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Christ and Creation
Unit
3:
The
Fruits
of
New Life
(Lessons
10-14)
NEW
MESSAGE
FROM
GOD
LESSON
12
INTRODUCTION
DEVOTIONAL READING:
ISAIAH
40:
1-11
A.
WHAT'S
THE SECRET PASSWORD?
When
you hear the word
mystery,
what comes
to
mind? Sherlock Holmes?
BACKGROUND SCRIPTURE:
EPHESIANS
3:
1-13
Masterpiece
Theater?
When
biblical writers speak of mystery, they do not referto a fictional story. Rather, they use the word
mystery
much the same way we
PRINTED
TEXT:
EPHESIANS
3:1-13
would use the word
secret.
Thus when they speak of revealing a mystery, theyintend to reveal a secret to you.In New Testament times, the Greeks were known
for
their
mystCly
reli-
gions.
These were pagan cults that claimed
to
have secret knowledge of thespirit world. The initiation rites were bizarre.
Like
kids in a tree house
say
LESSON
AIMS
ing,
"You
can't come in unless you tell us the secret password," members of
Afterparticipating
inthis
the cult were those who had the secret knowledge that (supposedly) gained
lesson, each
student
will
be
a person the best kind of afterlife. In our passage today, Paul uses the
termi:
able
to:
nology of those cults to highlight God's
mystery-the
revealed
secret-that
1.
Summwize
the
content
Paul was called to preach. But unlike those mystery religions, God's revealed
of
what
Paul
calls
the
mystery
secret is available to
all,
not just
to
a select
few.
Also
unlike those mystery
made known
to
him
by
rev-
religions, mere possession of certain knowledge isn't enough; it has to be
put
elation.
into practice.
2.
Identify
how
Paul
uses
I
the
term
mystery.
B.
LESSON BACKGROUND
3.
Plan
a
class
activity
that
 
We
take
for
granted the fact that a person can become a Christian without
will
demonstrate
"one
body"
converting to Judaism. But that fact wasn't always so clear In the very earliest
unity.
days of the church, most Christians were Jews
first.
The common thought inthose earliest days was that Christianity was a variation ofjudaism or was aJewish sect
(Acts
24:5, 14).After
all,
didn'tJesus
Christ come to be the Jewish Messiah, to saveGod's people from their sins? Jesus made it clear that his message was to
go
"to the ends of the earth,"
but
many assumed that those wanting tobecome Christians would have to become Jews first, toeing the line withregard to the Law of Moses.
To
think of becoming a Christian without be-
KEY
VERSES
coming
aJew
was like wanting to become a Kentuckian without becoming
Although
I
am
less
than
an American citizen.
.
the least
of
all
God's
peo-
In a vision to Peter in Acts 10, God revealed that Gentiles were
not
to
pie,
this
grace was given
 
be considered "unclean." The gospel was open to the Gentiles
without
me:
to
preach
to
the
their having to convert to Judaism. But many
in
the early church objected
Gentiles the
unsearch-
to this radical idea. The issue was so hotly debated that the Jerusalem
able
riches
of
Christ,
and
church held a special council
just
to resolve this issue (Acts 15; compare
.
to
makeplain
to
everyone
the
Galatians 2).
,
administration
of
thismys-
After a long discussion, the apostles confirmed that a Gentile did not
tay,
which
for
ages
past
was
have to become
aJew
in order to become a Christian. The intervention of
kept
hidda1
in
God,
who
cre-
the Holy Spirit and the courage of the apostles to be obedient
to
God's call
ated
all
things.
ensured that Christianity would
not
be a mere sect ofjudaism.
-Ephesians
3:8,9
"""--------
 
MAY
17,
2009
_
348
NEW
MESSAGE
FROM
Goo
LESSON
12
NOTES
WHAT
Do
You
THINK?
How
can
Paul's
under-
standing
of
being
a
prisoner
of
Christ
Jesus
be lived
out
today?
WHAT
Do
You
THINK?
What
irifonnation
in
the
Bible
do
you
believe
you
areespeciallyresponsible
for
sharing
with
others?
By
the
time
that
Paul
wrote
his
letter
to
the Ephesians (about
AD
63),
the
famous
Jerusalem Council
was
more than a decade in the past.
The
thinking
of
the church had matured on the issue discussed there.
Even
so,
there
was
.
more yet
to
be
said!
I.
GOOD
NEWS (EPHESIANS 3:1-6)
A.
PAUL'S CHAINS
(v.
1)
1.
For
this reason
I,
Paul,
the
prisoner
of
Christ
Jesus
for
the
sake
of
you
Gentiles
Paul
is
in
prison because
ofhis
commitment
to
take
Christ
to
the
Gen-
tiles.
The
details
of
this imprisonment can be found beginning in
Acts
21:27through the end
of
that book.
Acts
22:21,22 especially
reveals
the ire
of
Paul's opponents regarding his mission
to
the
Gentiles.
Yet
Paul calls
himselfa
prisoner
of
Chl1stJesus.
Does Paul
believe
that
his
prison warden
is
Jesus? Inessence,
yes! (See
also
Ephesians
4:
1.)We
might be more
likely
to
see
Paul's prison warden
as
the
devil,
notJesus.
But Paul
consistently submits
to
the situations
in his
life as
if God
hasput him there.
Paul sees
that
even
this
"evil"
of
imprisonment can be used(and
is
being used) by
God
for
good.
Perhaps
Paul
meditates on Joseph's imprisonment
(Genesis
39,40) andhow that turned out. "God
never
wastes a hurt," someone has
said.
Paul'simprisonment means he must write letters
to
his churches since he cannot,
visit in
person.
Since
we
have
those letters
to
study,
Paul's jail time certainlyhas resulted
in
good
things
forus!
B.
GOD'S
GRACE
(w.
2, 3)
2
....
Surely
you
have heard
about
the
administration
of
God's
grace
that
was
given
to
me
for you,
When
we
hear the word
administration,
we
may
think
of
something beingdispensed or managed.
Paul
is
saying,
"You
know about this particular
assign-
ment that
God, by
his
grace,
gave
me
to
manage."
This
thought can
cause
us
to
reflect
on the things
God
has entrusted
to
our
own
stewardship.
The
word
things
may
bring
to
mind material objects such
as
food,
clothing, and
money.
But have
you
ever
thought that
you
have
irifonnation
that
God
wants you
to
manage?
Mature Christians understand God's
grace,
God's truth, and God's prom-
ises
in
ways
that others don't understand.
Godhas
given you
that informa-tion not just
for
your
own
benefit but
for
the
benefit
of
others: perhaps yourchildren, your
coworker,
or
your
neighbor.
We
have
information that has been
revealed
to
us
through God's
Word,
and
God
eX"pects
us
to
be
good
stewards, of what
we
knOw.
For
Paul,
the
administration
of
God's
grace
is
clear and dramatic. There
is
noquestion regarding what he
is
a steward
of:
it
is
that God's salvation
is avail-
ableto
Gentile
as
well
asJew.
3
....
that
is,
the
mystery made
known
to
me
by
revelation,
as
I
have already
written
briefly.
Paul
is
about
to
tell
more
specifically
what he has been
given
to
administer.
He
refers
to
this
as
the mysteJy.
He
got this mystery
by
revelation.
God
reveals
himself
to
humanity
in
two
ways:
by
general revelation
and
byspecial
revelation.Generalrevelation
is
knowledge
about
God
that
is
available
i
merely bylooking
around
at
creation
(Psalm
19:1;
Romans
1:20).
Special
rev-
 
LESSON
12
342
_
elation
includes God's
messages
to
the
prophets,
apostles,
etc.,
that end up
as
written
Scripture.
What
Paul
is
talking
about
is
special
revelation.
Such
messages
come directly
from
God
(see
Acts
9:5-7;
22:21),
Paul
notes that
he has
writtenbliej/y
about
this
already
This
may
refer
to
Ephesians
1
:9,
10
or
2:
11-22.
C.
EPHESIANS' UNDERSTANDING
(w.
4,
5)
4,
5.
In
reading
this,
then,
you
will
be
able
to
understand
my
insight into
the
mystery
of
Christ, which
was
not
made
known
to
men
in
other
generations
as
it
has
now
beenrevealed bythe
Spirit
to
God'sholyapostles
andprophets.
For
the Ephesians
to
understand this
mystery
of
Christ
is
Paul's
goal.
Part
of
this
understanding includes the realization that
the
mystery
has
not been
revealed
only
to
Paul,
but
ithas
now been
revealed
by
the
Spirit
to
God's holyapostles
and
prophets.
We
may
review
Acts
10:9-20, where
God
first reveals
the secret
of
the inclusion
of
the Gentiles
to
Peter.
Paul
repeats
his
argumentin Colossians 1:25-27.
D.
GENTILES'
STATUS
(v.
6)
6.
This
mystery
is
that through
thegospel
the
Gentiles
areheirs
together
with
Israel,
members together
of
one
body,
and
sharers
together
in
the
promise
in
Christ
Jesus.
The revealed
mystery
is
that through the gospel the
Gentiles
can be equalwith
Jews.The
two
can
be
united together
to
make
up the church. Gentiles
are
fellow
heirs
with
Israel,
lnembers
of
the same
body,
and beneficiaries
of
thesame promise-without
having
to
become Jews
first!
Everything
available toJews
in
Christ
is
available
to
Gentiles
too.
The
Gentiles
are
not second-classcitizens of
the
church. Jews and Gentiles should be treating one another
as
brothers and sisters in Christ
(see
Galatians 3:26-29).
To
recognize
that
we
are
all
one in Christ
is
vital.
This
does not mean that
we
promote tolerance
to
the point
of
accepting sinful behavior
Being
one
in
Christ means,
rather,
that distinctions with
regard
to race,
culture, andeconomic status
are
irrelevant.
The
church should
be
leading the
charge
ingenuine
racial
reconciliation in the
way
she models the interactions
of
hermembers. Christians
are
all
one in Christ.
Are
you
seeking
tolove
members
of
the body
of
Christ
no
matter what their
racial
background? Consider the
language
that
you usein
describing those
of
another
race:
Do
you
stereotype
or
demean others
by
your
labels?
Look
ata list
of
your
friends:Does
it include people
from
other
races
and socioeconomic backgrounds?
A
DIVIDED
HOUSE?
Chana and
Simon
Taub
shared
thesame
$1
million
house
for
18
years.
Thensomething went
wrong
in
their
21-year
marriage.
The
result
wascalled
"one of
New
York's
strangest
divorce
batdes."
Each
accused
the
other
of exaggerated
lies
to
bolster
his
or
her
case.
Feelingswere
so
intense that neither would
give
up
the
house,
so
the judgeordered interior
walls
to
be
built, dividing the house. Chana
got
possession of
the
garage,
front
door,
three
bathrooms,
four
bedrooms,
the
second-floor
kitch
en,
the third-floor
nursery,
and a spiral
staircase
to
reach them. Simon
got
a
sideentrance, the
living
room
and bathroom
on the
first
floor,
and
the
dining
room
on
the
second
floor
MAY
17,2009
DAILY
BIBLE READINGS
Monday, May
11-God'
s
Dominion
over
All
Gob
12:
13-25)
Tuesday,
May
12-
Mysteries
of
the
Kingdom
(Matthew
13: 10-17)
Wednesday,May
13-
God
Reveals
Mysteries
(Daniel
2:25-30)
Thursday, May
14-
God's
Secret Revealed (Amos
3:
1-8)
Friday,
May
15-The
Son
Reveals
the Father
(Matthew
11:25-30)
Saturday,
May
16-
Stewards
of
God's
Mysteries
(I
Corinthians
4:
1-5)
Sunday,
May
17-
Sharing
the
Promise in
Christ
(Ephesians
3:
I-B)
..
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