible is a way of communicating something, it’s a way of revealing something but it's a way of revealing it partially, or incompletely, or through shadows, through images, through prophecies, through language that does not state as clearly or directly a certain truth if one wanted to. So the eternal plan and purpose of God was revealed in other generations but it was previously revealed as a mystery. 3. In the third place we see the plan was accomplished in Jesus Christ. The plan was accomplished in Jesus Christ. Vs. 11, “according to the eternal purpose that He has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Of course the word ‘realized’ here doesn’t mean discovered or found out. It means brought to reality that which was a plan, that which was a promise, that which was a purpose in the ages previously was brought to reality. It was realized, it was completed, it was fulfilled in Christ Jesus our Lord. Paul tells the Ephesians that God’s eternal plan and purpose which previously was a mystery has been accomplished and fulfilled and realized in our Lord and our Savior Jesus Christ.

4. The apostle Paul declared the unveiled mystery. The apostle Paul declared the unveiled mystery. Ephesians 3:1-12 is really about this point. Paul doesn’t go into much detail about the mystery itself. In these verses, most of what Paul is saying in a rather repetitive manner is: “God gave me a special gift. God gave me a special stewardship. He gave me something special that I might give it to you Ephesians. That I might give it to you, Gentile nations.” The Apostle Paul, his job was to declare this unveiled mystery. Look at verses 2 through 5, and then 7 through 10 with me. In vs. 2, Paul says, “assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for you”. God gave me something as a steward and it is my job to give it to you. Well what did God give to Paul? Verse 3 tells us what God gave to Paul, “the mystery was made known to me by revelation as I have written briefly.” Then he says, “when you read this you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ.” God revealed the mystery of Christ to Paul in a special way vs. 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.” So now that Jesus has accomplished His earthly mission and ascended to the Father, now the Spirit working through the apostles but especially through Paul to reveal things which were eternally purposed and previously revealed as mystery. Paul says its my job. He’s excited. If you read Ephesians 3:1-12, Paul is just bubbling with excitement! “Guess what? He says. “It’s my job, my privilege, my great responsibility. And the most wonderful thing I can do” Paul says “is to make known to you what was made known to me by revelation. I can share my insight into the mystery of Christ which was not made known in other generations as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles. Let’s pick up in verse 7. Paul continues to say the same thing, “Of this gospel, this good news about Jesus Christ, I was made a minister.” What do ministers do? They ad – minister. They receive and they give. Ministers are servers, they receive something and serve it to others. “Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God’s grace.” The gift of God’s grace, again, is Paul’s special privilege to be really the supreme interpreter of the Old Testament among the apostles. No one knew it better than him although they all had sufficient knowledge. Paul had this special gift to explain the mystery of Christ. Vs. 8, “to me” Paul says “though I’m the very least of all the saints, this grace was given to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ and bring to light, to unveil, to reveal, to expose for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things.” So this eternal purpose of God which was hidden for ages as a mystery but then realized and accomplished in Jesus. Paul receives the special grace of God to understand the mystery, it is revealed to him by the Spirit and then he takes this unveiled mystery now revealed to him post-Jesus, post-Ascension, post-Pentecost and Paul writes to the Gentiles and he says to them, “I want you to understand the mystery of Christ as it has been revealed to me because its for you.” Which brings us to our fifth point. 5. Everyone can receive eternal life through the Gospel. Everyone can receive eternal life through the Gospel. In these first 4 points we haven’t actually said what the mystery is. What is the mystery? Well Paul tells us in vs. 6. Paul says, “this mystery is…” He’s explaining it. He’s taking the lid off. He’s revealing. “This mystery is that Gentiles, the nations, everyone. The Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the Gospel.” You see what it is that Jesus realized and that Paul is now unveiling and teaching in fullness. Paul’s saying, “The whole world needs to understand. You don’t have to be born from Abraham. You don’t have to be circumcised. You don’t have to keep the Laws of Moses. You don’t have to be a Jew! All you have to do is receive by faith the Jewish Christ. Receive by faith Jesus Christ who died and rose from the dead.” Now this Gospel, this good news was revealed all the way throughout the history of the world from Genesis 3:15 onward. But it was revealed as a mystery. It was revealed partially, it was revealed through shadows and what we call types. So the unveiling of the mystery was beautiful wonderful good news for the nations but the unbelieving Jews hated it. They couldn’t stand it. Do you remember the parable of the workers? Who work all day and they’re going to be paid a certain amount for their work, and then there are other workers who come in for just the last hour of the day and they get the same salary, the same payment as those who worked for all that extra time by comparison. What do the workers say? They say, “it’s ridiculous, this is unfair, this is unjust. Why should they have the same benefit? Why should they have the same salary as us when we’re the ones who worked a full day?” And Jesus says to them, “You don’t understand. You should be saying, ‘Wow, how gracious and merciful is the owner for whom we are working. That he would give such a benevolent and magnanimous salary to those who worked really not at all!” But the Jews just say, “that’s not fair. We don’t like that.” Well that’s the mystery. Paul is saying, “Gentiles! The promise that has been in many ways limited to the Jews at least by way of revelation, it’s for everybody! It’s for the whole world. It’s for you! There’s no advantage the Jew has over you in terms of standing in the Kingdom of Christ. The advantages they have are advantages according to the flesh but all who are in Christ are one!” Doesn’t Paul make the same point in Galatians? He says we’re all one in Christ Jesus, Jew or Greek. He says the same thing to the Colossians. He says to the Colossians, “the mystery of Christ is Christ in you! It’s Christ in the Colossians, it’s Christ in these Greek nations who had nothing to do with the Law of Moses.” That’s the mystery of Christ. That we are fellow heirs and members of the same body and partakers of the same promise in Christ Jesus through the Gospel. Now when Paul says this is hidden for ages, again, he’s not saying, “No one knew.” No, he’s saying God made it known but He made it known through mystery, through typology, through prophecy. So for example, when we look at the developing mystery in the Old Testament we begin to realize that the Old Testament is waiting on “the Offspring of Eve who will crush the serpents head”. And then the Old Testament becomes more specific: “we are waiting for the Son of Abraham, the Descendant of Abraham who will bless the nations”. And then it becomes more specific: we are looking for “the Prophet who is like Moses.” And then it becomes more specific: we are looking for “the Son of David Whose throne will be established forever” and more… and more…and more…. And more… the Old Testament adds typology, it adds revelation that’s all mysterious but becomes more specific so that by the end of the Old Testament everyone is waiting on the Faithful Son of David Who will establish righteousness and justice and bring with Him a new covenant for the whole world. Paul says repeatedly in his epistles and this is what he did in the book of Acts, he would go into the synagogues and say “My brothers according to the flesh, what we are now seeing is not a detour.” This is not God changing His mind. This is not God failing to fulfill His promises to us. Paul says, “What you see, this church of Jews and Gentiles all united in the one Jewish Christ by faith, this is precisely where everything was driving the whole time.” It was Paul’s gift and grace from God to explain in fullness that the Church of Jesus Christ for all the nations, the Gospel for all the nations that collects them into the church, was the destination not a detour of the Old Testament. That’s what Paul did more than anyone else. That’s what God gifted and graced him to do. And as we’ve already seen in Ephesians 3, he gets excited about it. He loves to explain this. It’s his favorite thing to do – that God had an eternal plan and purpose and that this was revealed as a mystery and Jesus Christ brought it to realization, He fulfilled the promises of God, and Paul was given the grace to explain it and the Mystery is that everyone can receive eternal life through the Gospel. Fellow heirs of the same inheritance. Members of the same body. Partakers of the same promise in Christ Jesus through the Gospel. And believing Jews? They said, “that’s wonderful!” Unbelieving Jews said, “that’s not fair. That’s not what Moses taught”. And Jesus and the apostles said, “You don’t understand Moses.” Paul said in Corinthians, “They don’t understand it because there is a veil over their faces when they read Moses. When they read the Old Covenant, there is a veil. They can’t see what’s actually there.” And we understand why. It’s because God needs to change their hearts to help them to see. So Ephesians 3:1-12 that’s what it’s teaching us. Paul receives this ministry from God to explain to the Gentiles and to the world the Mystery of Christ. How can we apply this text to ourselves? 4 Brief applications: 1. Remember that Christ is a Mystery in the Old Testament. Remember that Christ is a Mystery in the Old Testament. Why do I say this? Well, sometimes people come to me and say, “I really struggle to benefit from my Old Testament bible reading. Or sometimes people will hear a preacher or professor say something like, “We should preach Christ from all the Scriptures.” And I say, “How can we do that? Christ isn’t in all the Scriptures.” Well, if we remember and we must remember that Christ is present in all the scriptures, He is present in the entirety of the Old Testament but He’s there as a mystery. And so you will not see Jesus Christ as directly revealed in the Old Testament as you would say in the Gospels or in the Epistles because remember what Paul said: “What has now been revealed was not revealed in the same way in previous generations.” And so if you attune your sensors, if you align your sensitivity to look for Jesus Christ as a Mystery, suddenly you’ll begin to see Him more and more. You’ll say, “Oh ok, so.. his Exodus event of passing through the Red Sea, this is repeating what had already happened in the Flood of Noah and this is symbolizing the baptism that we will experience in the future as Jesus enters death for us and we in Him and we pass through death unto life.” Or you’ll say.. “Oh, the serpent that is lifted up in the wilderness and they look up to it and they are healed, this is telling us about Jesus Christ.” Or the manna in the wilderness, there’s a heavenly manna. Or the water from the rock, there’s a life-giving water. Or we look at the priests and say, “Where is the perfect priest?” Or the prophets.. “where is the perfect prophet?” The Kings.. “Where is the perfect king?” Etc. etc.. etc…. The sacrifices, the Day of Atonement, the Tabernacle, the Temple, everything. Everything in the Old Testament in the Kingdom of Israel and its covenants, its taking the Mystery of Christ and puts it right before your eyes. But if you’re not looking for a mystery, you’ll miss it. Because you’ll say, “Well, I don’t see it directly. I don’t see it clearly stated for me.” Oh brothers and sisters, it is there but you must look for it as a mystery. The Psalms are absolutely full of the Messiah. But you have to read them as the voice of David first and then the voice of Christ as the perfect David, and then corporate us in Him, in Jesus Christ. So you read at different levels in ways. We must remember whether its in our personal reading or whether its in preaching or any kind of interpretation of the Old Testament is that Christ is there. It’s the eternal purpose of God. The Old Testament is not about something else. Christ is revealed but He’s revealed as a mystery in the Old Testament. 2. Secondly, Proclaim Christ to the Nations! Proclaim Christ to the Nations. What’s the eternal plan and purpose of God? To save the nations through the Jewish Messiah! To save the nations through the Gospel! Which makes known Jesus Christ. That’s the unveiled mystery as Paul said to the Colossians mentioned earlier: “It’s Christ in you!” And so we should go to the nations with the confidence that the Gospel is for them! That’s the mystery of the Old Testament. That’s what the Bible is all about – that the nations are collected into the Church of Jesus Christ through the Gospel. All of them! When I say proclaim Christ to all the nations, I’m not just talking about street corner preaching or something like that. I’m talking about going and establishing churches in the nations. I love going to places like Korea and preparing and equipping Korean leaders to minister to the Koreans because in that way I see 2 things: I see the Mystery of Christ literally before my eyes. The Mystery of Christ is Christ in Koreans! The Mystery of Christ is Christ in the Guatemalans! The Mystery of Christ is Christ in the Mexicans! The Mystery of Christ is Christ in the French! It’s Christ in all of us! The nations! And so when I get to go to Italy and meet people who love the same Savior and have the same Spirit, and have the same heavenly Father and preach the same Gospel and eat the same spiritual food, what do I say? I say, “This is the Mystery of Christ unveiled. This is beautiful.” And I want to be part of pushing that, of expanding that to the nations. As a church we should not be tired of supporting international pastors, either financially or in sending ourselves to support them by our own hands. Whatever we can do to help the gospel go to the nations, we should do it because this is the mystery. This is what the Bible is all about. Proclaim Christ to the Nations. 3. Enjoy the Access Christ has Given to us all. Enjoy the Access Christ has Given to us all. How does vs. 12 end? Vs. 12 says that “in Christ Jesus our Lord we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in Him.” We have access with both boldness and confidence. Access to what? Access to the same Heavenly Father. Access to God. And I want to encourage you to enjoy that. The Mystery of Christ is that you should have direct access to God. You! Without regard to circumcision or Mosaic purity or Abrahamic descent or any of those things. Jesus Christ died and rose from the dead so the nations could go through Him, by faith in Him, go directly to God and be in His presence. If He has given us such a wonderful blessing. If He has given us such a wonderful privilege, what is our duty? To enjoy it. So I’m speaking about communion with God. And by communion with God I mean, pray to Him! Ask the Lord throughout the day for help. Ask Him to fulfill His promises. Speak to your Heavenly Father. But don’t just say, “I want I want I want.” But also commune with God by confessing your sins to Him throughout the day. “Oh, Lord my God, please forgive me. I should not have said that. I should not have thought that. I should not have done that…I should have done that. I should have said that. I should have thought that.” Throughout the day take advantage of this access. Confess your sins to God. We have such a high priest. Throughout the day, praise! Praise the Lord your God. You don’t have to be in church. You don’t have to have music. Just praise the Lord your God. You can say it, you can sing it. It can be in your mind it can be in your mouth but take advantage of that access and enjoy it because Jesus Christ has given it to us all. Pray and praise and commune with God. Sometimes people will say, “You know, I don’t think my Bible reading is really benefiting me very much throughout the day.” Because they have a set time to read and they read and then they move on and that’s become part of their routine. And there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s good to have a routine so that you are consistently in the word. And one of the things I would encourage you to do is to develop as a habit, a spiritual discipline, just a regularity of communion with God. So that your prayer is not just a prayer time. Yes, granted, you can only sit down and read at certain times. That’s limited, but your communion with God is unlimited. And so at all times you can praise, at all times you can petition, at all times you can confess, at all times you have open access to God. You ought to enjoy it and spiritual growth will also come not just from a dedicated time of reading and prayer, but also from a regular communing. That sure, you’re not going to fall into temptation while you’re reading. But 3 hours later you may forget what you were reading and temptation is there. But if you’re communing with God throughout the day then you have a greater strength to resist in that moment as well. Enjoy this access Jesus has won for us and grow in it. We have a heavenly Father who love us. He knows what you need. He loves you and will care for you. Don’ be anxious. Go to Him, express yourself, pray to Him, praise Him, and confess your sins to Him. Finally, How can we apply these verses in our lives? 4. Hope for the Future. Hope for the Future. Why do I say this? Why is this an application? Well Paul is making the point that God’s eternal purpose has been realized in Christ and is now been explained and unveiled and proclaimed in fullness as it had not been previously. Think about that. God’s eternal purpose has been realized. So for the future, what does that mean? It means that God’s eternal purpose, there’s more yet to be realized! And just as surely as God has realized His plan up to this point in Christ Jesus, so surely will He realize His plan at every step in the future so just as Jesus has come to save us from our sin, so Jesus will return to judge the nations and deliver us from the misery of this life. And so as we look to the future our perspective ought to be one of hope. God’s eternal plan and purpose, His singular will, His plan and purpose will certainly and assuredly be fulfilled. He will bring to completion everything that He has promised and His faithfulness and fulfillment in the past assures me of this. He who has promised is faithful, and He will complete all of His work. We live in a very privileged period of history. We live in the unveiled mystery. We get to live in this time where we know how things have gone and we know how things are going to go. It was not always so clear and yet it is for us. We ought to take advantage of that clarity and say we have hope for the future. We know precisely what our Lord has promised to do and we know that He will do it. So remember, proclaim, enjoy, and hope. As we prepare to celebrate what the Law and Prophets and the entire Old Testament pointed forward to in Christ’s first coming, we