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Okay, well last week we were pre-recorded and covered chapter 3 verses 1-7.
Verse six is the crusher as it spells out what is on Paul’s mind and the real focus of his purpose in writing this epistle in the first place. There he said:
1 For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles,
2 If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward:
3 How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words,
4 Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ)
5 Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit;
6 That . . . the Gentiles . . . should be fellow-heirs . . . and of the same body . . . and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:
And then he added:
7 Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power.
And this brings us to our text for today where Paul continues and says, after pointing out that he was “made a minister of the Gospel going to the Gentiles,” says:
Ephesians 3.8-
October 6th 2019
Milk
8 Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;
9 And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:
10 To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,
11 According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:
12 In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.
13 Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.
So let’s go back to verse 8 where Paul writes, speaking of himself and the grace that God bestows says:
8 Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;
In all humility Paul admits that in his opinion he is least of all the saints to whom this grace was given.
The term used does not occur elsewhere in the New Testament and is a word of comparison meaning,
“I am not worthy to be compared to the lowest of Saints.”
Why does Paul say this? He seems to have trouble forgiving himself of being a persecutor of the church in his early days and forever hold those actions up against himself as a follower of Christ.
To me the emphasis is NOT to be placed on Paul and his weakness as a man but it seems to be, in the context of what he is speaking about here today, a glowing compliment to the Saints in his day who had taken on Christ and walked in His suffering.
In comparison to those in that church, Paul says, he cannot be held up to any sort of scrutiny. And this brings us to a point that I don’t believe can be over emphasized – a point that frankly causes me shame when I think about it (but think about it I must because it is certainly part of scripture):
We all have our individual walk with God through Christ, that is to be sure, and we cannot judge another in the choices and actions they take along this very personal road.
God knows us and our situations and He is the judge – so comparisons are not really useful with others.
But Paul makes a comparison here – and it is an important one as he claims that there is no comparison between him and the least of the Saints in the church or bride or body of Christ.
This is where it gets humbling for the Old Testament is strewn with men and women who truly loved God – and served Him.
Here in the New Testament Paul seems to be tapping into those souls – even the least of them – who too, gave their all in life to follow Christ in spirit, truth and suffering.
I’m not sure we have the capacity to accurately define the character of a true Christian in that day and when I attempt to do it in light of the trials, suffering, punishment, rejection and loss, I find myself ashamed.
I think Paul did too. He knew the damage he caused the Bride in his early years and there was nothing that could offset the guilt he felt for attacking her in the way he did.
Now, well after this and years into serving her, he is STILL remorseful for his actions but again, it seems to me this remorse is exacerbated by the goodness of the bride and not so much the badness of Paul.
And this is the point I am trying to make here – the Bride of Christ in that day and age, and the followers of Christ today who seek Him and follow Him from the heart, without trying, put anyone and everything less to automatic shame.
We are talking about people who do trust God, do love Him and their enemies, and who do choose lives of suffering over lives of self and self-indulgence. And while we do NOT live our Christians lives by comparison, I cannot help but also find myself ashamed by the humble, true lovers of Jesus I have been fortunate enough to meet in my life.
And I resonate to Paul and how he seems to see these same sorts in his day and age.
You see, what Paul is describing here is something really truly amazing. It will unfold as we cover these verses together and has started to reveal itself in Paul’s humility before the Church at this point. So, again, what does he say? That the opportunity of this grace has been given .
“unto me, who am less than the least of all saints (ready) that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ”
Obviously, Paul is grateful, as the least of all the Saints, that he was entrusted with preaching among the Gentiles what he calls:
“The unsearchable riches of Christ.” A line I want to speak about for a moment if I could.
We are living in a day when the person and power and purpose of Christ is debated – if not all together ignored. But these passages speak to what God has planned, what He has effectuated, in and through His Only Son for the rest of the world, and the sum of it all, according to all, amounts to Unsearchable riches of Christ.
In the Greek this means there is no possibility of calculating what God has accomplished for the world in and through His Son.
The Greek word is not found anywhere else in the New Testament except for Romans 11:33, where it is translated, “past finding out.”
So we live in an age where Christ is dismissed and yet in the scheme of the eternities, the ages and the economies God has established Himself, the depth of the riches in Christ cannot be tallied or fathomed.
It, and He, is wholly incomprehensible, He cannot be completely appreciated as God has done it all in and through and by Him, Christ Jesus.
And this was His plan from the start. Paul appears to lack the words to show His appreciation to be involved in this plan as it was unfolding, but his admiration is present in the words. So after saying in verse 8:
“Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;”
9 And . . . (Paul’s job or call is) to make all men (all of God’s creations) see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:
Now remember, even though I push this fact, that prior to Paul (with the exception of Peter and his opening the door to the Gentiles via Cornelius and his family) but prior to Paul the revelations and plans and works of God had been confined to the Jews.
Now, though Paul he was to “make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery which from the beginning of the world has been hid in God who created all things by Jesus Christ.”
What is the mystery? We read it described in verse six where Paul wrote:
6 That . . . the Gentiles . . . should be fellow-heirs . . . and of the same body . . . and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:
Paul here tells us that this mystery or rather, “the fellowship of this mystery” was “from the beginning of the world hid in God” who “created all things by Jesus Christ.”
And in this passage we are brought to an interesting impasse.
The phrase, “fellowship of this mystery” is translated from the Greek term koinonia – were we get the word communion, and coitus – as it literally means the unity together of two (or more) in one.
The word oikonomea, of course, means house order, and from it we get economy, governance and the like.
Some translations use koinonia here as their Greek source word and others say that the term is Oikonomia. And it all depends on which source material you prefer to trust.
Bottom line, the error is probably at the feet of the transcriber but we are still not sure as to meaning or interpretation – is Paul talking about
“the fellowship of this mystery” of the Gentiles coming into the Kingdom OR is Paul talking about “the administration or economy of this mystery of the Gentiles coming into the Kingdom?”
Is his job to enlighten all the world about the fellowship or about the dispensation?
I don’t rightly know – though we could make some assertions, can’t we? All I can say to you is some of your translations are going to go one way and others will go another and somewhere in the middle lies the truth.
We COULD spend some time on the differences but to me it would be pointless as we don’t know which word ought to be used.
All we can say is that Paul was the apostles who was to take a preach to help all men see what is either “the fellowship of the mystery” (between all Jews and all Gentiles) or to help all men see “what is the dispensation of the ministry” (where the Jews and Gentiles would come together as one).
But Paul does add which:
was “from the beginning of the world hid in God” who “created all things by Jesus Christ.”
And again, we are presented with more that God has done by, for, and through Jesus Christ – a theme that is woven through the entire history of God working his plan for us through Christ Jesus.
It is plain that God has both kept these things hidden from the rest of the world until now, according to Paul, that they have been, “hid in God,” and then Paul adds:
“Who created all things by Jesus Christ.”
Or did he add this?
The fact that God certainly created all things by Jesus Christ is manifest in plenty of other passages but there is question as to whether this is one of them.
There is an obvious resemblance between the passage and that found in Colossians 1:15-16 but just to let you know this addition is lacking in the Vulgate, the Syriac, the Coptic, and in several of the ancient MSS.
Some therefore believe that a scribe inserted the line to parallel the content found in Colossians 1:16 – which could be true – but the fact remains John 1:3, Hebrews 1:2 and Colossians 1:16 all affirm the doctrine.
Of course, I see this teaching as nothing more than God speaking all things into existence and His actual living word becoming flesh as Jesus Christ. But others add more flavor to the story having God the Father command God the Son to go and create all things – which He does as commanded. But now Paul adds something to verse 9 saying:
10 To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,
THE RSV puts it this way:
“that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places.”
And this line takes us to a place that is really quite remarkable as Paul seems to be saying that in and through all of this, God has made known to all heavenly principalities and powers – to all angels and demons – to every source of light and dark, His manifest, multi-colored wisdom and He has done this in and through the ecclesia or the Church.
We tend to think that God has illustrated his multi-colored wisdom (I use this phrase to describe the wisdom of God because that is really what the Greek implies) in and through creation alone – the universe, the sun, moon and stars or the animal or plant life here on earth.
That is not what Paul says here. We might be inclined to believe that God let His wisdom shine forward to all the powers in the Universe in and through the introduction of the law, or the prophets, or the Tanakh, or the Miracles of the Old Testament.
Some might suppose that the full revelation of the glory of God in all of its colors could be seen in and through the birth, life, death and resurrection of His Son.
But this is not what Paul says here.
There was a planned time and place where God would ultimately reveal to all of the highest principalities and powers in heaven through something else – and Paul names it here – by the Church.
Behind this established body of believers, redeemed, glorified, and made the Sons and Daughters of God almighty, by the incarnation of the Redeemer to save it; by the mercy shown to it; by the wise arrangement made to recover all who are His from the effects of the fall; and by all the graces and beauties which that redeemed church would forevermore evidence in heaven and on earth, God ultimately reveals the end-game of all He has planned, or what scripture calls, “the manifold wisdom of God or more literally, the much-variegated hyper diversified wisdom of God.
In this description there is a “beautiful and well-ordered variety of dispensations” orbiting towards and around the church, all of which tend to evince the wisdom of God over the eons of time, working toward bringing about its ultimate purpose and existence.
And from this I would like to sort of try and illustrate the parts of Gods’ plan made manifest.
Creation – of all things
Choice given to human beings
A Fall
The Nation of Israel
The Law/Prophets/Temple
Priesthood/blood/ etc.
The Messiah – the Word made flesh
The life, death and resurrection of,
The ascension of
The Apostles going out to
The warnings, the signs to the Church
The return of Christ taking His bride
The End of that age
The establishment of the New Jerusalem
The New Heaven and the New Earth
The eternally increasing Kingdom
In the redemption of the church, there is not merely one form or one phase of wisdom. It is wisdom, ever-varying, ever-beautiful, every increasing.
There was wisdom manifested when the plan was formed in God; wisdom in the determination of the Redeemer; wisdom in the incarnation; wisdom in the atonement; wisdom in the means of renewing the heart by the Spirit through faith, and wisdom in the sanctifying of the individual soul.
All of it culminating and playing a key role in the wisdom of the Church or those who make up His eternal Kingdom.
I think the important thing to know at this point about the Wisdom of God in Christ is that at no time is it static, but it is an every changing eternally wondrous morphing colorful expression of God and His love in and through Christ and His disciples.
In the age of the Apostles it was one hue and presentation – in the age of the Church/Bride it was another. And subsequently, like God and His people, this church as she grows continues to reflect and reveal the wisdom and knowledge of God going back to time immemorial, with Paul adding at verse 11.
11 According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:
With the better Greek reading:
According to the purpose of the ages which God has purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Which once again affirms that God is working in and through various dispensations or ages which He has constructed and purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
When everything is said and done relative to Paul’s use of this word, the best meaning of the passage seems to be “that God had formed a plan which was eternal in reference to the salvation of men; and that that plan had reference to the Lord Jesus; and that it was now executed by the gospel.”
From this it is impossible to get away from the biblical idea that God had or has a plan.
We don’t speak too much of God’s plan in Christianity – though it was the subject of much conversation for those who were ever LDS.
The concept is difficult to embrace for the simple reason it that if He were to have a plan we are automatically brought into the beginning of something relative to Him – and for an eternal being this gets dicey.
But it is affirmed in scripture that there is a purpose and plan on His part – even if we impute planning into them. For instance:
Jeremiah 29:11 – For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
Proverbs 3:5-6 – Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
Romans 8:28 – And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to [his] purpose.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-22 – To every [thing there is] a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
Proverbs 16:9 – A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps.
Jeremiah 1:5 – Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, [and] I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.
Romans 12:2 – And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what [is] that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
Psalms 27:14 – Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.
Psalms 32:8 – I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.
Isaiah 40:31 – But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew [their] strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; [and] they shall walk, and not faint.
1 Corinthians 2:9 – But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
Proverbs 19:21 – [There are] many devices in a man’s heart; nevertheless the counsel of the LORD, that shall stand.
From the idea that He has a plan comes the thought that His plan must then be eternal – as He is eternal – or, in other words, He has always had the purposes and plans of His in mind.
At this point we are lead to wonder about the fact that Paul adds Jesus Christ, and His participation in all of these things that God has purposed from the beginning and I am left to wonder the following out loud:
If or since God has always eternally had the same plan, and if it included the creation of human beings in His image, and if with that plan and purpose there was always the fact that human beings would fall or rebel or fail, then it seems to me that from the very beginning, from the very foundation of all things, God had Christ in mind, the Human Messiah to save the worlds He would make with the creations too, insomuch that when God first considered or planned creating, God also considered or planned on there being a Savior to do what our Savior had done. From the foundation of the world, from before all things.
That, in fact, IF there was to be a creation of human beings then there would by necessity need to be a Savior of Human beings – from the get go. And this reality establishes the fact that God did not in fact make the world and needed a savior but that God was the Savior and needed a world. From the get go.
And for this reason the scripture says that all things were made by Him and FOR Him – that in this expression of creation as creator God was able to fully express His ultimate love to us.
This may be why we read in Colossians 1:16
“For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: 17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.”
Is this a separate son-God, like the Trinity describes a separate Spirit God in the Holy Spirit, or is this God Himself, and taking Himself – His Word – and becoming Man? Opinions vary. But one thing we can say for sure according to scripture is that
the Word of God was made flesh
that the fullness of God dwelled within him
that all things were made by Him AND
that all things were made FOR Him.
I suggest that it is safe to say that when it came to creation, humans, the plan and Man, that all things were made in reference to the being who would be called, Jesus Christ.
And not only did the eternal plan of God have respect to him, it was going to be executed by his coming and work among men, and it would continue in and through Him with all things being given Him by His Father so that God could and would be all in all.
And he wraps this stream of thought up with verse 12 saying:
12 In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.
Prior to Christ there was apprehension in coming to God for man – there was no boldness and there was very limited access.
But in and through Christ God has opened the way for human beings to come boldly before the throne of God and to have full access (with confidence) “by the faith we have in His Son.”
This was in the plan from the very start. This view fortifies what the writer of Hebrews says in 4:15
“For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
Bottom line – we may now come confidently and boldly to God’s throne of grace for mercy in the name of the Redeemer.
This is the value in having Him as our Savior, Lord and King. We look to Him, we believe on Him and His finished works, and we trust in His shed blood on our behalf.
Other creations – void of Christ in their life – appear to maintain the terror of approaching the living God as they lack this bold confidence bestowed on us by faith and devotion.
And Paul brings all of this around to his present situation (meaning, in his being a prisoner in Rome) and says
13 Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.
It was natural that the Ephesians or other Christians would be distressed over Paul’s mistreatment on their behalf (meaning for sharing the Gospel with the World) and here he tells them not to faint (not to grow weary) at these trials he experiences on their behalf.
That the suffering he experiences was for their glory – which is another way of saying
These sufferings will someday lend to your welfare as a Christian in the Kingdom for which we wait and so I suffer them on your behalf. And then he wraps the chapter up with some absolutely profound words that speak directly to all that exists in and through Christ Jesus, saying:
Ephesians 3:14 For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
15 Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,
16 That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;
17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
18 May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;
19 And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.
20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,
21 Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.
And we will cover these verses in full next week.
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