Ephesians 3:7-13 I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace given me through the working of his power. 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, and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things. 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, according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence. I ask you, therefore, not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory.
In the above focus, Paul tells us that the manifold wisdom of God should be revealed to all people through the church of the living God. The mystery of God hidden from the beginning of time is that the rightness with the Creator of mankind comes THROUGH AND IN CHRIST JESUS THE LORD. God’s eternal purpose of redeeming man unto himself has been accomplished through Jesus Christ on the cross. Now, in him (Jesus Christ) and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence. The scriptures tell us that we can enter boldly into the very presence of a perfect Godbecause of the price that Jesus paid for us. Because of his work on the cross, we are worthy to know God as our Father. This redemptive plan of God is the glorious mystery that the prophets could see only darkly. Now Paul exposes the Gentiles to this wonderful plan of redemption. He, a persecutor of the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, has been called to reveal the plan ofGod to all people. He who saw all converts to Christianity as apostates becomes a dedicated follower of Jesus Christ, preaching his name to all people. Jesus' plan for this rebel shook Paul to the core of his being. ‘The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know his will and to see the Righteous One and to hear words from his mouth.You will be his witness to all people of what you have seen and heard.And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name.’ (Acts 22:14-16). As Paul relates to the Ephesians, this call of God on his life put him in great peril, both from the Jews and the Gentiles. To the Jews he was an apostate, to the Greeks he was a madman who was trying to destroy their worshipping of idols. In the Gentile cities he was stoned, beaten with rods, and whipped many times. The Jews from Asia traveled from city to city, confronting Paul with threats and violence. We see after Paul was accosted in Jerusalem by the Jews from Asia who had riled up the crowd against him, Paul attempts to defend himself to the angry mob. He tells them his story about his conversion on the road to Damascus. The crowd is attentive until he says, “Then the Lord said to me, ‘Go; I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’ ”The crowd listened to Paul until he said this. Then they raised their voices and shouted, “Rid the earth of him!He’s not fit to live!” (Acts 22:21-22) At that time they boldly and viciously try to kill him. Even after the commander of the Roman army intervenes in the commotion by arresting Paul, the Jews were still attempting to kill Paul. As the soldiers were taking Paul back to the garrison, they had to lift Paul on their shoulders to keep the mob from murdering him. The mob was so great he had to be carried by the soldiers. The crowd that followed kept shouting, “Get rid of him!” (Acts 21:33-36) Now as he is writing this letter to the Ephesian church who were aware of Paul’s troubled life, even now in prison, he tells them, I ask you, therefore, not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory. To propagate the plan of God to redeem all of mankind from their slavery to sin, was for Paul like a woman in childbirth, great pain would be involved in this new birth of life for all people. Paul was the tip of the spear in spreading this Good News to mankind.
The Good News that Paul was exposing to the world was centered on the transformation of people’s hearts, delivering them from slaves to sin to righteousness in God. For Paul the message is the boundless riches of Christ. Jesus and his work moves us to the Holy of Holies. Christ tore down the curtain in the tabernacle between the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies. The Holy Place symbolizes the works of men to serve God, incense burning and the sprinkling of blood to appease a righteous God. But the Holy of Holies is not the work of men, but is where God dwells. Jesus obliterates this partition between God and man. The curtain is torn down because Jesus completes the works of men to appease a Holy God. He satisfied every requirement of the law and became the perfect sacrifice to ransom the souls of men from ungodliness. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain,where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. (Hebrews 6:19-20) Paul suffered much in delivering this Good News to the Ephesians, but he is totally satisfied with his life, for he knows it was poured out as a drink offering to God. Now in Rome, he writes the Ephesians to keep working in love to serve all people. He knows that the deeper life IN CHRIST consists of fulfilling Jesus’ command of being perfect in love, to love even your enemies. In Hebrews we see the writer telling us to move on from the elementary teachings of the Good News. Often the church gets stuck in rehearsing what it means to be saved. We tarry with the first tenants of knowing God, but fail to move on with developing the purpose of God in our lives. Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God,instruction about cleansing rites, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.And God permitting, we will do so. (Hebrews 6:1-3) Our understanding of the first works of salvation are internalized mightily in our souls, but the aspect of loving others as we love ourselves sometimes escapes our consciousness. We glory in our salvation, but often are fixated only on that fact in our lives. But God has asked us to be emblematic to the world of deeper realities in Christ. We are to express his nature and not the nature of the self-willed human. We are his ambassadors. For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died.And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.(2 Corinthians 5:14-15) To be legitimate Ambassadors of God, we must pay the price of love; sacrifice is part of that kind of life. Paul paid a huge price to deliver the Good News to the people of Ephesus. He suffered for them but it was entirely for their glory, that they too may enter with Christ into the very presence of the Mighty God.
Often our personal suffering drives us away from God rather than toward God. We wonder where are you God when we feel unrestrained pressure on our lives. Our temples, our place where God dwells in us, have been attacked by the vicissitudes of life, maybe sickness, financial difficulties, the scorn of others, and the like. The aspect of focusing on others becomes difficult for us because we are tormented by the difficulties of living. Paul’s life is a good example for all of us. He is now writing to churches in Rome, places where he spread the News of Jesus Christ’s work of redemption. These converts came out of great travail on his part. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn? (2 Corinthians 11:23-29) We see in this long list of trials Paul’s desperation of being just human with no divine intervention in many of these difficult circumstances. Even after being arrested in Jerusalem from a mob so intent on killing him that they are not even afraid of the Roman soldiers, beating and striking Paul as he is carried on the shoulders of the soldiers. Jesus assured Paul that he will not be killed there; therefore, he must go to Rome in chains. We see God expressing through Paul’s life the enduring love of God for people, even those who hate his servants. In the Old Testament, we often read about God’s enduring love in the midst of trials. We see the destruction of the Temple, Jerusalem being destroyed, and Israelites carried off into captivity. We see awful things happening to the Israelites. They are murdered, raped, and mistreated. As with Paul in his circumstances, where is God? In the book of Ezra we see some of the Jewish captives being allowed to go back to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple. They are coming out of a foreign land where they were treated as dirt, mere slaves to do the bidding of their captives. Now they are in Jerusalem building a Temple for the glory of God. After they finish the foundation of the Temple, we see them praising the faithful God of their ancestors. When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of theLord, the priests in their vestments and with trumpets,and the Levites (the sons of Asaph) with cymbals, took their places to praisetheLord, as prescribed by Davidking of Israel.With praise and thanksgiving they sang to the Lord: “He is good; his love toward Israel endures forever.” (Ezra 3:10-11) Paul expresses the same theme through his difficult life: HE IS GOOD, HIS LOVE TOWARD ALL PEOPLE ENDURES FOREVER. He was willing to give his life for the people in Ephesus. He was willing, are we willing? What are we holding back? Are we moving on from the elementary tenants of salvation to a more mature life of love? Or, is our self-will so strong within us that we adamantly oppose the will of God to love all people as we love ourselves. The first cardinal law of loving God with all our hearts, mind, soul and strength is meaningless if we do not love people. We are fooling ourselves. People, as God so loved the world and gave his only begotten Son, He presents a challenge for all of us. Let us love our world today.
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