The Wisdom of God (Ephesians)

Appleton Gospel Church

The Wisdom of God: If God is all-powerful and perfectly wise, how could he allow suffering to exist? People have always wrestled with this question, many Christians as well. According to the manifold wisdom of God and through the suffering of Christ, we can approach God with freedom and confidence in our time of need. Suffering is not the end of the story. Recorded on May 26, 2024, on Ephesians 3:1-13 by Pastor David Parks. Our series, Ephesians: The Gospel in Life, serves as an epilogue to Finding Life in Jesus’ Name from John’s gospel. The Apostle Paul’s letter to the Ephesians reveals much about how the life found by faith in Jesus actually works. This series will touch on themes of grace, identity, purpose, family, the church, spiritual warfare, and more. If you’re considering the life of Jesus or if you’re ready to follow him today, this series is for you. Sermon Transcript For the last few weeks and for the next few months, we’ll be working through Paul’s letter to the Ephesians in a sermon series called The Gospel in Life. And today, as we start chapter 3, we’re going to consider the wisdom of God’s plan, hidden in the past, but now revealed to us in Christ. But there’s a mystery here. The mystery, what was really shocking, was that God’s plan included the immense suffering and humiliation of the cross of Christ. No one expected a dying messiah. Of course, Christians believe that after this suffering and death, on the third day, Jesus rose again from the dead as the King of kings and the Lord of lords. But still, God used the greatest tragedy to accomplish the greatest good. Almost no one would’ve thought this is what God’s plan would’ve looked like. However, even with this story of the suffering of the Son of God at the heart of the gospel, and even though the apostles and many of the first followers of Jesus suffered greatly for their faith, suffering is still shocking for many Christians today. Many Christians wonder if God is all-powerful, and if he is perfectly good, how could he allow suffering to exist? People have wrestled with this question as far back as we have a written record. Have you ever wondered how God could allow something evil or painful to intrude into your life? Have you ever prayed/cried out to God in tears/confusion because of the suffering in your life? What can we do in those dark days? What can we say when those difficult questions creep into our hearts? One of the things we can do is look to the stories of those who suffered in the Bible and learn from them. We might look to the stories of Joseph, Job, Naomi, or David and see how they dealt with suffering. But the Apostle Paul’s story is right up there — he suffered greatly because of his faith. And today, we’ll see how he talks about his experience, including the fact that he was an innocent man writing to the Ephesians from prison. But Paul’s perspective is radically different than the ways of this world. If so, grab a Bible/app and open it to Eph 3:1. We’ll unpack this text as we go. Ephesians 3:1–3 (NIV), “1 For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles— 2 Surely you have heard about the administration of God’s grace that was given to me for you, 3 that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly.” In Chapter 1, Paul spelled out the truly cosmic nature of the gospel — that God was working from eternity to eternity to unite all things in/under Christ. In Chapter 2, Paul went on to remind the Ephesians of the radical unity that God has brought to Jews and Gentiles by grace through faith in Jesus. Now, here, he shares how his personal story relates to the unfolding story of God. And he starts by calling himself “the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles.” It’s interesting that he doesn’t say he’s a prisoner because of Christ Jesus, but he’s the prisoner of Christ Jesus. This phrase could have several possible meanings. First,