The Manifold Wisdom of God

The Opening Reading from Ephesians 3:1–13

The preaching from this morning will be from verses 7 to 13. And once you've opened your Bibles, please turn again to Ephesians chapter 3. And we're going to read starting at verse 1. And please stand for the reading of God's Word when you have received and opened to the passage.

Hear ye this morning the word of the Lord. For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, on behalf of you Gentiles, assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace that was given to me for you, how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly.

When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men and other generations as it has now been revealed to its holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit.

This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the same promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. For 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 and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, whom created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.

This was according to the eternal purpose, which he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him. So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory.

You may be seated. O Lord, the privilege that is ours this morning to survey the wondrous cross, to sing of thy wondrous story, that our tongues can sing even of the manifold wisdom of God. We thank you, God, for the privilege.

We thank you, Lord, for all that you have done and all that you are. We pray, God, that you would help us in this moment, this morning, to lay aside every high and lofty thought, every sin that so easily entangles us, and let us see you with eyes of faith, the Lord Jesus Christ, who sits in glory.

We pray, Lord, give us eyes to see, hearts to receive, that which you have laid before us in your word, even thy manifold wisdom. In Jesus' name we do pray, amen. Church, today's topic and discussion is the unfolding of God's wondrous story, the story of amazing grace, the story of the unveiling of his manifold wisdom throughout redemptive history.

I want you to know this morning that Jesus Christ is Lord. He's Lord. Now, when a Christian says that Jesus Christ is Lord, what do we mean by that? Some translations in the Greek text of the word Lord can simply mean sir.

Some others, in other contexts, can mean a master. But when a Christian says that Jesus Christ is Lord, he is no mere sir or just a regular gentleman. He is indeed Lord, Master, Sovereign, Yahweh of all human history.

And throughout history, even this same God has been working throughout redemptive history, beginning in the Garden of Eden when he created man and woman in his image, all the way even to the fall of Adam and even the promise that was given from Yahweh to his people, which was that he would bring forth a seed, a promised seed, who would crush the head of the serpent.

Through that seed, we begin to see the promise, the covenant that God makes with Abraham, that by means of him, all the nations of the earth would be blessed. Redemptive history continues to go through into the congregation of Israel that is in the oppression of Egypt.

And they come out of Egypt, and God delivers them through Moses. And then God brings them into the wilderness for 40 years, and God begins to work and deal with humanity. He institutes the covenants of sacrifice.

He begins to give them decrees and laws and statutes to follow. And even in those times in the wilderness, and even in times of Joshua, when the land was conquered, the Bible makes it very clear that man, though God was working throughout history, man was still desperately lost and in need of a savior.

So Israel begins to cry out, you know what? Maybe instead of being ruled by judges, we should have a king. And the Lord allows them to have a king. First, they received the wicked king, and then they received King David.

Even though King David was a man after God's own heart, David was a man who failed, who fell short. And because of that, even the king himself needed a savior. And friends, the promise made throughout scripture through the prophetic word is that God was going to send a savior.

And that savior came, born of the Virgin, lived a life that you and I could not live, holy, blameless, righteous, so much so that even when John the Baptist, who operated under the spirit of Elijah, when he saw Jesus, he says, behold, the Lamb of God who taketh away the sins of the world.

And when he sees Jesus coming to be baptized to fulfill all righteousness, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the Holy Trinity manifest and revealed in redemptive history. Now, why do I go over the stories and narrative of redemptive history?

It's so that you may see the unfolding of God's wisdom and might throughout the history of humanity, and indeed, even of the cosmos. This is what Paul is referring to in verse 7 in Ephesians chapter 3, when he says, of this gospel, this good news of the life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, working throughout redemptive history.

He says, 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. You're following along in today's insert in the bulletin. Paul was a minister of God's gift of grace.

Now, the word minister that's used here in the Greek is the word that we also see translated in the New Testament as deacon or a servant, a ministerial servant. Now, I want you to know that there's more complexity to that word minister in the Greek.

It actually literally comes from a sense of being brought through the dirt. That's what the idea of a deacon, a minister, is someone who is getting dirty. Their hands are dirty. They're going through the dirt.

And Paul says, of this glorious gospel, he was a minister as one going through the dirt to reveal the majesty of God's grace. And this was by the working of the power of God. I want you to write that in there as well.

Paul was a minister of God's gift of grace by the power of God. You see, Paul thought it was his privilege to be a servant of Christ, to declare the gift of his grace, undeserved kindness to Jews and Gentiles by the operation of God's spirit, God's power working in him.

Now, here we see the twofold gift of God. We see it in his grace, God's undeserved kindness, unmerited favor. And that's why we've been talking a lot about grace over the last several weeks and even months because Ephesians, really, this is the book of grace.

This is a book about amazing grace. And God's undeserved kindness, his unmerited favor towards you is also comes in the power of his spirit operating and working in you. So when God gives grace, he also gives power because grace is a form of God's power.

It is his sufficiency unto you, his goodness that he's lavished on us in Christ Jesus. Paul himself found himself to be a minister of God's gift of grace. Now, church, do you find yourself to be a minister of God's amazing grace?

How then can we as Christians be ministers of the amazing grace of God? We can be ministers of God's amazing grace by extending the same kindness and forgiveness that we've received through the cross and extending it even to our own enemies, to those who are different from us, those who look different, talk different, those who are different.

We can extend God's mercy, his grace, to a watching world. And again, by the twofold ministry of God's gift, his grace and his power, and it's only by the twofold ministry of God's gift, which is his grace and power, that Paul could operate in such a way to say that I was made a minister of this good news, of this gospel.

It says in verse eight in Ephesians chapter three, to me, Paul says, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things.

Again, if you're following along in today's sermon, Paul is teaching though he was the least. Paul thought himself to be the least. Now, this is a man who wrote two thirds of the New Testament. He went on missionary trips that you and I could not even begin to fathom the power and the operation of the Spirit working through this man named Paul, who was once formerly a persecutor of the church and now is one who upholds the faith and preaches it.

And yet, Paul considers himself the least. He considers himself, now, I have to ask myself the question, Paul, why do you think you're the least? I think, I put you up there. Like, you're one of the best.

You're one of the most amazing people that's recorded in Holy Scripture and yet, you consider yourself the least? Do you know why he considers himself the least? Brothers and sisters, because he had a right estimation of who he truly was.

He had a right estimation of who he was. Because though we, looking back in history, can say, wow, this man did amazing things for the Lord. He did all these wonderful missionary trips. He brought so many to the Lord.

We're reading his literature even today on the Lord's day. Yet, he knew that he was a wretch. That he was a sinner. And that there was nothing that was in him that was good, but one, and it was his Savior.

It was the loving kindness of God in Paul that Paul could then say, I am the very least of the saints, but still through me, the gospel can be preached and Jesus can be magnified and glorified. This is the estimation that we all ought to have of ourselves, that we are indeed the least.

Remember the word for deacon literally means to be brought through the dirt. Brothers and sisters, I love you, but you need to know something. You're dirt. You're dirt. Remember, of what God fashioned you and made you out of, he created man in the garden, not from beautiful, luscious things, but from the dirt, from the ground, from the clay, from the matter of the earth.

He formed and fashioned and breathed into us the breath of life and we live because of him. Because he created all things. And so brothers and sisters, recognize this, that we are indeed the least. We are the bottom.

We are like those who are brought through the dirt and yet he loves us. Isn't that amazing? Though we are creatures of the dirt, the Lord God loves us. He chose us. He sent his son Jesus in the fullness of time to die for us.

Oh, the depths of the riches and the mercy and the love of God. Unfathomable, unsearchable is this amazing love, this amazing grace, the manifold wisdom of God being expressed here in light of Holy Scripture.

Grace enabled Paul to preach the unsearchable riches of Christ. I want you to write that in if you're following along. Though he was the least, grace enabled him to preach the unsearchable riches of Christ and the light of God's mystery.

Now this is the mystery, that God would die for creatures of the dirt. That's a mystery. Why would a king come to die for a peasant? And yet that's what we see in the story of redemption. The king of glory himself, Yahweh, eternal God, exalted at the highest of the heavens, became flesh and died for you and me.

What a gift, what power, what amazing grace we see. Now why is it that when we assemble every week on the Lord's day and we hear the gospel message preached from this pulpit, whether by myself or by Pastor Josh or Pastor Conley, and you hear the gospel of your salvation, why is it that that gospel message never kind of gets old?

Because every week we come here and we preach to you more or less the same thing, that Jesus Christ is the Savior and you're a sinner and He by His death, burial and resurrection saves and offers salvation to you.

And why doesn't that get old? Well brothers, look at the text. Notice what it says again. In verse eight, to me, Paul says, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given me to preach to the Gentiles, that's you, the unsearchable riches of Christ.

It's unsearchable, it's amazing. This power, this gospel that we present to you every week, it doesn't get old because the gospel is the unfathomable, unsearchable, inexhaustible riches of Christ. It's a fountain that will never run dry.

It is a river that will never cease. It is indeed that which can satisfy and even save the longing of the human soul. Praise be to the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Praise be to our triune God.

God gives us this gospel of the inexhaustible riches of Christ and Paul says, I am a preacher. I am a declarer of these things to the Gentiles. In verse nine, he says, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things.

Again, we see this idea, this notion, this picture of a mystery. What is this mystery? What is this sacred secret that God has been unraveling throughout human history by means of the gospel proclamation and redemptive history?

Again, part of it is that God would come to save and die for sinners. That he would come, it's part of the mystery. It's part of the prophetic anticipation that we see throughout the Old Testament and the Old Covenant.

All things were foreshadowing, pointing towards the Lord Jesus Christ. And yet, not only is that mystery now unveiled through the person and work of Jesus Christ, another aspect of the mystery is the fact that God is no longer exclusively dealing with one national ethnic people group.

But instead, the gospel is that men and women and children of all ages, of all nationality, of all races can now come and stream onto Zion, the holy hill. All people, regardless of their skin color, language, national origin, can now come to the cross of Calvary.

What a beautiful sight. What a beautiful thing it is to live on this side of the gospel, to see its fulfillment, to see the mystery unraveled and know that God is the savior of all men, of all kinds of men.

And so we see again Paul being a messenger and Paul again counted himself unworthy to be a messenger and apostle of this gospel since he was the persecutor of this people and was like one born untimely, the last of the apostles chosen for the work of the ministry, yet his unworthiness, brothers and sisters, recognize this, his unworthiness did not hinder him from proclaiming the excellencies of God's grace, but it amplified it.

Sometimes as Christians, we recognize just how big of a wretch we truly are. And if that's the case, praise God, because I rather have a lower view of myself than a higher view of myself that isn't in accordance with biblical truth and reality.

And so those of us who understand that we are indeed creatures of the dirt, that we only live and have being in life because God has breathed into us and he has pitied us so, yet that does not deter us or make us any less in order to declare the excellencies of his grace.

In fact, if anything, it amplifies our ability to do so because it isn't because we are so great and lofty that we bring forth this gospel message as those who figured it out, as those who've got it all together.

If anyone has it all together, I question, I really question that because we're all broken. We're all fallen. Adam and Eve dropped us all on our heads. We've all got deformities and issues that we've got to deal with in life.

But it's in that deformity, it's in that brokenness that God makes a beautiful, powerful example of his grace. And so if you're broken today, know that God can use you in your brokenness. Know that if you're a sinner today, God can save you and lift you up and make you an example of what grace truly is.

That God is in the business of making sinners whole through the gospel. And God is eager and waiting to use you. Are you willing and eager to be used by him is the question that I pose to you this morning.

Again, it is in recognition of our true selves in light of scripture that we can fully declare the gift and power of amazing grace. And this is in fact part of the sacred mystery. How God uses the undeserving to bring his illumination to the world.

It is in God's wisdom that he uses such individuals such as Paul, such as you, such as myself, to demonstrate his loving kindness. God uses the unthinkable to do the unthinkable. This gospel was everything to Paul.

It saved him and it gave him purpose. In church, the question I wanna pose to you this morning is what is your purpose? Or moreover, what is the purpose of the church? Why is the church here? Why does even this particular church, Silicon Valley Reformed Baptist Church nestled in this community, why do we exist?

Why are we here? God's word gives us the incredible answer in verse 10 of chapter three of Ephesians where Paul goes on to write the following. So that through the church, the manifold wisdom of God, might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.

If you're following along in the answer, it is through the church that the manifold wisdom of God is made known to the rulers in heavenly places. Now this is where we get the word manifold from in the text in verse 10.

The manifold wisdom of God. The word manifold means multifaceted. Really gives the idea in the Greek texts and in the Greek language is connotation of a, think of a vibrant blanket almost with different hues of colors.

It's multifaceted, it's multilayered. In fact, the word itself means manifesting itself in a great variety of forms. So think of a cloth or painting with varied colors and it's just dynamic, it's diverse.

And God's manifold wisdom, God's purpose and plan for the church is to demonstrate his salvation through Jesus Christ to the world and to the rulers of this world which is what we see in the text in verse 10 again.

So that through the church, the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities where? In heavenly places. I want you, if you can, turn to Ephesians 6 real quick because we see this example later on in Ephesians in chapter 6 and verse 12, a famous text about spiritual warfare.

In Ephesians 6, 12, the apostle Paul says, for we do not wrestle against flesh and blood but against the rulers, there you have that word again, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

So Paul is declaring to us, the church, that in our declaration of the gospel, we preach it not only to men, women and children of this world and this age, but we're also doing a declaring, a declaration of judgment to the spiritual principalities and powers that lay behind the veil that we cannot see of our own eyes but the Bible assures us of this truth in 1 John chapter five, verse 19 and 20 that the whole world is lying under the influence, under the hand of the wicked one, that is Satan, the devil.

We learned in our home groups this last several weeks ago that there's one who is called the God of this age, that's Satan, the devil in 2 Corinthians chapter four, verse four, who has blinded the minds of the unbelievers so they may not see the glorious light of the gospel of Christ and we are here as Christians, as a church and we are here to exist for the glory of God, to declare the glory of God in that Jesus Christ is Lord and we declare that truth not just to men and women but we also declare this truth to the powers that be, whether it be governmental structures or spiritual governmental structures that are behind the structures that we see today and so we declare with all of the saints around the world that it is not Caesar who is Lord, it is not Satan, the adversary that is Lord but indeed Jesus is Lord and he is the true king of kings and the true Lord of lords and he shall one day come again, riding on a white steed to declare his victory over his enemies and to do away once and for all with the issue of sin and destroying the enemies of God.

Come Lord Jesus. In Ephesians chapter three, again in our main text, we see that this is the purpose, this is the reason that we exist as a church, the reason that God planted us here and why we ought to continue to focus on this incredible Great Commission work because part of the Great Commission that the Lord Jesus gives this church in Matthew 28, when he says, go ye therefore into all the earth, to all nations, baptizing and making disciples in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, is because Jesus Christ is now demonstrating that the nations are truly his.

He is truly the one who is in charge and as a result of that, he's disarmed the rulers of this age. No longer can they have a comprehensive deception or authority over the nations, but as we as Christians go out into this crazy and crazier world, I mean, is it not getting crazy out here?

The things that society is accepting just in the last 10 years, accepting more and more darkness and yet through the church, we're to bring light and illumination and truth. You see, this body, the body of Christ, should be like Christ, immutable and unchanging in regard to the waves and the whims of human deception and doctrine.

So regardless of what the world now accepts, we will accept that which has been given to us, the authority of his word in Holy Scripture. So though truth is constantly changing outside of these walls, we know that the real truth, change if not, and that God's truth abideth still.

And that is part of our declaration. Part of the manifold wisdom is to declare onto all of creation, all that God has created, both visible and invisible, the manifold wisdom of God in and through the gospel of Jesus Christ.

This is part of what we are here for even today, even this morning. So again, by means of the manifold wisdom and his application, by means of the manifold wisdom of God, God saves humanity through the gospel.

And this is where we find the doctrine of justification by faith. We see, again, the application of regeneration and justification to the varieties of men, both men and women, both Jew and Gentile. This is part of the mystery that we see again in verses five and six of Ephesians chapter three, that God is bringing these two people groups, making them one, bringing justification by faith to these two people groups.

It's part of the unraveling of the mystery. And that by means of these people, Jews, Greeks, Gentiles, slaves and free men, that Jesus Christ is indeed Lord. And I want you to know, this is the big takeaway from the text and the sermon today.

Paul wants you to share in this astonishment that God would use him and that he would even use you and me. This is our purpose, to declare the manifold wisdom of God, even the gospel of our salvation.

That's the big picture. That's the big takeaway today. But there's still more in the text to unravel. In verses 11 to 13 in Ephesians chapter three, it says this, what is the this? This is the manifold wisdom of God, the mystery that was long held in ages past.

This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus, our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him. So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory.

This is all according to plan. Friends, you need to recognize this truth today that God is sovereign. All things are going according to plan. Everything, all the events that we see in the world, the events that are transpiring in your own lives, and even more importantly, God's eternal purpose, which he has realized, it's realized in Jesus Christ, which is the manifold wisdom of God unfolding through the mystery of the gospel that Jesus Christ, the God-man would come and die for you and me so that we can then become messengers of this manifold wisdom, of this incredible grace that he now gives by faith in him.

Verse 12 says that this eternal purpose that God has realized in Christ, it does something in the believer, and notice what it does in verse 12, in whom we have boldness and access. Isn't that incredible?

Friends, recognize this, that in times past and throughout redemptive history, if you were an Israelite living in the times of the temple, there was only one who could enter into the most holy space, and that was only once a year, and only one had access to go into that beautiful, mysterious temple and to go in and have access before the mercy seat of Yahweh and now Paul says that part of the unraveling of the mystery is now all those in Christ Jesus now can have boldness to access the Father's throne.

That's incredible. This is unsearchable, unfathomable manifold wisdom of God that we through Jesus Christ can now have access, boldness, boldness and access. So before, you know, this is not in the Bible, but you've probably heard this, that the high priest in the temple times would put like a little bell on so just in case he fell dead, they can kind of, and they would tie him up to something, they can rope him out because they can't go into the holies of holies because they too would die.

Now there's no biblical account naming such, but that's part of what's shared in rabbinic tradition, and so there was even a fear, if that be true, there's even a fear of entering that holy space because you could die because no one can be in the presence of pure holiness and live, and yet, through Jesus, you and I can now access that holy space, and we can now not only access it, but we can go boldly into it, not because of any merit that you have, not because of how great you are, but because of how great Jesus is and how kind of a savior he is to allow you and to bring you near to his Father.

It's part of the manifold wisdom of God. Unsearchable, unfathomable. And the last bullet point in our insert, God has realized this purpose in Christ. Know that the purpose has been realized, and God will realize your purpose in Christ, in Christ.

So if you're looking for purpose in life, recognize this, that the world has nothing to offer you because purpose is fleeting in the eyes of the world. It's whatever you make of it, and oftentimes in the world, we pursue purposes that really in reality become idols.

We put our kids on a pedestal, our marriage on a pedestal. What happens when our kids move away? What happens when your marriage dissolves and breaks down? There goes your purpose, and then people fall into despair and say, well, what is life even all about?

And therefore, I should just take my life if I've lost all purpose. But friends, know this, that God has given, and you can realize your purpose in Jesus Christ. Therefore, we ought to have boldness, boldness, and we ought also not to lose heart.

Notice how Paul says again in verse 12 and 13, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him, your faith in Jesus will grant you access and boldness. Verse 13 says, I ask you not to lose heart.

Don't lose heart. Particularly in the text here is because of what Paul was suffering on behalf of the Christian church and ministry. He says that all the suffering that he was enduring, all the things that he was encountering in his life that were obstacles, that were difficulties, ultimately resulted in glory.

So friends, Paul puts it this way in 2 Corinthians chapter four. He says that all of life's afflictions are but light and momentary in comparison to the eternal weight of glory that we are going to receive.

So regardless of what you're going through today, dear brother or sister, I want you to know this truth. All of your problems, financial problems, marital problems, problems in your health, problems in your relationships are all but lights and momentary in comparison to the eternal glory that awaits you and me.

Therefore, do not lose heart. Don't lose it. God will keep you and he'll bring you to the end because he who began the work in you will bring it to completion. Therefore, brothers and sisters, know this truth, that you, most beloved, are part of the unfolding manifold wisdom of God in the gospel.

See, the central theme of Paul's entire letter to the Ephesians has been to tell the greatness of God's eternal purpose centered and unfolding in the personal work of Jesus Christ. Therefore, the invitation is here for you and for me to come and receive, to come and be changed by this wisdom and grace of God.

And he will give you the power to endure even unto the end. If you have not made a personal declaration of faith in Jesus Christ, the Bible says that all those who would renounce unrighteousness and would come unto him will be saved with an everlasting salvation.

The Bible says, if you confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in thy heart that God has raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. Salvation is near you even this morning and it's near even to your very lips.

And so declare him as what he truly is, not what you make him, but that which he truly is, Lord of heaven and earth. May you know him today. And if you've not received this spiritual sight and vision to see and comprehend the breadth of God's manifold wisdom, may you come humbly today and ask for eyes to see.

And if you are a Christian today, no one recognizes this, that God has found it fit to use you and I as instruments of his unfolding manifold wisdom to this world. Take heart and do not lose heart. Be strong and courageous.

Let me pray. Benevolent Father in heaven, we approach you not by any good deed or word that we can come up with or that originates within our own flesh, but we approach thee with boldness and with access by the merit and the blood of another, even the merit and the blood of the righteous one, Jesus Christ, who lived the life that we could not live, who died the death that we deserved, who was raised again on the third day, now ascended on high, living forever, interceding for us as our great high priest.

It is through his name and his blood alone that we approach thee this morning. And we thank you, God, for this gift, this gift of the manifold wisdom, the multifaceted wisdom of God and that in and through redemptive history, you have been setting apart a people for your own possession and you've sealed them from every tribe, nation, and tongue through the blood of Jesus Christ who makes us whole.

Lord, help us to see today, to receive vision, to receive eyes that see that glorious manifold wisdom. We thank you, God, for all that you do. May you be glorified in the church and that you'd give power onto that church to declare of all boldness the gospel even unto the rulers of this age.

Come, Lord Jesus. In your name we do pray, amen.