The Mystery of the Gospel
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Today we will jump back into our trek through the book of Ephesians.
It’s been a few weeks now since we were last in it’s pages...
But if we remember...
Paul, in chapter 2 of Ephesians - really HIGHLIGHTED what it meant to be - IN CHRIST...
Paul has been pointing to this relationship between Jew and Greek in order to highlight ---
— the blessing of PEACE that comes - IN CHRIST
We had seen Jesus TEAR DOWN the wall of hostility between Jew and Greek...
That wall of hostility - BETWEEN Jew and Greek was THERE because on the one hand...
Jews adhered to the Law...
And on the other hand...
The Greeks DID NOT
The wall between the two groups had been TORN down by Christ...
AND - in tearing down that wall...
Christ also tore down another wall- The wall of hostility between ALL MEN - and God.
The wall of SIN
By FAITH in JESUS and His work on the cross - mankind receives PEACE with God...
SO - IN CHRIST:
We see PEACE between MEN
And PEACE between men and God
And what we’ve seen recently is Paul really HIGHLIGHTING the Gentile inclusion into the family of God.
That BY FAITH - the Gentiles now have access to God...
And WITH that truth, we come to our text today...
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.
You know…and I know...
Sooo…you know that I know that you know...
That mankind is - let’s say - VERY INTRIGUED - by Mystery...
Who loves to watch a good - MYSTERY movie…?
Who remembers this?
TRACK - Unsolved Mysteries
Loved that show!!
Love a good mystery!
How popular are Bible Studies on Revelation?
On a scale from 1-10 … 17
So when Paul tells the Ephesians about the “MYSTERY of Christ”...
WE read that today and think - HUH??
Doesn’t SEEM so - Mysterious!!
What I want to do today - is to dive into what THE MYSTERY of CHRIST really is -
And in doing so - try to give us a PRESENT day comparison...
AND THEN - we’ll close by seeing the MYSTERY of Christ play itself out in the pages of the Bible...
So let’s circle back to our text…and we’ll end up landing on v6
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,
- Paul says here that he’s a PRISONER on behalf of the Gentiles… what does he mean?
Sorta sounds like he’s BLAMING the Gentiles for him being in prison...
13 Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry
See Paul was commissioned by God to take the gospel to the gentiles…
17 “When I had returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, I fell into a trance
18 and saw him saying to me, ‘Make haste and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about me.’
19 And I said, ‘Lord, they themselves know that in one synagogue after another I imprisoned and beat those who believed in you.
20 And when the blood of Stephen your witness was being shed, I myself was standing by and approving and watching over the garments of those who killed him.’
21 And he said to me, ‘Go, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’ ”
· So when Paul says “Im a prisoner of Christ on behalf of the gentiles”, he’s simply saying that HE IS IN PRISON – ON ACCOUNT of trying to spread the good news of Jesus – TO the gentiles
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.
· And so this mystery – the mystery of Christ – not originally revealed to mankind…
· BUT NOW revealed…
· What is the Mystery of Christ?
Right here – v6
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.
· Now this is really what Paul had been highlighting for us the 2nd half of chapter 2.
· Remember – the wall of hostility between Jew and Gentile was now TORN DOWN…
And that by faith each group – NOW ONE in CHRIST!?
But let’s look at the details that Paul lays out for us concerning this mystery…
SLIDE: The Mystery of Christ: Gentiles are Fellow Heirs with Jews
The Mystery of Christ
The Mystery of Christ
· If we think about the Jewish Nation as God’s people – we see that Scripture tells us they were unique…
3 For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh.
4 They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises.
5 To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.
· So Paul HERE – being very EXPLICIT about whom he is speaking of…
· HERE – Paul is SINGLING out – the ISRAELITES…
· And so when Paul says that the Gentiles are FELLOW HEIRS…with the Jews
· He’s saying that the Gentiles – WHO BELIEVE – have ALL the SAME rights and status – AS THE JEWS
· NOW – we hear this today – and we kind of scratch our heads and think – WHY IS THIS SUCH a mystery?
*Well – I’m sure you’ve all watched a movie – KNOWING how it turns out in the end?
NOT SUCH A NAIL-BITER when we KNOW what’s gonna happen!
i think this same thing apply to us TODAY - when we think about THE MYSTERY of CHRIST...
· I think to help us understand (even a LITTLE bit) what this mystery would have been like to experience 1st century…
· I think we need to look at U.S. Citizenship…
I’d feel pretty confident in saying that - MOST Conservatives…are all about - LEGAL IMMIGRATION...
Right?
To the degree that if you start talking about people coming into the US - illegally… and YET VOTING in our elections...
What do most conservatives think?
NO WAY!
The thought is - Well those people don’t HAVE RIGHTS here...
They shouldn’t be ALLOWED to speak into OUR elections!!
How did Paul describe the Gentiles earlier in chapter 2?
17 And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near.
18 For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.
19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,
In order for us to GRASP just a little bit - how this GOSPEL news would have been received by the GENTILES…(and the Jews for that matter)...
It would be like telling a migrant to the US - TODAY - that upon stepping onto US SOIL…they are now - FELLOW CITIZENS - WITH US...
With ALL THE SAME rights and privileges...
NOW - US Citizens here - today - WAR AGAINST that idea...
Well - 1 century Jews WARRED against this INCLUSION of the gentiles by saying -
NO- they need to get physically circumcised if they want to join our group...
NO- they need to adhere to THESE rules if they want to join our group...
And that’s where that WALL of HOSTILITY came in…that we discussed last chapter...
The same wall that Christ TORE down!
The Gentiles are now FELLOW HEIRS with the Jew...
SET TO RECEIVE all the same blessings - NO LESS - as the Jew...
The next aspect of the Mystery we’ll look at is this..
SLIDE: The Mystery of Christ: Gentiles are Members of the Same Body
The Mystery of Christ
The Mystery of Christ
When we speak about THE CHURCH - there are 2 distinctions we need to make..
The VISIBLE church
INVISIBLE church
The visible church is the expression of Christianity that people can see: the gathering and practices of the individuals in various church buildings on Sundays.
The invisible church is the true church, which only God can see: born-again believers, past, present, and future.
Because not everyone who attends church or performs religious deeds is saved, the visible church includes unbelievers. The invisible church is comprised of the redeemed and sealed by God.
And so we can actually speak of the INVISIBLE church in another way...
the Body of Christ
And these next verses speak directly to this, looking at both Jews and Greeks...
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.
Here we see - Jews and Greeks - BROUGHT TOGETHER - UNITED into ONE body...
IN CHRIST
And if we think about the MEMBERS of our bodies...
hands
eyes
feet
We understand how EACH member NEEDS the other members...
It’s no different when it comes to the Body of Christ...
Listen to this...
21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.”
22 On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable,
23 and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty,
24 which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it,
25 that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another.
26 If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.
This here (my BODY) - is a physical display of the Spiritual church...
the INVISIBLE church - the Body of Christ!!
Where Jew and Greek used to be AT WAR - - NOW - they are IN NEED of each other...
27 Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.
This here - part of the Mystery of Christ...
But what else...
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.
We see here that Gentiles are now -
FELLOW HEIRS
MEMBERS of the SAME BODY
but also...
SLIDE: The Mystery of Christ: Gentiles are Partakers of the Promise
The Mystery of Christ
The Mystery of Christ
And so - HERE is where the Mystery really starts to get - Mysterious...
And we need to go back to Romans 9 to see it...
1 I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit—
2 that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart.
3 For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh.
4 They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises.
5 To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.
So we read this and we see how Paul has ANGUISH in his heart - for who?
For his kinsmen according to the flesh…the JEWISH NATION...
WHY?
Why is Paul upset over the Jewish Nation...
It’s because - by and large - the NATION has rejected Christ…they have TURNED from Him...
NOW - Paul knows that THIS SITUATION - the turning from CHrist by the Jewish Nation has CAUSED something...
It’s caused a DISTORTED view of God’s faithfulness...
There was a distorted view of God’s faithfulness…people were looking at the plight of the Jewish Nation (not accepting Jesus), and yet they knew that God had promised 'Israel' to be God’s chosen people…
the situation made God out to be untrustworthy…
And so PAUL - now - he’s going to CLARIFY things…and in DOING so - REVEAL the Mystery of Christ!!
Reread v5...
The Jewish Nation (Israel) is God’s chosen people...
next verse...
6 But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel,
(VERSE 6) - Paul’s saying - you CAN trust God! He IS trustworthy....) WHY!!???
For not ALL who are descended from Israel belong to Israel~
Paul is saying - Not all who are ETHNICALLY Israel - belong to ISRAEL...
v7 and v8 together
7 and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.”
8 This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring.
Paul’s saying - Your LINEAGE doesn’t make you a CHILD of God...
Just because Abraham is your physical father - doesn’t make YOU a part of the Spiritual Offspring...
Children of God come NOT from physical LINEAGE to Abraham…BUT from - PROMISE!!
And Paul has been saying this all throughout ROMANS that this PROMISE goes BEYOND physical lineage...
28 For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical.
Do you see how - OUR LABELS so often are based MERELY on the physical of this world!!?
Paul says here - A person of Jewish ethnicity - who has received physical circumcision - yet who was NOT A CHILD of PROMISE - was not a- JEW
At least NOT IN God’s eyes...
29 But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.
So here Paul told us EARLIER in Romans - That GENTILES - who believe - are Spiritually circumcised…and are counted as part of - ISRAEL...
FOR they are JEWISH - INWARDLY!!
This is the MYSTERY of Christ...
And some of us may be shaking our heads - Yep I get it...
And some of us may be shaking our heads - NOPE that makes no sense to me...
Well - I can tell you - those in the 1st century were of the latter group...
They didn’t quite understand this so much… AT FIRST...
What I want to do to close today - is to go to Scripture and watch this mystery play itself out...
We’re actually going to see - the Apostles LEARNING about this mystery...as we go thru Scripture...
To start - let’s go to the baptism of Jesus Christ...
Jesus came to John the Baptist and was baptized by him…why?
31 I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.”
So John came to INTRODUCE Jesus - to Israel...
Now - How did Jesus’ water baptism play out…?
John tells us...
next verse
32 And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him.
33 I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’
Ok, let’s confirm John’s account with what we find in the gospel of Matthew...
16 And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him;
17 and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
Now - this account here in Matthew CORRESPONDS with what we heard John tell us...
Those that day - who saw Jesus get water baptized....
SAW how the Holy Spirit fell on Jesus after he came up out of the water…!
And so - if we now go to Acts chapter 2, we can read how Jesus’ water baptism impacted what Peter believed about the Holy Spirit and HOW The Spirit CAME upon a person...
NOW - The book of Acts is a Narrative - which means - We’re being told what happened - Good, bad, or indifferent.
Not everything in the book of Acts (narrative) - is meant to be a PRESCRIPTION for the church.
When it comes to interpretation - we need to know the difference between:
Prescription
Description*
And when it comes to NARRATIVES in the bible - not everything is a PRESCRIPTION for the church...
With that said...
Acts chapter 2 is Peter now PREACHING the gospel to Israel...
36 Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”
37 Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”
38 And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
And you - will RECEIVE the gift of the Holy Spirit...
Get baptized - Peter said - and THEN YOU’LL receive the gift of the Holy Spirit...
NOW - it SEEMS as though - Peter had made a connection between - WATER BAPTISM and the coming of the Holy Spirit...
NOW we know that water baptism doesn’t USHER in the Holy Spirit..
But it seems that Peter DOES believe so - here...
AND it seems that the connection he makes WOULD HAVE MADE sense in HIS mind because that’s what he would have seen at the water baptism of Jesus (the Spirit coming as Jesus came up out of the water)...
NOW - let’s go to a later part of Acts to see an AWAKENING happen for Peter...
IN Acts chapter 10 we hear of Peter preaching the gospel to both Jews and Gentiles...
And here’s what happened...
43 To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”
So peter is preaching the Gospel to Jews and Gentiles..
44 While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word.
45 And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles.
So Peter is PREACHING the gospel - and WHILE he’s preaching the HOLY SPIRIT falls on all who heard...
EVEN the Gentiles...
NOW - we may think - so WHAT!?
Well - in the next chapter of Acts, Peter is explaining to the church leaders what happened in this incident...
And we’re going to see - THE MYSTERY of CHRIST lived out - as Peter LEARNS how it all works!
15 As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them just as on us at the beginning.
Who is the THEM? The Gentiles...
So Peter is proclaiming the Gospel - and AS HE’s doing this - the Spirit FALLS!
And THIS event is gonna CAUSE Peter to remember something!
16 And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’
V16 - Peter REMEMBERED something....
WHICH means - he had FORGOTTEN it...
He’s LEARNING here!!
v16 - What did this incident cause Peter to REMEMBER?
What’s the CONTENT of this MEMORY?
The content of the memory is - The contrast between John/WATER and Jesus/SPIRIT...
And I BELIEVE - the reason for Peter’s AWAKENING is because he SEES the Spirit FALL on these men...
Well when was the last time he SAW the Spirit fall?
At Christ’s water baptism?
BUT now - he sees the Spirit fall on these men - WITHOUT any WATER...
and he HAD to think - OOHHHHH - BY FAITH - a BAPTISM takes place!!
WITHOUT any water!!!!
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.
AND EVEN GENTILES can - PARTAKE!!
What was the response of the church leaders to Peter?
17 If then God gave the same gift to them as he gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God’s way?”
18 When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.”
THIS IS THE MYSTERY of CHRIST!!
Played out in the pages of the Bible!!
SUMMARY:
The Mystery of Christ
Gentiles Are...
Fellow Heirs with Jews
Members of the Same Body
Partakers of the Promise
Heirs:
Same rights / fellow citizens
Members of Same Body:
We need each other / Same mission
Your church body NEEDS your giftings
Partakers of the Promise:
Think of this - every member of God’s household was CHOSEN by God…has a PURPOSE within this household / should be VALUED here
As we seek to advance His name (The Gospel of Jesus) to a lost world...
Let’s pray