Sermon Tone Analysis

Recap of Last Week (Ephesians 2:1-10)

You are dead in your trespasses and sins.

Nothing in your nature to cry out Abba Father to God

You are all by nature condemned / Children of Wrath / captive to sin and death

“But God” (to most significant words in scripture)

Being rich in mercy because of His great love.

He raised us up and seated us with Him in the heavenly places

By Grace you have been saved through faith.

This is not your own doing but the work of God.

We his workmanship created for God’s glory alone.

Underline Far Off - Brought near - creates one - we have access - no longer strangers - have access - being built

We were far off alienated from the family of God.

God has now brought near those who were far off through the blood of Christ.

He creates one man in the place of two

We now we have access to the Father

You are no longer strangers and aliens but a child of God / Citizens.

We are being built into one Holy structure / a place for God’s spirit to dwell.

Historical Background

Remember that Paul was called to go to the Gentiles, those outside of the nation of Israel.

Up to this point in History the promise was only available to the nation of Israel.

Everyone else was alienated from the commonwealth of Israel.

Now there has been a circumcision of the heart brought through Jesus Christ alone.

Now he has brought those who were outside of the kingdom of faith near to the throne of grace.

Now Paul is speaking of creating one man in the place of two.

Paul tells us in Acts 17:16 in his address to the Stoic Philosophers in Athens at the Areopagus that God made one man through whom all nations have descended, which is Adam.

God chose one people for himself to fulfill his purpose of redemption which was the nation of Israel.

But now God is building one house of God with Jesus Christ as it’s chief cornerstone

Note: Now that we have established God’s plan of unifying His Church under one banner which is Jesus Christ I want us to read the focal text of the mission he is giving us this morning.

The mystery of Christ was made known.

The mystery revealed by the Holy Spirit.

The mystery is that the Gentiles are now grafted into the same body.

The mystery of God’s plan is brought to light.

The mystery of God’s manifold wisdom is revealed.

The mystery of God’s eternal purpose of access to faith in Him is available.

Note: We are going to work backwards in this text this morning to gain a bigger picture of what God is doing.

The Great Painter

Picture this: Picture in your mind a great, wise painter, painting on a huge canvas with many brushes, most of them very ordinary and messy.

The painter is God, so you cannot picture him.

He is invisible.

But he intends for his painting to be the visible display of his wisdom.

He knows that people cannot see him, but he wants his wisdom to be seen and admired.

His canvas is huge.

It is the size of the created universe.

I know you cannot really imagine looking at that canvas because you are in it.

But do your best.

And God is painting with thousands and thousands of colors and shades of textures - a picture as big as the universe and as old as creation and as lasting as eternity - a picture we call history, with the central drama being the preparation, salvation, and formation of the church of Jesus Christ.

And he is using thousands of different brushes, most of them very ordinary and very small because every minute detail is crucial in the painting, to display the wisdom of the Painter.

These brushes are God’s missionaries.

Big Idea: God uses His ordinary Brushes to paint His manifold Wisdom across this world's landscape.

Now there is a reason in the text in the text that I want you to get this picture into your mind.

It is in the word “manifold” in verse 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.”

This Greek word for “manifold” occurs in teh Bible only here.

It is very unusual.

(write the word Manifold)

First Half (poikilos) used to mean diversified, intricate, complex, subtle.

The basic idea is of varied in Color.

The Prefix of the word means “many” (polupoikilos).

So the emphasis is very many colors and variations and intricacies and subtleties.

Now I want you to think of the display of God’s wisdom as a universe-sized painting with innumerable colors and shadings and texture.

it is unsearchable and intricate.

What is the Greatest Purpose God has for the Church?

4 Fold Purpose

What is the manifold wisdom of God displayed through?

1. Displayed through God’s Wisdom

"The Divine painter is displaying the varied infinite wisdom of God"

Notice that now God is drawing his holy army, the Church is being drawn from every tribe, tongue, and nation of the earth to display such wisdom.

Your Brain Has 500 Trillion Connections

Your body, including your brain, is fearfully and wonderfully made.

In the book Does My Goldfish Know Who I Am? science writer Joshua Foer explains to a nine-year-old boy named Tom how the brain can store so much information despite being that small:

An adult's brain only weighs about [three pounds], but it's made up of about 100 billion microscopic neurons.

Each of those neurons looks like a tiny branching tree, whose limbs reach out and touch other neurons.

In fact, each neuron can make between 5,000 and 10,000 connections with other neurons—sometimes even more.

That's more than 500 trillion connections!

A memory is essentially a pattern of connections between neurons.

Every sensation that you remember, every thought that you think, transforms your brain by altering the connections within that vast network.

By the time you get to the end of this sentence, you will have created a new memory, which means your brain will have physically changed

God, Wisdom of - if our brains are this complex, imagine the depth and complexity of the “mind of God.”

Paul makes the point that he was the least of all the saints who God gave this great privilege to carry the banner of Christ to the world.

What is the plan for the immeasurable riches of God?

We are to spread the gospel to “everyone”

The mystery that was hidden and veiled for the ages past is now available and open to the nations.

So, this is God’s goal.

He created the world, and he redeemed a people through the death of his son (Ephesians 2:12-19) and now he sends missionaries and gathers his Church by the preaching of the riches of Christ “so that through the Church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.”

That is the goal and aim of all human history.

History exists to paint on the canvas of the universe the multi colored and intricate wisdom of God.

Missions is the means that God uses to gather His Church.

And that gathering from all the nations is the focus of this wisdom he is painting.

Romans 1:20 All of God’s divine intricate attributes and nature have been clearly perceived and seen through His creation.

It is our job to point people to that reality.

So that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known.

So if this is true, why is the mystery of Jesus Christ still a mystery to many people living in the world today.

Why is has the spread of the Gospel of Christ come to a halt in recent years and modern generations today?

Why are fewer missionaries and ambassadors for Christ going to the ends of the earth with the Gospel message?

Let’s stay with the idea of the Display of God’s wisdom.

Look at the audience be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.

So, from creation to consummation, is meant to display the supernatural God and point out the supernatural evil forces that are continuing to attempt and blur the wisdom of God.

Here is the problem: We constantly loose sight and focus of the manifold wisdom of God that we are suppose to be displaying to the world.

We get so focused on what are we getting out of the Church that we have lost our focus.

Angels Stand in Awe of God Mission: The mission exists for the ingathering of the called out elect of God to the extent that the angels would stand in awe of the wisdom of God.

The good Angels never fell into sin, and only marveled at the wisdom of God’s grace from outside, so to speak.