Connecting Others to God, In Christ

Sermon delivered by Pastor Finn on Sunday, July 29, 2018 PENT 10 INTRODUCTION TO SERIES: “In Christ”

Text: (14-19) "Connecting Others to God, In Christ"

In the name of Jesus, dear Christian friends.

“In Christ.”

We're back in Ephesians today. Each sermon keeps coming back to this: “In Christ.” We’re exploring the meaning of those two words to understand who God is and what it has to do with us. And we’re going to use two symbols to help us remember who he is and what he’s done for us—AND—they’ll helps us determine what God’s church is supposed to look like from day to day.

Here’s the first symbol. Sometimes, God wants his church to look like this (Outward focus). Do you remember what centrifugal force is? You experience it on the playground on something like a merry-go-round. Inevitably, some big kid came along and said, “Let’s get this going!” and he’d see how fast he could get the merry-go-round spinning.—all the while you’re doing all you can as a littler kid to hang on for dear life! Centrifugal force is at work in a ball on a string that you swing around in the air. Centripetal force is the force in the opposite of that—centripetal force is the force pulling things back toward the center, so that the ball doesn’t go flying away.

That’s what things looked like in the centuries leading up to Christ. God’s Church was centripetal in nature. There was an inward focus on Israel. God set his love and affection on the tiny House of David, keeping them separate and distinct from the pagans around them, commanding them not to intermarry with other peoples because then God knew his plan of salvation would be in jeopardy. It would fall apart even before it had a chance if Israel were influenced by the unbelieving world. So God built a protective hedge around his people to keep his plans in Christ safe. But once Jesus came in fulfillment of his promises, God turned his church loose. The gathered church became the scattered church (literally)! We tend to want to stay huddled together with other people like us, where its safe—so when persecution hit the church at Jerusalem, and the Christians were literally scattered to the four winds—God turned evil into good (as he always does)--and he gets his way—though his NT Church always looked weak and was on the run from persecution—the whole time God was unfurling the Christian flag in victory, bringing lost souls to faith in Jesus. So where God had set his love and affection primarily on Israel in the OT age, his ultimate desire was the salvation of all souls! Focussed as he was for so long Israel, now the gospel was being made known in all the world! Paul calls it a mystery, something no one saw coming--not even the Jews, God’s own people—they weren’t ready for this---they even resisted it. Paul, dedicated as he was to Jesus, was persecuting and killing followers of the Way, at first. (vv.8-9) “Although I am less than the least of all the Lord’s people,” Paul says (least in his mind because he had persecuted Jesus’ followers)—“this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the boundless riches of Christ, and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things.”

So now the church, looks like this. The Jews rejected Christ and his followers and persecuted them and God used this difficult thing to bring the gospel to the entire Gentile world. Though she always looked like she was weak and on the run, God was unfurling the Christian flag in victory, conquering souls, one by one. God’s love and affection as it was, focussed for so long Israel, was now being made known in all the world. Paul calls it a mystery, something no one sawy coming--not even the Jews, God’s own people—they weren’t ready for this---they even resisted it. Paul was one of those Jews persecuting and killing followers of the Way, at first. (vv.8-9) “Although I am less than the least of all the Lord’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the boundless riches of Christ, and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things.”

saving plan and promised line of the Savior so that sin and unbelief the promised line of the Savior would not be broken by sin and unbelief before

When Paul calls the gospel a “mystery” it’s not that it’s vague, murky, or hard to understand but, instead it’s something that needs to be explained. Once I explain it to you, it’s perfectly clear, but one would never have stumbled onto it without some outside help. Paul says he received that help from God.

This is good (Inward focus); this is what chapters 1-2 were mainly talking about.

(3:1,7) “I, Paul, (the prisoner of Christ Jesus)...became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace given me through the working of his power.” Here’s another reminder that Paul wrote Ephesians from prison— “I’m a “prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles.” That’s what this has all been about from the very start. Ever since the day the risen Lord Jesus stopped Paul on the Road to Damascus to persecute more followers of the Way, nothing was ever going to be the same again! By God’s almighty power, Paul understoood the “mystery” of God that Jesus is the Savior of all sinners. What power and love the LORD displayed in Paul’s life, bringing him to faith this way! So at the end of this section, he tells the Ephesians, “Don’t worry about me—don’t (3:13) “be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory.”

(3:9-11) “For ages past,” Paul explains, this “was kept hidden in God...His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

In and of yourself (this is something Christ accomplishes) you are not fit for God’s presence. You are incapable of being welcomed into heaven the way you are born and because of the way you have lived. The only solution (since you cannot change your sinful condition), is Christ. You can’t clean yourself up, you can’t buy yourself right with God—there’s no amount of money in all the world to atone for your sins. There is only one way to salvation and that is when God in his word leads you to repent and to acknowledge your sin before him, and then to plead for his mercy in Christ Jesus, and then that is exactly what he shows us: mercy and forgiveness, in Christ.

Panning, A. J. (1997). Galatians, Ephesians (pp. 161–162). Milwaukee, WI: Northwestern Pub. House.

(3:9-11) “For ages past,” Paul explains, this “was kept hidden in God...His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

(3:1,7) “For this reason I, Paul, (the prisoner of Christ Jesus)...became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace given me through the working of his power.”

the time he writes this he is in Rome awaiting trial after unbelieving Jews arrested him for preaching about salvation in Christ.

(3:1,7) “For this reason I, Paul, (the prisoner of Christ Jesus)...became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace given me through the working of his power.”

(vv.10-11)“His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, 11 according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.” The gospel is good news because of what Jesus accomplished for us on the cross. As we come together in worship God need to refresh this in our minds and make this clear to us again and again: It’s the reality that in and of ourselves we (you and I and all sinncer) are not fit for God’s presence. You are incapable of being welcomed into heaven the way you are born and because of the way you have lived. The only solution (since you cannot change your sinful condition), is Christ! You can’t clean yourself up, you can’t buy yourself right with God—there’s no amount of money in all the world to atone for your sins. No, Paul says, (v.12) “In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.”

(3:1) “For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles.”

“Although I am less than the least of all the Lord’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the boundless riches of Christ, 9 and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things. 10 His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, 11 according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. 12 In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence. 13 I ask you, therefore, not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory. “

In and of yourself (this is something Christ accomplishes) you are not fit for God’s presence. You are incapable of being welcomed into heaven the way you are born and because of the way you have lived. The only solution (since you cannot change your sinful condition), is Christ. You can’t clean yourself up, you can’t buy yourself right with God—there’s no amount of money in all the world to atone for your sins. There is only one way to salvation and that is when God in his word leads you to repent and to acknowledge your sin before him, and then to plead for his mercy in Christ Jesus, and then that is exactly what he shows us: mercy and forgiveness, in Christ.

God proclaims his saving grace to us and we receive it in faith—knowing full well what we deserve for our sins we stand before God with open arms--“Nothing in my hands I bring, simply to the cross of Christ I cling.” What Jesus did for us, for the Ephesians and Paul, the least of the apostles, was that he obeyed all of God’s commandments perfectly for us. He suffered the same and suffering we deserved, the whips and lashes we had coming, he bears for us, so that we are healed and forgiven, completely, in Christ.

The New International Version. (2011). (Eph 3:7–8). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

So, what does our church look like these days?

Ephesians 3:9–11 (NIV): for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things. 10 His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, 11 according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The New International Version. (2011). (Eph 3:7–8). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

The words “for the sake of” deserve some explanation. If you go back 20 years before this remember how Paul was a Jew who was viciously persecuting anyone—Jew and Gentile alike if they became Christians. He sought their death—he wasn’t trying to save them! Now look at Paul! He’s so concerned about the spiritual welfare of these new Christians at Ephesus, the church he founded there, that he’s writing to them from prison in Rome! He refers to himself as (3:)“the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles.”

There’s a scene in that shows how Paul carried the Ephesians in his heart—he was on his way to Jerusalem where he knew he would be imprisoned by the Jews who hated Christians there, so he’s stopping for one last visit with them as he makes his way back there. (,, ) “From Miletus, Paul sent to Ephesus for the elders of the church,” and he said to them (BTW—the “elders” are something equivalent to what we think of as “pastors” today) “Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood”—

22 “And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. 23 I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. 24 However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.

25 “Now I know that none of you among whom I have gone about preaching the kingdom will ever see me again. 26 Therefore, I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of any of you. 27 For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God. 28 Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. 29 I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. 30 Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. 31 So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.

God used Paul to gather together a church at Ephesus. (1:13) “In Him, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and in him, when you believed…(2:21-22) In him the whole building is joined together…in him you too are being built into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.”

32 “Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. 33 I have not coveted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing. 34 You yourselves know that these hands of mine have supplied my own needs and the needs of my companions. 35 In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”

(Then after giving some further encouragement and warnings about false doctrine, Paul committed them to God “and his Word of grace that can build you up,” he said—Paul wanted this congregation to continue on strong after he left them)—and then it says, “When Paul had finished speaking, he knelt down with all of them and prayed. They all wept as they embraced him and kissed him. 38 What grieved them most was his statement that they would never see his face again. Then they accompanied him to the ship.

36 When Paul had finished speaking, he knelt down with all of them and prayed. 37 They all wept as they embraced him and kissed him. 38 What grieved them most was his statement that they would never see his face again. Then they accompanied him to the ship.

God used Paul to gather together a church at Ephesus. (1:13) “In Him, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and in him, when you believed…(2:21-22) In him the whole building is joined together…in him you too are being built into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.”

So what does our church look like these days? This is good—(Inward focus)—gathered together we draw strength here together, in Christ--we huddle up to worship, pray and study God’s Word together--but the church also needs to look like this if we’re going to survive the test of time and be the church God has called us to be. Our church can never forget the centrifugal nature of his Church! There’s an outward focus to what we do—if we let it our focus can revolve around this building and the fellowship we get to enjoy here together—that’s great—that’s important too—but let’s never forget this other picture the LORD holds before us today—that strong outward focus on lost souls out there as we witness and work to bring others to God through faith in Christ Jesus.

C.S. Lewis once said, “In the end there are two kinds of people in the world: those who say, ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God will eventually say, ‘Have it your way.’” Tragically, there are those who will spend eternity apart from God because they put off thinking about God and chose to live their life without him here on earth. Who are the people like that your circle of friends, your family, the people you meet from day to day and your neighbors?

we need this—we draw strength together, in Christ--but the church also needs to look like this if we’re going to be the church he’s called us to be. Our mission as a church also has an outward focus to it that’s about connecting others to God, in Christ.

Who are the people like that your circle of friends, and family, your

Sometimes I think that as a rural congregation--miles away from population centers like Appleton, Green Bay, or Milwaukee, that the real action in God’s kingdom must be going on somewhere else—who would really want to come to our church? What do we really have to offer? If And it’s true, if the WELS Home Mission Board was stratgically

(3:1) “For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles”—When Paul says, “For this reason,” he’s looking back to the connection they all enjoyed with God now, together with the Jewish Christians—together they heard Paul tell them that as sinners they had been reconciled to God—God no longer counted their sins against them—Paul came and preached about the peace we have with God through Jesus to the Ephesians.

Here in chapter three

Paul didn’t become a servant of Christ on his own—the very idea would never have occurred to him—it came about as a result of God’s powerful grace at work in his heart. (3:8) “Although I am less than the least of all the Lord’s people (least in Paul’s mind because I was a persecutor of the Church)—yet nevertheless--this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the boundless riches of Christ.”

God’s grace

There’s a scene in that shows how Paul carried the Ephesians in his heart—he was on his way to Jerusalem where he knew he would be imprisoned by the Jews who hated Christians there, so he’s stopping for one last visit with them as he makes his way back there. (,, ) “From Miletus, Paul sent to Ephesus for the elders of the church,” and he said to them (BTW—the “elders” are something equivalent to what we think of as “pastors” today) “Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood”—

(Then after giving some further encouragement and warnings about false doctrine, Paul committed them to God “and his Word of grace that can build you up,” he said—Paul wanted this congregation to continue on strong after he left them)—and then it says, “When Paul had finished speaking, he knelt down with all of them and prayed. They all wept as they embraced him and kissed him. 38 What grieved them most was his statement that they would never see his face again. Then they accompanied him to the ship.

God used Paul to gather together a church at Ephesus. (1:13) “In Him, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and in him, when you believed…(2:21-22) In him the whole building is joined together…in him you too are being built into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.”

e twoThe theme

In week one we focused on who God is and we praise him for showing mercy to us, in Christ.

Last week I said there’d be a quiz.

C.S. Lewis (A Christian thinker “Who is God and what does it have to do with me?” are two pretty important questions to answer before you meet your Maker.

WEEK 1 - "

(1:7) “In Him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins.”

In chapter one Paul also put two awesome thoughts together for us when he said that God, “chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world [and that]…he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ.” What a glorious thought! As a believer in Jesus I can know that long before I ever thought about God, he was thinking about me. And that not only was he thinking about you but he planned and ordered things in his mind and carried that out—and he let nothing get in the way of that!

Then, in week two, we emphasized that God’s riches to us individually in Christ, are something that he brings us to share in together. God makes peace between himself and sinners, in Christ, and then believers get to share in that together in the the church, in Christ. You might picture it this way (See diagram). Sometimes the church looks like this. When God calls us to faith he calls us together. Literally, the word “church” refers to the group of individual people God has called out from the unbelieving world to know him, in Christ. But even though each one of gets called to faith individually—you could’ve been one of those 3,000 called to faith at once like on the Day of Pentecost—but for you it’s a personal thing—God’s forgiveness means something to you—but once we come to faith, it’s not just suppose to stay that way, just you and Jesus. God calls us into something bigger—we have a spiritual relationship we share together in Christ—(2:13) "In Christ Jesus, you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ...you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of God's household."

Paul understood this mission, to reach others for Christ. (3:1) “For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles”—When Paul says, “For this reason,” he’s looking back to the connection they all enjoyed with God now, together with the Jewish Christians—together they heard Paul tell them that as sinners they had been reconciled to God—God no longer counted their sins against them—Paul came and preached about the peace we have with God through Jesus to the Ephesians.

Here in chapter three we have another reminder that Paul wrote to the Ephesians from prison—he refers to himself as “the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles.” At the time he writes this he is in Rome awaiting trial after unbelieving Jews arrested him for preaching about salvation in Christ.

(3:1,7) “I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace given me through the working of his power.” Paul wasn’t a servant of Christ originally. In fact, he himself was an unbelieving Pharisee who was viciously persecuting Christians before Christ stopped him on the road to Damascus. The risen Christ appeared in power right before him—the sheer force of his glory and presence knocked Paul to the ground, when Jesus said, () “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”

(3:8) “Although I am less than the least of all the Lord’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the boundless riches of Christ,

Paul didn’t become a servant of Christ on his own—the very idea would never have occurred to him—it came about as a result of God’s powerful grace at work in his heart. (3:8) “Although I am less than the least of all the Lord’s people (least in Paul’s mind because I was a persecutor of the Church)—yet nevertheless--this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the boundless riches of Christ.”

God’s grace

The New International Version. (2011). (). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

https://vimeo.com/album/79546