Focal Passage: Ephesians 3:1-13
I’m terrible at giving gifts. It’s not that I don’t give good gifts, it’s just that when I get someone a gift, I can’t wait to give it to them.
So, it is not uncommon for me to buy my wife or children a gift for a special day (birthdays or Christmas), only to give it to them early or to at least tell them about the gift before they even open it.
I’ll explain what it does and how it works as a hint to what the gift is! My love for the one receiving the gift leads me to such joy in revealing my gift that I just can’t keep it to myself. I cannot contain it or keep it hidden.
Paul tells the church at Ephesus the very same thing, that God has made His gift of grace, through Jesus, known (vv. 1-6).
The announcement of this gift is the Good News of the gospel. For Paul, he could not restrain himself from announcing the gift.
“This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel” (Ephesians 3:6).
The gift of God is grace through Jesus, the gift on display, the gift of grace made visible is the church.
We ought to be people who enthusiastically share the gift that we have been given by preaching the gospel. We should overflow with uncontainable joy and excitement. But the way that we clearly describe the gift is by the church putting the “manifold wisdom of God” on display before the world (Eph. 3:7-13).
God has a gift to give the world. He gives the gift through his people sharing the gospel. We demonstrate and put on display what the gift is in and through the local church.