Messages

If you are in Christ, you have been given a spiritual gift meant to be used with and for the body of Christ. The big idea of these verses is that the body is made up of many parts, but they are designed to work together. The goal of Paul's exhortation here is that the body would be unified and mature.

In the Western church, we often see church as an event we attend, instead of a body to which we belong. In a body, every part is important. If one part hurts, the whole body is affected. If one part is missing, the body doesn’t function as designed. Do we see the church, and our role in it, with that kind of importance?

As is often the case in Paul's letters, the first half of the letter is a reminder of the gospel. It is a retelling of who we were before Christ, and who we are in Christ. As we enter into chapter 4, the letter now takes a turn. Paul begins to move from theological to practical. He shifts from reminding us of what Christ has done, to what we should do because of what Christ has done.

Today we are taking a look back at 2024 and as well as casting vision for the year to come. Whether you are new to the church, or a regular church attender, we want to be transparent about the ministry that we are doing and plan to do over the next year.

This is a new command, as the original command to love was to love your neighbor as yourself—the golden rule. Jesus elevates that expectation for us to love each other as He has loved us! Jesus commands us to do this because it doesn’t come naturally. Romantic love or parental love tends to come naturally, but loving people with a Christ-like love does not come on its own.

This is one of the most famous prayers of Paul, and it is primarily focused on knowing the great depth of the love of Christ.

In this section of text, Paul speaks of a mystery that was revealed to him for the sake of the Gentiles. A mystery in the New Testament is typically something that was once hidden but has now been made known. What has been made known? The Gentiles have been given the same standing as the Jews in the family of God.

In Paul's day, the world was divided up in two groups, Jews and Gentiles. The two did not mix, there was hostility between them. The Jews believed they were the ones who had received all the blessings of being God’s people, the Gentiles had been left without hope.

But God’s design from the beginning was to take the two and make them one and he did so through the blood of Christ.

This text is the glorious declaration of the Gospel. It is out of God’s great love that he lavished his mercy on us and made us alive with Christ. We are saved by God's Grace. There is nothing we can do to earn it. It is a gift we receive.

Chapter 2 begins with Paul teaching the good news, but to accurately teach the good news, people need to hear the bad news. Paul shares the bad news first. There is a cultural idea that we are all good people: since we are all children of God we must do something really bad to have that status removed. "Good” is our default position, and we have to behave our way to “bad.”

However, that isn’t what scripture teaches. We begin as those under the wrath of God, and without Christ, that is where we will remain.

After Paul's doxology, he turns his attention to the church. He is overwhelmed with gratitude for them and offers one of the highest and richest prayers in all of scripture for them.