“In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to men in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets. This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.”
Ephesians 3:4-6 (NIV)
Last Week this church community did one of the most amazing things…you lived out community and put it into action. I’m so proud of all of you who went and put Gods love into action at the Kenton’s. I know you touched that family and you touched me as your pastor because I got this really proud thing going on knowing you get this think about being in each other’s lives. God intends for us to live out our spiritual Journey within the community of believers.
Paul begins to describe what Community is in verse 6 and when he needs a word to describe something and there isn’t a common word that is
adequate, Paul just creates his own words. He creates three compound words that all begin with a Greek prefix
that means “together with.” Paul describes three aspects of Community in the church:
• Heirs together
Paul prays in chapter 1 that his readers would know the riches of God’s glorious inheritance in the saints. Paul writes that we will one day experience the complete fulfillment of God pouring all His spiritual blessings into our lives and the idea that we are God’s inheritance, precious to Him. We are precious cargo…ever seen those signs with a little baby on them that hang in the back of car windows? You are one of God’s chosen; why wouldn’t you be special to him? Sometimes we allow Satan to tell us we are worthless, when all along God is telling us how precious we are to Him. You are precious because we are:
• Members together of one Body
We share in common a dependence upon each other. In both Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12, Paul goes into much more detail about how the body of Christ only functions as God intended when every member fulfills its role within the body. I’ve actually had people tell me that this is an option in the bible and that we don’t really have to do anything unless we want to. We think the bible is like when we are out to dinner and we read the menu to see what our options are. We can pick and choose what we want to eat. There are no options when Paul says we need each other and we all have gifts and talents that must be used to the benefit of everyone. We are members together. Then he says we are:
• Sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus
In Ephesians 2:12, Paul had reminded his Gentile readers that before Jesus, they had been foreigners to the covenant of the promise. In both of these verses Paul uses the singular “promise” and not the plural. We together share the promise of Jesus so we in turn can share the promise to others.
• Heirs together
Paul prays in chapter 1 that his readers would know the riches of God’s glorious inheritance in the saints. Paul writes that we will one day experience the complete fulfillment of God pouring all His spiritual blessings into our lives and the idea that we are God’s inheritance, precious to Him. We are precious cargo…ever seen those signs with a little baby on them that hang in the back of car windows? You are one of God’s chosen; why wouldn’t you be special to him? Sometimes we allow Satan to tell us we are worthless, when all along God is telling us how precious we are to Him. You are precious because we are:
• Members together of one Body
We share in common a dependence upon each other. In both Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12, Paul goes into much more detail about how the body of Christ only functions as God intended when every member fulfills its role within the body. I’ve actually had people tell me that this is an option in the bible and that we don’t really have to do anything unless we want to. We think the bible is like when we are out to dinner and we read the menu to see what our options are. We can pick and choose what we want to eat. There are no options when Paul says we need each other and we all have gifts and talents that must be used to the benefit of everyone. We are members together. Then he says we are:
• Sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus
In Ephesians 2:12, Paul had reminded his Gentile readers that before Jesus, they had been foreigners to the covenant of the promise. In both of these verses Paul uses the singular “promise” and not the plural. We together share the promise of Jesus so we in turn can share the promise to others.
I’m not going to belabor this point since we’ve already discussed it throughout
our journey through Ephesians. But let me just say that there is absolutely no
Biblical precedent for trying to live out this mystery of life on our own. God
intends for all of His children to be connected together with others in this
body of Christ we call the church.
Life is a mystery, one in which God reveals that mystery at just the right time, a mystery that is consistent with what God has already revealed in His Word and a mystery that is to be lived in community with other believers. You are loved!
Life is a mystery, one in which God reveals that mystery at just the right time, a mystery that is consistent with what God has already revealed in His Word and a mystery that is to be lived in community with other believers. You are loved!
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