Kingdom Stewardship of the Gospel
Ephesians 3:1-11/1 Peter 2:9
Today, I’d like to walk through our passage and we’re simply going to glean some lessons and applications regarding our Stewardship of the Gospel…specifically our call to share the Gospel.
The first thing I want us to notice is how peculiar this passage is…in it’s structure.
The passage begins with, “For this reason”…but breaks off almost immediately in order to give an account of his ministry to Gentiles. The reason this is a bit odd is b/c Paul is in beginning an intercessory prayer…” takes a long pause to explain his thoughts…and then his prayer does not resume until vs. 14. So the whole section is a digression from his prayer.
If you’ve read enough of Paul’s writing…you’ll notice he’ll often begin a thought which triggers another thought…which he takes time to explain and then returns to his original thought:
-illus. I’m sure we’ve all experienced a time when we’re speaking with someone about a certain subject…and then a thought or memory is triggered and then they go off on that subject…but sometimes they never come back…”what was I talking about?” …stream of consciouness…
-fortunately, unlike some of us/friends…Paul always comes back…to his main point…and he has a point
Paul isn’t merely distracted. Rather, what he’s doing is placing his life and current situation…being a prisoner…in the context of God’s Ultimate Eternal Purpose and Plan for the Universe.
So he explains how God revealed the mystery of the Gospel to him, then calls him to share with the Gentiles…all part of this great plan
Vs. 11”This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord”
He already expounded on God’s eternal purpose in chapter 1 at length…and specifically in vs. 10:
“…making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.”
That’s why I’m a prisoner right now…all this is part of God’s great plan….of redeeming the world and reconciling all things to himself…vs.13 So don’t lose heart…don't worry about me.
What does this mean for us? What can we learn?
-Time to Time, we too need to put our lives in CONTEXT….The story of our lives must always be viewed within the greater context of God’s Great Eternal story of Redemption…HIS plan to “unite all things in him…things in heaven and on earth.”
-WHY? It’s about alignment…Seeing God’s overarching purpose and plan for history helps us make sure that our lives are aligned to that…to what COUNTS…that we’re in-line with the purposes of God.
-illus. We’ve been asking the question…do you have the attitude that says “It’s good to include God in my plans” or do you have the attitude that says “I’ll include myself in God’s plan”.
-Of course, we’ve said….you must include yourself in God’s plan..his plan is ultimate…HOWEVER, to be more specific his plan is the reconciling and uniting of all things to himself.
-Paul expresses that part of God’s eternal plan was to reveal the Gospel to him….and the other huge part is that through Paul’s life, the Gospel would be revealed to others.
-The Gospel was revealed TO Paul…and then God revealed the Gospel THROUGH Paul….all part of God’s eternal plan.
-The same holds true for us….
-He orchestrated everything in your life…your family, neighborhood, culture, experiences…TO GET THE GOSPEL TO YOU….
-non-Xans too
BUT then those very same things were orchestrated by God to GET THE GOSPEL THROUGH YOU
-I’m able to relate to people in ministry b/c of what I’ve gone through…I’m able to relate to lots of different sin issues b/c I’m such a sinner
Looking at The Big Picture presses us to LIVE IN THE GOSPEL and LIVE FOR THE GOSPEL
-Paul expresses this in Vs. 2 “assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for you…”
-Stewardship of God’s grace in relation to the Gentiles…He is a steward of the mystery of God…the GOSPEL
-vs.3-6. The mystery (many ways in which the Gospel is gloriously mysterious but in this context, as he’s writing to Gentiles…he’s explaining that they are now God’s people, not by law but by grace through faith in Christ so that they’re all children of Abraham with all the rights, privileges and blessings of God’s promises.
-BUT GETTING BACK>>>>God’s grace was given to me, for you…Divine grace was not simply for Paul’s personal enhancement (though of course involves that…but it does not end there). Instead, it was for the sake of the Gentiles, as the following words for you show…
-1 Peter2:9 “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light”
-“The gospel, then, is not something that exists solely for our progress and personal fulfillment (though it does include these things). Rather, the gospel is something to which we are to give ourselves for its progress and fulfillment. The gospel is God’s program for worldwide blessing.” (Dr. Walt Russell, Talbot Seminary)
I want us to do a brief exercise right now:
Ask yourself this question…
The phrase Paul uses is
… the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for you…
-How would you complete the sentence…with whom would you complete the sentence: The stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for ___________________. You fill in the name of people in your life that are outside of the family of God…those who don’t know Christ.
-God grant us the grace and strength to be a good steward of the grace given to me…that you orchestrated and continue to orchestrate all things in my life to get the Gospel TO ME AND THROUGH ME…
Now let’s turn to the second half of this passage and glean some more lessons on Gospel stewardship
vv. 7-8
“Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God’s grace, which was given me by the working of his power. To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ…
Paul is trying very hard to make clear…but for the grace of God, he doesn’t deserve to be a minister of the gospel…and but for the grace of God he has no power to preach it…
(Paul is making up his own grammar…the leastest)
He’s profoundly aware of his deficiency and yet he is radically bold!!!
What we see here is a man shaped by the message he preaches…he is shaped by the Gospel that says…I’m nothing… I deserve nothing…but by grace I can do all things…(I’m bad…but you are not alone)
1 Cor. 15:10 “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.”
Here we see, as Keller says…the simultaneous Humility and Confidence the Gospel brings.
In order for us to be good messengers…good stewards of the Gospel…our lives need to be shaped by the message.
-THIS IS PARTICULARLY IMPORTANT IN OUR DAY AND AGE...where the church is seen is being filled with a bunch of self-righteous jerks.
-I believe we are where we are b/c so many have failed to understand the message and let that message shape the way they deliver that message.
-In the Gospel we see we are far worse than realize and therefore we approach people with deep humility saying…I’m probably worse than you.
-But at the very same time, in the Gospel we find the confidence not to shrink back when there’s no fruit…b/c it’s by God’s power and grace…and we’re not out for the approval of men…we’ve found greater satisfaction in approval by God.
Lastly, I’ve only spoken about our individual role…but let’s look at vs. 10 and see what Paul says about the church…we’ll start by reading from 7
Vs. 7-10 He starts with himself and ends with the church…
-Apostles had a unique role in the history of salvation…simply speaking their role was to establish the NT Church. But it is through the church…that God’s mission and glory will advance…not just superstar evangelists, missionaries and church planters.
-as each part does its work…people are brought to Christ…through community as we’ve heard recent testimonies
but let’s continue on in vs. 10 b/c we find something very interesting….
“…so that through the CHURCH, that the manifold wisdom of God might be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.”
Part of God’s intention here is to show off his MANIFOLD WISDOM…manifold in the original language was an artistic term in reference to intricate embroidery…through the church
God is showing off his great wisdom and glory through the Church:
-In it’s very existence…all nations, all tongues, all backgrounds, all kinds of people from all walks of life with all kinds of histories…FROM all points in HISTORY and he orchestrates all of this…bringing them together into one huge global family
-Shows off…in the church’s mission that through imperfect people…who does his work
AND NOTICE WHO HE’S DISPLAYING HIS WISDOM TO…WHO HE’S SHOWING OFF TO…
We would assume the verse would end with ….the manifold wisdom of God might be made known to …ALL MEN….but he says rulers and authorities in heavenly places.
Who are these rulers and authorities in heavenly places?
Host of heavenly beings, good and bad alike (angels and demons)
The picture is that the angels…will look at what God did…in the church and through the CHURCH and say “HOW DID HE DO THAT”…YOU ARE THE MAN…YOU ARE THE GOD MAN!!!
Consider Satan, and the evil forces who Paul refers to later…
Eph. 5:12 “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”
Consider how they look at the church now…they look at us…you’re a joke. What are you going do with these people…they can’t stay faithful to you for a minute….they don’t really love you…they turn from you at the slightest whim…forget being angry with you….MOST OF THEM DON’T EVEN ACKNOWLEDGE YOU’RE THERE….
That’s your plan…that’s the best you got. HA!
BUT here’s the thing. We may look at ourselves and may look around the room…THIS? IS THE HOPE OF THE WORLD…but GOD being the great God that He is…does MORE with LESS.
-illus. We lost a number of 80’s icons recently…one that’s still around is Lee David Zlotoff otherwise known as MacGyver (PIC)…all he needed was a ball-point pen and paper clip
Why did we love MacGyver…b/c he could take a toothpick..lint and hair-gel and make a bomb. How’d he do that??!!! We’re stuck MacGyver…he takes newspapers, gum and chopsticks and makes a hang-glider…and the SONG…oh I love the song...
The genius of MacGyver is that he did a lot with a little…
God takes what to everyone else may not look like much at all…people, angels, demons…and he crafts a masterpiece…and at the end of time…all creation will say, “HOW’D HE DO THAT???” AND GLORY, HONOR AND POWER WILL GO TO HIM AND WE WILL SPEND THE REST OF ETERNITY, TRYING TO UNDERSTAND THE MANIFOLD WISDOM OF GOD AND GRASP THE DEPTHS OF THE INFINITE RICHES OF CHRIST.