The One Year Bible Club with Teaching
Commentary by Nick Boork
September 24
Ephesians 3:1-21
Commentary by Nick Boork
September 24
Ephesians 3:1-21
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September 24 – Ephesians 3:1-21
For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles— 2 if indeed you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which was given to me for you, 3 how that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I have briefly written already, 4 by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ), 5 which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets: 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, 9 and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ; 10 to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places, 11 according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, 12 in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him. 13 Therefore I ask that you do not lose heart at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.
14 For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,15 from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, 17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— 19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. 20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, 21 to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
OKAY, HERE’S MY TEACHING COMMENTARY
This third chapter of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians pulls back the curtain even further to let us see into the eternal purposes of God. Paul says in the beginning that God’s purposes were not fully revealed to his people in the past but now God was making known the fullness of the understanding of His redemptive purposes. God had called Paul to be his messenger to reveal his mysteries to all men. He summarizes one important aspect of the mystery of God and that is the inclusion of the Gentiles and the Jews into one new body, one new community called the Church, the Body of Christ through the gospel.
This is what Jesus was talking about when he said to his apostles in Luke 10:23-24…“Blessed are the eyes which see the things you see; for I tell you that many prophets and kings have desired to see what you see, and have not seen it, and to hear what you hear, and have not heard it.” To know and understand spiritual mysteries you need what the Bible calls “revelation knowledge”. This comes to us by the Holy Spirit Who enlightens our minds to comprehend the things of God primarily through reading the written Word of God. Paul prayed for his readers to be filled with the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of God, now that’s a good prayer that the Father delights to answer when we’re seeking to know Him and understand his purposes and plans for our lives.
Paul said in verse 8 that God had called him to preach the Gospel and make him effective by the power of the Holy Spirit. If you’re called to the ministry you need the supernatural power of God to flow through you as you preach and teach the Word of God and minister to people’s needs being led by God and relying on Him to reveal to you the real issues going on and bring what’s needed through prayer and the guidance of God. It’s only by the grace and power of God that we can influence others to faith in Christ and build up the church.
Paul writes about preaching the unsearchable riches of Christ among the Gentiles. He was anointed by the Holy Spirit to cause all to understand that God loved the world so much that He sent his Son Jesus as the promised Messiah to save them and bring them into a new divine fellowship through Jesus Christ. He said that the eternal wisdom of God was also being revealed to all the angels as they looked upon multitudes of people from all nations believing in Christ and being made a part of the Church, the people redeemed and saved from sin by the grace of God. Jesus said that the angels of God rejoice in heaven when one sinner repents. It’s like they are cheering because one more person has come over to Heaven’s side! He says part of the eternal purpose of God was accomplished through Jesus Christ. Verses 11-12 this was “according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him.”
What does it mean that God accomplished His eternal purposes in Christ Jesus? From the beginning God has always desired to have fellowship with all of his people but this close relationship was lost through the sin of Adam and Eve in the garden. That’s when people died spiritually and we’re separated from God because of their sins but now through his Son Jesus Christ we’re joined together again as one. Jesus Christ was 100% God but he was also 100% man born of the virgin Mary. Christ walked the earth as both man and God join together in one body and through his death on the cross he purchased our salvation and by faith we are reconciled to God and restored to a right relationship with our Father. This is why it says in verse 12 that through Jesus we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in him. The boldness comes as a result of having great assurance that we have been redeemed and the access means that now we can enter the presence of God through prayer.
Next Paul tells these believers about a particular prayer that he is praying for them to be able to experience this reality and this is a prayer that you and I can pray today and make it personal between us and God. He prays that we might be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man so that Christ would live in our hearts by faith. Remember it is only the Holy Spirit that can make God real to us and that’s why he prays that the Holy Spirit would strengthen us on the inside causing us to know four dimensions of the love of God which goes way beyond our intellectual understanding. The four dimensions of God’s love are:
The length of God’s love represents the timeless aspect of the love of God. The Bible teaches us that God loved us before the foundation of the world. Now that’s a long time ago and He will continue to love us for eternity!
The width of God’s love represents how wide it reaches meaning the whole world because when Jesus was on the cross he stretched out his hand and died for every human being that ever lived and that’s all a lot of people, every person ever born, billions and billions of souls.
The depth of God’s love represents how far God would go to love the worst of sinners. Jesus left heaven to come down to the earth to lift the lowest sinner and bring them to salvation. That’s going pretty low because humanity has done some horrible things but God’s mercy is greater and his love will meet people where they are to save them.
The height of God’s love represents the goal of God’s love which is to bring us all to heaven and experience his love and kindness for all of eternity. Now that’s taking people as high as you can get them into the glory of God’s presence in heaven!
He prays that we could know the love of God which passes knowledge that we may be filled with all the fullness of God. This goes way beyond only an intellectual concept of the love of God. Paul is talking about having a personal experience being touched by the love of God individually in such a way that it makes a permanent impression upon our hearts. The following story illustrates the difference between just knowing about God’s love mentally and experiencing God’s love personally. There was a young boy about three years old watching his mother in the kitchen bake hot bread in the oven and the mother told her son don’t touch the oven because it’s hot. The curious boy thought to himself what’s hot? So he reached out his tender young hand and laid it on the oven and screamed it’s hot! Before he touched the oven he only knew what his mother told him about the oven that it was hot but after he touched it he experienced the burning heat of the oven and knew what hot meant and no one could ever convince him for the rest of his life that baking bread in an oven it was not hot. That's kind of how it is with us also and our relationship with God. Many times before we get saved we hear about the love of God but then once we except Christ the Holy Spirit makes the love of God so real to us that it is not just knowledge but rather a personal experience that we are able to communicate to others from the depths of our hearts. The love of God has been poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit.
Finally, Paul prays for us that we can know the exceeding greatness of God’s power which is able to do exceedingly, abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us. He’s basically saying that there is nothing too hard for the Lord! So, when we pray we need to understand who it is were praying to and his ability and that’s the Creator of the universe that has unlimited power to answer our prayers! According to Jesus faith in God is able to pick up a mountain and cast into the sea. Jesus said all things are possible to him who believes and with God nothing shall be impossible.
WHAT’S THE BOTTOM LINE?
1) The mysteries of God and His purposes are now revealed by the Holy Spirit.
2) Now both believing Jews and Gentiles are one new community called the body of Christ.
3) The apostle Paul was called and empowered by the Holy Spirit to preach the gospel and make everyone know they are called into fellowship with God through his Son Jesus Christ.
4) The eternal purpose of God was accomplished through his Son Jesus Christ.
5) God wants all of his people to experience the fullness of his love and come to a place of complete assurance that he loves us right now and for all eternity.
6) The God of the Bible is the Creator of the universe and there is absolutely nothing impossible for him! We need to exercise our faith in him when we pray for his miraculous answers no matter what the situation is because God is able to answer our prayers, to him be all the glory!
PRAYER TO APPLY THE WORD OF GOD TO OUR LIVES
ORDINATION
We provide Ministry Credentials and Ordination through Diamond Ministerial Association. Click to learn more and apply! http://www.diamondinstitute.org/ordination
ONLINE COURSES
For Bible courses and ministry resources see our online school Diamond Institute. Enroll free today! http://www.diamondinstitute.org/enroll
For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles— 2 if indeed you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which was given to me for you, 3 how that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I have briefly written already, 4 by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ), 5 which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets: 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, 9 and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ; 10 to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places, 11 according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, 12 in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him. 13 Therefore I ask that you do not lose heart at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.
14 For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,15 from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, 17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— 19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. 20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, 21 to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
OKAY, HERE’S MY TEACHING COMMENTARY
This third chapter of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians pulls back the curtain even further to let us see into the eternal purposes of God. Paul says in the beginning that God’s purposes were not fully revealed to his people in the past but now God was making known the fullness of the understanding of His redemptive purposes. God had called Paul to be his messenger to reveal his mysteries to all men. He summarizes one important aspect of the mystery of God and that is the inclusion of the Gentiles and the Jews into one new body, one new community called the Church, the Body of Christ through the gospel.
This is what Jesus was talking about when he said to his apostles in Luke 10:23-24…“Blessed are the eyes which see the things you see; for I tell you that many prophets and kings have desired to see what you see, and have not seen it, and to hear what you hear, and have not heard it.” To know and understand spiritual mysteries you need what the Bible calls “revelation knowledge”. This comes to us by the Holy Spirit Who enlightens our minds to comprehend the things of God primarily through reading the written Word of God. Paul prayed for his readers to be filled with the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of God, now that’s a good prayer that the Father delights to answer when we’re seeking to know Him and understand his purposes and plans for our lives.
Paul said in verse 8 that God had called him to preach the Gospel and make him effective by the power of the Holy Spirit. If you’re called to the ministry you need the supernatural power of God to flow through you as you preach and teach the Word of God and minister to people’s needs being led by God and relying on Him to reveal to you the real issues going on and bring what’s needed through prayer and the guidance of God. It’s only by the grace and power of God that we can influence others to faith in Christ and build up the church.
Paul writes about preaching the unsearchable riches of Christ among the Gentiles. He was anointed by the Holy Spirit to cause all to understand that God loved the world so much that He sent his Son Jesus as the promised Messiah to save them and bring them into a new divine fellowship through Jesus Christ. He said that the eternal wisdom of God was also being revealed to all the angels as they looked upon multitudes of people from all nations believing in Christ and being made a part of the Church, the people redeemed and saved from sin by the grace of God. Jesus said that the angels of God rejoice in heaven when one sinner repents. It’s like they are cheering because one more person has come over to Heaven’s side! He says part of the eternal purpose of God was accomplished through Jesus Christ. Verses 11-12 this was “according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him.”
What does it mean that God accomplished His eternal purposes in Christ Jesus? From the beginning God has always desired to have fellowship with all of his people but this close relationship was lost through the sin of Adam and Eve in the garden. That’s when people died spiritually and we’re separated from God because of their sins but now through his Son Jesus Christ we’re joined together again as one. Jesus Christ was 100% God but he was also 100% man born of the virgin Mary. Christ walked the earth as both man and God join together in one body and through his death on the cross he purchased our salvation and by faith we are reconciled to God and restored to a right relationship with our Father. This is why it says in verse 12 that through Jesus we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in him. The boldness comes as a result of having great assurance that we have been redeemed and the access means that now we can enter the presence of God through prayer.
Next Paul tells these believers about a particular prayer that he is praying for them to be able to experience this reality and this is a prayer that you and I can pray today and make it personal between us and God. He prays that we might be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man so that Christ would live in our hearts by faith. Remember it is only the Holy Spirit that can make God real to us and that’s why he prays that the Holy Spirit would strengthen us on the inside causing us to know four dimensions of the love of God which goes way beyond our intellectual understanding. The four dimensions of God’s love are:
The length of God’s love represents the timeless aspect of the love of God. The Bible teaches us that God loved us before the foundation of the world. Now that’s a long time ago and He will continue to love us for eternity!
The width of God’s love represents how wide it reaches meaning the whole world because when Jesus was on the cross he stretched out his hand and died for every human being that ever lived and that’s all a lot of people, every person ever born, billions and billions of souls.
The depth of God’s love represents how far God would go to love the worst of sinners. Jesus left heaven to come down to the earth to lift the lowest sinner and bring them to salvation. That’s going pretty low because humanity has done some horrible things but God’s mercy is greater and his love will meet people where they are to save them.
The height of God’s love represents the goal of God’s love which is to bring us all to heaven and experience his love and kindness for all of eternity. Now that’s taking people as high as you can get them into the glory of God’s presence in heaven!
He prays that we could know the love of God which passes knowledge that we may be filled with all the fullness of God. This goes way beyond only an intellectual concept of the love of God. Paul is talking about having a personal experience being touched by the love of God individually in such a way that it makes a permanent impression upon our hearts. The following story illustrates the difference between just knowing about God’s love mentally and experiencing God’s love personally. There was a young boy about three years old watching his mother in the kitchen bake hot bread in the oven and the mother told her son don’t touch the oven because it’s hot. The curious boy thought to himself what’s hot? So he reached out his tender young hand and laid it on the oven and screamed it’s hot! Before he touched the oven he only knew what his mother told him about the oven that it was hot but after he touched it he experienced the burning heat of the oven and knew what hot meant and no one could ever convince him for the rest of his life that baking bread in an oven it was not hot. That's kind of how it is with us also and our relationship with God. Many times before we get saved we hear about the love of God but then once we except Christ the Holy Spirit makes the love of God so real to us that it is not just knowledge but rather a personal experience that we are able to communicate to others from the depths of our hearts. The love of God has been poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit.
Finally, Paul prays for us that we can know the exceeding greatness of God’s power which is able to do exceedingly, abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us. He’s basically saying that there is nothing too hard for the Lord! So, when we pray we need to understand who it is were praying to and his ability and that’s the Creator of the universe that has unlimited power to answer our prayers! According to Jesus faith in God is able to pick up a mountain and cast into the sea. Jesus said all things are possible to him who believes and with God nothing shall be impossible.
WHAT’S THE BOTTOM LINE?
1) The mysteries of God and His purposes are now revealed by the Holy Spirit.
2) Now both believing Jews and Gentiles are one new community called the body of Christ.
3) The apostle Paul was called and empowered by the Holy Spirit to preach the gospel and make everyone know they are called into fellowship with God through his Son Jesus Christ.
4) The eternal purpose of God was accomplished through his Son Jesus Christ.
5) God wants all of his people to experience the fullness of his love and come to a place of complete assurance that he loves us right now and for all eternity.
6) The God of the Bible is the Creator of the universe and there is absolutely nothing impossible for him! We need to exercise our faith in him when we pray for his miraculous answers no matter what the situation is because God is able to answer our prayers, to him be all the glory!
PRAYER TO APPLY THE WORD OF GOD TO OUR LIVES
ORDINATION
We provide Ministry Credentials and Ordination through Diamond Ministerial Association. Click to learn more and apply! http://www.diamondinstitute.org/ordination
ONLINE COURSES
For Bible courses and ministry resources see our online school Diamond Institute. Enroll free today! http://www.diamondinstitute.org/enroll