Amazing the Angels: Reflection on Ephesians 3:10

By Phil Newton

Of all human institutions in the world, it seems that the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ has long faced the most ridicule and disdain. Other religious institutions, cults, and philosophies are readily accepted. But the Church is different for it comprises the elect of God purchased from every tongue, tribe, people, and nation by the God-satisfying death of Jesus Christ. The world considers the Church to be foolish; but angels would disagree! Our text is the most autobiographical section in the whole epistle. It is a pause in the flow of Paul's thought - a preparation for prayer as he enters into doxological and didactic parentheses to explain the nature of the church.

"For this reason" points back to what the Apostle has already explained. His intention in "for this reason" was to express the basis for his prayer on behalf of the Ephesian church. But before he could begin it seems that the Apostle was overwhelmed by the thought that God had shown grace to Him. His unworthiness was ever before him. The wonder of God's grace shown to him deserved a few moments of profound expression. But he did not think of God's grace coming to him alone as though he lived in a vacuum. Instead, Paul shows the gracious work of God through Christ in and through the Church as the focal point of His affections and purpose. He contemplates the dimensions of God's grace shown to the Church, and how God displays the multi-colored, multi-faceted glories of His wisdom through the Church. The world may call us foolish, but God is pleased through the Church to declare even to the angels the richness of His wisdom. What is the wisdom of God revealed through the Church?

Paul never moved away from the wonder and power of Jesus Christ crucified for sinners. Even the use of "grace" often points to the cross as both evidence and provision of grace to sinners. The "stewardship of God's grace" given to Paul was none other than the calling to proclaim the good news of God in Christ reconciling sinners to Himself through Christ's substitutionary death and resurrection. Paul calls this a mystery.

The use of "mystery" in the New Testament is not the way we use it. We refer to an Agatha Christie mystery, i.e., a dramatic jigsaw puzzle that awaits assembly so that the whole picture comes clear. But in biblical terms, mystery refers to something that is "hidden from human reason and comprehension and must be divinely revealed, if they are to be known at all" [Curtis Vaughan, FSGC: Ephesians, 25]. That's why Paul used the words "stewardship" and "revelation." Stewardship refers to a responsibility entrusted to the Apostle - in this case, the declaration of the gospel. He explains, "By revelation there was made known to me the mystery" - that is, the gospel and its power to save Jews and Gentiles alike. The "revelation" points to the divine act by which the hidden "mystery" became known.

The fact is Saul of Tarsus was a skilled Old Testament scholar. He understood the promises of Messiah, the need for righteousness, and the judgment of God. These were sobering truths to him. But he could not connect the dots by his human reasoning. It required a divine work to open his eyes to see the glory of the gospel and to understand that in Christ "we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us."

Here Paul uses "mystery" in a two-fold sense. First, it is a synonym for the gospel. Perhaps we have become so familiar with the gospel that we have forgotten the wonder of it as a mystery to the unregenerate mind. Jonathan Edwards' description may help us to rekindle something of this wonder.

And again, if the Son of God be substituted in the sinner's stead, then he comes under the sinner's obligation to suffer the punishment which man's sin had deserved. And who could have thought that to be possible? For how should a divine person, who is essentially, unchangeably, and infinitely happy, suffer pain and torment? And how should he who is the object of God's infinitely dear love, suffer the wrath of his Father? It is not to be supposed that created wisdom ever would have found out a way how to have got over these difficulties. But divine wisdom hath found out a way, viz. by the incarnation of the Son of God. That the Word should be made flesh, that he might be both God and man, in one person: what created understanding could have conceived that such a thing was possible? [Works, vol. II 143]

The second aspect of "mystery" points us to the heart of what Paul explains in this text. As a loyal Pharisee, Paul would have disdained Gentiles, considering them far inferior to the least Jew. But the power of the gospel, as revealed to the apostles and prophets by the Holy Spirit, transforms Jews and Gentiles alike, and places them equally into one body in Christ.

Hence, Paul is quite specific, "That the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel." These enemies of the people of God are now "fellow heirs" along side the Jewish believers. These despised "dogs" are now "fellow members of the body" of Christ. These who were far off have now been brought near as "fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel."

This is why Paul's prayer in 3:14-21 comes as a precious ointment to the soul. "For this reason" is a good pointer to the sense of wonder that Paul has in God's wisdom in redeeming His enemies:

Those separate from Christ are now in Christ.

The "far off" have now "been brought near."

Those alienated are now one new man in Christ.

Those at enmity are now reconciled.

Those who are strangers are now fellow citizens with the saints and are of God's household.

Those who are aliens are now growing into a holy temple in the Lord.

Those who are strangers and aliens are now built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.

The point is quite clear. There are no Second-Class citizens in God's Kingdom! The non-religious pagan, profane idolaters have come to God through faith in Christ. The Gentiles are fully included in the mystery of the gospel. They have an equal share in its bounty. We can compare it by declaring that believers from the Massai, Amazonians, Hmong, Zulus, Kazaks, and the Urdus are all fellow heirs, fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

What is God's wisdom as expressed in this text? Martyn Lloyd-Jones defined wisdom as "that attribute by which He arranges His purposes and His plans, and arranges the means which bring forth the results that He purposes" [The Unsearchable Riches of Christ, Ephesians 3, 81]. Even the best of human wisdom cannot comprehend divine wisdom unless the Lord is pleased to reveal it. That's why certain biblical doctrines are so offensive to the human senses because they far extend beyond the paltry reasoning of men.

How is this divine wisdom made known? Paul explained that he received the "mystery" through revelation. But having received it he also took on a stewardship as one that grasped the divine wisdom - at least in part - and now grace has been given to make it known through the foolishness of preaching.

The privilege given to Paul, and now entrusted to the Church, is that of preaching "the unfathomable riches of Christ." Here the Church comes to the forefront of the divine economy. God is pleased to use frail vessels of clay to declare the magnificence of His wisdom in the gospel. Paul calls it "the unfathomable riches of Christ," i.e., that which cannot be traced to its end nor plumbed to its depths nor ascended to its heights. We are told that the richest man in the world is Microsoft founder Bill Gates. His net worth exceeds something around 35-40 billion dollars. Now that is quite remarkable to any of us in trying to imagine this large amount. But it is not unfathomable. Accountants are able to crunch numbers to come up with a figure that shows the end of his resources. But Paul tells us that the wisdom of God that we proclaim as Christians is "unfathomable." We will not run out of content or richness or sufficiency in the gospel. It will carry us through eternity! And like Paul, we have a stewardship to bear the good news as ambassadors for Christ to the world.

What we are doing in the Church is bringing to light the plan and purposes of God in the mystery of the gospel: "and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things." The Church not only declares the mystery of the gospel but also demonstrates it. The mystery of Jews and Gentiles transformed by the gospel, united in Christ, living as one new man in Christ, and enjoying the same fellowship and inheritance in Christ brings to light the meaning of the mystery of the gospel. The gospel is declared through preaching and displayed in the Church.

Verse 10 has one of the most amazing statements in Scripture. After explaining something of the stewardship that he felt in the gospel, Paul explains that there is something beyond our eyes that takes place through the Church: "so that the manifold wisdom of god might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places." The context is quite clear that "the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places" refers to angelic beings. They are "spectators of the drama of salvation," as Stott puts it. Or as another writer expressed it, "the history of the Christian church becomes a graduate school for angels" [The Message of Ephesians, 124]. There are things that angels do not know about God, and they learn through the Church!

No angel could fathom the depths of divine wisdom in the Incarnation and the subsequent redemptive work of Christ. Those beings that are regularly in the presence of our Triune God know so much that we cannot begin to comprehend this side of Heaven. Yet with all that they can see and perceive concerning the attributes of God, there are things unknown to them except through the ongoing revelation of the Church. Edwards wrote, "Each attribute of God is glorified in the work of redemption," [144]. He goes on to give examples of the greatness of God's power displayed in saving sinners. "The justice of God is exceedingly glorified in this work," he wrote. "God is so strictly and immutably just, that he would not spare his beloved Son when he took upon him the guilt of men's sins, and was substituted in the room of sinners" [144-145]. Such incomparable justice amazed the angels! And then to see how God has displayed the bounty of His love and mercy upon such unworthy persons continues to amaze the angels!

Peter tells us that the angels longed to look into the salvation prophesied of by the prophets and foretold centuries before the Incarnation (I Pet 1:12). Our Lord tells us that the angels in heaven continue to rejoice in the salvation of even one sinner. They are amazed that God would save us. How God "can find in his heart to love sinners, who deserve his infinite hatred" boggles even angelic minds [Edwards 145]! And they are amazed because they understand more of the fullness of divine attributes and the glory of God that we will experience for all eternity.

So the charge to you is to keep amazing the angels. The "now" of this passage reminds us that the "manifold" or multifaceted or many-colored wisdom of God requires more exposure fore the angels. They never get out of this graduate school of God's wisdom. Every time they think that they have grasped the fullness of divine attributes the Church once again amazes them, as God is pleased to declare His wisdom through the redeemed. So let us astonish the angels by declaring the good news, by living in unity with one another, by growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord, and by adding to the diversity of God's kingdom by reaching people from every tongue, tribe, people, and nation with the glorious gospel of Christ.

 

Permissions: You are permitted and encouraged to reproduce and distribute this material in any format provided that you do not alter the wording in any way and you do not charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction. For web posting, a link to this document on our website is preferred. Any exceptions to the above must be explicitly approved by South Woods Baptist Church.

Please include the following statement on any distributed copy:

Copyright South Woods Baptist Church. Website: www.southwoodsbc.org. Used by permission as granted on web site. Questions, comments, and suggestions about our site can be sent here.