Rooted and Established

 Eph. 3:1-21

Good morning! Today we continue our series in Ephesians by looking at Chapter 3. For some context, I think it is necessary for us to review the second half of Chapter 2. Now the book of Ephesians, written by Paul, the “minister to the Gentiles,” is primarily addressed to Gentiles – that is, to believers who were not of Jewish descent. And in the days before Christ, Jews and Gentiles largely kept to themselves, although a small number of Gentiles did become attracted to Judaism and even supported the Jews as they could. These people are mentioned repeatedly in the book of Acts, sometimes by the name “God fearers.” They are also mentioned on multiple synagogue inscriptions – on stones that describe those who helped to build the synagogues – from around the time of Christ. 

Specifically, Gentile God fearers are mentioned in inscriptions at synagogues in Aphrodisias, Panticapaeum, Tralles, Rhodes, Venosa, Miletus, Sardis, Philaelphia, and Rome. I also think of the centurion in Capernaum in Luke 7 who had a sick servant. He sent some elders of the Jews to Jesus to ask Him to heal his servant. They went willingly, and told Jesus, “This man deserves to have you do this, because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue.” As for the rest of the story, Jesus is on His way to him and the centurion sends friends to tell Jesus to heal the servant from a distance, because he does not consider himself worthy to meet Jesus, and he knows that Jesus can do this. Jesus, the passage tells us, is amazed and tells the crowd following Him that he has not yet found such great faith even in Israel. He then, from that distance, heals the servant. 

Now some God fearers chose to formerly convert to Judaism, but most did not. We don’t know all the reasons they did not, but to do so was a long process that required approval from the local Jewish community. Because Jews were not, in general, viewed favorably, it also represented a loss of status and could even be impossible for people in some occupations. For example, I strongly suspect that conversion was not even an option for the Roman centurion. 

Now the Pharisees also had rules about Jews not associating with Gentiles. Did this apply to the God fearers? Not fully, but there was a degree of separation that was maintained. They were not permitted in the places Jews were permitted to go to in the Temple, for example. They could not participate in the sacrificial system. And there were undoubtedly countless other restrictions. And so what Paul writes in Eph. 2 is especially powerful:

Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (which is done in the body by human hands)—remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. – Eph. 2:11-13

We live nearly 2000 years after the time that this letter was written, and for most of that time, the number of Gentile believers has greatly exceeded the number of Jewish believers in Christ. As a result, it can be easy to miss the power of these words. For as long as we have been alive, and indeed, for much, much longer, all we have known is the Gentile church. But when you take a longer view, you can start to see how wonderful and special this really is. From the time of God’s calling of Abraham in Genesis, God worked and spoke primarily – but not exclusively – to the Jews. It was from the seed of Abraham, and then Isaac, and then Jacob, that the Messiah would come, and God gave amazing covenantal promises to Abraham and his descendants. And then God powerfully delivered the Israelite slaves from Egypt and led them supernaturally through the desert into the land He had promised them, the land of Israel. 

And then, through the times of the Judges, and on into the time of Saul and David and Solomon, and even into the darker days of the divided kingdom, the destruction of the Temple, the years of exile, and the return to rebuild the Temple and walls of Jerusalem, God continued to have a unique relationship with the Jewish people, performing occasional miracles and speaking to them through prophets. And then there was a period in which the prophets were silent, and then sent an angel to speak to Mary and to Joseph – for the Messiah, at last, was to come. And by His blood, all those people groups who were, as it says figuratively, “far away”, at long last had the opportunity to become near to God. And this includes all of you.

My story is, ironically, a bit different. As a Jew, I should have been one of those whose family recognized Christ for who He is, and indeed, I should be the umpteenth generation of believers who followed Christ as descendants of those early Jewish followers. But, alas, most Jews did not receive Him. And so, in a way, our roles are reversed. Many of you come from generations of those who have been close to God, because your parents and grandparents and beyond have given their lives to Christ. And so you were the ones who were “near,” and I was one who was “far away.” And so it is for most Jewish believers today.

The end of Ephesians 2 says this:

Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of His household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the chief cornerstone. In Him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in Him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit. – Eph. 2:19-22

When I read this, I think of you as people who have citizens and members of His household, and me as the one who is no longer a foreigner or stranger (but who used to be one). I know, though, that really the description of being a former stranger really applies to all of us, because nobody is born into the kingdom of God. Each and every person must come to God in repentance and faith in Christ, for we are all sinners, all separated by our sin from a perfectly holy God.

In Christ, we are the same. I am reminded of what Paul writes in Gal. 3:

So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. – Gal. 3:26-28

We are in Him, together – by faith, because of what Jesus has done to save us. If you have wondered what the background image for this entire series is about, it is this. It shows a piece of Hebrew scripture on the left Greek scripture on the right, brought together to symbolize this joining of Jew of Gentile in Christ. And this brings us to Ephesians 3.

For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles—Surely you have heard about the administration of God’s grace that was given to me for you, that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly. In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to people 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. – Eph. 3:1-6

Paul starts with a form of “therefore”. And we have just looked at what came before. So, to use a modern phrase, what is Paul’s “why”? Why does he do what he does? What is his motivation? Paul’s “why” is that God has done this epic thing – opening salvation by faith in Christ to the vast world of the Gentiles, to seemingly countless peoples and nations. But how will they partake, how will they be saved, if the gospel is not explained to them? And so Paul has dedicated the rest of his life to presenting the Gentile world with the gospel. 

Paul then describes himself as a prisoner of Jesus for the sake of the Gentiles. What does this mean? Well, he is an actual prisoner. He is chained, almost certainly to a Roman soldier. We know this from chapter 6 where, in the closing of the letter, he describes himself as an ambassador in chains. Why is he a prisoner? Because he is, with God’s help, laboring to help the Gentile world come to Christ. We don’t know for certain if this imprisonment is the one described in the later part of Acts or a later imprisonment (if there was a later imprisonment). In the imprisonment described in Acts, the event that led to it was the fact that he was seen associating with a Gentile believer in Jerusalem. This particular Gentile believer was Trophimus, interestingly, an Ephesian. If he had not been ministering to the Gentiles, this particular arrest would not have happened.  And this should inspire us to likewise be willing to sacrifice for God’s people, for those who have put their faith in Him. Here in America, at least for now, it is unlikely that anything we do for the sake of the kingdom of God will lead to our arrest – but that could change in the future. And being arrested for the sake of the kingdom is a sobering reality in much of the world where persecution of believers does take place. 

Now there is a long dash, and the sentence doesn’t complete. What is happening? Paul is interrupting himself. We will see Paul come back to his uncompleted sentence in verse 14 to finish his thoughts. But now Paul appeals to them through his personal history, which we have covered in detail in our previous series on the book of Acts. He reminds them that his ministry to the Gentiles was not an idea he came up with, or something he reasoned out. Indeed, as we know from Acts, he was busy persecuting believers when God powerfully took hold of him. And it was God who supernaturally revealed to him the mystery that the gospel was not for Jews only, but for Gentiles as well, indeed, for the entire world, for all who would believe.  

I had a very encouraging conversation with a faculty member from China on Friday. He has, from time to time, visited a local Chinese Christian church, and he agrees with some of the things he has heard. He told me the pastor came up to him and asked him about baptism. He was asked if he believed. He told me he thought about it and said he was “willing” to believe, and was that good enough? And to his credit, the pastor told him no, do not be baptized yet. 

That is not enough. 

This faculty member strongly reminds me of the God fearers I spoke about at the beginning of the message. He has respect for what he knows so far of Christianity, and he supports what he sees are the positive benefits of believing, both in the present and in history. But he has not yet personally taken hold of faith. He is willing to believe, but he does not yet believe. I believe his understanding of the gospel is very limited, and of the Bible even more so, and so I hope to be able to talk with him a lot more in the coming year and perhaps even study the Bible with him. We’ll see if this works out – you can pray that it will. 

And in this situation I see the power of what Paul is saying in this passage. We forget that the people of the various regions that Paul went out to share the gospel with were from a wide variety of beliefs and cultures and practices, all generally very foreign to the message of Christ. And yet, when some of them heard, they believed, and they began a whole new life in Christ. And as they shared with those close to them, the gospel began to make inroads into these very different cultures. I think of my faculty friend from his Chinese cultural background, so different from cultures built upon western tradition which is itself in many ways built upon Christian belief and practice, albeit very imperfectly. And yet God may use, in His grace, me and other western believers to bring him to faith, and perhaps spread from him to his family and his acquaintances. This mystery is that through the gospel the Chinese (or fill in whatever people group you want) are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus. This is indeed a fantastic and wonderful mystery being revealed. Paul continues:

I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace given me through the working of his power. Although I am less than the least of all the Lord’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the boundless riches of Christ, and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things. His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to His eternal purpose that He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. In Him and through faith in Him we may approach God with freedom and confidence. I ask you, therefore, not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory. – Eph. 3:7-13

Paul, of all people, is selected by God to preach this message of unity between Jews and Gentiles. I encourage you to stop and think for a minute how ironic, or ludicrous, or perfect this is, depending on your point of view. God chooses Paul, who describes himself as the least of all the Lord’s people, because he formerly persecuted Jews for coming to faith in Christ. Paul was an extremist. He promoted violence. He was the opposite of a unifying voice. As a fanatical legalist, given how much he hated Jews who didn’t believe what he believed, he of course hated Gentiles. And yet the Lord chooses Paul to not only be the person who brings the gospel to Gentiles, but also promotes this message that, in Christ, there are not two bodies of believers – there is only one. I think God often does this. He took a friend of mine who worked at a Salvation Army shelter and became worn out by all the alcoholics and how so few were open to the gospel and sends him to Mongolia, which at the time had the highest rate of alcoholism in the world.  Or I think of Chuck Colson, who served under President Nixon and went to prison in the aftermath of the Watergate scandal for obstruction of justice, but was saved shortly before serving his time and then was used by God to lead a prison fellowship ministry that provided for prisoner’s needs but also led to many prisoners coming to faith in Christ. 

And so Paul, whether despite or because of his background, or both, is chosen by God to explain to the Gentiles the gospel and to explain the “boundless riches of Christ”. The Greek word for “boundless” here is translated “unsearchable” in the King James Version, and this is a more literal translation, but one that might be harder for us to understand. Actually, I think in the computer age in which we now live, this term is easier to understand than it was in relatively modern times before computers. Think about the Internet and using Google or some other search tool. Are some things unsearchable? Yes, absolutely. Some things simply aren’t on the Internet, but more commonly the problem is that we don’t have enough specific information to find what we are looking for. Suppose you are trying to find someone you met on vacation named John Smith. Good luck! That is unsearchable. Literally, the Greek word here – which I will not attempt to pronounce – means “beyond finding out”. The idea is that the revelation of this mystery Paul is talking about, that the Gentile and Jewish believers are members of one body and sharers together in the promises of Christ, was hidden prior to God’s revelation of this in Acts. Although almost completely ignored, it was known that God had plans to have all nations worship Him some day. But the idea of Christ dying for the sins of all people, Jew and Gentile, and the idea that all believers would be together as brothers and sisters in Christ – that the ceremonial parts of the Law would be fulfilled in Christ, and that unity among Jewish and Gentile believers would be a distinguishing characteristic of the church – all of this was “beyond finding out” – it was “unsearchable”.   

And not only was it beyond finding out for us humans, it also was a mystery even to the angels.  His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to His eternal purpose that He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. The word “manifold” is not used often today (except as part of an engine) so let me explain it. It means many-faceted, many types or kinds. And so the manifold wisdom of God is wisdom on many different levels. That is, when people (and angels) realize God’s plan to bring the offer of salvation through Jesus to all people, whether Jew or Gentile, and to pour out blessings on both and have a unity among believers – not just a positional unity but even a unity in fellowship together – that people (and angels) will marvel at all the ways God is wise with this plan. 

Then Paul says, In Him and through faith in Him we may approach God with freedom and confidence. How do we approach God? Through prayer. Jew and Gentile together can approach God boldly and without restriction or hindrance in prayer. What a contrast this is to the past, where only the Jews to go to the most parts of the Temple, and only the priests to certain parts, and only the high priest once a year to the innermost part. Recall that the huge, thick, curtain of the Temple was supernaturally torn from top to bottom upon Christ’s death. No longer do only the Jewish priests have access to God. Now every believer can pray to God and know that their prayers are heard. We can approach God with freedom and confidence.

Paul is overjoyed by these truths and he is happy to encourage the Ephesians with these truths. He tells them not to feel sad for him and his imprisonment and other challenges, because he is happy to pour out his life in the service of God in this way. He goes on:

For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. – Eph. 3:14-19

And so now we return to the thought Paul started in verse 1 of this chapter – “for this reason.” And then Paul gives us one of the most glorious prayers in all of Scripture, one we would do well to emulate. 

Paul starts by praying to God that He would strengthen us with the Holy Spirit’s power in our inner self. Why is strengthening important? Because it makes us able to withstand temptation, to be victorious and bold in faith. If we are weak in our inner self, we will fold, or give up when hardships come, or we will give in when temptations occur. Note that this power to be strong in our inner being is not a self-effort; it is supernatural power from God. And it enables Christ to dwell in our hearts through faith. If Christ dwells in our hearts, then there is no room for something else to dwell there, such as our own selfish will. What an excellent thing to pray for!

Paul goes on. The word for “rooted” is rizahoh, from which we get the word rhizome. Rhizomes are a type of plant that has a root system that spreads plants but they stay connected. Unlike regular root systems, they store lots of energy in the root system through bulbous portions. An example of a rhizome is a ginger plant. Another example is aspen trees. Aspen trees grow in stands, or clumps, and not only are the trees in a clump connected together, the stands themselves are also connected. In this way, the aspen can be considered to be the largest organism on earth. I find this a great word picture for the body of believers, fitting well with this chapter. We, the church universal, are all connected to Christ, all rooted in Him. 

The word for “established” is in some ways similar, but it applies more to a building than to a tree. It refers to laying down a foundation. A foundation connects the structure built upon it to the ground. A foundation ensures that the structure cannot tip over or sink in a soft spot. And so Paul says that believers have both roots and foundations in love, and the word for love here is agape, the sacrificial kind of love. Paul means by this that we are rooted and grounded in the love Christ has for us, the love that led Him to die for our sins so that through faith in Him we might be saved.  

And what does Paul pray for, for those of us who are rooted and established in agape love? He prays that we would be able to grasp the hugeness of the love Christ has for us. This is not something that is easy for us to grasp. But the more we understand Christ’s love for us, the more we want to live sacrificially for Him. 

This is profound. Paul isn’t just praying that we live for Christ. He is instead praying that we would grasp the hugeness of Christ’s love for us, because this will enable/empower us to live for Him. 

And so I would ask you – do you think about Christ’s amazing depth of love for you? This is how you become “filled to the measure of the fulness of God”. The word for filled here in Greek is used in fishing to describe stuffing a huge fishing net into a sack. I find this a very vivid picture. It reminds me of my backpacking days decades ago where I had to get my sleeping bag back into a nylon sack that came with it. I remember dreading the process of trying to roll it tightly enough to get it back in, wondering how it had ever fit in there before. Comprehending, taking hold of, the depth of Christ’s love for us can be hard, too. In fact, I would say it is impossible without the help of God. But the first step, I believe, is to accept how incredibly important this is. Paul could have prayed anything at all for these Gentile believers. He chose to pray this for them. And he gives the reason – it is critical for spiritual growth. When we sin, or when we stop growing in Christ, our problem is not a behavior problem. The behavior is only the symptom. The core problem is one of faith, one of comprehending. When we think of Christ on the cross, do you think of Him doing that for you? Not for the world, for other people, but for you? 

If you were foolishly out in traffic and a stranger came, ran into traffic, yanked you out, but got hit by multiple cars and died as a result, you would understand that he gave his life for you, and I think it would change you profoundly. You would want to find his family and tell them what a hero he was and offer to do anything for them.

Now let’s slightly change this picture. You and another person, a total stranger, someone who is quite different from you, say a different race, a different culture, maybe a little strange to you, was also on that road playing in traffic, and the man yanked both of you out before dying. You two would now be connected. Both of you would want to serve his family. And because of this profound bond that you both have to this man, you would naturally want to work alongside this other person saved by him. His background wouldn’t matter, rich or poor, his race, his culture, etc. The bond you had through your savior would be infinitely more important. He saved both of you so you were equal before him. You both had an equal right and equal obligation to live for his family. This is what I believe Paul is getting at here. This is the transformative power of stuffing the hugeness of Christ’s love for you into the little sack of your heart. 

Paul finishes his prayer, and indeed the first half of the book of Ephesians, with these verses: 

Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. – Eph. 3:20-21

This verse reminds me of what I came to call the second law of parenting. What we called the first law, by the way, was this: Don’t do something with your child that you are not willing to do over and over and over. Like most parents, we learned this the hard way, and we learned this pretty early in our parenting journey. The second law we learned later: If your child is doing something annoying, anything at all, instruct them to stop it. It’s not a permanent, unchangeable part of their personality. And if it annoys you, it will probably annoy many people. You are actually doing them a service in helping them to change this thing. Now parents cannot fundamentally change the personality of their children, and we should love our children for who they are. That’s not what I am talking about. I’m talking about things like using an indoor voice indoors, or not picking your nose in front of other people. I found that, for me as a parent, I tended to consistently underestimate the things I could change in my children, instead of just being embarrassed by what they did or said. 

In the same way, I think we consistently underestimate what God can help us with. We just don’t think to ask God to help us with our anxiety, or our grumpiness, or our children, or whatever “minor” things are bothering us. We just put up with them, like parents just put up with the things their children do. If we truly grasped the depth of God’s love for us, we would not do this. We would be quick to come to Him asking for help in the little things as well as the big things. 

And so, as an application this week, I would encourage you to do three things: First, spend a little time each day thinking about how much God loves you personally. Second, follow this up with time in prayer, giving Him praise as Paul does in the end of this passage, but also then praying for little things, the things you just put up with. And third, reach out to someone in the church this week that you don’t normally reach out to during the week. It can just be a text or email, or a phone call, or even a visit, but let us live out the truth that we are heirs together, members of one body, and sharers together in the promise of Christ Jesus.