The Mystery & Wisdom

Good morning

Did you know that there was a Roman emperor who never aged after he turned 19.

His name was Constant Teen.

Today we are going to be in Ephesians 3:7-13.

Last week we looked at Paul revealing the mystery of the Gospel. He taught that the Gentiles and the Jews were now one body in Christ Jesus. There had been separation for generations between the Jews and everyone else. Jesus torn down the wall that kept everyone out and now those who are in Christ Jesus are one. In Jesus there is unity and cooperation. We now have access to God when we are in Christ.

Today we are going to look at God’s grace that was given to those in Christ. It was through that grace that God revealed what He had kept hidden. We are going to see that God has a purpose for the church. Paul is going to talk about how we can approach God. Finally Paul is going to wrap up this rabbit trail by restating what started it all, that he is suffering for them.

Please stand as we prepare to hear God’s Word.

Ephesians 3:7–13 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. 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.

Pray

Paul states in verse 7 that he is a minister of the Gospel. Paul is a servant that was given the command to go and preach the gospel to the Gentiles. This assignment caused Paul to suffer greatly, but Paul never saw it as a burden. To Paul this was a gift from God. Paul knew that he had been forgiven for all the sins against Jesus that he had done. He was the leader of the persecution of the early church. He had believers arrested, beaten and even killed. He had a lot that was forgiven that day on the road to Damascus. Because of all that he was forgiven, Paul served humbly with gratitude for the grace that had been poured out on him.

Paul is letting them know that even though he is in prison, he is upset or mad. He is right where God wants him and he is serving Jesus from prison. He wants us to know that our circumstances don’t make God good, or show that He loves us. God is good all the time and His love is never ending. Where we are or what we are in, can not and never will change God. God used Paul from that prison in Rome to reach so many people. When we are faithful to our calling regardless of our circumstances, that is when God gets the glory.

Paul was a missionary to the Gentiles. Paul loved the grace that God poured out on him. He talked about it often. Paul teaches us some things about God’s grace.

It should humble us. When we understand who we were before God’s grace, like Paul did. It will make us realize that we didn’t deserve or do anything to receive His grace. It will put us in our place. Paul knew that without grace, he would still be an enemy of God. Twice he tell us that grace was given to him. Paul was a deflector. He always deflected attention away from himself and to the place it truly belongs: the God of all grace! Paul continued to show his humility by saying that he was the least of all the saints. His humility would only let him boast in Christ and not of himself. Paul truly felt is was a privilege to serve King Jesus. As believers, we don’t have to serve Jesus, we get to serve Him! Even though Paul is an Apostle sent from Jesus to the Gentiles, he is modeling the one he serves, the foot-washing suffering servant King! We do well to never forget this!

Exalting Jesus in Ephesians A Christ-Centered Missionary Is Overwhelmed by the Grace of Christ (Ephesians 3:7–8a)

When you view yourself as the “least of all the saints,” you will gladly serve “the least of these” (

2. We should realize that we need God’s grace to empower us. Paul ties grace and power together. The Lord powerfully called Paul on the Damascus Road, and the Lord’s power continued to sustain Paul for his ministry to the Gentiles. The mighty power of God provides sufficient strength for weak, fragile, ordinary people as the make the glories of Christ known!

Exalting Jesus in Ephesians A Christ-Centered Missionary Is Overwhelmed by the Grace of Christ (Ephesians 3:7–8a)

May we never lose the awe of grace or the joy of proclaiming Christ, who is “full of grace and truth”

Paul then gives us the purposes of God’s enabling grace.

Proclaiming Christ.

God empowered Paul to proclaim the incalculable, unsearchable, incomprehensible riches of Christ. The word used for unsearchable appears nowhere outside of biblical Greek. When Paul was thinking about the glory of Christ, he made up a word!

Paul, a former persecutor of Christ is now consumed with proclaiming the crucified Messiah. Jesus radically transformed Paul’s life, and Christ and His redemption became Paul’s resounding theme. The subject of Paul’s all-consuming proclamation was a person: Jesus Christ. Is Jesus the all-consuming subject of your life? Our goal in proclaiming Christ is to gain praise to Him not for ourselves. We should never seek attention, we should be deflectors like Paul and point everything to Christ. We should desire for people to say, “ what a great Savior!”

Exalting Jesus in Ephesians Proclaiming Christ (3:8b)

Make the hero of the Bible, of “the mystery,” the hero of your outreach and evangelism. Jesus changes lives; keep the Life-changer at the heart of your messages.

2. Shedding Light

God gives us grace so that we can shine the light of Christ that is in us. Earlier in chapter 1, Paul prayed for illumination, and now he uses the same word to describe his role in illuminating God’s plan to converts.

What is the plan? I am glad you asked! That we are all one in Christ. That seems normal to us today, but this was a huge deal when Paul was delivering this message. There had been generations of separation between the Jews and Gentiles. To worship God before Jesus, you would have to be circumcised, eat kosher food, be held to the law. You had to become a Jew. Jesus removed all that. Jesus brought unity. God’s plan was not plan b or c, it was the Sovereign Lord’s plan all along, from the beginning.

If you take a look back in verses 7-10, you should be struck by the centrality of Christ and the global nature of Christianity. If someone were to ask you, “ where did you get your passion for missions?” a proper response is “ from the Bible”. All throughout the Bible, from the front cover to the back cover, there is a missions theme there.

Exalting Jesus in Ephesians Shedding Light (3:9)

We have a global God, and we proclaim the only King of the nations. Let us remember that every tribe and tongue needs to hear of the incalculable riches of Christ. If you are preaching in New York or in a leper colony in Nigeria, remember that everyone needs Jesus. Proclaim Him to everyone; then shed additional light concerning the wonderful plan of God revealed in the Bible for everyone.

With this high view of Christ, it is only right that you would also have a high view of the church. Paul tells us that the church not only has an impact not only here on earth, but also in the heavenly places. It is the unity that Jesus brings to the church that is making known the manifold wisdom of God all the way up into the heavens.

Exalting Jesus in Ephesians A Christ-Centered Missionary Has a High View of the Church of Christ (Ephesians 3:10–11)

It seems to me that the angels look on at grace and marvel while demonic forces look on in fear and tremble. The evil forces have already been defeated at the cross, and they await their final subjugation. The existence of the church is announcing that their rule is coming to an end once and for all.

Exalting Jesus in Ephesians A Christ-Centered Missionary Has a High View of the Church of Christ (Ephesians 3:10–11)

While we have limited knowledge of all of these beings, it appears that they are not omniscient (Stott, Ephesians, 124). Peter seems to allude to this idea when he says, “Angels desire to look into these things” (

Exalting Jesus in Ephesians A Christ-Centered Missionary Has a High View of the Church of Christ (Ephesians 3:10–11)

There is more going on with the church than meets the eye. If you are part of the church, then you are part of a cosmic sermon that is being preached to spiritual rulers and authorities. Kent Hughes says, “The inescapable conclusion is that the angels watch us because we are part of the mystery!… We have a far bigger and more observant viewing audience than any of us realize!” (Ephesians, 109).

To be clear, the emphasis here is not on us preaching to unseen powers and principalities. The point is that God is revealing His plan to the powers through the existence of the church.

Exalting Jesus in Ephesians A Christ-Centered Missionary Has a High View of the Church of Christ (Ephesians 3:10–11)

Christ is the central character in this plan, and all things will be summed up in Him.

Exalting Jesus in Ephesians A Christ-Centered Missionary Has a High View of the Church of Christ (Ephesians 3:10–11)

The crucified and risen Christ is at the Father’s right hand, and He will soon come to put all of the hostile principalities and powers under His feet.

Exalting Jesus in Ephesians A Christ-Centered Missionary Has a High View of the Church of Christ (Ephesians 3:10–11)

So consider how the church is a witness of the glory of Christ. We make known the “multi-faceted” wisdom of God. This wisdom is so great that God uses it to proclaim to heavenly beings. His grace and glory are displayed in a diverse people. We have been called, redeemed, forgiven, made alive, and united in Christ. The angels look on at the reconciling work of Christ, “ which is the model for the reconciling of the universe when everything in heaven and earth will be brought together in Him.

Exalting Jesus in Ephesians A Christ-Centered Missionary Has a High View of the Church of Christ (Ephesians 3:10–11)

Can you imagine the people gathering from normal backgrounds, leaning in to listen to the reading of this letter—farmers, bankers, metal workers, carpenters, shop keepers, servants, masters, moms, dads, and children? As the readers get to chapter 3, they are told that they are testifying to the heavenly beings! Stunning! Do not underestimate the glory of God in the church.

Exalting Jesus in Ephesians A Christ-Centered Missionary Has a High View of the Church of Christ (Ephesians 3:10–11)

Christ-centered missionaries have a high view of the church. They see the church as being central to human history. They see that Christ loves His bride. They understand that God’s redeemed people—from every tribe—proclaim the incalculable riches of Christ to the nations. And they marvel at how God’s people make known to “the rulers and authorities in the heavens His manifold wisdom.”

Another part of the mystery is that believers can experience a nearness to God that far exceeds that of the old covenant. Christians can boldly approach God because of Jesus.

Exalting Jesus in Ephesians A Christ-Centered Missionary Draws near to God through Christ (Ephesians 3:12)

If you are a Christian, you can pray anytime, anywhere. We can draw near to the throne of grace and find help in our time of need.

Exalting Jesus in Ephesians A Christ-Centered Missionary Draws near to God through Christ (Ephesians 3:12)

We seek God in prayer, through Christ, by the Spirit. We can know that He hears us. He is for us. He is with us. Who can be against us. A Christ-centered missionary is never alone.

Paul ends these verses by restating what he stated Chapter 3 with. He does not want the new believers in Ephesus to get discouraged because of what Paul is going through. Paul wants them to know that what He is going though is not a burden, it is a part of God’s plan. He is encouraging them from prison.

It is hard to look at our trials as a part of God’s blessing of grace. That is what Paul did, he and all the other Apostles went through a lot persecution and trials, but they never stopped proclaiming Christ.

We need to make sure that we are imitating Paul who is imitating Christ.

Paul was humble, he never took credit or wanted the attention on him. He wanted Christ Jesus to get all the attention and glory. It was never about Paul, always about Jesus. If we ever are seeking attention, we need to stop and make sure we are doing things for Him and Him alone!

Are we using the empowering of God’s grace to spread the Gospel?

Are we using the empowering of God’s grace to help new believers understand this mystery?

Are we helping the Church reveal God’s wisdom to the heavenly places?

Are we helping or hurting what the church is trying to do?

Are we bolding approaching our Father in heaven? This is one of the greatest gifts of grace, that we can approach God and talk to him ourselves. We do not need a priest or anyone else to go before God for us, we have that ability through God’s grace.

Let’s make sure we are doing our part Liberty.

Let’s pray.