I like riddles. Do you like riddles? I like riddles but I’m incredibly bad at them. Here’s one I found on Reddit, which was in an advertisement (don’t shout out the answer).
I am the destroyer of mountains, the killer of kings. I always fly by, yet I don’t have wings. I can end basketball games or marriages with similar ease. And though I flow like a stream, only water can freeze. I’ve murdered parents and children and houseplants galore. Yet despite all this you always want more. Who am I?
Now I know some of you are thinking “Nicholas Cage…” But that’s actually not the correct answer. Someone guessed that on Reddit. What’s the real answer?… Time. How about this one?
A horse jumps over a tall building and onto a priest who is immediately taken away but only for a short while. What am I talking about?
Why do we like riddles? It’s because they cause us to pause and think, and if we can figure out the answer, we feel intelligent and smart. Of course if we can’t figure out the answer and have to ask for it, we feel a little dumb. But there’s still that “ah-ha” moment. So what is this riddle talking about? Chess.
The Apostle Paul tells us about a riddle in our text today. He tells us about one of the oldest riddles of all time that has finally been solved. Let me summarize Paul’s riddle in my own words.
What is unknown now known? Two now one? Weak yet strong?
Why should you care about this riddle? Because the answer to this riddle can change your life. This riddle is so profound that when we finally understand the answer, we will want to share it with others.
In Ephesians chapter 3 Paul is about to say a prayer for the believers but he interrupts himself to marvel at this mystery. In verse 1 Paul says this.
Ephesians 3:1 For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles— (NIV®)
But notice the dash at the end of the verse? That tells us Paul takes a detour. His train of thought returns in verse 14, “For this reason I kneel before the Father…” But before he prays, which we’ll look at next week, he speaks of a mystery revealed, which is the first part of our riddle.
What is unknown now known? (Eph 3:2-5)
2 Surely you have heard about the administration of God’s grace that was given to me for you, 3 that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly. 4 In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, 5 which was not made known to people in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets. (NIV®)
Paul is writing to the believers at Ephesus and he begins in verse 2 by explaining his job description. He is an administrator. At Cornerstone we have an Office Administrator. She does things like order supplies, prepare the bulletin, and tell me what to do. My only complaint is that she is just too perfect. An office administrator helps run a church. Paul is an administrator of grace. The Greek word for administration (oikonomia) means to “manage a household.” Most of us don’t have enough money to pay someone to manage our houses. We do it ourselves. But Paul is the one God has called to manage the household of grace—to share grace with those lost in sin.
Our sermon series, “We Need Grace” ties nicely into this theme. Paul is saying that this riddle is a riddle of grace. That’s a hint, a clue. When God has made what was unknown known it clearly shows his amazing grace. When God reveals the mystery through Christ Jesus, we say, wow that’s grace! That’s amazing!
Paul actually tells us that God has withheld this mystery from previous generations. That means the believers who came before Paul and the people of the Old Testament didn’t fully understand. God hinted at this mystery throughout the Old Testament. When God promised to bless the father of the Israelite people Abraham in one of the first chapters of the Bible he hinted at it.
Genesis 12:3
I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you.” (NIV®)
When the prophet Isaiah said Egypt, Assyria, and Israel will become one God was hinting at it.
Isaiah 19:23-25 In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will go to Egypt and the Egyptians to Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together. 24 In that day Israel will be the third, along with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing on the earth. 25 The Lord Almighty will bless them, saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria my handiwork, and Israel my inheritance.” (NIV®)
When the prophet Zechariah prophesied to Jerusalem after the exile God was hinting at it once more.
Zechariah 2:11 “Many nations will be joined with the Lord in that day and will become my people. I will live among you and you will know that the Lord Almighty has sent me to you. (NIV®)
God is going to work through the Israelites to bless the whole world. It’s through Christ Jesus and the New Testament apostles and prophets that we receive the answer (Rom 11). “What is unknown now known” is another way of saying, “What was a mystery God has now revealed.” God has told us the answer to the mystery and the answer shows us his grace.
I picked up my parents from the airport on Wednesday and I took a different route home. Although they had a vague idea of where we were—they knew the highway and saw landmarks—it wasn’t until we pulled onto one of our final streets that the mystery was revealed and I heard my dad say, “Ah, I know where we are.” We had driven in the back roads to our house. That’s what Paul is doing. He’s driving the Ephesians and all believers home, but it’s taken them and maybe us too a while to figure out where we are. Do you want to go home? Where are you on your spiritual journey?
Does God seem unknown or unknowable to you? He has made himself known by being born into this world. God took on human flesh as the baby Jesus, lived an innocent life, and died in our places on the cross to make salvation known. If you repent of your sins and put your faith in Christ Jesus you receive the holiness God himself has. That’s a mystery too! When we come to Jesus, it feels like we’re finally coming home. Let’s continue with our riddle, our mystery. What is unknown now known?
What is two now one? (Eph 3:6)
Do you want to know the answer to Paul’s mystery? Paul reveals the answer in the next verse.
6 This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus. (NIV®)
The Jews and Gentiles are becoming one, a new people. Paul told us about this mystery in chapter 1.
Ephesians 1:18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, (NIV®)
Paul is saying you Gentiles (the non-Jews) get to share in the riches of God’s holy people, the people of Israel. Paul spoke again of this in chapter 2.
Ephesians 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. (NIV®)
You non-Jews who once who were far away because of holiness laws, can known be brought near through the holiness of Chirst Jesus. Paul speaks of the answer more in Romans 11 and Galatians 3.
Romans 11:25-26a I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in, 26 and in this way all Israel will be saved… (NIV®)
Galatians 3:28-29 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. (NIV®)
Are you finally ready for the answer to our riddle? Can anyone guess it? What is unknown now known? What is two now one? What is weak yet strong? The Church! God promised the church in the Old Testament and revealed it in the New Testament. The church is made up of Jews and Gentiles who believe in Christ Jesus. Instead of Jewish people being saved one way, by keeping the law and commandments which they could not do, they are saved through faith in Christ Jesus. Instead of us Gentile people being saved by doing good works or living moral lives, which we could not do, we are saved by faith in Christ Jesus. Together, we become one new people, the Church.
There are lots of blessings we receive when we confess our sins and put our faith in Jesus Christ. We receive eternal life. We get to share in the new heavens and new earth when Christ returns. We will dwell with Jesus forever. We will have never-ending joy. But one of these blessings is more tangible and immediate. It is the blessing of becoming a member of the Church. When I say “Church” I first mean “big-C Church”—as in the universal or invisible church, which includes all believers from all times and places. Only God truly knows who is a part of the big-C Church. The little-c church is a local congregation like Cornerstone, which is limited in size. The way we receive the blessing of being a member of the big-C church is by being a member of a little-c church. Membership down here demonstrates membership up there. Richard Coekin writes in Ephesians For You, “… church is meant to be a team game. A church is never about one person or one kind of people.”
In verse 6 Paul uses the illustration of a body. Our bodies have lots of different parts. We have eyes and ears and livers and kidneys and those of us who do CrossFit have biceps… If a body is a picture of the church then it makes sense that the church should be full of middle eastern people, and Asian people, white people, black people, tall, small, young, old, mature, immature, rich, poor, all kinds of people. We as a church should make sure we’re trying to not just reach people that look like us but all peoples of all ages.
What is unknown now known? What is two now one? The Church. In our last part, Paul tells us what God is doing through the church. The last part of our riddle is this.
What is weak yet strong? (Eph 3:7-13)
7 I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace given me through the working of his power. 8 Although I am less than the least of all the Lord’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the boundless riches of Christ, 9 and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things. 10 His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, 11 according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. 12 In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence. 13 I ask you, therefore, not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory. (NIV®)
Paul’s job has been to make this mystery known—that God’s grace is not just for the Jewish people but the Gentile (non-Jewish) people as well. Back in verse 1 Paul said he is a prisoner, and then here in verse 8 he calls himself “the least of all the Lord’s people” and then in verse 13 he says he is “suffering.” Paul is weak and broken, but he is also strong in Christ. Paul is a model for us the church. Let’s zero-in on verse 10.
10 His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, (NIV®)
I like reading fantasy books, and I just finished listening to one where the antagonist has the most power and calls himself divine. It seems like he is impossible to defeat. He has the greatest power. He’s invincible. But the character with the least useful power uses her gift to defeat him. That makes her glory and his shame all the greater. God is using us, the church, the most broken, sad, dis-unified, sinful and weak institution in the world—to take down the supernaturally powerful Satan and all his forces (Eph 6:10-12). You know why we love the local church, our local church, even though we’re messed up? Because God loves us and is working through small, young, stumbling about Cornerstone to defeat the evil one. Christ uses our weakness to overcome Satan.
Before I get to my conclusion I want to point out that we’re called to a similar ministry as Paul. As the church, we’re called to make the mystery known as well. When we hear a good riddle what do you do? We tell it. I can think of several friends that I just want to sit down with and share the gospel with, but I haven’t yet because I’m weak and scared. Do any of you feel that way? Is there someone Christ would like us to share Jesus with but we haven’t yet? Christ wants to empower us as the church in our weakness to make known his mystery. Usually, we tell ourselves, “When I get stronger I’ll talk to that person. When our relationship is stronger or when I know my Bible stronger or when the timing is stronger, then I’ll do it. What if Jesus wants to use us in our weakness? What if he wants us to fast and pray and go talk to them? I’d love to talk to you more if you want to hold each other accountable. This is why we are the church.
So what’s my big idea?
What is unknown now known? Two now one? Weak yet strong? Our Church.
Before time began God wrote a riddle (Eph 1:4). As history unfolded God whispered hints through his prophets and Scriptures. God sent his Son Jesus to make this riddle possible by his death and resurrection. The Apostle Paul preached this riddle to the Gentiles and Jews and to us today. You know the answer is the church. But do you know who the answer is? The answer is you! It’s us! We’re the church! We’re the answer to the mystery! As we close in song let’s marvel at God’s mystery. What is unknown now known? Two now one? Weak yet strong? Our Church.
Pastor Jonathan Romig preached this message at Cornerstone Congregational Church. You can download a PDF copy of this sermon above, which includes further endnotes and references. Click to listen to sermons or to read our story.
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