Ephesians 3
For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner
of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles—
2 Surely you have heard about the administration of God’s
grace that was given to me for you, 3 that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I
have already written briefly. 4 In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my
insight into the mystery of Christ, 5 which was not made known to people in other generations as
it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets. 6 This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are
heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together
in the promise in Christ Jesus.
7 I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace
given me through the working of his power. 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, 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.
14 For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom every family[a] in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you
with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I
pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to
grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may
be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we
ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout
all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
1.
Paul’s Role Chosen By God
The Matter of Authority and Respect
We often ask Nicolas to take watch Nathan and Ashley (we
leave him in charge: we’ve given him authority to help them-not to boss them
for the sake of bossing them, they need to trust his authority since we put him
in that position)
The Purpose of Authority:
To build up not tear down
2 Corinthians 10:8-9
8 So even if I boast somewhat freely about the authority the
Lord gave us for building you up rather than tearing you down, I will not be
ashamed of it. 9 I do not want to seem
to be trying to frighten you with my letters.
·
Authority could cause some to be
frightened, but the purpose is to build up the body of Christ, the church.
·
Authority in the church often needs to
be exercised in a strong fashion and Paul recognizes that, especially when the
salvation of others and the integrity of God and the church is on the line.
The issue of faith / trust:
Hebrews 13:17
17 Have confidence in your leaders and submit to their
authority, because they keep watch over you as those who must give an account.
Do this so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no
benefit to you.
·
Have confidence in your leaders and
submit to their authority, they must give an account to God
·
Be a joy to work with
·
Having a leader is for your benefit
·
It is easy for us to distrust other’s
motives or even question disciples (even Jesus) when they try to help us with
Godly advice and even with scriptures, especially when it challenges us to
change our hearts or our opinions or decisions or when it has to do with our
children. We don’t like authority, we
question it. It takes faith to submit to
authority in the church and even God’s authority in scripture, it takes faith
to seek and follow advice. It takes
faith to give advice to others in a scriptural manner, with authority.
·
In Matthew 28, Jesus reminds the
disciples that all authority had been given to Him and that they were to teach
others to obey.
·
In the following verses we will see
Paul following the same pattern of asserting his authority.
Ephesians 3
1For
this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles—
·
“For this reason”—referring to 2
things:
·
1.
Paul is paying the price of preaching the gospel and things outlined in
chapters 1 & 2 to Gentiles and Jews alike.
·
“For this reason”—also referring to
because you are now unified as God’s people:
circumcised and non-circumcised, Jew and Gentile, you should now pay
attention to these things that I am going to lay out for you.
·
Paul received the special calling of
being set apart for the benefit of Gentiles—only apostle of his kind.
·
Prisoner of Christ or for Christ (not
just “a prisoner”, but a prisoner belonging to Christ)—meaning that even while
imprisoned he is about the Lord’s business—he belongs to Christ. Great example to us, no matter where we are
at, that we should be about the Lord’s business—preaching the Gospel that
brings hope to a lost world. We are to
belong to Christ, not to our own self.
·
Paul basically is saying that he is who
he is because of Christ.
2 Surely you have heard about the administration of God’s
grace that was given to me for you, 3 that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I
have already written briefly.
·
Paul asserts his authority (as given to him to him graciously and not of his own merit
by God—for the sake of the Gentiles). He
is serving as a leader to them and in that role because of God. This authority comes from God and thus should
be respected, not as a boss, but more as an older brother who cares deeply for
their welfare. Like if Dad asked him to
take care of the kids.
·
Paul addresses the grace he has received from God in God’s
choosing him as an apostle. We have
received a similar grace as disciples.
It is because of this grace that he has received that he takes the task
so seriously—to preach the gospel at all costs.
·
God revealed the mystery, which is
Christ himself, the gospel and that all people be unified through Christ as
one, the people of God—“The Church”—Paul has started making this clear to the
Ephesians. Christ also revealed Himself and His plan to Paul on the road to
Damascus. It is no longer a hidden from disciples
of Jesus, but a mystery to those who have not received the message.
4 In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my
insight into the mystery of Christ, 5 which was not made known to people in other generations as
it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets. 6 This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are
heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together
in the promise in Christ Jesus.
·
Paul expects the church to be diligent in reading the scriptures
and the honor and value it is to have them available. In reading the scriptures we gain insight and
understanding into Christ, we grow in our relationship with God. You want to grow spiritually? Read and practice the scriptures in your
relationship with others as Paul calls the Ephesian church to do.
·
The scriptures revealed God’s plan
which had remained mysterious to the Jews and Gentiles—to unify people—God was
the first one that fought for racial diversity in church.
·
This Jew and Gentile unity was a big
deal. Jews and Gentiles has a lot of
hate and disdain for each other.
·
Now all of a sudden they were part of
the same family!
·
It wasn’t like going to school
together, it was family! Everything they
had belonged to each of the others as outlined in Acts, including the
inheritance that awaits all of us in heaven.
They are all now heirs.
2. A Brother’s Suffering
Suffering Brings Glory
7 I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace
given me through the working of his power. 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, 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.
·
Paul is a servant by God’s power, shown
through his grace.
·
Paul reiterates that he is nothing—he
is LESS than the least of the Lord’s people.
Humility in speaking about himself.
How humble are we when we speak?
·
Even though he is nothing, he
communicates his confidence in the one that called him and chose him. Paul decided to accept this grace and this
task which was given to him—to preach to the Gentiles and everyone else, in a clear
way as to not have the mystery of Christ and the gospel remain a mystery to
anyone (we should reach out to others and disciple each other the same way, not
undercover or beating around the bush—asking for and receiving advice and
help).
·
As the church we proclaim God’s wisdom
through the ages and reveal the gospel and power of God. We put the dark spiritual forces on notice as
we live out His calling.
·
Paul says, “don’t be discouraged”. His sufferings are for the glory of the
church. Similarly when we suffer for
Christ it is for the glory of the church.
3. The Power of Love
14 For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom every family[a] in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you
with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I
pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to
grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may
be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we
ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout
all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
·
Paul sets and excellent example for us
in humility and love for the Father by kneeling in prayer. His posture is not just one of humility
outwardly and for show, but it is his true nature.
·
From God, the Father that he prays to,
all people that commit to Him are born and therefore are of the same
family: past, present and future—on
earth and in heaven. God is the Father
of all who surrender their will and their all to Him.
·
In being heirs in this family, we have
riches beyond our understanding.
·
Our weak humanly nature can only truly
be strengthened by His riches through the power of God’s spirit who lives in
all of us who have responded to the call of faith to be Jesus’ disciples. Paul prays for the church to remain faithful
and also prays for those that have not yet responded in faith but may be
present during the reading of scripture—for those that are not yet
disciples. He is laying out a bit of a
challenge to them that only through Christ and His spirit will they truly be
strong. Christ could only dwell in one’s
heart through the spirit received when one becomes a baptized disciple. We don’t have the power to fight sin without
God’s spirit in us. This is the power of
His love given to us through the Spirit.
·
Paul had a heart for the lost and the
spiritually immature or young.
·
Here he calls them to be rooted and
grounded in love—to grow and mature in it.
By love everything is made possible, without it spiritual life and true faith
are impossible. 1 Corinthians 13
·
True love from God is limitless. Do you have people who show you that type of
love? We all want to be around them.
·
He also addresses the Jews and scholars
who hunger for knowledge—he says that love (present in true relationships)
surpasses knowledge—knowledge often judges or condemns or puffs up, but love is
limitless. By grasping the love of God
we are made mature (filled to the measure of all the fullness of God) and our
judgments can be in line with the Father because they are made in love.
·
The church, through this incredible and
limitless love—which is at work within us through His spirit, brings glory to
God—because it is evidenced by our actions and praised by those who see God
through them.
Paul received an automobile from his
brother as a Christmas present. On Christmas Eve when Paul came out of his
office, a street urchin was walking around the shiny new car, admiring it.
"Is this your car, Mister?" he asked. Paul nodded. "My brother
gave it to me for Christmas." The boy was astounded. "You mean your
brother gave it to you and it didn't cost you nothing? Boy, I wish ..." He
hesitated. Of course Paul knew what he was going to wish for. He was going to
wish he had a brother like that. But what the lad said jarred Paul all the way
down to his heels. "I wish," the boy went on, "that I could be a
brother like that." Paul looked at the boy in astonishment, then
impulsively he added, "Would you like to take a ride in my
automobile?" "Oh yes, I'd love that." After a short ride, the
boy turned and with his eyes aglow, said, "Mister, would you mind driving
in front of my house?" Paul smiled a little. He thought he knew what the
lad wanted. He wanted to show his neighbors that he could ride home in a big
automobile. But Paul was wrong again. "Will you stop where those two steps
are?" the boy asked. He ran up the steps. Then in a little while Paul
heard him coming back, but he was not coming fast. He was carrying his little
crippled brother. He sat him down on the bottom step, then sort of squeezed up
against him and pointed to the car. "There she is, Buddy, just like I told
you upstairs. His brother gave it to him for Christmas and it didn't cost him a
cent. And some day I'm gonna give you one just like it ... then you can see for
yourself all the pretty things in the Christmas windows that I've been trying
to tell you about." Paul got out and lifted the lad to the front seat of
his car. The shining-eyed older brother climbed in beside him and the three of
them began a memorable holiday ride. That Christmas Eve, Paul learned what
"It is more blessed to give..." means!
