Steward’s of God’s Global Mission

Intro:

We are all familiar with the story of Jesus and his miraculous birth into the world. The Lord and Savior had come to be born of a virgin in Bethlehem, an obscure town outside of Jerusalem. We know that this birth was one of obscurity. There were very little celebration by a humanity that would receive the blessings of his birth. One might argue there were animals and angels present at his birth than humans. This speaks of the mysterious nature of Jesus as a child. Being born in a lowly state was the point to show the Lord of glory “humbling himself…to the point of death, even death on the cross.

Its important to note that the shepherds returned to their fields, personally glorifying God but not heralding to the world that the long awaited Messiah had come. So also, after Jesus was born, he was visited by the Magi. These visitors from the east came, subverting Herod’s plan to kill Jesus. They laid gifts at the feet of the long awaited King and they also left in silence, returning home to their country.

Why was this message not proclaimed from the rooftops that the Messiah had come. It was simply not the ordained time. Instead, it would be Jesus himself who grew in wisdom and maturity who enter his public ministry letting his words and his miraculous works define for others who He truly was. It was his sacrificial death and his resurrection that authorized and authenticated the message of the good news of Jesus that would be spread. One might say that on that Easter morning, the message of gospel was ready to go forth.

From that day until now, the message of the resurrected Messiah has flourished and grown across all time and place. It led to the formation of the church and it is the church that takes that messages to the world. It is our mission and our purpose. This Christmas time reminds us to go into all the world and preach the gospel.

Review:

In chapters 1 and 2, Paul has just explained to the church in Ephesus about the plan of God to redeem both the Jews and Gentiles and make them one new man, the church. Now in chapter 3, Paul will focus on his role and the role of the church to reveal such truths to the world.

Joy to the World, the Lord has come, let earth Receive her King!

Today, we will focus on the mission and message of the church.

1. The Mission of the Church

Ephesians 3:1–5 NASB95

1 For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles— 2 if indeed you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace which was given to me for you; 3 that by revelation there was made known to me the mystery, as I wrote before in brief. 4 By referring to this, when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, 5 which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit;

UP movie: squirrel moment

In the beloved Disney animated movie, UP, Doug is a lovable dog that wears a electronic device that allows him to speak. Doug does what dogs do. He loves to chase, fetch, dig, and get easily distracted. In the movie, Doug would be talking, and suddenly get distracted looking for a squirrel at any noise or sound made in the distance.

In has become a cultural norm these days, when someone is talking and they easily get distracted or randomly jump to another topic abruptly, you might hear someone say “squirrel.”

Paul has a squirrel moment in chapter 3 of this letter to the Ephesians. Let me show you what I mean. Look with me at verse 1 and verse 14. You will notice at the end of verse 1 the translators put a “dash” in your bible. That dash carries us down to verse 14, where Paul repeats the phrase.. “for this reason.” This means v 2-13 serve as a squirrel moment where Paul revisits what he has just said about the makeup of the church and relates this personal and the corporate role in sharing the mystery of the gospel to the world. By the time he gets back to v 14, he returns to his original intention of his prayer for the church which we will look at next week- maybe.

For now, he will return back to the role of God revealing the truth of his mysterious plan of redemption to the world through the church. Notice with me how Paul identifies the messengers of this great mystery.

A. The Calling of messengers

Ephesians 3:2 NASB95

2 if indeed you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace which was given to me for you;

Ephesians 3:5 NASB95

5 which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit;

Paul first draws attention once again to the role of messengers to receive the revelation of God by the Holy Spirit in the NT age. Apostles like Paul were given a gift from God, delivered by inspiration of the Holy Spirit. This gift was the reception of God’s mysterious plan of redemption of both Jews and Gentiles.

Now we know that those prophets and apostles that God chose, were not qualified in any way of receiving this message. Many of them were uneducated and unlearned men, do were not writers and grammarians. Many of them were weak in these ways and yet God chose to use them and so gifted them to do what they could not do in themselves.

Paul, speaks mostly of this miracle in his letters.

Ephesians 3:8 NASB95

8 To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ,

God has done this throughout history with men like Moses, who was afraid to speak, Jonah who was unwilling to speak, and Paul was unqualified to speak the mysteries of Christ. All of these examples shows what the Lord revealed to the Corinthians

1 Corinthians 2:3–5 NASB95

3 I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, 4 and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.

The Spirit of God spoke through these unqualified men so that they would receive His truth about God and God’s plan of redemption. They were given that message with purity and accuracy and they transmitted that message to the people. The message was always meant to be received understood and passed on.

Who follows the work of the apostles and prophets? The church. We are all now responsible to take up the mission of the revelation of Jesus Christ and to make it our lives. To live everyday pressing forward to helping the lost of this world know Jesus. This is carried out in our homes and workplaces and our communities. This is done personally and for some vocationally. But it must be done because we have been called to such a task of “making disciples of all nations” and everyone who is born again by the blood of Christ is called to such a task. Everyone.

Look at Paul’s words in these verses about the calling of the church:

B. The Components of Messengers

1. Called to receive the message v 3, 5

Ephesians 3:3 NASB95

3 that by revelation there was made known to me the mystery, as I wrote before in brief.

In verse 3 and 5, Paul makes clear that the Spirit of God gave these messengers revelation by the Spirit. Revelation is the transmission of God’s knowledge and purposes to man by way of the Spirit of God through inspiration. God spoke to them verbally or internally these truths that they would believe and pass along.

Ephesians 3:5 NASB95

5 which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit;

So this mystery of God’s redeeming plan, was kept secret from the Jews of the OT. Those prophets were given glimpses in the revelation given to them but they were not given a full description of all that God would accomplish through the Messiah. There were missing pieces to the puzzle. But when Christ came, and the apostles and prophets were called to their roles, they began to have that revelation given so that the missing pieces were reveled to them. The mystery was no longer a secret any longer.

It is hard for the church to see this because we have the mystery in full in our Scriptures. Its in its completed form before us and so we are disconnected from seeing the absence of full understanding by Isaiah and Ezekiel about the Son of Man who was to come. It was all the hope that they needed in those moments but more detail and specifics would be given in time.

2. Called to deliver the message v 4, 8

Paul also makes clear that in his role, the mystery given was not only to be received but it was to be delivered to the world.

Ephesians 3:4 NASB95

4 By referring to this, when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ,

In verse 4, Paul references his letter to the Ephesians that they are reading. His letters to the churches were ways of communicating the revelation of God to the people. It is his inspired letters that make up a good portion of the NT of our Bibles that continually feed the souls of hungry believers day by day.

Ephesians 3:8 NASB95

8 To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ,

In verse 8, Paul also mentions the mode of preaching as a way to deliver the message of the gospel. As a messenger, Paul was called to stand before the people as a leader of the church and preach God’s word. Now not every believer is called to such a task, but for those in the church who are called, it is a necessity in your life. When God calls a man to preach, he calls him to a Spirit empowered task that should be the driving desire of his life. Spirit called preachers will understand that to refrain from preaching God’s word is to be disobedient to God’s call on your life.

Even if the Lord has not called you to preach, Paul makes clear in these passages that it is the church as whole who has the task of carrying on the delivery of the message of God’s revelation. This is not just the good news of Jesus but all of God’s word to a dying and lost world. The church can use different avenues to put forth this revelation from God about all that he is accomplishing in the world. We can use social media, personal conversations, intentional bible studies, discipleship of our children, intentional door to door evangelism, mercy ministry that includes sharing the gospel, writing biblical articles and blogs. All of these ways we can communicate God’s word to the world knowing that His word does not return void.

How are you carrying the torch of delivering the message of God’s word in this world? Let me challenge all of this afternoon to be strategic in the mission of reaching the lost and communicating God’s word in this world.

2. The Message of the Church

Ephesians 3:6–10 NASB95

6 to be specific, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel, 7 of which I was made a minister, according to the gift of God’s grace which was given to me according to the working of His power. 8 To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ, 9 and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things; 10 so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places.

What is the mystery?

Now let us focus specifically on the message that Paul was referring to. He was gifted with the revelation from God, but he specifies the “mystery” that was given to him. Earlier in Eph 1:10 Paul describes the mystery as

Ephesians 1:10 (NASB95)

the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth.

But in chapter 3, he narrows down that usage of the term mystery. With more specifics in v 6, he defines the mystery as the work of God to bring Jews and Gentiles together into one new body, the church. The OT prophets did not know this truth because God did not reveal it to them. It was his plan from eternity past to bring Gentiles and Jews together under the work of redemption.

Paul calls Gentiles 3 things here in v 6

Fellow Heirs

Fellow Members of the Body

Fellow Partakers of the Promise

What this shows us in our lives today is the amazing work of God’s sovereign grace where God will saves some from across all ethnicities of the earth for his glory, and this has been his plan before time began. What this means for us is we bow in humility at the powerful work of God in salvation that no one is out of the reach of God’s saving hand. He can save the worst of Jews and Gentiles for his glory because he rules over human hearts.

As Paul explains these truths to the Ephesian church, he stresses unity in the body. He wants there not to be division among the people. He wants to discourage factions and divisions.

Turn with me to Romans 11 where he also deals with this mystery of the Gentile receiving the gospel. Look at v 13

Romans 11:13–18 NASB95

13 But I am speaking to you who are Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle of Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, 14 if somehow I might move to jealousy my fellow countrymen and save some of them. 15 For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? 16 If the first piece of dough is holy, the lump is also; and if the root is holy, the branches are too. 17 But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive, were grafted in among them and became partaker with them of the rich root of the olive tree, 18 do not be arrogant toward the branches; but if you are arrogant, remember that it is not you who supports the root, but the root supports you.

Israel was often illustrated as a vine. Grafting is the process where you can take a foreign plant and tie it to a different plant at the base in order that the two grow into one. Israel is the root plant and the Gentiles who are saved are the referred to as the ones grafted to Israel. This is the process that God initiated in the church age. Paul in Romans is discouraging the Roman Christians to not look down on the Jews, as if God rejected them. Instead, he also wants them to see that God’s sovereign plan will be that Jews will one day believe in the Jesus as the Messiah as well. This is God’s redemptive plan that Paul calls the mystery.

These truths are important to us in order that we see God’s sovereign hand in salvation and we find hope in his power hand that is always at work. He is working in human hearts. He is working through providence to carry out our good. He is working all things for His glory. Let us be encouraged in these things as we see Him carry out salvation.

Paul calls this idea the manifold wisdom of God in v 10.

Ephesians 3:10 NASB95

10 so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places.

What Paul means here is that through the proclamation of the word of God in the church, which focus on Jesus, they plan of God is revealed not just to humanity but to the hostile forces that wage war against God. This mysterious plan of redemption was indeed like alphabet soup to them as well as humanity. They could not see what was coming when Jesus came but now the letters of victory, triumph and judgment form before them.

The church manifests this message as it fulfills its role as messengers and as it proclaims the true message of the gospel and all of God’s word to the world. In this work, God’s manifold, or multi-faceted, providential plan is revealed to all and it leads all of creation to be in awe of him.

Are you in awe of what Jesus is doing and has done in salvation? Not just in your salvation, but unending salvation throughout the ages? Are you amazed at his perfect providence that brought Jesus into the world? Are you flabbergasted that he would save and use a sinner like yourself?

Sing We The Song of Emmanuel

Sing we the song of Emmanuel,

This the Christ who was long foretold.

Lo, in the shadows of Bethlehem,

Promise of dawn now our eyes behold.

God Most High in a manger laid.

Lift your voices and now proclaim:

Great and glorious,

Love has come to us!

Join now with the hosts of heaven!

Glory shining for all to see.

Hope alive, let the gospel ring.

God has made a way,

He will have the praise,

Tell the world His name is Jesus.