First Love: The Church is God’s Message (Episode 4)
Devotional Thoughts from Ephesians 3
His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms. (Ephesians 3:10, NIV)
This is Episode 4 of my devotional series on Ephesians from my book “First Love: A Deeper Understanding of Church from the Book of Ephesians.” This episode features devotional thoughts on Ephesians 3.[1]
Start today’s devotional by reading my Ephesians 3 paraphrase.[2]
Ephesians 3
For this reason [the power of the cross that secured our citizenship in God’s kingdom and built us into a holy dwelling for God to live] I have become a prisoner of Christ for the sake of you Gentiles.
God entrusted me to reveal a mystery: the gospel unites Jews and Gentiles into one body, the church. Together they share full inheritance rights including all the promises of Christ. The Spirit of God revealed this to the apostles and prophets so that you could now understand.
I’m amazed that God would use me, the least of all Christians, to preach to the Gentiles the boundless riches of Christ. God’s desire to use me is a demonstration of his grace.
God has a purpose and a plan in this: he wants to display to the entire world the brilliance of his creation, the glory of his unified body. Through the church, God proclaims the intricacies of his wisdom and abilities to every power and authority, even those in heaven!
If God puts this much trust in you and me, shouldn’t we be incredibly confident in approaching him? Can’t we trust him, even when we suffer? Do not be discouraged! My suffering promotes your glory.
For this same reason, I’m dropping to my knees in prayer to our Father…
Your entire family in heaven and earth bears your name! Invade your church through your Spirit to be fully Lord over our inner lives. Make our hearts your home by faith that your love would be our foundation and roots; that your power may inspire your people to comprehend something incomprehensible: The height and depth and breadth and greatness of the love of Christ.
Let that which surpasses knowledge fill our minds to overflowing that every organ, vein, and limb of your body may be filled completely with you.
To him, the one who blows our mind because of his unlimited power,
To him, who asks us to imagine the greatest possibilities and know that he can do immeasurably more,
To him be glory in the church, to him be glory in Christ in every generation, for ever and ever!
Amen!
1. The Prisoner of Christ Proclaims this Mystery (3:1-6)
In most of Paul’s letters, he starts with the big picture—explaining the reason why we are to live godly lives. This chapter excels in this area. Paul starts this chapter by reminding them of the “why” that he expounded in the first two chapters of the letter—God’s sovereignty, plans, grace, love, and power for us. The “why” motivated Paul to embrace his circumstances (prison) without wavering in his faith or his mission.
God can change our circumstances, but more often he aims to change us. (First Love)
Paul proclaimed the “mystery” that should have been in plain sight but was missed by most Jews. Jews hated Gentiles, seeing them as dogs not worthy of salvation. Their prejudice prevented them from accepting the calling to “bless all nations” that God invited Abraham and his descendants to embrace throughout the OT story. Despite their common hatred for one another, God married the Jews to the Gentiles. The Jews and Gentiles became co-heirs of the promise of God in one body, the church. All walls of hostility have been obliterated at the cross.
2. God’s Wisdom Revealed through our Pledge of Allegiance (3:7-11)
God has a purpose and a plan in this: he wants to display to the entire world the brilliance of his creation, the glory of his unified body. (Ephesians 3:10, First Love Paraphrase)
How did God choose to reveal his plan to bring all nations back into partnership with him? The church. God’s wisdom revealed as a diamond with many facets (manifold), we as a diverse but unified church declare God’s plan to the world. God put his full trust in us that we may approach him with confidence through faith. What is faith? I like Michael Burns’ translation for faith,[3] “allegiance.” Our faithfulness to God is shown by our pledge of allegiance to him and his bride, the church. Not to an earthly institution, but to a the God who reigns.
God captivates the hearts of people on both sides of the battlefield.
Jews embrace Jesus and then embrace Gentiles.
Men embrace Jesus and then recognize the value and spirituality of women.
Slaves embrace Jesus and then forgive and help convert their masters.
This mass movement of unity and love proclaims a message to every creature, whether physical or spiritual, across the entire planet and even into the spiritual realms.
The message? Glory to the God whose wisdom, power, and love can defeat any rebellion, treachery, sedition, or hatred
and unify all people in love in his body, the church.
(First Love)
3. Eight Prayer Power Principles (3:12-21)
Paul closes his theological introduction (Chapters 1-3) with a prayer that demonstrates what it means to approach a living God with full allegiance (faith), ready to understand his will and instructions (Chapters 4-6). As you read Paul’s prayer consider how you can pray with:
1) Confidence – I pledge my allegiance to (trust) you, father, even when life brings suffering
2) Posture – I fall to my knees, humble in body, spirit, and mind
3) Strength – My only real power* comes through your Holy Spirit
4) Invitation – Invade me—heart, soul, mind: passion, allegiance, thoughts
5) Desire – I long to know YOU—not about you; I crave your presence
6) Understanding – Admitting my ignorance, show me the height, depth, width of YOUR love
7) Knowledge – Teach me that which surpasses knowledge
8) Filled* – I come empty to be filled with YOU—with the fullness of God!
God birthed the church as his precious proclamation to the world that his kingdom reigns supreme. The church declares the fulfillment of the Genesis story: God’s pinnacle creations now fully bear his image and demonstrate his glory. Where else can former enemies come together as one body, unified in their partnership and worship of the Creator God, committed to overcome the dividing walls of hostility that have enslaved generations in bitterness, hate, and violence? This is the body that we are invited to join—as co-heirs and co-rulers with every soul who invites the reign of Christ into this world.
Lord, may I be filled in every ounce of my soul with your love until it overflows into everything I do. (First Love)
Closing thoughts: Ephesians 3 defines our mission and God’s plan: the unified church of all nations proclaims the glory, power, and honor of the Creator. God calls every one of his created children to recognize the wisdom of his plan and rejoin him in partnership to restore his reign on this earth.
For further (word) study
Each week I’ll provide some words that represent deeper themes in Ephesians along with links to the Strong’s Concordance (provides the Greek original word).
Fullness (Strong’s 4138: πλήρωμα or pléróma) – “completion, super abundance.” Also, Full (Strong’s 4137: πληρόω or pléroó) – “filled to capacity.” Five significant verses from Ephesians. We are filled with the Spirit (5:18) of Christ who is exalted to God’s throne, that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God, (3:19) who fills the entire universe with his presence, power, and activity (4:10-13) with the fullness of him who fills everything in every way (1:23).
Power (Strong’s 1411: δύναμις or dunamis) – the mighty strength to achieve “by applying the Lord's inherent abilities.” Used in Ephesians to describe the supernatural force and understanding available to men and women of faith but only through the gift of the Holy Spirit. God’s power (3:7, 6:10) works through us by faith (1:19) to strengthen us by his Spirit (3:16) so that we may understand his love (3:18) and live out the calling God has given us in Christ (3:20) – to bring his power to this earth (3:16,6:10).
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[1] To get the most out of this series, I encourage you to get a copy of the book on Amazon (only $6) and take a month to dig into a chapter each day! I’ll publish a new devotional each week to help us reflect on what we are learning.
[2] Note: This is my own paraphrase of the book of Ephesians that appears in my book First Love. I developed it to help me better digest the depth of teaching found in the scripture. In no way am I claiming that this is more accurate than a translation, but for those of us who have read the same translation more than a dozen times, it can be helpful to revisit the text from a different angle. I pray this version will help you find new insights into the scriptures.
[3] Escaping the Beast, Michael Burns (see chapters 3-4).