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Listen "Ephesians 3:1-13 - Immeasurable - Immeasurable Upside Down Mystery - February 19 2023"
Episode Synopsis
The culmination of the absurdity, impossibility, and upside-down-ness of Paul’s ministry, the whole essence of Jesus Christ our Lord (incarnation, life, death, burial, and resurrection), and the group dynamics of the church proclaims only on thing and until this letter it was mystery…
What is a biblical mystery - A never before revealed universal truth given through revelation to a prophet and/or apostle that is to be shared broadly…this is now done through our completed canon of scripture. (if you want a personal revelation, read scripture. If you want God to speak to you, read scripture.)
Imagine with me in verse 10!
Manifold wisdom - “many sided” wisdom
The wisdom of the Great I AM! The one who sees all, and is in all, and is all, and knows all.
Stott - “is like looking through a kaleidoscope that reveals an amazing array of shapes and colors as one turns it gently; it is like beholding a marvelous tapestry that a designer has woven from a variety of different strands”
All Creation - the full spectrum created intelligences. From people past, present, and future to the angels and beyond!
How would you go about demonstrating your manifold wisdom to the arena of all creation?!?! Sunset, cosmological discovery, a children’s choir, an artist or craftsman, weather patterns, a skywriter spelling out Jesus is Lord over a beautiful city, a message found in a Big Jim’s chicken parm hoagie, a delicious vegan salad…
Mystery - ALL followers of Jesus make up The Church which displays God’s manifold wisdom to all of creation by corporately carrying out Jesus’s ministry here on earth.
I was the kid in class that when the principal or superintendent or local politician came in to observe and tour the school was sent to another teacher’s classroom with a note that read “keep him until the important people leave!”
When God could have done it one million other ways what did he do, but he flipped it upside down and he took broken folks and binded them to each other in local expressions of a global body and had them function in unity together under the blood of Jesus for God’s glory!
Heart:
If you are a follower of Jesus Christ, you are part of this immeasurable upside down mystery. Sadly, it’s so hard for us to imagine God’s manifold wisdom and “church” in the same sentence. This truth makes me regret the times I traded in my humble limp walk from a life of hardness for a pimp walk of pride “because church folks are supposed to have it all together.” This makes me regret the times I’ve thumbed my nose and said in my heart with pride and arrogance, and raved against fellow brothers and sisters in the church.
This is a Local Expression of a global body:
We’re glad you’re here today. Our corporate gathering is just the start - this is where we come to be refreshed to go and proclaim God’s manifold wisdom throughout the week. We long to do life together…to invest in each other and engage the disconnected, edifying each other to enjoy connection with God. We have stuff to offer and ways for you to be a part of the fellowship.
Kid at the house that just isn’t the family, but they are but they aren’t - OR - Kramer
What is a biblical mystery - A never before revealed universal truth given through revelation to a prophet and/or apostle that is to be shared broadly…this is now done through our completed canon of scripture. (if you want a personal revelation, read scripture. If you want God to speak to you, read scripture.)
Imagine with me in verse 10!
Manifold wisdom - “many sided” wisdom
The wisdom of the Great I AM! The one who sees all, and is in all, and is all, and knows all.
Stott - “is like looking through a kaleidoscope that reveals an amazing array of shapes and colors as one turns it gently; it is like beholding a marvelous tapestry that a designer has woven from a variety of different strands”
All Creation - the full spectrum created intelligences. From people past, present, and future to the angels and beyond!
How would you go about demonstrating your manifold wisdom to the arena of all creation?!?! Sunset, cosmological discovery, a children’s choir, an artist or craftsman, weather patterns, a skywriter spelling out Jesus is Lord over a beautiful city, a message found in a Big Jim’s chicken parm hoagie, a delicious vegan salad…
Mystery - ALL followers of Jesus make up The Church which displays God’s manifold wisdom to all of creation by corporately carrying out Jesus’s ministry here on earth.
I was the kid in class that when the principal or superintendent or local politician came in to observe and tour the school was sent to another teacher’s classroom with a note that read “keep him until the important people leave!”
When God could have done it one million other ways what did he do, but he flipped it upside down and he took broken folks and binded them to each other in local expressions of a global body and had them function in unity together under the blood of Jesus for God’s glory!
Heart:
If you are a follower of Jesus Christ, you are part of this immeasurable upside down mystery. Sadly, it’s so hard for us to imagine God’s manifold wisdom and “church” in the same sentence. This truth makes me regret the times I traded in my humble limp walk from a life of hardness for a pimp walk of pride “because church folks are supposed to have it all together.” This makes me regret the times I’ve thumbed my nose and said in my heart with pride and arrogance, and raved against fellow brothers and sisters in the church.
This is a Local Expression of a global body:
We’re glad you’re here today. Our corporate gathering is just the start - this is where we come to be refreshed to go and proclaim God’s manifold wisdom throughout the week. We long to do life together…to invest in each other and engage the disconnected, edifying each other to enjoy connection with God. We have stuff to offer and ways for you to be a part of the fellowship.
Kid at the house that just isn’t the family, but they are but they aren’t - OR - Kramer
In God we trust