The unsearchable riches of Christ to man

Ephesians 3:8-9

That which Christ did for man on the cross was out of Love. It was God’s plan for man even before the foundation of the world but many did not know about it. God revealed this to man in the later years (Eph 3:3)

What is this plan which God revealed to man?

-          Even though man disobeyed God, it was not a surprise to God. God is all knowing and so He knew man will fall one day. So God made a redemption plan to make our holiness possible again because He had chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world to be holy (Eph 1:4)

-          This plan was hidden but revealed to man these last times. It was revealed to you who by grace believed in God and what the blood of Christ did for you (1 Pet 1:19-20)

-          When Adam and Eve sinned God revealed this plan but it was manifested when the Diety came in form of man – Christ. God said to the old-serpent “I’ll put enmity between you and the woman , your seed and her seed” (Gen 3:15)

-          God wanted those who believe to have life again (Jn 3:16). He did this out of love

-          Man did not love God. Man showed hatred because he disobeyed God but God still loved man and paid for our sins.

-          He sent His son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins (1Jn 4:10)

-          Jesus took your sins and by His stripes you are healed (Isa 53:5-6). It does not say you were healed but that you are healed. Now! It is actual not a thing of the past. It applies to you and me now.

-          Rom 8:22 says humanity groans under the pain and curse of sin. We are cursed because of sin but because of God’s love He did not intend this to continue. God redeemed us from the curse, by becoming a curse for us. He was hanged on a tree for your sins and mine so that we could be saved. Today in Cameroon when someone hangs on a tree, it is considered an abomination and a curse. The body is buried in the bush like in most parts of the grassfields of Cameroon. This is the kind of shame our Lord took for us (Gal 3:13 read)

-          That is the mysteries of the unsearchable riches of Christ given to man. It is the gospel.

God’s love was manifested in the love of Christ

-          He gave His life for His friends (Jn 15:13).We are His friends if we love and obey Him. He was there in creation and was there before the foundation of the world. He was present when the God head made the rescue plan for man.

-          His love surpasses knowledge, so that we are filled by the fullness of God (Eph 3:19). We gain the attributes of God since God indwells us through the Spirit. This can only be possible through the transformation of our minds (Ro 12:1-2). Christ’s love is beyond knowledge.

-          Christ is the only Door to salvation (Jn 10:7-9)

-          He says you’ll have rest from your problems, from your worries, because He paid it all on the cross of Calvary. Is your soul troubled? Is life unfair to you? Came to Jesus and He’ll give you rest (Matt 11:29)

-          He’ll never leave you. Christ the prince of peace, the king of kings, the Lord of Lords. He says He’ll never leave you or abandon you. Just come to Him and He’ll give you peace in your soul and your mind.

What does the unsearchable riches of Christ mean to you as a believer?

-          God revealed these mysteries of the unsearchable riches of Christ to man through His Spirit. For the things of God, no one knows except the Spirit of God.

-          We have received the Spirit from God, not of the world so that we might know the things freely given to us by God (1 Cor 2:10-13).

-          Col 1:27 says God has revealed this mystery to His Saints, the believers including the Gentiles. What are the riches? “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Him we preach!

-          The full knowledge of the mystery of God is Christ (Col 2:2). All the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in Christ. In Him alone, so do not be deceived with any persuasive words that does not have the word of Christ.

-          Eph 3:9 reminds us who have accepted and obeyed the gospel to be stewards of this mystery. We are now members of the fellowship of God’s children and His kingdom. We need to fellowship with others in the faith and preach this gospel. A disciple is a steward of that which he has received in order to deliver it to others.

-          The redemption plan was hidden in God. Reason why the two apostles could not understand that the Christ was to die and be resurrected the third day (Lk 24:21) even though the prophets had prophesied.

-          The same prophets did not understand what they wrote (1 Pet 1:10-12). Angels sought to understand this mystery, but it was not revealed to them, including Satan.

-          Eph 3:10 says principalities and powers in heavenly places did not know about the mystery.

Though Satan knew that God had a plan for man in Gen 3:15 when God said his head will be bruised by the seed of the woman, he did not know the full story until Jesus was resurrected from the dead. If he knew about the plan he would not have surely deceived the religious leaders in Jerusalem to crucify Jesus. He thought he was winning when Jesus Christ was going to the cross, but when it happened he knew he had lost again. When you and I were caught up in sin, doing the things of the world, Satan knew he was winning until the day we accepted Jesus as our personal Lord and savior. Then Satan and his agents cried the lost while the angels in heaven rejoiced. That is what Jesus gives to those who accept Him and obey His word.

THE ORIGIN OF SIN AND THE TROUBLE WITH HUMANITY

Many people these days ask the question whether God exist. Some ask whether God really cares about humanity. Looking at the suffering around us and the wars, we ask if God really does exist.

Why do I have to suffer in order to get bread to eat? Why is no one thinking about me? You may be asking these questions within you. That no one cares about you. Do I deserve to live?

1. What are some of the questions people ask about humanity and God?

Many people do not know the origin of sin and why man got into trouble and suffering. Many do not know where to go because they do not know where they come from. We all came from God who created everything in the universe for His own glory. We belong to God and we need to come back to God who created us in His image to commune with Him. The lack of this knowledge has led many to ask questions like:

• Why is there suffering on earth?
• Why did God allow suffering if He is a loving God?
• Why did God not make all created being sinless?
• Where did sin come from?
• Why did God create Lucifer?
• Why did God allow Lucifer to rebel against Him?
• Why did God punish man when they obeyed the word of Satan over God?
• How can man do to taste of the tree of life again?
• How can man live for eternity?

2. What does the Bible give as answer to questions above?

God created man for His glory and so He wants man to pay loyalty to Him alone. We are His property and he deserves the glory. But He does not want us to do it by force but by love. He wants man to be loyal to Him through love  and so God gave man the power of choice . In Isa 1:18 He says come now and let us reason together. He does not want to force but He wants man to agree with Him in love. In Gen 2:17  He created man and placed them in the garden of Eden with two trees; the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Imagine God who took His time and planted the garden as the Bible says. The garden of pleasure, the place that is highly pleasing. That is the meaning of Eden. SO God wanted man to live in a perfect place with enough pleasure. Adam and Eve had the power to chose and eat from the tree of life but they made a choice to disobey God and eat from the tree of the knowledge of God and evil which will lead them to death.

In disobeying God they man all humanity sinners. God gave the law that man should not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil out of love because He did not want man to die. Sin is rebellion against God’s love based law. God wants us to love Him with all our heart (Matt 22:37-40) and we can only be people who love God if we obey His law (Ro 8:7) and disobeying God’s law is sinning against God (1Jn3:4).

Sin is rejection of God and it brings separation from God. Many of us think life is not fair. No, it’s that we are separated from God because of sin. God is not in all the thoughts of a sinful man ( Ps.10:4). You have no favor, nothing is moving on your side because the face of God is hidden from you (Isa.59:2). That is what sin causes to man.

Sin originated in heaven with an angel called Lucifer who was later called Satan (Isa 14:12).God created him and he was perfect, and God allowed him the power of choice (Ez.28:15). Because of pride he made a choice to sin and declared Gods law unfair. He wanted to exalt himself above God. He wanted to take the place of God (Isa.14:13,14).

God did not stop him from expressing himself. God is very fair and He allowed him to express himself even though he wanted the place of God. Lucifer then deceived 1/3 of the angels in heaven who followed him and later on man (Adam and Eve) Rev.12:4. God could not make Lucifer a robot, neither would He have made man a robot to only say yes to God. That would not have been fair and since God cannot contradict himself as a just and fair God he allowed every created being the free will to chose what they want.

Even though we are allowed to chose, good and evil are not compatible (Mat.12:25) and God being a just God will always judge and reward every created being for what he/she has done. That is why Satan and the angels who decided to rebel against God were expelled from heaven (Rev.12:7-9)

Adam and Eve were warned against sin, its consequences and they were given the power of choice (Gen.2:15-17). But they decided to obey Satan rather than God (Gen.3:6). They trusted Satan more than God. For them God was a liar and Satan was the man of truth. This is what we also mean when we reject God’s command.

They gave their allegiance to Satan and so sinned against God bringing about death to humanity. Mankind became sinful by nature and deserving death as the wages (Rom.5:12-16)

As a result all creation groans under the pain and curse of sin (Rom.8:22). We are asking questions today why people are suffering, why people are in pain, why pain exist in the first place. All these is a result of the pain and curse of sin. By one man – Adam, all humanity became sinful by nature, by one man-Christ, all can be saved by choice if they want to be (Rom.5:17-21)

Do you believe you need God in your life? There are some who think they have all what life needs and do not need any one for their living. You may think you have:

·         Money

·         Your business flourishing

·         Good friends

·         A good family

·         Houses and cars

·         Good health and living well

·         Authority

·         A good education and intelligence, etc

But God says this about you:

·         You are empty

·         You are a very poor man/woman

·         You are a fool

·         You are a child who needs to be taught

·         You are naked and you need to be clothed

·         You are a dead man who needs to revived.

And to be who you want to be, depends only on you. It is your choice to make. Accept the one man who brings life. Ro 5:17-21 says though your sins, dependence on yourself, brokenness is too much for you, God’s grace has increased the more. He is still ready to receive you because of what Christ did on the cross for you and for me.

God’s suffering servant; the messiah

Isaiah 42 :1-9

Many Christians today think they can only glorify God when they have been blessed. Many do not know that God needs our praise and glory at all times and situations. Jesus Christ our Lord showed the example as one who glorified God as a suffering servant.  Isaiah in this text is looking far to the future though he uses Israel as the historical foundation in his statement. God says, this is my servant whom I uphold; my soul delights in him.

a)      The Character of the suffering servant

• He is tender and compassionate (vs 2)
• He’ll draw all men to himself
• He’ll bring justice to the weak (vs3)
• The Gentiles will seek His redemption (vs1)
• He’ll not stop until justice is brought on the earth
• He’ll bring His law to the earth (vs4)
• God’ll establish his covenant with the people through Him
• He’ll bring light to those in bondage and darkness hence a source of freedom (Jn 8:32-36)

He is therefore Jesus Christ. This is the suffering servant who brought Glory to the father by what He did. That was Isaiah’s prophecy and to us today who are Christ’s disciples we need to show the same character as our Lord taught by example. We have to be like Christ.

b)      What is the main mission of the suffering servant?

• He’ll redeem all the nations
• The blind will see and move in the light of God
• The prisoners held in bondage to sin will be freed from sin and the power of Satan vs7

c)       Assurance of the redemption (Vs8)

1. God reminds us that He is the Lord.

ü  The lord is the master

ü  The master deserves submission from His subjects

ü  The master deserves obedience

ü  The master deserves respect and fear (reverence)

ü  The master deserves worship and glory

ü  Praise belongs to the master who is our Lord

2. God says “The Lord is my name. Glorify my Name.”

ü  God will not share His praise and glory with anyone

ü  How many of us worship and give praises to other human beings instead of God? More of us even do so to man made images.

ü  God says, “I made you for my glory” reason why He is sending His suffering servant to redeem you and I for His glory.

ü  God takes dominion in our lives when we truly worship Him. God wants to rule our whole life. That is why he asks of s this worship.

ü  If you worship Satan he’ll take dominion of your life. Whether you worship him in sorcery, “ngambé” as it’s called in Cameroon, falsehood, sectarian practices, etc your life will be controlled by him whom you worship.

ü  Isaiah 26:13 says other masters beside God have had dominion over the Israelites. It also applies to us today. Is it the things of the devil? Or is it money? Or sorcery which has even entered into some of our churches today in the form of prophecy?

3. Are you saved? If yes then what are you doing with your life?

ü  Do you think it’s enough to be saved? If your salvation does not bring glory to God, then it is worthless.

ü  Your salvation and God’s glory can be compared with money and paper. An empty paper has no value but a thousand bill has a value because of that which is engraved in it. It is the glory of God that gives value to your salvation, else it is worthless.

ü  Yes you are saved! And so what? You must glorify God, because that is the goal of your existence.

                                                               i.      Glorify God in your way of life

                                                             ii.      Living a righteous life brings glory to God

                                                            iii.      Living in obedience to His word, loving Him with all your heart, trusting Him in all things, being the light of this world by reflecting God’s work in you. That is it!

4. God’s word is true and it’ll be accomplished. The things prophesied happened and now Isaiah is declaring God’s prophecy for the future. Today we know that God’s word was true because we have also seen and heard. The suffering servant, our Messiah, Jesus Christ has come.

Isaiah knew it’ll come because God never fails. Today we need to hold on to the same promises. We have read from scriptures and this Messiah who died on the cross of Calvary for you and me, was raised from the death and is seated at the right hand of God, will come again but to judge the world.

That is the promise. He’ll come and judge the world, paying every man with his own coins. It shall be like that because God has spoken in His word. Today He is telling you the same things. “I am the Lord. That is My name. I’ll not share my glory with any man or anything.”

Glorify God by obeying the teachings of Jesus Christ our savior, the suffering servant. Amen!