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Ephesians 3:1-13
! Introduction
Many years ago there were only two ways to communicate with people.
You went to their place and talked to them or you sent them a letter.
Today there is no end of ways – letter still works, but most people prefer phone, texting, Facebook, Twitter, email and sometimes they even talk to people face to face.
What makes it more complicated is that everyone has their favorite way.
With some people the best way to get them a message is by Facebook.
Others you have to text, others you have to phone.
Some have an answering machine and some don't.
Some only have a cell phone and some have no computer.
In spite of a dozen different ways of getting a message out, we don't always get the message through to the intended person.
However, when there is a very important message that we need to get to someone, we can usually find a way.
I have sometimes thought about this when we have gone on a canoe trip.
There is no cell service out there, but if the situation was serious enough and you needed to get hold of someone, it could be done.
If a message is important enough there is usually a way of communicating that message.
Over the last seven times that I have preached, we have examined all the wonderful things that Jesus has done for us.
This is a message that is important and one that urgently needs to be communicated.
Ephesians 3:1-13 speaks about the message God has for us to proclaim and about the need to proclaim it.
In this section Paul shares his personal testimony about the call God had on his life.
As we listen in on the conversation, we can learn many things about the message and the importance of making it known.
The passage begins with the words "This is the reason" and then we notice in verse 14 that we have similar words when it says, "For this reason I bow my knees before the Father."
Paul's intention was to begin a prayer, but with the mention of the fact that he was a "prisoner for Christ Jesus" he went off on a tangent about how God has worked in and through him.
This testimony provides a great lesson on proclaiming the gospel.
I trust that as we examine these words, we will see that we have a message worth proclaiming and we will see the urgency of proclaiming the message.
!
I. God's Message
!! A. A Mystery Revealed
God's message is introduced in this text as a mystery.
But it is really more of a secret that has been revealed.
The message about the work of God is not something that has been clearly known in all times past.
There was a time when people didn't know about what God was doing.
Even though He revealed His plan in the Old Testament, it was not clearly understood at that time.
But the secret is not a mystery any more.
Paul has already written about this in chapter 1 when he talked about God's plan and now mentions again that God has now made this secret clearly known.
Paul himself discovered the secret of God's plan through a revelation by the Holy Spirit.
In Galatians 1:11-24, Paul describes how that mystery was made known to Him.
It began when a light from heaven shone down on him on the road to Damascus and it was also revealed as he spent time with God.
!! B. Good News
The message which God has made known is good news.
That is what the word "gospel," which we read in verse 6, means.
And what good news it is!
It is described in verse 8 as the "news of the boundless riches of Christ."
Carla read me a story from the news this week about a man who was given $20 by a young person because he believed that he was a homeless person.
There was a picture of the man and he could easily have been mistaken for one but as much as he tried to explain to the young person that he was not, the young person insisted that he take the $20.
The man did and because he didn't really feel he deserved it, he added another $20 to it and gave the $40 to Siloam Mission.
What a great story about a gift of grace.
The story of the "news of the boundless riches of Christ" is even greater.
It is a story of a gift given to those who truly did need it.
It is the story of life given to those who were dead.
It is the story about making those who were not God's people into those who now are the children of God.
It is the story of forgiveness given to people who were terrible sinners.
As we have examined the story over the last week, we have certainly seen that it is a story about the boundless riches of Christ.
It has taken us 7 messages, the equivalent of about 31~/2 hours, and we know that we have only scratched the surface of what God has done for us.
Truly the message God has for people is good news.
It is "boundless riches" for people who are in desperate poverty.
It is also good news because it is a message for all people.
Last week we talked about how the gospel message is also for the Gentiles.
Once again Paul speaks about how the good news is for Gentiles.
In verse 6 he indicates that the Gentiles now have become "fellow heirs, members of the same body and sharers in the promise of Christ."
This is good news for us as well because as Gentiles we know that this is for us.
!! C. God's Plan
This good news is also described in verse 9 as "the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things."
God, who is the creator of all things, has a plan.
In the past that plan was slowly revealed through the words of the prophets.
Now, in these last days, that plan has been fully and clearly revealed.
Sometimes we may get to the place where we think of God's plan as something very simplistic.
If we reduce the plan of God to the four spiritual laws, we are in danger of minimizing just how great it is.
I am not against the four spiritual laws, but they are just one way of looking at what God's plan is all about and only include part of God's plan.
Listen to how verse 10 describes God's plan when it speaks of the "wisdom of God in its rich variety."
Once again we have the word "rich" but it is a different word than the word "rich" in verse 8.
There the word used is one that often refers to wealth.
In verse 10 it is a word that could be translated "many colored" to describe the many layered abundance of God's plan.
It is a plan that can be described as salvation or redemption or reconciliation or justification or mercy or forgiveness and many other ways.
What God has planned is truly amazing, it is rich, it is varied and it arises out of the amazing love which God has for all those whom He has created.
!! D. Through Christ Jesus
So the message of God is a wonderful word about what God has done and once again we need to take note that it is centered in one person and that is the person of Jesus Christ.
We have already taken note of the many times that the phrase "in Christ" appears in Ephesians.
Once again the text points to Jesus.
The message which God wants everyone to know is not a message about a list of rules or a guide for good living.
It is a message about Jesus Christ.
In verse 4 he describes it as "the mystery of Christ."
In verse 6 he speaks about the promise which the Gentiles now share "in Christ Jesus."
In verse 8 we have already spoken about God's "boundless riches" but take note that they are "of Christ."
Verse 11 mentions that God's purpose has been carried out "in Christ Jesus our Lord."
It is very important for us to understand this.
God has revealed a message to the world.
The message is good news which is carried out according to God's plan and the center of the message of God is that it is a message about Jesus.
It is about Jesus because it is in Jesus alone that we can be forgiven, in Jesus alone that we have power to obey God's way and in Jesus alone that we have the hope of eternal life.
The message of God is about making Jesus known.
If we call ourselves Christian we must identify with Christ.
!
II.
Must Be Made Known
As we have already noted, this passage is about the commission Paul has been given to make this message known.
In verse 2 Paul speaks about "the commission of God's grace that was given me for you."
Then we read in verse 7, "Of this gospel I have become a servant according to the gift of God's grace…" Very early in Paul's Christian life, he knew that God had called him into ministry.
When God sent Ananias to speak to Paul in Damascus, He already revealed to Ananias that Paul was going to be a missionary.
Paul had a strong sense of awareness of this calling.
The word for servant that is used here is a word that is behind our word "economy."
"We might call him an 'economist of grace' or, with Letty Russell, the “housekeeper” in God’s household…" Paul saw himself as a steward given the responsibility of making the gospel known.
He had an obligation and was very much aware of the importance of making the message known.
As we read through this text it becomes very clear that this idea of making the message known is important.
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