The Story of the Church - Eph 3:1-13

For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles— assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for you, how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly. 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. 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. 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. 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, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him. So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory.

Intro: Think we have been doing here so far today...

Arrived… got your bulletin… some of you got your kids checked in...

Went through morning routine...

Some of you got kids ready...

Scrambled out the door… most of you later than you had said you were...

Million things went through your mind on the way to church...

Arrived… got your bulletin… some of you got your kids checked in...

Said hi to a few people and exchanged some small talk...

Dan started playing the guitar… we sang some words that someone told you to sing… maybe you were fighting distraction or a wandering mind…

Then someone started praying… it happens every week...

Then someone starts praying… it happens every week...

If you are like me, you may have fought to stay focused during that time too...

Now I’m up here telling you to open a book and getting ready to talk for what may seem like a REALLY long time depending on how interested you are…

Later you’ll catch up with a few folks… maybe learn a couple things at a class… jump in your car… and go get a bit to eat…

I know some of these specifics might be different, but those are just the basic facts of a typical Sunday morning…

It doesn’t APPEAR at face value as all that special…

Sometimes it may even seem unnecessary… or at least optional...

If I can make it, it’s nice… if not, it’s of little consequence...

If I’m feeling it, I’ll participate… if not, it’s not going to make much difference for me or anyone else.

Our gospel communities can feel the same way…

A little social time… some praying… some discussion about things that I already know… sharing time that makes me feel awkward… and then I go home…

But I want us to see today... is that what happens in those moments when we gather... is a cosmic reality... with eternal purpose and consequence.

What might sometimes feel mundane or inconsequential… is actually our opportunity to participate in THE CENTRAL activity that God is doing in the present age that will change our eternity forever.

I want us to see that this thing that we are part of called the church... is the center of the story God is writing in the present time.

You didn’t just come to a program or to an event or to a show this morning… you came to a people…

You came to a people who really only have one primary thing in common: that Jesus is Savior and Lord over our lives.

If you don’t know Jesus as Savior and Lord, you are witnessing the work that God is doing in changing our lives… and you can become part of that work through faith in him.

If you DO know Jesus as Savior and Lord, than you are a part of something that God wants to use to change YOUR life… and the lives of everyone around you.

This Fall, we’ve been in a series called “God’s Story, My Story,” and our goal for this series is to find our place in God’s unfolding story of salvation through Jesus Christ.

That the individual stories of our lives are all about the much BIGGER story that God is working out across all time and space…

We started all the way back in September at Creation... and we worked our way through the Fall of mankind into sin… God’s promise to the patriarchs… through the story of Israel and the many periods of their history…

We then came to Jesus… HE is the fulfillment of the story… working redemption and building his kingdom...

And last week we started into the present part of the story… the Spirit was poured out and the good news about Jesus went forward through the witness of his disciples…

And the church was built and multiplied.

Last week we talked about the story of the Spirit from the book of Acts...

And from a different perspective, we could equally call that the story of the church.

What the Spirit is doing in this part of the story is building the church.

What we get in the book of Acts is HOW the church was formed… and then what we get in the rest of the NT are letters… we call them EPISTLES… to those churches.

And it’s in the EPISTLES that we learn the nature of the gospel… and the church.

In Acts, we learn what happened to form the church… in the Epistles, we learn what MUST happen for us to BE the church.

And we come to find that it’s not just a series of programs or events we attend...

It’s not a building we come to...

It’s something we ARE.

The church isn’t just PART of the life of the believer… it is the story God has written you into.

So here is our goal for this morning… if you ever struggle with feeling like the church is routine or unnecessary or not serving it’s purpose:

Open your eyes to the eternal purpose of being the church in this part of God's story.

Your Bibles are open to the book of Ephesians....

Ephesians was written by a guy named Paul… we talked about him last week a little bit…

If there was anyone who got that his story was all about God’s story, it was the Apostle Paul.

He had been a devout Israelite… a Pharisee actually…

He read his Bible over and over again… but never TRULY understood how God’s big story was unfolding…

He refused to see how Jesus could be the Savior King who was promised… he thought Jesus was an imposter and all his followers were blasphemers...

Until one day, he was on his way to beat up some Jesus followers and throw them in jail… and the risen Jesus HIMSELF appeared to him… struck him blind… but theand ultimately n opened HIS eyes to the truth that Jesus was the Promised Anointed Savior King.

That kind of interaction generally gets your attention…

Paul was a Jew… a Pharisee… who thought that Jesus was an imposter…

So Paul devoted himself to God’s calling on his life… to proclaim God’s story of salvation through Jesus Christ…

To the nations...

and his job was PRIMARILY to preach that story… not to his fellow Jews… but to the Gentiles… To the nations...

And he had devoted his life to punishing people who claimed Jesus was the Promised Anointed King of Israel...

He was a tool God used to get the gospel to the ends of the earth.

He oversaw their executions… he beat them… he imprisoned them…

And we see a pattern in his ministry… as he proclaimed the gospel… he gathered the believers into churches (local assemblies)… he appointed leaders… and he moved on to repeat the process...

And then one day he was riding to a city called Damascus to go deal with some more of these Jesus-followers...

It always was the same… proclaim the gospel… strengthen the believers in churches… appoint elders… repeat…

He planted tons of churches on three different missionary journeys over the course of about 10 years… all the while he was beaten and imprisoned and betrayed...

And the risen Jesus physically showed up to him on the way… and his life was forever changed...

And after the third missionary journey he said, “You know what! I’ve put in my time for the church… I’m going to retire and kick my feet up and have some relaxation time...”

Instead of imprisoning those who proclaimed the good news of Jesus, he became one who went to prison for the very same thing...

Once Paul encountered Jesus, he had one goal: to get the good news about Jesus to as many people as possible…

From the time he was converted, God had revealed to him that his primary job was to take the gospel to the Gentiles… to the nations…

That the ends of the earth needed to hear that Jesus was the Promised Anointed King… not just of Israel… but over all Creation...

No… he said, “It is my EARNEST DESIRE to carry the gospel to the very ends of the earth… I want to make it to Rome… and if the Lord allows I want to keep going on to Spain...”

And they needed to have their sins paid for and their relationship with God restored… and they needed to enter into the people of God and devote themselves to the story that God was writing.

So as Paul revealed the gospel, he also revealed this new part of the story that God was writing called the church.

So he ended up going on three missionary journeys, planting MANY churches…

And so he went back to Jerusalem… where he was arrested… and he used his Roman citizenship to appeal to Caesar and make it to Rome on the Roman Empire’s expense tab by riding in the bottom of a slave ship.

He was beaten and falsely accused and imprisoned along the way…

And when he gets to Rome, he’s in prison, and he has tons of time then to both preach the gospel to all the guards, but also to write letters back to the churches.

And that’s when he writes the book of Ephesians… it’s written to the church in the city of Ephesus… Ephesus is located in what was called Asia at that time.. what is now the country of Turkey...

And his primary goal was to get to Rome… where he could then launch off into Spain… the end of the Roman world at the time...

Ephesians is one of the middle letters of Paul… you have an insert in your bulletin that has the timeline of the New Testament… and Paul’s letters can be broken down by early, middle and late...

From the time he was converted, God had revealed to him that his primary job was to take the gospel to the Gentiles… to the nations…

The early letters are all about establishing the churches in the gospel… Galatians, 1 & 2 Thessalonians, 1 & 2 Corinthians, Romans...

That the ends of the earth needed to hear that Jesus was the Promised Anointed King… not just of Israel… but over all Creation...

The middle letters are what are also known as the Prison Epistles… Colossians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Philemon… they are all about strengthening the church in the first principles of the faith…

And they needed to have their sins paid for and their relationship with God restored… and they needed to enter into the people of God and devote themselves to the story that God was writing.

And then the later letters are also known as the pastorals… 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus… they are about establishing leaders in the church...

And as Paul preached the gospel and planted churches, he was always

So Ephesians is a MIDDLE letter… it’s written to the church in the city of Ephesus… Ephesus is located in what was called Asia at that time.. what is now the country of Turkey...

He is writing to strengthen the church in the first principles of the faith…

You could say that Paul was writing the church in Ephesus about what it means to BE the church.

There

One of Paul’s primary concerns in this letter is that they would understand WHAT THE CHURCH IS… and what role they play in God’s unfolding story of salvation…

You could say that Paul was writing the church in Ephesus about what it means to BE the church.

In chapter 2, Paul says that the gospel created this NEW

And we see that it’s much more than a lot of people make it...

It’s much more than a building that we drive to...

It’s much more than a social organization… or a group of people who will be my friends…

It’s much more than a bunch of programs to consume...

The church is God’s plan for fulfilling his eternal purpose in THIS part of God’s story.

Read

So Paul is interr

Paul wants to make sure that the Ephesian church… and every church in the present age… understands the ETERNAL PURPOSE of the church…

Here’s a quick definition of the church that’s developed from Paul’s writing in :

[Definition of the Church] The assembly of people from all nations who are united to God and to one another through faith in Christ in the present age.

The word in the Greek that is translated “church” means “assembly”…

It refers to gathering together an official people.

The church is first a SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY… every true believer in Jesus is part of ONE spiritual church… they are assembled in the heavenly places… seated with Christ there already...

But in the present age, the SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY must ALWAYS be expressed the VISIBLE ASSEMBLY of the local church.

It is impossible to live a life of faith in Christ as described in the New Testament apart from a tangible commitment to his body on earth, the church.

So today we want to look at...

6 Eternal Purposes God has for his Church

These are purposes that he has for his SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY… all people who have been united to God and one another through faith in Christ… and they are purposes that should inform our VISIBLE assembly… they should shape the way we gather as a church…

So the first purpose God has for his church is this:

To unite an undeserving people. (v. 1-6)

Explain: If you were reading the whole letter of Ephesians (which I hope you do this week in your reading plans), you would be humming along, tracking with Paul’s logic through chapters 1-2… and then all of the sudden in chapter 3, things start to get really clunky…

In verse 1, Paul literally interrupts himself…

Remember that he’s writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit… and he’s writing with pen and ink... they didn’t have a backspace button…

And it’s almost like you can just picture him starting to write… For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles

And the the Holy Spirit is like, “Hold up Paul… make sure they know your role as an apostle.”

And the the Holy Spirit is like, “Hold up Paul… make sure they know your role as an apostle...” (“oh yeah… before I write this prayer that I have for you all, I HAVE to make sure you understand something first...”)

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.And the the Holy Spirit is like, “Hold up Paul… make sure they know your role as an apostle.”

He goes on to explain that he’s been given a special revelation… a unique insight into what God is doing in the present age…

This revelation was a gift of God’s favor to him (grace)… it’s not that he’s better than anyone else or more spiritual than anyone else...

It’s just that God… in his sovereign choice… has given Paul a particular understanding into his unfolding story… and he’s given Paul a job to make this particular insight known...

He calls this insight… this revelation... a MYSTERY… he’s already mentioned it a little bit earlier in the letter… and they should be able to perceive that he has some unique insight into this mystery:

He calls this insight… this revelation... a MYSTERY… he’s already mentioned it a little bit earlier in the letter:

So think about a MYSTERY novel or movie… in a MYSTERY, something about the plot is unclear… it’s hidden... but there are CLUES that point to what the ending will be…

In a good mystery, the clues peak our curiosity… and keep us in wonder at how this thing will end…

And God’s story is that kind of mystery...

God created the world as this perfect place where his people… created in his image... could enjoy his presence forever.

But then the ultimate crime occurred… his people tried to do life without him… they believed the lie that they could be like God...

And it destroyed everything in the story… and there is this mystery that leaves us wondering: can things EVER be restored back to the way God intended them…

But God has left us all of these little clues... we call them promises… little clues about how he is going to return humanity back to paradise lost…

To the woman in the garden… he promises that her offspring will crush the head of the serpent...

To Abram… he promises that through his offspring, all the nations of the earth will be blessed...

To Israel… he promises that he will be their God and they will be his people… and that they will be a kingdom of priests...

Representing God to the nations and restoring the nations back to God…

To David… he promises that one of his sons will sit on his throne forever and will rule the nations with a rod of iron...

To the prophets… he promises that he will write the law of God upon the hearts of his people through his Spirit… and he will make those who are not his people become his people...

And these promises are like little clues… but exactly how it’s going to all unfold is a BIG mystery in the Old Testament… It’s a mystery that was NOT CLEAR in generations past…

and NOW that Jesus has come as the Promised Anointed King… It’s PAUL’S job to make it clear… along with the other Apostles and prophets… through the Holy Spirit...

It’s PAUL’S job to make it clear… along with the other Apostles and prophets… through the Holy Spirit...

So when you read the New Testament letters… understand something… they are explaining the story in a way that no generation before them was able to see…

The Spirit of God chose that in the present age, the mystery would be revealed.

One of my favorite TV shows of all time is the show Monk… it’s about a detective who has Obsessive Compulsive Disorder… I can identify with him WAY too much...

But in every episode, at the end of the episode, he would say these three words: “here’s what happened.”

That’s what Paul is doing in this passage.

So here’s what happened… here’s the mystery… v. 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.

In other words, the mystery is the church: The assembly of people from all nations who are united to God and to one another through faith in Christ in the present age.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

We have to understand that for THOUSANDS of years, the Gentiles… which is another word for all the nations who are not Israel… for thousands of years the GENTILES were separated from God.

In Ephesians chapter 2, Paul says that at one time, the Gentiles were…

separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. ( ESV)

We have to remember that apart from Jesus dying in our place for our sin and rising again, we have NO HOPE… we are WITHOUT GOD...

I think sometimes we lose that sense of hopelessness in our well-off… spiritualistic… self-help… “We’re Americans, we can do anything...” society...

For thousands of years, God gave ONE nation a covenant so they could have a relationship with him… everyone else just died in their sin…

And they were perishing for all eternity…

The news of God’s saving work was not reaching them… they were not seeking him… there was no hope for them to be restored...

But then Jesus came… and he fulfilled Israel’s law… not just on behalf of Israel… but on behalf of the whole world...

He paid the death price of our sin by dying on a cross… he experienced separation from God so that we wouldn’t have to… and God raised him from the dead so that ALL who have faith in HIM would become heirs of eternal life.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

And so God made a gracious promise to Abram… one family line who would receive his blessing… the rest were on the outside…

That means that a right relationship with God is not just for Israel anymore… God has created something NEW for this part of the story… the CHURCH…

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

They tried to bring glory to themselves instead of multiplying God’s image across the face of the earth.

And they would te

The assembly of people from all nations who are united to God and to one another through faith in Christ in the present age.

And so God made a gracious promise to Abram… one family line who would receive his blessing… the rest were on the outside…

That doesn’t mean that he doesn’t have a future place for Israel…

That doesn’t mean that he doesn’t have a future place for national Israel…

That family became the nation of Israel… the rest were on the outside...

It means that right now, the good news of the Promised Anointed King is going out THROUGH the church…

Israel alone had the covenant with God by which their sin could be paid for and their relationship with God could be restored…

No other nation had that...

And for generations, only a SMALL amount people from other nations ever thought twice about God or coming to worship him through Israel’s covenant.

And so HOW is God going to fulfill his promise to conquer the enemy and restore the nations back to a right relationship to himself?

Answer: he’s going to create the church through the gospel.

He is going to cause the good news of Jesus to spread through the followers of Jesus.

And Israel’s king is now going to become the king of everyone who puts their faith in him.

He’s going to give the inheritance of Israel to Israel’s true King… God’s true son…

And everyone who puts their faith in HIM will get to share that inheritance.

And here’s what that means for you and I here today… by any reasonable standard, NONE of us should be here.

In generations before Jesus, it just wouldn’t happen. Without Jesus coming and the gospel going out through the power of the Spirit, we simply would be without hope and without God in the world.

We should not be sitting here today.

BUT GOD has purposed to unite a VERY undeserving people.

Based on our sin… based on the way we have IGNORED GOD and REBELLED AGAINST GOD…

And based on the way that our generations have IGNORED GOD and REBELLED AGAINST GOD…

Based on the way that we would think nothing of God if it weren’t for him opening our eyes first…

We need to remember that every time we gather as Christ’s church… because otherwise we will take it for granted.

We don’t gather because we all have common interests… or because we all are so lovable… or even because we all were looking for the same thing...

When we come to church, we aren’t doing God a favor… like, “Ok God, I guess I’ll give you some of my time...”

We aren’t coming to repay some debt we owe God...

We are coming to share in a common inheritance that our heavenly Father has already given us...

We will come to church thinking we DESERVE something rather than RECEIVING what has been given only by grace…

We are coming to be a family with other people who don’t deserve God’s grace just as much as we don’t deserve God’s grace.

We will come to church expecting everyone else to fulfill our needs and wants instead of realizing that ALL of us come as needy recipients of God’s grace.

Through the gospel of Jesus Christ, we become members of the household of God… heirs… members of the same body… partakers (sharers) of the same promise...

Apply:

We will come forgetting what it cost for God to make us a church in the first place...

All of these images in verse 6 describe the supernatural unity that was unforeseen… unexpected… in every other part of the story.

it cost the death of his own son...

We gather together because God decided to unite an undeserving people.

He decided to take people who were dead in their sin… and make them alive together with Christ...

He decided to take people who were alienated from him because of their wickedness… and he brought them near...

And it is a PRIVILEGE to get to draw near to God together.

It’s a PRIVILEGE to share this inheritance with you all…

It’s a PRIVILEGE to be a part of Christs body and share in his promise together.

It’s a PRIVILEGE that was purchased by Jesus Christ himself… through the good news that he died on the cross for our sins and rose again for our salvation…

Paul goes on to describe that gospel in verse 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. 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...

The second eternal purpose God has for us as a church is this:

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

To give an unsurpassed treasure. (v. 7-8)

Explain: Again, Paul says that he was made a minister… a servant… of the gospel… according to the GIFT of God’s GRACE...

It was God’s undeserved favor in his life that he got to SPEND HIMSELF on telling people the good news of Jesus...

It wasn’t because he was a powerful communicator or brilliant man that God chose him…

It wasn’t because he worked harder or performed better than anyone else...

He considered himself the very LEAST of all the saints… I believe he’s reflecting on his time as a persecutor of the church...

He’s like, “I’m the least deserving guy there is… but I get the best possible job there is… to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.”

Just reflect on that phrase for a minute… the unsearchable riches of Christ.

I have to be honest, the words unsearchable riches bring this image to mind… [show Scrooge McDuck picture]

Just swimming in all the benefits of Christ… having more riches than we know what to do with…

It was already read in the service this morning… “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,” (, ESV)

We have to remember that the church has been given the unsearchable riches of Christ.

Every single day, the world is bombarding you with a message that says, “Pursue what doesn’t last. Pursue wealth. Pursue comfort. Pursue feel-good emotions.”

To execute an unstoppable plan. (v. 9)

To show off an unrivaled victor. (v. 10-11)

To access an unapproachable God. (v. 12)

To invest in an unfading glory. (v. 1, 13)

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