Sermon for MHBC (24 April 2022). You can watch on our website or on Facebook or YouTube. Live at 11:00am on Sundays.
We make a serious miscalculation when we tell our children fairy tales aren’t real.
Our universe is full of actors that we can’t see and that we may not be aware of. Our universe is spiritually charged. Our lives are wrapped up in a cosmic drama, entangled in a divine war.[1] That is precisely what we are doing here “at church.” As Jon has said to me in our conversations, “Our business is the deep mysteries of the universe.”
That is exactly right. Christianity is a proclamation of the deepest truths of the universe. Christianity is an announcement of what God is doing to fill the whole universe with God’s presence.
Listen to what Paul writes in Ephesians 1:7–10: 7 In [Christ] we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight 9 making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ 10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.
There’s this unveiling, this revelation of the mystery of God’s will. It’s God’s plan for the universe. And notice what that plan is: “to unite all things in [Christ], things in heaven and things on earth.” In chapter 4 verse 10, Paul explains that Christ’s incarnation and exaltation were for the explicit purpose of Christ “filling all things.” That’s strange and mysterious and massive.
This same fullness language is in Ephesians 1:22–23: “And [God the Father] put all things under [Christ’s] feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.” Just look at that last phrase: “the fullness of him who fills all in all.” What does that even mean? We talk sort of simplistically about the church being the body of Christ, but according to this verse, being the body means being the fullness of him who fills all in all. What does that mean? It seems like a big deal to me.
Take another example from the passage we read a few moments ago. Ephesians 3:19, the conclusion and the goal of Paul’s prayer, is this: that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Can you imagine? The goal for every believer is to be filled with all the fullness of God. Don’t pass over it to quickly. Give your mind a second to come to grips with what that might mean.[2]
Here is what I’m getting at. We are kicking off a nine-week series on the church. But we want to approach this from a different angle—what I believe is a more biblical angle. The church is such a strange concept. The God of a group of people who later became known as Hebrews and Israelites comes to be worshiped by people around the world in the name of Jesus Christ, who himself claimed to be one with the God of Israel. That’s a bizarre reality.
So here are the questions at the heart of this series: Who are we as the church? How did we get here? How is the church a central concept in the history of the world? In God’s plan for the history of the world? Why is the church part of God’s plan at all? What part does the church play in God’s plan for the universe?
I am convinced that we think too smally about the church’s role in the plan of God. We spend our time talking about committees, membership, business meetings. We fuss about things with plaques on them and things we’ve always done before. We talk about strategies and events. But we never stop to ask about the biblical and theological foundations of the church. We never stop to probe the mysteries that have been unveiled to the church.
The church is a key actor, chosen by the Lord of glory, in the cosmic drama of the reconciliation of all things to God. God has purposed from eternity past to use the church as a jewel to reflect and radiate God’s grace throughout the universe. These are deep and glorious mysteries.
We are going to work with Ephesians during this series, and we’ve chosen a platform passage—a core passage—a passage that we think captures the heart of Ephesians. It’s a passage that serves as an anchor point for virtually every other part in the book. That anchor passage is the one we read prior to the sermon. It is Ephesians 3:7–21. Let me share with you a few verses from this passage that capture the deep mystery of being the church.
Begin in the middle of Ephesians 3:8. Paul is empowered by God for a specific task—something Paul refers to as a “gift of God’s grace.” Look what he says in v. 8: This grace was given [to Paul], in order to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ. So we have the unveiling, the making known, the bringing to light, of the unsearchable riches of Christ.
There is a genre of video games that has been extremely popular for at least the last decade. One of the most popular games is Minecraft. In these games, one of the chief tasks is the gathering of materials. In order to do this, you must dig down deep into many layers, and each new layer offers new treasures. This is what Paul is talking about. Preaching God’s Word continues to expose new depths and new treasures.
Pick up in v. 9 with the second reason this grace was given: to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things. A mystery that has been hidden is being unveiled. I’ve used this word unveiled a lot because Paul uses it a lot. The underlying Greek word is the word from which we get the English word apocalypse. Apocalypse refers to a revealing, an unveiling, exposing, opening the eyes. This mystery of God’s plan is brought out of the secret and mysterious places for all to see.
But it’s not just humans. That’s too small. Look at v. 10. Here’s the reason Paul’s preaching is significant. Here’s the reason it’s important that the gospel is proclaimed to the world. Verse 10: so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.
Don’t miss it. Look what we just read. God is making His manifold wisdom known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. How is He doing that? Look at the verse. Through the church.
Markus Barth, the son of the famous theologian Karl Barth, writes in his commentary on Ephesians: “The church is given an assignment among intangible powers that make their spiritual dominion felt from their ‘heavenly’ places. She is to be an example to all creation. Following this verse the church would unduly limit her task if she cared only for the souls of men or for an increase in membership.”[3] The church is, to use a phrase, “the theater of God’s works.”[4] The church is the witness to the world, but not just the world as we think of it, to the powers and authorities, presumably both good and evil, in the heavenly realms.
Deep mysteries indeed. But there’s more. When Paul writes about what Christ has accomplished for us in Ephesians 2. He says that God raised us up and seated us in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus (2:6). Not “will seat us.” This is action that has happened. When we talk about the church as the body of Christ, we are talking about an inexplicable connection between heaven and earth. Christ reigns, seated on the throne, ruler of all nations, the whole universe, and the church is His body on earth, standing in the gap as mediator between God and all creation.
That means what we do here Sunday after Sunday is loaded with significance. Our worship is to be a reflection of the worship in heaven. When we gather together, we are taking our place in the communion of saints from every time and every place.
I’ll speak very pointedly. Do you see what this means, Christian? Do you see what we are called to be part of? Do you see how massive the gospel is?
The Lord is reconciling all things to Himself—things in heaven and things on earth. Every piece of God’s creation is going to be filled with God’s presence. And one of the primary ways God is accomplishing His purpose is through the church. I’ve said it before. The church is not a non-profit organization tasked with merely doing good deeds. The church is not a community center existing to satisfy “members.” The church is the latter-day people of God, those called in Christ Jesus, the body of Christ, the one who fills all in all. We are tasked with carrying the message of the gospel—that through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the true God is drawing all things, visible and invisible, to Himself.
[1] See K. Barth, Church Dogmatics, IV.3.1, p. 168.
[2] We also see this idea in Eph 4:19.
[3] M. Barth, Ephesians, AB, 1:365.
[4] Bengel cited by M. Barth, Ephesians, 1:364 n. 197.