5. Ephesians 3:1-13
Ephesians: God’s Masterplan for Cornerstone • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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God has a masterplan for the world. And what a plan! We’ve seen over these last few weeks in the book of Ephesians… that God is driving all of history in one direction..
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He has… Eph 1.10 -
10 …a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in Christ, things in heaven and things on earth in him.
Through all that Jesus has done on the cross he has made a way to bring bring spiritually dead people alive… and under the rule Christ….
he has made a way to unite the worst of enemies together as brother and sisters under Christ. as well.
It is a big plan. It is a plan with big implications
If this is true (and we’re convinced it is) then history is not random… there is a God in charge… and he loves his people, and provided for our rescue. It sounds glorious and wonderful.
If you’re a Christian - What an astonishing thing you have been brought in on.
PAUSE - AND YET…
And yet… in our experience it doesn’t always feel that way.
We have said that the church is God’s glorious new society… the heart of his masterplan for the world... But is that always what you feel when you gather with God’s people? Is that your overriding impression this morning as you look around? A relatively small number, gathered in a small room... with all our faults and failings.
Church can feel weak, and frail, and fragile and (well) small.
Since the turn of the millenium church attendance has more than HALVED in Scotland.
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RIFF - new hobby
At the most 5% of people in Scotland are Evangelical Christians (and that is probably a generous estimate).
It’s easy to hear that figure and see abandoned church buildings… and conclude that either, God does NOT really have a vibrant masterplan for his church…. or at least that it isn’t working.
And this section from Eph 3 helps us deal with those worries.
See how he begins, this is important (v1)
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For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles—
And then he pauses… he breaks off. You can see that because if you look down to v14 (which we’ll get to next week)… you’ll see that Paul picks up his train of thought again… (v14) SLIDE
Eph 3.14
For this reason I bow my knees before the Father,
BREAK OFF TO SUMMARISE
So Paul, in the first two chapters, has laid out God’s masterplan for the world… and from v14 onwards he’ll go on a pray a glorious prayer for the Ephesian Christians - it’s one of the most stunning prayers in the NT (we’ll get to that next week)….
BUT after he’s described the masterplan and before he gets to the prayer… something else makes him stop, and break off… and go off to another thought.
SO WHAT IS IT? AND WHY?
The clue is there in v1 (read it again)
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For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus
We’ve not touched on this yet but, you see, Paul is writing this whole letter…. from prison. Probably in Rome - he’s been locked up by the authorities.
QUICK
So God is saying that he has a glorious masterplan for the universe… he’s revealing it and making it known - so that we can be part of it - having relationships with God and with one another radically healed and reshaped…. the whole of history is driving towards all things being united under Christ… the plan is huge and magnificent...
And God has chosen a small number of men who will be the mouthpieces for this message - that’s v5 - he has appointed apostles, specially chosen for the job… And for such a grand plan you’d expect these apostles - these key leaders and mouthpieces for the plan to look like VERY IMPRESSIVE SPECIMENS.
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And yet Paul, one of these apostles…. is in prison. It feels a bit odd doesn’t it. Paul is saying God is in charge and there’s a great plan… but it just looks like Roman power rules - they’re even locking up the messengers…. things don’t really look like they’re going to plan at all.
Paul is concerned that the Ephesians will look at his situation… his ‘chains’… and conclude that either there isn’t really a plan or the plan isn’t working… Paul is anxious to tell them NO!
Don’t look around and conclude that the plan is failing. says Paul… don’t lose heart… That’s how Paul ends (v13) SLIDE
So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory.
So before we close off this great and glorious first section of Ephesians…
before Pauls rounds it off in prayer… he want’s us to pause… look around us… and even when we are tempted despair over the state of church in Scotland… or even when our experience of the local church week in week out just seems imperfect or unimpressive… don’t loose heart.
He wants to make sure we don’t reach the wrong conclusion… don’t be discouraged. There is a plan God is enacting it… even if, to your eyes it doesn’t always look like it… even if, to you, it doesn’t always feel like it.
Three reasons not to lose heart
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1. Don’t lose heart - The Plan Comes from God
1. Don’t lose heart - The Plan Comes from God
Look at v2 SLIDE
assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for you,
Picture for a moment the Curator of an art gallery.
Their job is not just to look after the priceless treasures in their keeping…. but also to display them so that others can enjoy the beauty of the art.
Paul has been made the steward - or we might say the curator… not of priceless art but of something far more precious - God’s grace - that is the message of the masterplan. That is what Paul is to put on display and make known.
And this, notice, is a God given job - it isn’t something Paul dreamed up in his prison cell one day when he had nothing better to do. The plan comes from God…. AND Paul's role in making the plan known comes from God.
V3… SLIDE
how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly.
This masterplan is God’s plan, not Pauls….
But you may say… “OK Paul… What makes you think you have the authority to speak for God?”
Paul then anticipates a question like that…. Y’know - “If this plan does come from God… how come only you know about it? - how come you have the insight into this?” Think about Jewish scholars…. who poured over the OT scriptures for centuries and generations…. they didn’t come to the same conclusions… they didn’t see and understand this “mystery made known” that you’re talking about Paul - so how can you claim to? Paul anticipates that sort of a question… and he answers it (v4)
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When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, 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.
PAUSE - BREAK OFF TO ILL
There are many things in life I find deeply mysterious…
it is a mystery to me how people find their way anywhere without a Sat Nav (My sense of direction is hopeless)…
it is a mystery to me why anyone enjoys board games (I hate board games…)
Also crosswords - I hate those too… they seem to take a level of brain power which I just don’t possess. Something like. Cryptic crossword is a mystery and you’ve got to be clever to solve it.
But here’s the point…
But that is NOT the way Paul is using this word mystery. Paul is not saying he’s the super brainy Bible boy who was better than all the rest and managed to figure out the complex meaning - a bit like these nutcases who sell you their books saying they’ve unlocked the secret Bible code and if you just (y’know) turn he book upside down and squint a bit and read the third letter backwards on every second page it’ll unlock the real mystery message.
That’s NOT the what Paul means by the ‘Mystery of Christ made known’.
Rather, the “mystery” Paul speaks of is actually fairly simple - it’s the message of the gospel - it’s God’s masterplan…. But it is something that was once hidden (or at least veiled)… and has now been revealed or unveiled.
It’s a bit like this.
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Near Anstruther, in Fife you’ll find this sign. Secret Nuclear Bunker. We went as a family a few years ago.
In Cold War days the bunker was top secret. But it is now made known… publicly. It’s now an open secret - literally plastered on big signs.
The mystery made known by God through the likes of Paul is that now Jew and Gentile - bitter enemies can be brought together in the gospel - as both are reunited to God. The mystery is “how can all of this happen?” the answer is “Through the cross of Christ”. It wasn’t clear in the pages of the OT how this would happen… there were types and shadows and sign posts… but now It has now been revealed, made known clearly through what Paul calls the Apostles and Prophets - those who wrote the pages of the scripture, inc. Paul. And now the word is OUT (look at v6)
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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.
When you look around at the church nationally, or as your direct experience of church seems pretty unremarkable…. Don’t be discouraged - the plan does come from God.
Just As an aside… Our view of God must not just be built on our subjective experience - but instead built on God’s revelation - what his Spirit has revealed in his word. God has given us his revelation - that once for all revelation… so we might know and understand what his plans and purposes are.
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So Don’t lose heart, says Paul - the plan does come from God. Next…
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2. Don’t lose heart - The Messenger was Chosen by God
2. Don’t lose heart - The Messenger was Chosen by God
We’re often suspicious of so called career politicians… they haven’t come into politics because of a previously held conviction… the suspicion is that politics is just a tool to acquire power and so they will adjust policy as they need just to secure power.
But Paul is no ‘career Apostle’.
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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.
It was on the damascus road, you’ll remember where Paul… who was radically opposed to Jesus, actively persecuting the church met with the risen Lord Jesus… He was transformed, turned around, set firmly on another course. Paul is clear about what this means...
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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,
I’m told (by the Greek experts - of whom I am not one!) I’m told that at this point Paul makes up a new word here to capture the lowliness of his status…. it’s translated in the English for us as ‘the very least of all the saints”…. he makes up a word and says “I am a least-er”….
When you see how transparent Paul is about his past…. when you think about what he was (completely opposed to Jesus) - how can it be anything other than completely, authentically God who has chosen him and turned this ‘least-er’ around and given him this task
How unlikely a story…. how wonderfully God’s doing.
When you look around and worry things aren’t going according to the masterplan - in this case when the Ephesian Christians looked at Paul in prison… Don’t be discouraged this messenger, Paul, was chosen by God.
As an aside | We aren’t apostles… we don’t have the same foundational role…. and yet as Christians we have a role in telling others about God’s masterplan. We need to be clear and honest when we seek to share the gospel with others. We don’t know God…. or know about his plans for the world because we’re clever… because we worked it out…. because we’re morally or spiritually superior. No we were as dead in our transgressions and sins as anybody else. But God was kind enough to make the wonderful news of the gospel known to us. We are not the hero of the story - jesus is.
We as messengers, like Paul are a bunch of ‘least-er’… but the message, on the other hand is the "unsearchable riches of Christ"
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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,
How do you respond when people couldn’t care less about the message?
- Frustrated with them?
- disheartened?
- think it will never work and people will never change?
When you remember you’re a least’er - that you were just the same… but God worked in you, you’ll be patient and kind… you’ll start to believe that change in them is possible too (my goodness - God saved you, YOU! - and ME! - he can do it for others).
Don’t lose heart - the plan (the gospel) is from God
Don’t lose heart - the messenger (Paul) is chosen by God
But, Lastly, and perhaps most astonishingly…
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3. Don’t lose heart - The Church Reveals the Wisdom of God
3. Don’t lose heart - The Church Reveals the Wisdom of God
Look at v10… this is mind bending God’ PLAN… his INTENT is
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…that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.
Now remember… rulers and authorities in the heavenly places is Paul’s way of saying unseen spiritual beings.
God has a plan to display to them… and to anyone else who cares to see.. God has a plan to DISPLAY his glory of his WISDOM.
SLIDE - CINEMA SCREEN
RIFF - cinema screen - moment of creation? Incarnation - God becomes a man? Resurrection of his son? - all glorious, all showing his power and wisdom… but no. What does he put on the screen? - YOU and ME - US - THE CHURCH.
Different people… saved by grace and reconnected to God.
Diverse people… saved by grace and reconnected with each other (despite their divisions and differences).
The great endeavour of Satan from Gen 3 onwards is to bring division and disunity between ourselves and God, between ourselves and others… he wants us to be alienated, cut off, divided, enemies… and he tempts, tugs us, pulls us away… but when he sees the church together, unified, together because of the cross… he sees he has lost… he sees the great wisdom of God.
Maybe you’re hear today and, if you’re honest, you’re thinking about giving up on church, or at least dialling it back a bit… Church seems so small or insignificant… maybe church is getting squeezed out by tiredness or a busy schedule… maybe you’re tired of other Christians letter you down - you see the imperfections of the church (and boy do we have imperfections… what does you think you get when a diverse bunch of sinners get together…?) Or maybe you’re thinking of dropping out, you’ll keep coming along out of dry duty - but you don’t expert much from the church, you don’t think very highly of the church.
If that’s you please see what Paul is saying here.. please believe Eph 3.10
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so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.
It may be unseen (sometimes not feel like it) but the reality is this…
When we gather as church… when we commit to Jesus and each other… when we labour in the church for the cause of the Gospel… when we give to the church… when we value the church… when we pray as a church or for our church…
The CHURCH begins to be a snapshot of God’s glorious new creation… we are an outpost of heaven on earth… we are a test case, a small taste, like a paint sample pot of what it will look like when all things (all God’s people) are united under Christ - and when God’s masterplan will be seen in all its glory. And THIS displays God’s great power and wisdom.
So… Cornerstone Free Church…
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don’t lose heart. God is working out his plans.
Don’t lose heart… God’s messengers - the apostle and prophets who bring God’s word to us are reliable and trustworthy… they signpost to us now, they point us with all clarity to the mystery of Christ - the message of the gospel which is now made known and clearly declared…
And don’t lose heart and DO value and love and labour for the church… through the church the gospel of reconciliation is going out and God’s wisdom is being displayed to a watching world.
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Let’s pray
