“…the unsearchable riches of Christ…”
Notice that Paul writes that he has been called to preach the “unsearchable riches of Christ.” The word translated “unsearchable” indicates something that is impossible of being understood by the human mind.
There are two ways that we can react to the concept that the
riches of Christ are unsearchable. Some people have a fatalistic attitude. They
reason that since we can never fully understand the things of God they might as
well just give up and not try to dig any deeper. Paul took a different
approach, however. We can see that even
more clearly if we go to another of his letters. In his letter to the
Philippians, Paul wrote about knowing Christ:
“What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord…” Philippians 3:8 (NIV)
Paul rejoiced in the fact that Jesus had revealed Himself to Paul on the road to Damascus one day. He considered the revelation of Jesus Christ to be of greater worth than anything else in his life. He goes on to say:
“I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection…” Philippians 3:10 (NIV)
Even though Paul had just written about the greatness of knowing Christ, there is a sense in which his life work is to seek to know Him even more. When I put those verses together with our passage from Ephesians what Paul seems to be saying is that the fact that his knowledge of Jesus is limited, his motivation to dig deeper and to learn everything he can is greater. Paul acknowledges that the riches of Christ are not fully understandable to us as humans, but he is going to use all the tools he has available to learn and understand all that he possibly can.
Proverbs 25:2 reinforces this principle:
“It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings.”
On one hand, God gets glory because he chooses to conceal some things about Himself, His purposes and His ways. Essentially that’s what makes Him God. If we could figure out everything about God, he would no longer be God. On the other hand, there is a sense in which man gets glory through the process of seeking to better understand those unsearchable riches. God uses that process of seeking to know Him better to enrich our relationship with Him.
So what is your life work? It’s probably not protecting the rights of animals or visiting a Taco Bell in each of the 50 states in the U.S. But God has given each of His children a unique ministry and he gifts us with His grace so we can overcome our failures and He equips us with His power to overcome our weaknesses. And then He reveals Himself to me so I can search even deeper into who He is. You are loved!
“What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord…” Philippians 3:8 (NIV)
Paul rejoiced in the fact that Jesus had revealed Himself to Paul on the road to Damascus one day. He considered the revelation of Jesus Christ to be of greater worth than anything else in his life. He goes on to say:
“I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection…” Philippians 3:10 (NIV)
Even though Paul had just written about the greatness of knowing Christ, there is a sense in which his life work is to seek to know Him even more. When I put those verses together with our passage from Ephesians what Paul seems to be saying is that the fact that his knowledge of Jesus is limited, his motivation to dig deeper and to learn everything he can is greater. Paul acknowledges that the riches of Christ are not fully understandable to us as humans, but he is going to use all the tools he has available to learn and understand all that he possibly can.
Proverbs 25:2 reinforces this principle:
“It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings.”
On one hand, God gets glory because he chooses to conceal some things about Himself, His purposes and His ways. Essentially that’s what makes Him God. If we could figure out everything about God, he would no longer be God. On the other hand, there is a sense in which man gets glory through the process of seeking to better understand those unsearchable riches. God uses that process of seeking to know Him better to enrich our relationship with Him.
So what is your life work? It’s probably not protecting the rights of animals or visiting a Taco Bell in each of the 50 states in the U.S. But God has given each of His children a unique ministry and he gifts us with His grace so we can overcome our failures and He equips us with His power to overcome our weaknesses. And then He reveals Himself to me so I can search even deeper into who He is. You are loved!
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