Ephesians 3:1-13
"For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles—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. 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.
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 God's people, this grace was given me: 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. 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 which 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."
Even though he was the prisoner of the Roman government Paul thought of himself as the prisoner of Christ (verse 1). In whatever situation he was in Paul considered himself to be there for the glory and purpose of God. Paul was God's prisoner by choice.
"The administration of God's grace that was given to me for you" (verse 2). God's grace given to Paul was the mission—which included the desire and ability—to spread the message of the gospel to the Gentiles. God has given all of us the mission of spreading His message of Good News to someone within our sphere of influence. Several years ago in a workshop someone presented the idea of "sphere of influence" to me. I had never heard of the phrase. The way they described it our sphere of influence (or circle of influence) includes all who we touch each day with our actions and / or words (written or spoken). For example my wife and daughter are in my circle of influence. Also, friends that I see frequently and other family members might be in my circle of influence. Other that might also be in my circle of influence are coworkers, employees or employer, people I might only see occasionally, like the teller at the bank I use on a regular basis or the checkout person at the convenience store where I stop to get coffee in the morning. These are all people that I come into contact with on a regular basis. They would all be in my sphere of influence. The more contact I have with them the closer they are to me in the center of the sphere.
My point is by living my life for Jesus and sharing that through words or actions around the people in my sphere of influence is a powerful way to share the Good News. I may never get the opportunity to talk in depth about my life or relationship with God but I can make it know through my life and words that I love God and my integrity will let others see that it's a good thing to have a relationship with the Creator of the universe. That is what sharing the Good News of Jesus is all about. I cannot make anyone believe it or receive it (only God can do that) but I do have control over delivering the message. God calls us to live a holy life (forgiven and saved and turned away from the things of sin) and this will be an example to those in our sphere of influence (family, friends, children, etc.).
Living the life is very important but sometimes we have to follow up that Christian example with the Words of the Good News of Jesus. This could simply be, when a neighbor asks how you are able to handle yourself so well in times of trouble you say: "God gives me the strength, I couldn't do it without him." What a powerful witness. Or maybe, someone at work says, "How can you smile all the time, especially with all these changes at work?" You respond, "Jesus put joy in my heart and that is why I can smile." God will use that seed planted in the life of someone seeking truth and they will come back to see and hear more about the source of your joy. Too many times, the opposite is true. People are turned away from Jesus because they know we are Christians and they see how we act... they don't want anything to do with a God that would cause us to act like that. I don't blame them. Over the centuries many people have misrepresented God to the world through violence and wickedness. The world sees the horrible things some Christians do and they will never come to church because of it. I think God is calling His children to a holy life... one that is acceptable to Him... that doesn't mean we will be perfect ( only Jesus was perfect ). That doesn't mean we will never hurt anyone. We make mistakes and we are human. But, God demands us to stand up and strive to live a life worthy of His calling. I am not talking about working our way into heaven... it can't be done. Jesus is the only way to heaven. I am talking about humbling yourself before God and loving your neighbor. True love will not backbite or gossip or murder or steal or commit adultery. God doesn't wash the filth and sin off of us so we can go get dirty all over again. God wants us to sin no more. When speaking to the woman caught in adultery Jesus said, "Then neither do I condemn you, ...Go now and leave your life of sin." (John 8:11 NIV)
Go now and leave you life of sin... Some of you may be offended with this next statement so I wanted to warn you. I think too many of our churches stink with the foul smell of sin and wickedness. One is too many. But, I think there are more than one or two in our society. There are many churches who talk grace (when talking about them receiving grace) but act in judgment ( when referring to their neighbor's actions). Look again at what Jesus said in the verse in John, "...neither do I condemn you..."
If the Word of God in the flesh, who was present at the creation of the world and will judge all men one day, chose not to judge this women then surely you and I are supposed to show mercy to those around us. Jesus is our example of what God wants us to do.
I believe, sometimes, we do not administer the grace of God to those around us because we somehow don't see them worthy... but, we are not worthy either. Grace is God giving us the salvation and love we don't deserve. Mercy is God choosing not to give us the condemnation we do deserve.
So, Paul was sent to administer the grace of God to the gentiles. Who are you called to share the grace of God with, either through words or actions? The mystery Paul speaks of through the next several verses is simply that God chose to save all of us: Jews and gentiles and to bring us together under one Head - Jesus. God is merciful and loving beyond all we could ever hope for or imagine. He has opened the door for all who were previously outcasts to come into His fold. We have the opportunity to enjoy His favor, and not only that but to be fellow heirs with His chosen people—Israel.
"I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God's grace given me through the working of his power" (verse 7). Being the servant of God is the gift of God to a faithful follower. Someday, I long to hear the words, "well done, good and faithful servant." I receive the gift of service and the joy of the Lord that goes along with it. God does not give you gifts so you can sit back and say, "I am so talented." He gave us gifts, whatever they may be, to share the love of God with those around us, whether saved or not. Through the gifts working through our lives people will come to know Jesus, and this not because of anything we do but because of the grace and mercy of God. All we have to do is be obedient.
"Although I am less than the least of all God's people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ" (verse 8). God was able to use Paul because of his humble servant attitude. But, this was not always the case. When he was Saul he was not very humble. God had to awaken him with something dramatic on the road to Damascus. God wants us to humble ourselves so we become useful in his service. Take a look at a parable of Jesus that illustrates what I'm talking about—Luke 14:7-11.
"When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable: "When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, 'Give this man your seat.' Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, 'Friend, move up to a better place.' Then you will be honored in the presence of all your fellow guests. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."
I think it is interesting in this passage that Jesus tells us about the people and their response to each other. Jesus wants us to see who exalted themselves and who humbled themselves. What does Jesus see when He looks at you? I invite you to be a humble and useful vessel for God.
I want you to notice a couple of consistent themes of Paul's throughout this letter to the Ephesians—unity and warfare. You may be thinking how is unity part of this passage? Well, let me show you. Unity is when we humble ourselves and do God's purpose for our lives—then He will put us where He wants us to be and we will be united with those around us who are also serving where God put them. Division comes when people exalt themselves over another person or group and are not willing to humble themselves. Humility helps us accept our place in the body of Christ and do the work he has called us to do.
This passage is all about spiritual warfare also. If you will remember in chapter 6 of this very book Paul spells out the various articles of the Armor of God. One that is sometimes overlooked is "feet fitted with the readiness of the Gospel of Peace." To administer the grace of God to your wife, husband, daughter, son, neighbor, boss, or friend is spiritual warfare in it's own way. Think how Satan must cringe when you stand firm in the faith and tell your coworker that you can smile everyday because Jesus put joy in your heart. Take my word for it, Satan hates it and will do anything he can to stop it. To me, that is all the more reason to do it.
Let me climb on my soapbox for a moment. Let us humble ourselves and live a holy life and strive to rid ourselves of the ways of the world. Let us stand up for Jesus and make it known that we will not stand for the depravity that is so prevalent in our world today. Let's join together and come against evil...first in our own lives and then in society and then let's take the world for Jesus.
May God's grace be so evident in your life that people around you will be blessed by the overflow.
Tim
