Lesson for April 18, 2021
The Book of Ephesians
Chapter 3:8-13
Verses 8-10
“To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ, and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things;so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places.” The words very least describe the apostle Paul perfectly, he is also described as the chief of sinners, the worst man who ever lived before salvation. He is here also described as less than the least even though humanly speaking he was a genius. Why does Paul call himself less than the least? The answer is that Paul, in a very zealous way, persecuted the Church. Jesus said in Acts 9 that Paul was persecuting Him when he persecuted the Church. (I Timothy 1:15)
Grace refers to the fact that the apostle Paul was chosen by God to be the twelfth apostle and that he was chosen to bring the Gospel to the Gentile world. God used Paul to reach the Gentile world in his day and used him to write the majority of the New Testament Scripture.
To preach to the Gentiles means it was to their advantage to have a pastor-teacher who communicated accurate Bible doctrine so that they could learn and apply Bible doctrine and reach the super-grace life. Paul was taught first by Ananias and other disciples at Damascus after his conversion. Everyone who reaches super-grace will get there because of a pastor-teacher communicating the Word of God. There is no other way to get there during the Church Age.
The unfathomable riches of Christ is the first purpose of Paul’s ministry to the Gentiles. It is a reference to all that God does for believers as they advance to spiritual maturity and the super-grace life. The Greek word for unfathomable is “anexichniastos” meaning something that cannot be traced or cannot be found. In other words, the riches of Christ are beyond what the human mind can comprehend, they are inexhaustible, unlimited, and infinite. We get only a glimpse of His riches when we believe in Christ and advance in our spiritual lives. What eternity holds for us we can discover only when we get to Heaven.
Super-grace as part of spiritual maturity is the final stage of spiritual growth in the Christian life. It is the stage beyond the construction of the Edification Complex of the Soul. It is the ultimate in spiritual achievement and it is the normal area for the function of the royal priesthood. (James 4:6)
The super-grace life is characterized by the analogy of a cup running over. (Psalm 23:5,6; 16:5) The cup is super-grace capacity. There are actually three basic characteristics: 1) occupation with the Person of Christ which comes from the construction of the Edification Complex of the Soul 2) the super-grace capacity which is maximum doctrine in the soul and 3) the pouring out of super-grace blessings. The cup is super-grace capacity through Bible doctrine in the soul and the pouring out is God providing the super-grace blessings. The believer therefore reaps what God sows.
And to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things. The second purpose of Paul’s ministry is to orient believers to the uniqueness of the Church Age and the intensification of the Angelic Conflict. The dispensation of the mystery is a reference to the Church Age doctrine of Christ’s indwelling of believers. Church Age truth was not previously revealed to the Old Testament prophets.
The doctrine of the mystery in past dispensations was concealed so that no one even had a clue as to what it was all about, The Church Age is the only dispensation that interrupts a previous dispensation. The mystery doctrine was hidden from all previous dispensations. We live in the most unique time in all of human history. The reason the mystery doctrine of the Church Age was hidden in the Old Testament was because the nation of Israel had no need to know because it did not concern them as God’s chosen people, and it would only have been a distraction to them. What the Old Testament prophets saw in the future pertained only to the nation of Israel as God’s chosen people. In the Church Age, all believers are God’s chosen people.
Hidden in God is a reference to the Lord Jesus Christ Who is the creator of all things, according to John 1:3; Hebrews 1:10; Colossians 1:16,17. Jesus Christ is the creator of everything in the universe that has ever been created. Jesus Christ ordered the concealment of Church Age doctrine until His own incarnation and until in His humanity He revealed this information. In Hypostatic Union, Christ made the first declaration of Church Age doctrine in John 14-17. The Creator of all things was the initial prophet of Church Age doctrine.
“So that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places. It is the responsibility of the pastor-teacher to orient his congregation to the Angelic Conflict. Manifold wisdom means the diversity of the omniscience of God. Manifold is the Greek word “polupoikilos,” which means much varied. Wisdom is the Greek word “sophia,” which means the spiritual insight of God’s omniscience. Therefore, God knows all the knowable and it is His desire to make it known to mankind. It is being made known to us through Bible doctrine, but angels who are observing us are learning it too.
Rulers is the Greek word “arche” used for highest rank of angels. Authorities is the Greek word “exousia,” which means absolute power. It is used for commissioned officers. Both these words are used of both elect and fallen angels. The Church is used to make known to fallen angels the validity of divine judgment on Satan and the fallen angels. For elect angels who are observing us, they learn the fate of Satan and his demons and the validation of the sentence passed upon them in eternity-past by God.
Heavenly places refer to the third heaven, the abode of God; the courtroom of Heaven, the place of trying the case called the Angelic Conflict. Satan’s case was tried in Heaven. The third heaven is the place of angelic gathering for trial and that means that the Angelic Conflict not only occurs on this earth, but it also occurs in Heaven as well.
Verses 11-13
“This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord,in whom we have boldness and confident access through faith in Him. Therefore, I ask you not to lose heart at my tribulations on your behalf, for they are your glory.” The decrees of God are related to all dispensations, that is why we have the Greek word “prothesis” for purpose, which means a predetermined purpose or plan. We also have the Greek word “aion” for eternal meaning ages or dispensations.
The second purpose or emphasis of Paul’s ministry was that God had a plan for the lives of these believers, but they would never understand that plan unless they understood the dispensation in which they were living, and unless they understood the doctrine of the Church Age. This dispensation interrupted the Age of Israel of which they had been living in. One thing was added regarding salvation that was never given to Old Testament believers, nor will it occur in the Tribulation or the Millennium, and that is the Baptism of the Spirit.
Boldness means outspokenness, frankness, plainness of speech, freedom of speech, courage, and confidence. These meanings are all in relationship to those who have to communicate doctrine. In relationship to God, boldness means happy, confidence or assurance. Positional truth provides confident assurance for every royal priest of the Church Age. Confident access means we have admission into the “presence of God.” It is used primarily for being in the presence of the king. Confidence is a characteristic of royalty. (Romans 5:2; Ephesians 2:18)
The purpose of the pastor-teacher is to exegete, analyze, interpret and communicate the Word of God. In this way the whole realm of Bible doctrine is extracted from the Scripture, put into the soul of the pastor-teacher, so that he is familiar with it and then starts to communicate. The faithful teaching of Bible doctrine leads to fulfilling the goal of the ministry. The goal of the ministry is to lead through teaching believers, members of the royal priesthood, to spiritual maturity.
Therefore, I ask you not to lose heart at my tribulations on your behalf, for they are your glory.” Paul asked them something. It was like Paul saying, “I myself personally ask you.” He asks them not to be discouraged, or to despair over his trials in life. Normal pressures are normal in constant study and teaching. And by virtue of his spiritual gift, he is heavily involved in the Angelic Conflict. That means that there is a lot of pressure to get it right – to teach the Word of God accurately. Whatever Paul was going through at the writing of this epistle was worth it because he knew that ultimately it would be to their benefit (glory). Glory is used for the essence of God in many passages of Scripture. (Deuteronomy 5:24; Psalm 21:5; Romans 3:23; Ephesians 1:17)