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1 For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles— 2 assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for you, 3 how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly. 4 When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, 5 which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. 6 This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. 7 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 (Ephesians 3.1-7, ESV).[1] Memory Verses: Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14.6). Over the last several days we have been looking at the gospel and how it can affect people’s lives. It has to begin in our lives, changing us into a child of God, giving us strength by the power of the Holy Spirit to share Christ’s message with others. We cannot be ashamed of the gospel because it saved us, and has the power to save others as well (Romans 1.16). We also looked at how God’s righteousness can save us through the gospel, because of His Son Jesus Christ and His sacrifice on the cross. But not only that, His burial and resurrection from the grave, gives us hope, a living hope (I Peter 1.3), that we too someday will rise again to be with Christ. He has defeated death and hell and now there is no more sting or victory in the grave or death (I Corinthians 15.54-57). Lastly, we focused on the individuals who we would share the gospel with. What condition they are in spiritually, how they receive the gospel message and the privileges that comes from saying “yes” to Christ’s free gift of the gospel message. Understanding not everyone will receive the message with open arms, nor will they respond favorably to the things we have to say. But none of this should keep us from sharing Christ’s gospel with others as He has called us to. This brings us to our final discussion on the gospel. This is in no way the only discussion or last discussion of the gospel just where we will end for now. As a launching point let us quote from the Holman’s Bible Dictionary: The gospel in the New Testament can be summarized as the message about the kingdom of God established in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus the Messiah, who is enthroned as Lord of all. This good news describes events to which all Scripture points and declares that all principalities and powers are defeated once and for all by Jesus the Messiah. Finally, all of humanity will be judged according to their reception or rejection of this good news.[2] We must always remember when we are talking about the gospel, we are talking about Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. If at anytime we or someone else tries to separate these things from the gospel then they are teaching another gospel or heresy. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are all called the gospels because they all share one thing in common—Christ’s death, burial and resurrection (Matthew 26.36-28.8; Mark 14.32-16.13; Luke 22.39-24.12; John 18.1-20.18). The gospel gives us hope, joy and love. It reminds us of how frail we really are and how much we needed a Savior. All of scripture pointed us to a Savior, but because of sin we were blinded to His coming, we could not understand His mission, nor could we comprehend His amazing love for us while we were still sinful people (Romans 5.8). Yet God’s love was demonstrated to us in such a way as only He could do it. By sending His only Son to be our atoning sacrifice for us, our replacement (I John 4.9-11). The God who is love (I John 4.7, 16), gave us love to give to others, by sharing His gospel with them. By His love Christ died for us giving us eternal life with Him. So, let our eyes be open to what God is doing around us, so we will share His power and glory with others. Let our hearts be enlightened so we will hope in His calling and allow our minds to understand the glorious wealth of His inheritance, as well as His immeasurable power and strength working in and through us (Ephesians 1.18-19, emphasis added). It is this same power God used to raise Christ from the dead and seated Him at His right hand, placing Him about every ruler and authority, power and dominion, and every title given, now and forever and ever (Ephesians 1-20.21, emphasis added). Christ has been exulted above all; all power has been given to Him (Matthew 28.18). He has been given a name above every name that at the name of Jesus Christ every knee will bow and every tongue will confess He is Lord, in Heaven, in earth and under the earth (Philippians 2.9-11). The author of Hebrews declares Christ’s supremacy over all and how all of scripture as well as prophets of old spoke of who Christ was. Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs (Hebrews 1.1-4, ESV).[3] One closing thought from scripture concerning the gospel. We are to share it, we have a responsibility to live it out faithfully, especially so others can see it in action. We, however, are not responsible to make people accept the gospel, but we must share it with them, there can be no excuse for not telling others about Jesus Christ’s amazing Gift (Matthew 28.19-20). Think on these verses from Hebrews, Therefore, we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard, while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will (Hebrews 2.1-4, ESV).[4] Application
Prayer Lord God of Heaven and earth, You are my All in All. Thank You for Your Son and His Life. Help me to remain focused on Your ways and thoughts so I might be a shining example of Your Son for others to follow. Lord may all I say and do bring Glory and Honor to You daily. Lord always make me a bold testimony of what You have done in my life that I might share it with others; with boldness not being ashamed of You or what You are doing in me. All this I pray in Your Son Jesus Christ’s Name, Amen. [1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Eph 3:1–7). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles. [2] Mathis, D. (2003). Gospel. In C. Brand, C. Draper, A. England, S. Bond, E. R. Clendenen, & T. C. Butler (Eds.), Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary (p. 673). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers. [3] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Heb 1:1–4). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles. [4] Ibid., (Heb 2:1–4). You Can Download This Blog Here – November 20 – Ephesians 3.1-7
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