Lesson 38 July 16, 2003
Intro Review:
3:8b "This grace was given; so that he could fulfill 2 functions or purposes in and through his stewardship of his apostleship.
#1 "to preach" [to proclaim good news, the gospel]
euvaggeli,zw euvangelizw his primary focus was; to the Gentiles; [object of the proclamation]; the unfathomable riches of Christ! [the content/focus of what was proclaimed]
2 Aspects emphasized here:
#1 Term points to the fact that it describes what is beyond man's ability to investigate and arrive at a conclusion; context is pointing to revelation of truth to Paul that he communicated, the good news centered on Christ.
#2 No matter how much we understand God's word and His grace towards us, who were once dead, but now alive in Christ, there is always more to understand, more to learn.
What is it that is untrackable or cannot be traced out? that is boundless??
"the riches of Christ"
*** All spiritual wealth is in Christ, so that Paul as well as every believer stands in themselves possessing nothing but in Christ possessing everything!
* The untrackable riches of Christ go beyond just what becomes ours at salvation; clearly a part of it; 2 Cor 8:9
* But also the resources are there to live the Christian life, to walk worthy; 2 Pet 1:3
** What happens when we do not use the available resources??
When we do not pursue an expanding knowledge base of Christ??
#2 [3:9] The second purpose of the grace given to Paul!
"and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery,"
Paul is making a very important point here as he uses the metaphor for light to indicate the purpose that flows out of the grace given to him.
What Paul does is to look beyond the teaching of the mystery truths, to what the teaching is to accomplish in the hearer! enlightenment
Teaching would emphasize what is happening externally;
While the enlightenment focuses on what is internal;
What is the administration [oivkonomi,a] of the mystery
which for ages has been hidden in God, who created all things;
** So the gift of God's grace was given to Paul to function in his role as an apostle, specifically to proclaim good news to the Gentiles, and to enlighten them and us related to the administration of the mystery, the plan of God, the way God relates to His own in what we refer to as the age of the Church or the age of Grace.
EPH 3:10 begins with a final purpose clause that states the ultimate goal or purpose of God's grace being given so that at this time this previously hidden truth might be unveiled, during the church age it would be made known.
* Picture if you will a cosmic drama, where God is the writer, who directs and produces the drama. The unfolding of the various acts of the drama portrays the course of human history.
* As these angels observe the church, the outworking of God's grace in and through it, they are able to observe the manifold wisdom of God.
- The highly diverse wisdom, the sofi,a, sophia, does not refer to redemption or salvation alone but to all that flows out of it, that is the new relationship between believing Jew and Gentiles in the one new body, in Christ; the whole range of the counsel of God.
* Did you ever think that as you're growing and advancing as a believer that you were actually teaching angels about God's wisdom?