The Mystery Revealed Pt. 2

Announcements

– Girl’s bible study on Tuesday

Pray

Ephesians 3:1-13

Ephesians 3:1–13 ESV

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.

One Body

Ephesians 3:6 ESV

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.

Paul has been explaining the blessing of being a child of God. He has explored how the great mystery of the faith is that salvation is no longer solely for the Jews, but is available for everyone.

Now he is going to explore this second blessing of being “members of one body” in the church. (v.6)

How many of you have tried playing a team sport without a team? Like football by yourself, how doable is that really? Lacross by yourself would be awful. You can’t play baseball by yourself. Baseball is boring anyway.

We all receive the Spirit of God when we believe in the work of Christ, and repent from our sin. But we are redeemed as a plural people, a group of people. That means that church is a team sport. A church is never about one person or one kind of people.

Romans 12:4–5 ESV

4 For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, 5 so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.

1 Corinthians 12:12–19 ESV

12 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit. 14 For the body does not consist of one member but of many. 15 If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? 18 But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. 19 If all were a single member, where would the body be?

The idea of a body means that it needs parts to function well. It can’t just be a giant eyeball with a mouth like Mike Wazowski. It needs to have a stomach, neck, etc. There isn’t an inferiority to the parts unless you are a skin tag or cancer on the body of Christ, in which the body will naturally reject you or you end up killing the body because you aren’t supposed to be there in the first place.

We shouldn’t be gym fanatics as the body of Christ. What do I mean. We can sometimes desire to be or look a certain way with our bodies. We wear makeup to cover imperfections, we wear clothing to show who we “really are on the inside” when we’re really just blood and guts and bones. Under the skin, we’re pretty ugly. We shouldn’t seek to change how our church looks, but we should pursue health as a church. We are healthy when all of the parts function like they’re supposed to in ways they were designed to work.

We need to grow in how we view the church, and I don’t mean just Youth Group. It’s a privilege to have a Youth Group, but it’s simply an expression of the church of Reliance Fellowship which is a part of the universal church of God. Examine what you are to Reliance Fellowship, not just the Youth Group alone. How can you contribute to the lives of the saints here? How can you encourage and build up the faith of those on Sunday mornings when we gather? How can you serve as the gifted part of the body that you are?

Proclaim the Mystery

Ephesians 3:7 ESV

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.

That word, minister or servant, literally means slave. Paul isn’t supporting slavery here. Paul doesn’t affirm the kind of exploitation of people that dehumanizes and discriminates against them. Rather, Paul knows he has no choice but to “preach to the Gentiles the boundless riches of Christ. This is a kind of wealth that money can’t buy. It doesn’t matter how rich you are, whether you’re Elon Musk, Bill Gates, or Warren Buffett. Unless you are a slave to the truth of the gospel, to Jesus Christ, you cannot know the true value of the riches of Christ. The mystery revealed is that Christ is the answer to all salvation. This is riches.

Your Church: God’s Wisdom on Display

Ephesians 3:10–11 ESV

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,

The wisdom of God is displayed through the church. That means it’s through a collective of people, not just one person, but many working together as the body of Christ as one unit. The church is people of varied backgrounds who work together for the good of the gospel of Jesus Christ to draw others to salvation and to disciple, meaning, to discipline church members through encouragement, rebuke, teaching, training, resting, exhorting, and admonishing. The church displays all of God’s wisdom in action through His people.

Muslims, mormons, Buddhists, athiests,skeptics, mystics, Jehova’s Witnesses, and anyone else who would purport to know the truth do not celebrate the true gospel. They are not the church. But the same gospel of Christ is celebrated by Christians by every kind of national and cultural background.

The church is watched in the spiritual dimensions, the heavenly realms. They’re like the crowds at a football game. Spectators.

Paul’s suffering in preaching Christ crucified cost him his freedom. The mystery of how we would be saved is revealed in Christ’s work and revelation. The news is out, and frankly, the gospel is not going anywhere as God builds his church. The greatest mystery in history has been solved in Christ and it is on display in his trophy cabinet: your church!

Pray

Questions

“No one is in a church accidently and no one is unnecessary.” Do you view yourself too highly or too lowly when it comes to your church? Who in your church needs encouragement to see that they are not there accidentally or unnecessarily?

Who is God calling you to proclaim His mystery? What are some steps you can take to do this?

Your church is a trophy cabinet of God’s grace and wisdom. How will this affect your attitude about going to church next Sunday?