Short Summaries of

Sermons on Ephesians

by Rev. Ralph Allan Smith

The Glory of the Gospel

(Eph. 3:6-13)

By the time that Paul wrote Ephesians, he had been a Christian for quite a few years. There is nothing surprising about the fact that as an apostle Paul has a depth of understanding that surpasses other Christians. He often amazes us with the profundity of his exposition of the truth of the cross. What is surprising, however, is that after many years of service in the Gospel, after being betrayed, persecuted, hated, and even dragged to court and jailed, after telling the same Gospel story thousands of times, Paul still maintains the fresh thanksgiving and joy of a new-born Christian. He is filled with wonder at God's grace. This aspect of Paul, by the way, is not unique. Many Christians through the centuries have testified that the simple Gospel story is more precious to them the more they hear it, suffer for it, and tell it to others.

Paul's Ministry

We must remind ourselves of a fact that would have not been forgotten by Paul or his readers: the word "Christ" is just the Greek translation of the Hebrew "Messiah." Verse four, thus, speaks of the "mystery of the Messiah," verse six about "Messiah Jesus," verse 8 again about "the Messiah," and verse 11 uses the full title of Jesus "the Messiah Jesus, our Lord." We are so accustomed to the word Christ that we tend to think of it as Jesus personal name, unless we remind ourselves of its meaning.

This is especially important in our present context where Paul is expounding the mystery of the Gospel. He says that God did not reveal the fullness of His Gospel grace in the era before the coming of the Messiah, but now, with the revelation of God's Son as the second Adam, God has made known to men and angels the glory of His wisdom in the Gospel. For Paul and the Jewish Christians of the first century, one of the most wonderful surprises of the Gospel is the exaltation of the Gentiles to equality with the Jews so that Jews and Gentiles become one body, sharing together in the promise of the Messiah, whom Jews thought was to be their particular possession. Only Jews inherited in the land of promise under the law, but the fulfillment of the law covenant in the Messiah surpassed -- perhaps "transgressed" is a better word if we are describing the Phariseeic perspective -- their expectations.

Paul rejoices to call himself a servant of the Gospel, though he confesses that he is "less than the least of all saints" (3:8). Paul's humility is hardly less extraordinary than his claims to have received direct revelation from God and tends to confirm them. We are more accustomed to men like the recent fraud Asahara who claims to be a reincarnation of every good man in history, but who lives a life of such blatant pride and self-indulgence that a Yakuza boss might envy him. Paul's high privilege in the knowledge of Christ and the Gospel -- which he asserts with boldness -- made him see and feel his own sinfulness to such a degree that he expressed himself in all sincerity -- not for show -- in saying that he was indeed less than any other Christian.

Paul was happy to preach the odd news of God's love to the unlovely Gentiles. He exulted in the labor bestowed upon him by God's grace -- declaring the unsearchable riches of the Messiah among the Gentiles so that they too might be saved. The mystery of the Messiah included the fact that Gentiles would be brought near to God on equal footing with the Jews. This truth was hidden in the old covenant era, but God the creator of all had a plan that embraced all. God's saving grace extends to the whole of creation -- though not to every individual man.

One Purpose of the Gospel

Paul tells us one of the purposes of the Gospel in verse 10. He is not declaring here the only, nor even the main purpose of the Gospel. He does tell us one of the most astonishing purposes of the Gospel. God the Creator designed salvation to include Gentiles on equal footing as priests together with Jews in order, in part, to show various ranks of angels His manifold wisdom. The "principalities and powers" are the various ranks of angelic powers in heaven. Though the Bible does not tell us much about angels, what it does tell us is fascinating. They were created not as a race, but individually, though according to various kinds. Creatures of great power and glory, they worshiped and served God from the beginning of creation, except for one group of them who rebelled. The angel we know as Satan was apparently created as Lucifer (morning star), the most powerful of the angels (cf. Isa. 14:12ff.; Eze. 28:13ff.). He led a rebellion among the angels and persuaded many to join him. The rebellious angels became Satan and the demons -- those whom pagan religions call "gods," "spirits," "powers," etc..

It was not, however, to these evil angels that God is manifesting the glory of His grace, but to the angels who refused to join Satan in rebellion. To the angels no grace or salvation was offered. They know God's perfect justice and wrath against sin, but they have no personal experience of His grace. Unfallen angels apparently find the truth of God's grace to men alluring, for Peter tells us that the prophets of old did not minister to themselves but spoke of the glory of the Messiah and the Gospel -- something "which things the angels desire to look into" (1 Pet. 1:12). What Paul is telling us here is that God is happy to let them see it. (This means, by the way, that we are apparently always being viewed by curious angels who, perhaps, are taking pictures and making notes or even recordings of our every deed. They seem to be the ones who have written the books of our deeds which form the basis of final judgment before God: "the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works" (Rev. 20:12).)

What God reveals to the angels through us is His own "manifold wisdom" (Eph. 3:10). Although the lexicons agree with the translations in rendering "polupoivkilo" as "manifold" or something similar, Greek scholar and New Testament commentator William Hendriksen prefers "iridescent," explaining that this word calls attention to "the infinite diversity and sparkling beauty of God's wisdom." Whether or not this is the most proper translation of the Greek, it is certainly proper Biblical theology.

The Bible says that our good works are "gold, silver, precious stones," (1 Cor. 3:12), that local churches are "stars" (Rev. 1:20), and that the gates and foundations of the heavenly city reflects a light "like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal." The twelve gates of glorious pearl each have inscribed a name of a tribe of Israel just like the twelve foundations of precious stones each have inscribed a name of an apostle. The glory of the city that John sees, in other words, is the glory of God revealed through His saving grace to men: "the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass . . . the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones . . . the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass . . . And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof" (21:18, 19, 21b, 23). The glory of God revealed in the salvation of the church shines forever in resplendent beauty for both the angels and the people of God to enjoy and rejoice in forever. God's eternal purpose in the Gospel (Eph. 3:11) will be finally realized only then when we not only have access to the Messiah (Eph. 3:12), but we will approach Him as those who have been transformed into His splendiferous image.

To be a Christian is to be called to reveal God's glory for all eternity. The honor of that transcendent privilege is not reserved for the future, it is our awesome duty now. We live to reveal the incomparable elegance of God's grace -- to men, both Christian and non-Christian, and to angels. The beginning of revealing God's glory is found, however, not in outstanding works that men consider "glorious," but in obedience to God's commandments in our everyday lives.

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