Short Summaries of

Sermons on Ephesians

by Rev. Ralph Allan Smith

Paul's Gospel to the Gentiles

(Eph. 3:1-5)

Although chapter three is still part of the theological exposition of the Gospel, Paul begins with an introduction to a prayer, which he immediately interrupts and does not resume until verse 14. As in Ephesians chapter 1 which is doxological theology, here too prayer and theology are interwoven into a single complex fabric of worship to God. Paul ends the theological portion of his epistle with "Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen" (3:21). Theology certainly appears in the Bible -- the most profound issues of God's nature and plan are taught -- but Biblical theology is never merely academic. The great theological writers in the Bible who treat the most abstruse subjects always do so in the spirit of fear, wonder, and praise to God.

This is true in the history of the Church as well. The greatest theologians in the Church were men of worship no less than men of scholarship and insight. No one can deny the profundity of Augustine's thought or the breadth of his scholarship, but it is not these that leave the deepest impression upon us. Like Paul, Augustine is great because of his heartfelt knowledge of God. Calvin's writings too breathe with reverence to God. Reading Calvin anyone who believes in Christ is moved to worship, while the reader who hates God sees in Calvin a dangerous fanatic. But both believers and unbelievers acknowledge his extraordinary erudition. Greatness in Christian leaders means holy fear of God, but not at the expense of scholarship or wisdom. On the contrary, the Christian insists -- and Calvin, Augustine, and Paul demonstrate -- that true learning is grounded in the love of God.

The Stewardship Granted to Paul

Paul speaks first about the "dispensation of the grace of God" which is given to him with respect to the Gentiles. God has given Paul a particular responsibility or stewardship. Paul was the apostle to the Gentiles. This does not mean that he neglected Jews. In fact, every time Paul went to a new city, he first visited the synagogue and preached the Gospel to the Jews -- "to the Jew first" (Rom. 1:16). Peter, the apostle to the Jews, was one of the first to preach to the Gentiles (Acts 10). The division of labor between preaching to Jews and Gentiles was never absolute. But Paul did have a special mission. Among the apostles, he was especially responsible for the spread of the Gospel among the Gentiles.

Paul's commission was given to him by a revelation from God -- a point which he emphasizes especially in the epistle to the Galatians: "Paul an apostle -- sent neither by human commission nor from human authorities, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead . . . For I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel that was proclaimed by me is not of human origin; I did not receive it from a human source, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ" (Gal. 1:1, 11-12).

Unlike the rest of the apostles, Paul did not learn directly from the incarnate Christ when He was here on earth., nor did he see the resurrected Christ when He taught the other disciples for forty days before His ascension. Paul was not a Christian when the disciples choose a replacement for Judas, who had himself chosen suicide rather than repentance. Mathias became the twelfth apostle (Acts 1:23-26), though we know almost nothing about him. Paul became the thirteenth of the twelve -- like the twelve tribes of Israel that were really thirteen. The resurrected Christ appeared to Paul personally to commission him and to teach him the Gospel. Paul was forced to make repeated reference to the peculiar authorization of his apostleship because there were not a few who denied that he could be a true apostle.

The Mystery of the Messiah

What Paul taught as the Gospel he refers to here as the "mystery of the Messiah" (Eph. 3:4). The Gospel is called a "mystery" because it was hidden in a certain sense until the coming of Jesus. Our Lord's fulfillment of the prophecies of the Messiah answered the riddles of the ancient Scriptures which seemed to present the Messiah in contradictory terms. In some places the Messiah is the King and Lord of all nations (Psa. 2, 72, Isa. 9:6ff.; etc.). In other Scriptures He is a prophet (Deu. 18:15), in others a priest (Psa. 110), and in still others a sufferer who is sacrificed for sin (Isa. 53). He is great and does wondrous miracles (Isa. 35:4-10), but he is also inconspicuous and despised (Isa. 53:2-3). He will judge the nations with a rod of iron (Psa. 2:9), but He is forsaken of God and cries out "I am a worm, and not human; scorned by others, and despised by the people. All who see me mock at me; they make mouths at me, they shake their heads" (Psa. 22:6-7). How could any one person fulfill all of these and many other prophecies?

Among the Jewish Rabbis who tried to understand the complex revelation of the Messiah in the Old Testament were some who came to believe in two Messiahs -- the anointed one from the house of Aaron and the anointed one from the house of David. Later Rabbinical tradition identified the two Messiahs as Messiah ben Joseph (the patriarch), "a belligerent and suffering Messiah who would eventually be killed," and Messiah ben David, "who would succeed him and reign forever." Apart from this attempt to combine the Jewish and Christian ideas of the Messiah, however, it seems that Jewish theology has never really had a place for a suffering Messiah.

Only in the New Testament fulfillment of the prophecies of the Messiah can we come to understand their full meaning and amazing unity. Jesus was all that the Old Testament predicted of Him. The fulfillment makes the prophecies come alive with greater depth than could have been imagined by any believer living before the time of Christ. The mystery of the Messiah has been revealed in the Person of Jesus, the son of Mary, the Son of God.

When John says that "the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ" (Joh. 1:17), he is saying in different words what Paul also said: "which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit" (Eph. 3:5). The truth of the Gospel was revealed in symbols and pictures that were vague until the fulfillment of them appeared in the Person of Christ. Now that Christ has come and the full truth of the Gospel has been proclaimed, the shadows of the law are much more clear than they were to those who knew nothing more. We can see the revelation of Christ in Moses and the prophets because we know the fulfillment in the New Testament. Old Testament prophecy is therefore much more comprehensible to us.

But we forget how great a privilege this is. We take it for granted that we know the truth. We seem to think that it is like breathing air -- something that is presupposed in the human condition. But of course this is not true. It never has been and it is certainly not now. It is one of the greatest blessings of this life that God has given us His truth. Even if we should become poor and suffer every sort of hardship and misery, to know the truth far surpasses all other wealth and every other blessing in this life.

Thanksgiving to God for the great love that He has given us in Christ -- He so loved us that He sent His Son to die for our sins -- praise to God for His goodness, these aspects of worship together with the more bitter repentance for sin should also be characteristic of our everyday lives. To have been given the truth of the Messiah is to have been blessed with eternal blessings beyond our comprehension. Thanks be to God!

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