JUST HOW RICH ARE WE?
EPHESIANS 3:6-8
EPHESIANS 3:6-8 NKJ
6 that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel, 7 of which I became a minister according to the gift of the grace of God given to me by the effective working of His power.
8 To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ,
OBSERVATION:
Just how rich are we?
Some of you may be thinking that's an easy question to answer. Others may think that in light of their current economic situation, the question itself is ridiculous. And if you have ever spent time in a developing nation, you would have an entirely different perspective.
But I am not talking about an economic measurement. And neither was Paul in his letter to the Ephesians.
Paul was writing to people who were not from a Jewish background. These people had never had access to the one true God. They had no covenant with Him. In chapter two, Paul had written they were without hope and without God. (Ephesians 2:12)
But now things have changed. The message of the gospel reveals that now we Gentiles are also heirs of God. Now, these hopeless Gentiles are part of the body of Christ and have access to all the promises of God through Jesus. This is true, eternal riches.
And Paul was saying that God's grace had been given to him that he could proclaim to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.
The unsearchable riches of Christ is not telling the Gentiles that Christ is really rich and you can't figure it out.
Rather, grace was given to Paul so he could declare the exhaustless wealth that belongs to us in Christ. It's not that we can't explore what we have in Christ; it's that we can’t exhaust those riches.
To be connected to God, part of His family as sons, blessed, accepted, redeemed, and forgiven. That's rich. And we are still learning and still seeking further revelation as to just how rich we are.
APPLICATION:
Reading Ephesians gives us a sense of how vast, how expansive God's grace is toward us in Christ. This is why Paul would pray not that we would be blessed. But that we would see how blessed we already are.
I hope you stay with me on the Ephesians 1:3-7 challenge. To read these 5 verses every day this week and declare that this is who we are and what we have in Christ. It is good for us to acknowledge what we have and to continually plant these wonderful truths in our hearts.
PRAYER:
Thank You, Father, that I am an heir of all the exhaustless riches in Christ. Thank you for Your grace that has made Your goodness available to me.