Ephesians 3:1-13 (Part 1)

I. Keeping a divine perspective.

Keeping a divine perspective:
a. encourages us to evaluate circumstances through the lens of faith.
-stewardship = oikonomian = household management.
b. enables continued trust and obedience.

II. Understanding the mystery.
-mystery = musterion = secret, mystery; idea of something that was previously unknown now revealed, something beyond natural knowledge
Three categories of mystery.
1) Things only God knows.
2) Things God revealed to His people.
3) Things God revealed in New Testament times.
a. The mystery has now been made known.
-Gal. 1:12, 16-18
-understanding = noeo = perceive, come to the knowledge of
-insight = sunesis = understanding, insight
b. They mystery is the inclusion of the Gentiles
-Gen. 12:3, Is. 11:10, Ps. 117:1
-F.F. Bruce "That God would bless the Gentiles, then, was not a new revelation. What then was the new revelation, the mystery hitherto concealed? It was this: that God’s blessing of the Gentiles would involve the obliteration of the old line of demarcation which separated them from Jews and the incorporation of Gentile believers together with Jewish believers, without any discrimination, in the new, comprehensive community of God’s chosen people.”
-MacArthur “As mentioned before, it is difficult for us to realize how incredibly revolutionary that truth was to Jews of Paul’s day…the idea of including Gentiles in one body with Jews was the spiritual equivalent of saying that lepers were no longer to be isolated, that they were now perfectly free to intermingle and associate with everyone else as normal members of society. In the mind of most Jews, their spiritual separation from Gentiles was so absolute and so right that the thought of total equality before God was inconceivable and little short of blasphemy.”
-What are the implications?
i. We are fellow heirs.
-fellow heir = sugkleronoma = one who receive a possession together with someone else.
-Gal. 3:28-29, Titus 3:7
ii. We are fellow members of the body.
-fellow members of the body = sussomos = members of the same body
-I Cor. 12:12-13
iii. We are fellow recipients of the promise.
-fellow partakers = summetochos = co-sharer

Ephesians 3:1-12 (Part 2)

I. Keeping a divine perspective.
Keeping a divine perspective:
a. encourages us to evaluate circumstances through the lens of faith.
b. enables continued trust and obedience.
II. Understanding the mystery.
a. The mystery has now been made known.
b. They mystery is the inclusion of the Gentiles.
-What are the implications?
i. We are fellow heirs.
ii. We are fellow members of the body.
iii. We are fellow recipients of the promise.

III. Maintaining perspective of ministry.
a. We remember we are servants.
-servant = diakonos = servant, helper, minister
-doulos = idea of serving as a slave; therapeuo = idea of willing service; latreuo = idea of service connected to worship.
-diakonos = one who serves tables
b. We serve by God's grace through His power.
c. We must remain humble.
-very least = elachistotero = less than the least, "leaster" or "leastest"
-MacArthur " Then or now, the man who is genuinely called by God is in constant danger of losing his effectiveness by coming to think of himself as more than a servant. When he loses his sense of servanthood, at that same time he loses his spiritual power. To lose dependence is to lose everything, because everything that is of any value in our lives, including power for effective service, comes only from the Lord. Among the greatest dangers to the ministry, and to all faithful Christian living, are things that in the world’s eyes are of supreme value – personal ambition, prestige, recognition, honor, reputation, and success.”
d. We must be faithful to serve.
-preach = euangelizo = to preach the gospel, to proclaim the good news

IV. Proclaiming the mystery.
a. Declaring the riches of Christ.
-unsearchable = anexichniastos = not able to track, untraceable
-Phil. 3:8-10
-"Revelation creates rather than annihilates wonder, awe and respect."
b. Making known the eternal purpose of God.
-manifold = polupoikilos = many-sided, very varied; idea of "richly diversified nature" of God's wisdom.

V. Encouraging privileges of the mystery.
a. Giving us access to God.
-boldness = parresia = speaking freely, confidence, boldness
b. Enabling endurance.
-lose heart = egkakeo = to give in to evil, to be discouraged, to be a coward.