Carlton McPeak
Guest Columnist
Paul informed his Gentile readers that God’s wisdom has been made manifest by looking at the church. He then gives three consequences, as they pertain to the Gentiles, to God’s wisdom being made known (Ephesians 3:11-13). The first consequence is that the church, which was “in accordance with God’s eternal purpose,” came into existence. All of God’s plans for the church were complete “before the foundation of the world.” God had worked out everything in His mind before anything was created. After God created the world, all He needed to do was execute His plans. Paul tells us God “carried out [those plans] in Christ Jesus our Lord.” After Jesus ascended to heaven, it was now time for the church to come into existence; and it did! Because the church came into existence, those who are Christians can have the “boldness and confident access,” through their faith, to approach God with anything they desire to talk to Him about. There is no reason to be shy when approaching God about anything! This is not an arrogant approach, but one full of confidence and courage. The third consequence that Paul mentions is that the Gentile brethren in Ephesus should not be ashamed of Paul being in prison nor the tribulations he was enduring because of his preaching God’s mystery. Paul does not want them to be embarrassed because of his imprisonment. On the other hand, Paul wants them to consider his incarceration to be a cause for their glory. We might ask, “Why would Paul’s imprisonment” be a cause to glory? The answer might be that Paul was doing the work God had commissioned him to do so well and, as a result, Paul’s enemies wanted to get rid of him and the message he was preaching. Paul did not want the Ephesians to become discouraged or “lose heart” because of his circumstances. Even though it might sound strange, Paul wanted them to be encouraged because of his imprisonment and his tribulations. It is very possible that he wanted them to see his “tribulations on your behalf” as being something positive. It was proof Paul had done and was doing what Christ had commissioned him to do. As Christians, when we consider these consequences to God’s wisdom being revealed, it should cause us to be extremely happy. As members of this church that God planned before the foundation of the world, we can approach God with boldness and confidence. As Christians, Paul’s tribulations are our proof that he was doing what God wanted him to do. Therefore, our conclusion should be that we want to be as diligent as possible at living God’s way. Carlton G. McPeak ( carlton_mc@msn.com ) is an evangelist working in the Florida Gateway region. Scriptural quotations from the NASB.