Ephesians 3v1-13

The Mystery of Christ

Have you ever met a person who is constantly interrupting himself? He can

never finish his train of thought. He can hardly even finish a sentence.

And so you scared to even ask this person a question. Even how was your day?

Because you know: in a couple of minutes he’ll be way off topic. And he

probably wont even remember what you asked him.

It can be frustrating listening to someone like that. Especially if he’s a preacher.

You trying to follow him. But he keeps digressing from the topic. He never

seems to get to the point.

Well the apostle Paul (the author of this book of Ephesians) is a very logical

writer. He builds his argument and his case logically. And it’s a wonderful

experience when you take the time to follow his logic carefully. And to think

his thoughts after him. Often his arguments will blow your mind!

But having said that, in our passage this morning, Paul interrupts himself. He

fails to finish his sentence. He seems to go on a digression.

And you can see that in verse 1. He starts to say something. Verse 1

“For this reason, I Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles

But then he interrupts himself.

“– Surely you have heard about the administration of God’s grace that was

given me for you.”

You see, he doesn’t finish his sentence he begins in verse 1.

And so clearly there’s something in that opening verse that stops Paul in his

tracks. And makes him say: “hang on! I need to unpack what I’v just said before

I continue”

And you can see what that is if you jump down to verse 13. What is it that

causes Paul to stop and go on this digression in verses 2-12?

Look at verse 13. notice the link between verse 1 and verse 13.

“I ask you, therefore, not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you,

which are your glory.”

You see in verse 1 Paul refers to himself as a prisoner of Christ Jesus for the

sake of the Gentiles. And suddenly that makes him concerned. It suddenly

occurs to him. This imprisonment. This suffering that I’m going through. It

might be a discouragement to my readers. I need to unpack this. And so he

goes on this “digression”. And he comes back to his point in verse 13. “I ask

you therefore not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you.”

And so actually this passage isn’t a digression. Paul isn’t like those preachers

who keep forgetting what they speaking about and who never gets to his

point. Paul does return to his point. He has a purpose in this so-called

“digression”. And even more than that, this actually shows a wonderful truth

about Paul. Paul has a pastoral heart. His main concern is the spiritual

condition of his people’s hearts. And so he’s willing to break a “pure” writing

style in order to deal with his people’s hearts.

And it’s a good reminder for those of us who do preach or write Christian

material. More important than using eloquent language or excellent grammar

or pure speech, is the encouragement and growth of the people to whom

we’re speaking. That should be our goal. We want our people to be

encouraged.

And so Paul’s happy to interrupt himself. He doesn’t want his readers to be

discouraged. And we need to think about why the suffering of Paul might bring

discouragement?

And its not that hard to work out.

Remember what Paul’s been talking about in this letter. Over and over again,

he’s been telling these Christians how blessed they are in Christ.

Chapter 1 - uv got every spiritual blessing.

Chapter 2 - you were dead in their sins. But uv been made alive.

In Christ uv got power and freedom and access to God. Every spiritual blessing.

That’s what Paul’s been saying.

But now suddenly in verse 1 Paul describes himself as a prisoner for Christ.

And so the Ephesians might be tempted to ask: Isn’t this a contradiction? How

does this fit in with Paul’s argument that we are blessed? Here’s this man

saying: we’ve got every blessing in Christ. And yet he himself is locked up and

suffering as a prisoner. That doesn’t sound very blessed to me.

I mean it almost sounds like those word of faith preachers who promise

healing. Healing is available to all of us in Jesus’ Name. But then next thing you

hear they themselves are sick. Or they themselves have had an accident.

I couldn’t resist showing you the following clip exposing two such preachers.

I think it’s good to expose false teachers like this. They do lots of damage to

the gospel.

But here’s the question for us: is Paul doing the same thing?

How can he be proclaiming freedom and power and blessing while at the same

he’s locked up and suffering in a prison.

And of course the blessings Paul’s been talking about are not physical earthly

blessings. They spiritual blessings. As he said in chapter 1 verse 3. We have

been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms.

And so never does Paul suggest that these blessings will remove us from

suffering in this world. In fact, Paul is very clear in all his writings that suffering

should be expected for Christians.

2 Timothy 3 verse 12 says

“Everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.”

And that’s what he wants to emphasize here again. Don’t be surprized or

discouraged by my sufferings. This is part of God’s plan. God’s servants must

suffer.

And by the way, we face the same temptation to be discouraged by suffering

today. There are many books and churches presenting the Christian gospel

without the call to suffer. Their message is all about having a fulfilled life now.

How to be successful now. Living your best life now.

And so when you listening to that kind of message regularly and then you get

sick or tired

Or if someone uv been praying for dies.

Or if you face some kind of opposition for the gospel. Then it’s very tempting

to be discouraged.

It doesn’t seem to fit with the gospel uv been hearing.

And so we need to hear the true gospel that includes suffering. Its about a

suffering Saviour who calls us to join him in His suffering. That’s the call of the

gospel? To take up your cross and follow Jesus. We need to be ready to suffer.

And in fact, Paul goes even further than that.

He doesn’t only say: Suffering is part of God’s plan. There’s nothing we can do

about it. We’ve just got to grit our teeth and endure it. And try as hard as we

can not to be discouraged.

No. look at verse 13 again. He doesn’t just say. Don’t be discouraged. He says:

“I ask you not to be discouraged because of my sufferings, which are your

glory.”

In other words, his suffering isn’t just something negative that needs to be

endured. His suffering is something glorious. Its something to worth rejoicing

about. And its accomplishing glory for his readers.

And I think we can understand this when we think about stories of the

suffering church. When you read about the suffering of other Christians for the

gospel. Young children who would rather have their heads chopped off by Isis

rather than deny Jesus. Old men like Polycarp who were prepared to be burnt

rather than deny Jesus. Missionaries like Jim Elliot who were willing to be killed

in order to take the gospel to the Auca Indians.

Those kind of stories are glorious. They’re inspiring. And they actually benefit

you. They make you more committed to Jesus. You say: what a precious cause!

Surely this is a cause woth living for. Its even a cause worth dying for.

And that’s what Paul wants his suffering to do for his readers. He wants them

to look at his suffering. And not to be discouraged but to think: why is Paul

suffering? What’s the cause for which he’s willing to suffer. He wants them to

see what a glorious cause it is and to be more committed to that cause.

And so that’s what I wanna spend the rest of our time speaking about this

morning. What’s the cause for which Paul is willing to suffer?

And I can summarize it in five words.

“it’s the revelation of God’s mystery”

That’s what verses 2-12 are all about. I mean just look at how many times the

word mystery occurs. Its in verse 3. Its in verse 4. Its in verse 6. Verse 9. That’s

what this passage is all about. The mystery of Christ and how its being

revealed.

And there’s a progression in this passage. The mystery is revealed in three

stages.

Firstly, in verses 2-6 the mystery revealed by God to Paul.

Secondly, in verses 7-9 the mystery proclaimed by Paul to the nations

And thirdly, in verses 10-12, the mystery is revealed by the church to the

heavenly beings.

And so John Stott refers to this as a circle of divine communication.

The mystery is revealed from God in heaven to Paul. Then from Paul to all the

nations. Then from the church (made up of many nations) the mystery is

revealed back to the angelic beings in heaven.

It’s a circle of divine communication.

So I want us to look at each of these stages.

Firstly the mystery revealed by God to Paul

Now this is a very important point. Because some people misinterpret the

word mystery. When they hear the word mystery, they think of something

vague or mystical. Its not something that you can understand. Its not

something you can really know. You can’t express it in human language.

But clearly that’s not what Paul means by mystery. Because here he speaks

about it as something that’s been revealed.

Look at verse 2.

“Surely you have heard about the administration of God’s grace that was given

to me for you, that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have

already written briefly. In reading this, then you will be able to understand my

insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to men in other

generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles

and prophets.”

You see, God has revealed the mystery to the apostles and prophets. And by

the way that’s not talking about OT prophets. The mystery was hidden to

them. Its talking about the New Testament apostles and prophets. God

revealed the mystery to them. And we have their message recorded for us in

the Bible. And so the mystery isn’t something that’s hidden or concealed

anymore. It has been revealed.

And in verse 9 Paul can speak about making this mystery plain to everyone.

And in Colossians 4 verse 4 he speaks about proclaiming this mystery clearly.

And so of course there are things about God that are beyond our

understanding and that we’ll never understand fully in this life. But that’s not

what Paul is talking about here. Paul is talking about the accomplishment of

God’s plan in Christ. And this is something that can now be clearly and plainly

known. Its been revealed to the New testament apostles and prophets. And

they have recorded it for us in the Bible.

And then in verse 6 Paul tells us what this mystery is.1

look at chapter 3 verse 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.”

This is God’s mystery. It’s the fact that Jews and Gentiles have been gathered

together in Christ.

And so I wanna ask you: is this how you think about the Christian message?

Let me quote from John Stott.

“The gospel which some of us proclaim is much too individualistic. “Christ died

for me” we say, and then sing of heaven: “Oh, that glory will be for me”. Both

affirmations are true. “The Son of God … loved me and gave Himself for me.”

The gospel does promise ‘glory’ for believers in heaven. But this is far from

being the full gospel. For it is evident from Ephesians 3 that the full gospel

concerns both Christ and the ‘mystery’ of Christ. The good news which Paul

preached is that He died and rose again not only to save sinners like me but

also to create a single new humanity; not only to redeem us from sin but also

1

to adopt us into God’s family; not only to reconcile us to God but also to

reconcile us to one another. Thus the church is an integral part of the gospel.

The gospel is good news of a new society as well as of a new life.”

I think Stott is right. We often far to individualistic. We need to value the

church.

But again we need to ask: in what sense is this a mystery? Why is it a mystery

that Jews and Gentiles are united in Christ?

And the best illustration I can think of are the mystery programs we watch on

TV. I dunno what mystery programs you wach? The good wife or Murder she

wrote. My wife and I enjoy Castle.

But in these programs they start with a murder. And at first its not clear who

the murderer is. And the whole program is all about how the detective

examines the evidence and unravels the clues. And works it all out. In order to

find the murderer. And so by the end its all clear. There’s no more doubt. It’s

plain to see who committed the murder.

That’s what mystery programs are all about. Something that’s hidden and in

the end it gets revealed.

And in a similar way, God’s plan to save the nations in Christ was hidden in the

Old Testament. The clues were all there. There lots of references in the OT to

God’s concern for the nations. There lots of predictions about the coming of

the Christ. But exactly how those plans would be fulfilled was hidden. And only

now, through the coming of Jesus into the world, has this mystery been

revealed. What was hidden has now been revealed. In that sense, it’s a

mystery.

And then secondly, we’ve seen the mystery revealed from God to Paul

Now secondly, we see the mystery revealed from Paul to the nations.

And once again, Paul breaks the rules of English grammar. If this was an English

essay, it would be full of red marks. There’d be a big cross through verse 7. And

in big red letters would be written the word tautology!

And if ur an English boffin you’ll know what that means. Tautology is when you

say the same thing over and over again using different words. Its bad style. It’s

repetitive. But that’s exactly what Paul does in verse 7. He uses the words gift

and grace and given. Those words all mean basically the same thing.

And so Paul could’v just said, I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of

God through the working of His power.

But no. Paul really wants to emphasize this privilege. And so he uses all three

words. I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace that’s been

given to me through the working of His power.

And then he repeats it again in verse 8.

Although I am less than the least of all God’s people, this grace was given me.

And so clearly Paul is just blown away by God’s grace. And you can see what

this amazing gift is in verse 8. Its to preach to the Gentiles, the unsearchable

riches of Christ, and to make plain to everyone the administration of this

mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, Who created all things.”

You see, Not only has Paul received the knowledge of this mystery. But also

he’s been given the privilege of proclaiming it.

And so I wonder whether we think of this as a privilege?

To be able to go and talk to your friend about Jesus. Do we see that as a

privilege and a gift from God? Clearly Paul did.

And the reason Paul saw it as such a great privilege was because he recognized

the value of what he was offering.

According to verse 8 when you proclaim Christ to someone ur proclaiming to

them unsearchable riches

And if you wanna know what those riches are. Just look back over the first two

chapters of Ephesians. Forgiveness and power and a future inheritance and

spiritual life and freedom from the devil. Those are the precious treasures

we’ve been seeing.

And so even though some people might make you feel like you

inconveniencing them and bothering them when you speak to them about

Jesus. You need to know: That’s not what u doing. You see, you not like a

salesman pressurizing people into buying your product. Thats how you might

be viewed. But that’s not what you doing. Ur offering people the greatest

treasure in the world.2

2 And we need to remember that. Because the people we speak to might make us feel like we inconveniencing them. Or like we wasting their time. Or like we offending them. We might be tempted to feel that we are burdening people rather than benefitting them.

But

As John Stott puts it:

“Paul was convinced, as we must be, that Christ never impoverishes those who

put their trust in Him, but always immeasurably enriches them.”

So on the ninth of December last year a Gauteng resident purchased a winning

ticket for the powerball jackpot winning 61.2 million rand, making him the

biggest prizewinner in powerball history.

And so let me ask you: do you wish you could be this man? I’m sure we all do.

But now if you had to choose. Either or. Would you rather be this man and

who’s just won 61 million rand? Or would you rather have Jesus Christ?

Ask yourself that as a serious question. There’s lots you could do with 61

million.

Would you rather have 61 million rand or Jesus Christ?

And if deep in your heart you’d have to say that 61 million rand is more

attractive to you. Well its good that you recognize that. But then that is a clear

proof that you haven’t understood Jesus Christ. You don’t know Him. Uv got no

idea. You don’t know how valuable He is. If you did, you would never choose

61 million rand is not worth 1 cent in comparison to Christ.

And if you disagree with me. And you insist that this world is what you wanna

live for. The treasures of this world: money and pleasure and fame and

success. If that’s what you gona seek.

Then here’s my advice: You better go flat our for those things.

Make as much money as you can. Get the biggest house. Buy the fanciest car.

Live in as much luxury and self-indulgence as possible. Pursue success and

pleasure and happiness. Just go for it.

Because that’s all you gona get. That’s it. That’s your reward in full. And so you

better make it count. For after 60 or 70 years. Or whenever you die. from then

on you will suffer loss forever. And so you better make it count now.

But those of us who have Christ can afford to lose what we have now. We can

afford to be thrown in prison and to suffer for the gospel. Because we know

that we have unsearchable riches forever.

And so I hope you can see how crazy it is to live for this world. What a crazy

investment: to live for short term pleasures now rather than unsearchable

riches forever. I wanna urge you not to be so foolish. Treasure Christ.

And if you do know Christ, then will you proclaim Him to others? Even though

they might not appreciate it, You need to remember what a wonderful and

precious thing ur doing. It’s a gift and a privilege to be able to do it. We need to

value evangelism.

And then thirdly, we’ve seen the mystery revealed from God to Paul. We’ve

seen the mystery proclaimed by Paul to the nations. Now finally, we see the

mystery revealed by the church to the heavenly beings.

You see, as the mystery of Christ gets proclaimed to the nations. And as

different people receive that message.

Then they become joined together in Christ. They form the church. The church

gets built. A multi-racial, multi-national group united in Christ. And look at

what the church does according to verse 10.

“Gods intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God

might be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms,”

And we know from chapter 6 verse 12 that these rulers and authorities are

spiritual powers. They heavenly beings.

And so can you picture it? The angels in heaven. Sitting down and debating: is

God really wise or not?

And God turns to them and says: Dyou wanna see a picture of my wisdom?

Dyou wanna see a real-life demonstration?

And the angels say yes please. Show us what uv done. And maybe they expect

him to point out the galaxies and the stars and the planets in space

Or maybe the incredible power and beauty of nature.

Or maybe the complexity of a human cell.

But that’s not where God points them. Instead he points them to the church.

This is where the manifold wisdom of God can be seen.

You see, its in the church that uv got a picture of God’s great plan: uv got

people from all nations: Jews and Gentiles. Blacks and whites. Zulus and

Xhosa’s. Tswana’s and Pedi’s. Zambian and Malawian. English and Afrikaans.

All brought together and united in Christ.

And the source of our unity is in verse 12. This is what unites us as the church.

Verse 12.

“In Christ and through faith in Him we may approach God with freedom and

confidence.”

You see, like we said last week ,the church isn’t just a group of people trying to

get on with each other in spite of our differences. There’s something deep that

unites us. It’s the fact that we each have a personal relationship with God. This

it the source of our horizontal peace with one another. It’s the fact that we all

have vertical peace with God. We can approach Him. We can have a

relationship with Him. Even though we are sinners. We can still come near to

Him with confidence through faith in Christ. And so this is how you can test

whether u really are part of the church. Or if you really just an outsider sitting

here every week. Can you say that verse 12 is true for you? Do you have a

personal relationship with God? Can you approach God with freedom and

confidence through faith in Christ?

And so once again, I wanna urge you to appreciate the church. Not the

building. But the people. Can you see how crucial the church is in God’s plan?

Not only are we God’s temple where we can come to experience God at work

and to worship Him and to get to know Him better. But we are also the

instrument for displaying God’s wisdom. We convince the angelic beings that

God is wise. We bring Him glory.

Surely, then its dishonouring to God when we try to live a lone ranger type of

Christianity. where we ignore other believers. Where we ignore the church.

And try to survive on our own. We need to value the church.

And so we’ve seen the divine communication of God. From God to Paul. From

Paul to the nations. And from the multi-national church to the angelic beings.

And so in verse 13 Paul concludes his “so called digression”. Verse 13 “I ask you

therefore not to be discouraged because of my sufferings, which are your

glory?”

You see Paul might be suffering in prison. But not for a moment does he feel

self-pity. Not for a moment does he feel hard done by. In fact he considers

himself to be the most privileged man in the world. He has insight into God’s

mystery. He has the privilege of proclaiming this mystery. And more than that,

he is building God’s church to display God’s wisdom. What a glorious cause!

And I wanna ask you: is this a cause for which you would be willing to suffer?

Would you be willing to suffer for this message? The mystery of Christ

And would you be willing to suffer for the church? The place where God’s

wisdom is displayed.

This is a glorious cause. And Paul shows us its worth suffering for.

Lets pray