Teaching Ephesians – The Gospel of Your Salvation (Part 16)

Grace Thoughts

Teaching Ephesians – The Gospel of Your Salvation (Part 16)

Courtesy of D. Osseman library

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Courtesy of D. Osseman library

We are sharing a special series about teaching the Book of Ephesians in small groups. If you haven’t read the Introduction to the series, we invite you to read it here.

Whether you are interested in studying Ephesians for the purpose of teaching it to small groups or for your own personal study, we believe you will find this series helpful.

We are currently in the middle of Chapter Three.

[Listen to a Podcast of this study by clicking this link.]

Basic Premises for Studying Scripture

God is worth knowing
His Word is worth learning and obeying
Because God is worth knowing and His Word is worth learning, we will follow a proven method of knowing Him and learning His Word.
We will use the I – M – D – I method of Bible study:
Inductive – Methodical – Direct – Independent
Inductive study – “logical, objective, impartial reasoning” … examining specifics of Scripture before reaching conclusions
Methodical study – “a way or path of transit” (Greek – methodos) … focused on taking the proper path to gaining knowledge about God
Direct study – “relying on Scripture as the primary tool for learning”
Independent study – “original thinking combined with Spirit insight”
Observe (See and Record)
Question (Ask and Answer)
Interpret (Determine the Holy Spirit’s Intent)
Apply (How God’s Truth applies to your life)

Bible Study – The Group Process

I invite you to model the process of observing, asking questions for interpretation, interpreting for meaning, and applying for discipleship for your small group. This process may be new to some of the people in your group, so going through it with them for awhile may help them feel comfortable with how to do it.

One of the biggest mistakes people make in reading the Bible is trying to interpret the meaning of individual verses before observing everything in the verses. Studying in context also helps keep us from making incorrect interpretations. That means starting the observation process at the beginning of each Bible book.

The challenge in studying alone or with the group is trying to determine the meaning of passages in the Bible before assuring that we’ve observed everything in the passages and asked every possible question. We carefully answer all of the questions before reaching a conclusion to the meaning.

Read the Scripture and go through each step with your group. You may be able to cover observation, questions, interpretation and application in one meeting, but don’t rush the process. It takes time to see everything in a text, ask good questions, get good answers to those good questions, interpret the meaning of the text and apply the meaning to life. If it takes two or three meetings to do that for each text, that’s fine! The goal is to rightly divide God’s Word, not finish by a certain date.

Observe – Write what you see

Ephesians 3:10

… to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places.

Ephesians 3:10 in Greek

to the intent … ινα

Verse 10 is a continuation of the sentence started in verse 8, so let’s look at that again.

To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ

The context is that the Apostle Paul received a special calling to preach “among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery.” When Paul continues with the Greek word hina, it’s similar to saying “so that, in order that, for the purpose that.” The next part of the sentence will explain the purpose of the mystery Paul was preaching to the Gentiles.

that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places … γνωρισθη νυν ταις αρχαις και ταις εξουσιαις εν τοις επουρανιοις δια της εκκλησιας η πολυποικιλος σοφια του θεου

The mystery Paul preached to the Gentiles was about making known “the manifold wisdom of God” to “principalities and powers in the heavenly places.” God is doing that “by the church.” A careful reading of Ephesians makes clear that God is using the Church to demonstrate the ultimate power of Christ to Satan and his evil kingdom.

… and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. Ephesians 1:19-21

… and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. Ephesians 2:6-7

… to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places, according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. Ephesians 3:10-11

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Ephesians 6:12-13

The Greek reads a bit different than the English translation. Instead of “that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places,” the literal translation is “so that should be made known now to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly realms.”

“should be made known” is gnōristhē and comes from the verb ginóskó, which means “to come to know through personal experience, to perceive, recognize.” The idea is knowing something from personal experience, recognizing it, and declaring it.

nun is an adverb that speaks to time period — “now, present, immediately, at this instant.” Paul emphasized that this was happening “now,” at the time Paul wrote his letter. It would certainly have continued for the last two-thousand years. This is still happening today.

It’s being made known now to “the principalities and powers in heavenly places.” The word “principalities” is archais and means “rulers, magistrates, chief.” The word “powers” is exousiais and means “authorities, designated power.” The word is first used in Ephesians in chapter two: “according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience.” We know from studying Scripture that it refers to Satan.

The devil is a key character throughout Ephesians. Why? We need to remember what the Apostle John wrote in his first letter: “For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8). Ephesians describes for us how Jesus accomplished that. The “mystery” Paul described was for the purpose of making it known that the “manifold wisdom of God” had defeated Satan and all his evil kingdom. We see that from chapter one to chapter six.

God chose to demonstrate Jesus’ defeat of Satan and his supernatural forces “by the church.” The preposition dia means “by, through, through the instrumentality.” The Church, made up of every person truly saved by faith in Jesus Christ, is the instrument God has used for the last two-thousand years to point to the devil’s defeat at the hands of our Lord and Savior.

manifold wisdom of God … η πολυποικιλος σοφια του θεου

The word polupoikilos means “varied, of different colors, many diverse manifestations, multiple facets.” The word sophia means “wisdom, skill, insight.” God is extremely wise and skillful in how He has dealt with the deceitful treachery of the devil and his evil kingdom. Out of all the ways God could have defeated the devil and destroyed His works, God chose to send His eternal Son to earth in a body of ‘flesh and blood.’ Jesus Christ sacrificed His life, died, rose again, and saved many into His Church. God displays His manifold wisdom “by the Church.”

‘The Church thus becomes the university for angels, and each saint a professor. Only in the Church can the angels come to an adequate comprehension of the grace of God. They look at the Church to investigate the mysteries of redemption.’ Kennet Wuest, Word Studies in the Greek New Testament, Ephesians, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1953

That is the “mystery” God revealed to the Apostle Paul and through him to all of the apostles and prophets and to every person saved by grace through faith. Truly remarkable!

Observe – Write what you see

… to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places, according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. Ephesians 3:10

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Question – Ask and answer questions based on observations

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Interpret – What is the Holy Spirit’s intent in these verses?

Apply – How can you apply these spiritual truths to your life?

[Listen to a Podcast of this study by clicking this link.]

Next Time

We will look at Ephesians 3:11 in the next part of our series, Teaching Ephesians.

Apostle PaulEphesiansGodJesus ChristMysterySatan Teaching Ephesians – The Gospel of Your Salvation (Part 16)

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Teaching Ephesians – The Gospel of Your Salvation (Part 16)