Introduction
One of the most precious privileges of the Christianity ministry is the task of proclaiming the Lord Jesus Christ. In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul understood that the crux of his calling was “to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ” (Eph 3:8). This proclamation is God’s means to bring his people to himself.
But what all is involved in this great task? In Ephesians 3 Paul invites us to consider his role in God’s grand purpose of redemption, and his role has implications for every minister of the gospel. What are those implications? They are at least threefold: 1) we need to have a proper estimation of our ministry, 2) we must grasp the essence of our preaching, and 3) we must be clear-sighted about the end or the goal of gospel proclamation. All of this is necessary for the proper preaching of Christ.
In a series of three articles, let’s explore these three aspects centered on preaching the unsearchable riches of Christ.
Having A Proper Estimation Of Our Ministry
We begin with Paul’s estimation of his own ministry. From one vantage point the apostle Paul is one of the most remarkable human beings to ever live. He’s a brilliant thinker, a man skilled in the Hebrew Scriptures. He was a star-student, a standout among all Pharisees. And he has great facility with both the ancient and present languages.
Paul can quote Greek philosophers (Acts 17:28). He can pique the interest of philosophical communities. He can effectively address kings (Acts 26:2ff) and common servants (Acts 16:28-34), persuade masses (Acts 14:11-18), and compel magistrates (Acts 16:35-39). Paul is, by any account, a shining star of cleverness, conviction, and courage.
However, unlike the skilled men of his day, whether eloquent speakers or simply prominent people, Paul did not make much of himself. Indeed, he’s persistent in denouncing any boasting in the flesh (1 Cor 1:31). This is the opposite of a Greek mindset where philosophers like Epictetus argued that men should be incapable of humility. (1 ) Humility in the eyes of the world was a sign of weakness and timidity.
To the contrary Paul sees humility of mind as a mark of the mind of Christ in us (Phil 2:3-5). That consciousness of lowliness—rejecting the love of honor in favor of the honor of God—is reflected in Paul’s estimation of his calling. Paul is a minister of the gospel, but how is it that he is a minister? It’s not due to being some kind of self-made man. He’s a minister by grace alone.
We Are Ministers By Grace
Notice in Ephesians 3:7-8 the emphatic stress on God’s grace. “Of this gospel, I was made a minister according to the gift of God’s grace, which was given me by the working of his power. To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given.” The italics highlight the constant reference to God’s grace, God’s power, and God’s action to gift Paul this position.
Paul is a prominent preacher, but he preaches not himself (2 Cor 4:5). God’s grace has put him in the office to make much of Christ. Paul has not made himself anything. For, if we were to go back to Saul of Tarsus—the prideful, persecuting Pharisee—we would see that that man, that flesh-boaster, was bound for hell. But God’s grace rescued him. The risen Redeemer erupted into Paul’s life changing him and calling him to be the Lord’s servant.
Paul didn’t figure anything out by his intellectual sophistication. He didn’t gain insight into the mystery through his methodical study (Eph 3:3-4). He was blind. He used the Scriptures in error having a zeal without knowledge. But the Lord turned on the lights. Paul was made to see and then made a minister.
Paul is stressing to the Ephesians that he engages in this glorious work of preaching Christ because of the gift of God’s grace. The Lord is working mightily in him. Paul didn’t craft a plan for personal success on the preaching circuit. He isn’t a man looking for a stage to shine under the spotlights.
We Are To Be Hard Working Ministers While Not Boasting In Our Hard Work
Sure, at this point in his ministry, Paul has worked hard, studied long, spoken all over the Roman world, and suffered much. But his two decades of preaching have been empowered by the grace of God alone. There is no proper preaching of Christ and his riches without a recognition of this fact.
He must increase, and we must decrease (John 3:30). Love to him from the heart, in thankful acknowledgment of his mercies, must compel the minister to preach. Every man of God is a man pulled out of the muck and mire of sin and given a word to speak for the Lord.
We Are To Be Christ-Exalting, Not Self-Exalting, Ministers
We are made workmen, made soldiers, made ambassadors of Jesus Christ. We are heralds of the King, and our calling has nothing to do with our greatness. It’s all about trumpeting the triumph of the Lord Jesus Christ. We call to sinners conscious of the fact that God is making his appeal through us (2 Cor 5:20). In other words, the appeal is God’s appeal, and we are simply his servants.
Paul understands his role as a servant with a calling not to self-exaltation but Christ exaltation. Indeed, Paul understands everything he does is done by the working of God’s power (Eph 3:7). The Spirit of God has equipped Paul from the moment of regeneration to his present dwelling in a Roman prison penning a letter to the Ephesians. God’s supernatural working takes prominence and not Paul’s abilities.
This is a fact we, ministers, also must grasp. If it were not for the ongoing power of God at work in us by his Spirit, we would fail. He guards us and keeps us. He instructs us and provokes our growth. Apart from the Lord, we can do nothing (John 15:5). All efforts and fruitfulness in our ministries are the result of the power of God. Do you thank him for it? Do you understand that you are a debtor to his mercy alone?
Our stories are not Paul’s story. We weren’t blinded with divine light while on the Damascus Road. But there is a crucial connection. All our hard work to acquire skill in preaching—all our labor to have biblical understanding, all that we’ve learned about exegeting the word, applying the word—is by the working of his power. We’ve been gifted insight, granted growth, and garrisoned with Spirit-wrought power to preach. By the grace of God we are what we are, and (like Paul) we ought to be emphatic in amplifying God’s grace to us. Preaching the unsearchable riches of Christ is an amazing calling. If we are to be effective, Christ-honoring stewards of the mystery, then we must remember the power that plucked us for his glory. We must ponder our privileges and praise the mighty work of God in us.
We Are To Be Humble Ministers
Then to further Paul’s grasp of this matchless grace to preach immeasurable riches, Paul mentions his lowly status. Yes, Paul is an apostle. Yes, by this point, he has planted multiple churches carrying the gospel all over the known world. Yes, he has trained stalwarts to further summon sinners to Christ, men like Timothy and Titus, Aristarchus and Tychicus. But in Paul’s own estimation, he is “the very least of all the saints” (Eph 3:8).
He’s not just the least of all the apostles (1 Cor 15:9)—what he wrote of his calling to the Corinthians a few years prior. He is the very least of all the saints. When we look at Paul we see an unparalleled mind and undaunted courage. Paul has the indefatigable determination that would make a Navy SEAL envious. But he doesn’t see himself as a hero of self-discipline or an intellectual elite. He doesn’t put himself at the top of the class. He regards himself as the lowest of all the people of God.
This isn’t just some rhetorical flare, a self-deprecating comment to curry favor. Paul says what he feels in his heart, and he says it under the inspiration of the Spirit. He has a great position, but he well remembers the blackness of his past. He was a persecutor, an aggressor, and an insolent opponent of Christ who acted in dreadful unbelief.
No doubt Paul also sees the struggles of the present. He isn’t a perfect man. He knows there are times when his own actions don’t make sense to him (Rom 7:15). Paul is a struggling sinner. He calls himself a wretched man (Rom 7:24). He knows he’s desperate for the cleansing of Christ. Paul sees no ground of boasting in himself. He’s the hardest working man in the church (1 Cor 15:10), but he recognizes the horror of what he once was.
Paul humbles himself, and it’s clear that the longer he walks with Christ the lower he sinks in humility. Some men get older and get snarky about their achievements and experiences. They think others must listen to their unique perspective as though they alone have the insight. Arrogance can easily seize us.
But Paul beats back. He will not throw his weight around—his experiences or his insight. In the context of mentioning his insight into the mystery, he couches it all in terms of God’s grace.
We Must Not Only Preach The Gospel But Be Gripped By The Gospel
Paul thereby teaches all ministers (and all believers) a valuable lesson. While we are always to be growing in holiness, there must be an increasing sense of our total inadequacy. The gospel we preach is a gospel we feel; that is, we are mindful of our sin and misery. Without Christ, we are undone. But continuing to taste the grace of Jesus, we have an ever-increasing affection for him.
We, therefore, preach a felt Christ out of a posture of lowliness. Our grasp on the unsearchable riches of Christ begins with a personal awareness, and an increasing awareness, that the love of Christ has reached to the depths to pull us up. We stand in awe of incomprehensible love. O the deep, deep, love of Jesus, vast, unmeasured, boundless, free.
Conclusion
Do you grasp your lowly state? Do you understand that love has laid hold of you and lifted you up? Do you marvel that the Maker has made you a mouthpiece for the majesty of Jesus? Preaching Christ’s unsearchable riches starts with an estimation of our position.
We are servants. We are recipients of stupendous grace. We are those showered with a wondrous gift to testify of our Treasure, the riches in Jesus. We are assisted to proclaim the honors of his name. Cast down like Isaiah, seeing our ruined state, but now purified, forgiven, consecrated, we say, “Here I am! Send me” (Is 6:8). May the Lord furnish us such a heart that heralds Christ’s riches from a posture of humility.
(1) Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, s.v. “tapeino,w,” (1972).
