Well, raise your hand if you're a Gentile here
this morning. Wow, Merry Christmas to you all.
How blessed are you to have your sins paid for
by Israel's Messiah? Amen? This morning I want
to set the tone for this message by describing
for you a picture that I hope that you can sort
of see in your mind's eye. It's a way to step
back and see the world and to see God's plan
for the world. from way above, from 40 ,000 feet.
Now, as I describe this, this is not my original
thought. This is something I heard John Piper
talk about some 20 years ago or so. But I think
it's beautiful, and it really helped me to understand
the big picture of this life on earth, salvation
here on earth. So picture in your mind an all
-wise, all -powerful artist who paints on an
expansive canvas. with more brushes than you
can even count. The artist, of course, is the
creator God, so you can't actually picture him.
He is spirit. He's not visible to the physical
eye. And obviously he knows that that is true,
so his intention is that his handiwork, his artistry,
be put on display as a visible demonstration
of his power and wisdom. He wants it to be seen.
He wants it to be appreciated. Now, this canvas
that he's working on is so large that we can
hardly even fathom it. It is the size of the
universe itself. So he is painting a picture
as wide as the universe, as old as creation,
and as lengthy as eternity. And what's so beautiful
and impressive about it is that God is painting
with thousands upon thousands upon thousands
of colors and shades and textures. We might even
call this painting human history. This unfolding
of successive moments in what we call time, whether
it's years or decades or centuries or even millennia.
And the central theme of this unfolding drama,
this human history, is God's preparing and calling
and drawing and the saving of a very unique people
that he has set apart for his own purposes, for
his pleasure and for his glory. And he's now
working through each of these set apart people
using them as his brushes. to paint on this canvas.
Now, most of these brushes are quite ordinary,
but as the artist guides them, each stroke of
his hand is essential to this overall picture
that he is currently painting. Can you picture
it in your mind's eye? Now, there's a reason
why that picture to me 20 years ago was helpful.
It's not only a way to see this in my mind, but
guess what? It's actually biblical. That is a
biblical picture. In fact, you heard that image
being subtly described in our call to worship
passage for this morning from Ephesians 3, verse
10, where Paul says that God has revealed to
us a mystery that had been hidden for ages, but
is now brought to light. And he's done it for
this reason so that, you ready? The manifold
wisdom of God might be known. Now, the word manifold
in the original Greek is a very funky compound
word that looks like that. Okay? The second half
of that word, right there it is, poikilos, refers
to a variety of colors. And then Paul puts a
prefix on it, paulus, which is the Greek word
for many. Many varied colors. So the wisdom that
God is making known to the world is described
in Ephesians 3 .10 as being fashioned in a variety
of shades and colors. Diverse, intricate, complex.
And the artist using all these brushes to produce
his masterpiece. The story of God in the Bible,
you guys, is so much bigger than we can imagine.
So much more than just what's right in front
of you, what you can see with your visible eyes.
And so sometimes we need to step back and go,
wow, look at this. We call this biblical theology,
right? Seeing everything from above. Now at the
center of God's painting, and this is the entire
story of the Bible, is what we often call mission.
And by mission, I'm referring to the means by
which God is gathering his people out of the
world, how he's drawing them to himself and how
he is saving them. They then become a people
who participate in that same work of salvation
by serving as the artist's ambassadors, proclaiming
the gospel and inviting others to follow after
Christ and then to form communities of faith
like ours here at Oak Hill. where the word is
taught and lived out in practical ways, all of
which then point back to God's goodness and grace
and serve as a testimony to his power and wisdom.
See how it works? It's easy, right? Question,
do you see yourself within the scope of this
big picture vision? Do you see yourself in it?
You should. Life is so much more than what's
right in front of you and what you can see. God
is using you, every single believer here this
morning, to paint in just a small portion of
his canvas. And we would each do well to recognize
that truth and embrace it and live it. Amen?
Grab your Bibles. We're going to turn to our
Advent theme passage once again. Acts chapter
1, verses 6 through 8. I'm going to put it up
on the screen. There it is. By the way, we're
going to be looking at lots of selected scriptures
this morning and we'll be moving quickly. So
I'm going to be putting verses on the screen
as we go along. But let's start in Acts chapter
1. This is right before that moment when Christ
gathers his disciples before he ascends to heaven
after the resurrection. Acts chapter 1 verse
6 says, So when they had come together, they
were asking him, saying, Lord, is it at this
time? that you are restoring the kingdom to Israel.
We looked at that two weeks ago, right? That's
what's right in front of these guys. That's all
they can see at this point is this must be the
time that the kingdom is gonna be restored. Now,
Jesus doesn't correct them about a kingdom being
restored. He just talks about the timing. Verse
seven, he said to them, it's not for you to know
times or epics, which the Father has fixed by
his own authority. But he says, verse eight,
you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has
come upon you. and here's the key part, and you
shall be my witnesses, my ambassadors, both in
Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria, and even
to the remotest part of the earth. So you read
in that last verse what is often seen as three
concentric circles for the gospel to go out to,
right? Judea sits at the center, Jerusalem and
Judea, then to the north, Samaria, and then this
massive extension to the ends of the earth, and
that is our focus. for this morning. So far in
the Advent series, we've talked about those first
two groups, right? God's heart for the Jewish
people. And then last week, God's heart for the
Samaritans. Now, we're just going to go to the
ends of the earth now, nothing big. So this should
be a short message. Just kidding. By the way,
that idea to the ends of the earth, to the disciples,
who were, of course, first century men, would
have been beyond the world that you're really
familiar with, beyond the world that you're used
to. These men spent all of their lives in places
like Judea and Galilee, right? And so it's what's
beyond that. And you think about how hard it
was to travel back then. People didn't go on
vacations across the world. You know that, right?
So this is a relatively overwhelming concept
for these guys. They must have been thinking,
wait, beyond Egypt? The gospel is going to go
beyond Egypt or it's going to go beyond Asia
Minor or Persia? Wait, beyond Rome? Is that even
possible? Now, when you hear about all those
places, what do they have in common? People who
are not ethnically Semitic and people who are
not religiously Jewish. We call these people
Gentiles. You know, Gentiles, those idolaters,
those unclean dogs. that we Jews have to make
sure we're separate from. That's who we're talking
about here in Acts 1. I know it's hard for us
to fathom, but in the minds of Jesus' very Jewish
disciples in this point in redemptive history,
the idea that a Gentile would trust in Israel's
Messiah and enter into a restored kingdom of
Israel, as described in Acts 1, that would have
been super difficult to accept. Incredibly hard.
There's all kinds of religious and ethnic and
cultural barriers here to that concept. But here's
the thing. The idea that the Gentiles would be
included in God's plan, that was the plan from
the very beginning. The very beginning. Make
sure you understand this. The inclusion of the
Gentiles in God's plan of salvation was not a
New Testament afterthought. It was not plan B
once God saw that, oh, look, the Jews aren't
receiving their Messiah. So I've got to adjust.
That is not the case. The picture being painted
by the great artist always included his elect
from every corner of the earth, Jew and Gentile
from every nation, every tribe, and every tongue.
And through the revelation of his word, that
Bible that you currently have open in your hands,
the creator communicated that truth, communicated
to us about the Gentiles by leaving a long trail
of breadcrumbs. in the scriptures that we can
now look at and look back at and read and see.
So let me tell you a story about God. And I'm
going to start where we should start, which is
where? In the garden. It all goes back to the
Garden of Eden. After humanity's plunge into
sin and death because of the fall, immediately
we see the Lord promising a future restoration.
We see his intent to gather a people for himself
who will obey his commands and honor his name
and display his glory. And of course, then we
fast forward to Genesis chapter 12 when Yahweh
calls Abram out of Mesopotamia and calls him
into a promised land of his choosing. And Abram,
we're told, will not only be the founder of a
great nation, but through him all the families
of the earth will be blessed. Gentiles too? Yeah.
All the families, all the families. And five
chapters later, that is reinforced. Abram's name
is changed to Abraham because the Lord tells
him, I have made you the father of a multitude
of nations, not just Israel. Not just Samaria,
but a multitude of nations. And the covenant
that Yahweh then makes with Abraham is unconditional.
It doesn't depend on how well Abraham does. He
doesn't have to perfectly obey it for it to be
fulfilled. It's unconditional, and it's a good
thing because Abraham is not a perfect man. Amen?
God staked his own glorious name on three promises
that he gave to Abraham that he will fulfill.
Land, seed, and blessing. And then the rest of
the Old Testament focuses on how God deals with
Abraham's descendants, particularly Abraham's
grandson, who is Jacob, who is renamed Israel,
right? And then his sons, who become the 12 tribes
of Israel. Very good. So Yahweh chose the patriarchs,
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and their descendants
to be his set -apart people. through whom he
would fulfill his promises, and, key, through
whom his servant, the Messiah and Redeemer, would
come to save and restore. We saw this two weeks
ago. Salvation is of the Jews. Amen? So it's
important to see this. God's choice of Israel
to be his people in no way contradicted his universal
intentions. Quite the opposite. It was the foundation.
on which his universal plan was built. And the
response of Israel to God's gracious choosing
of them was supposed to make them stand out among
all the other nations in the ancient world. They
were to be a holy people set apart from all of
the idolatry that was present in the surrounding
nations. But here's something important about
Old Testament Israel that you should know. And
this is one of many things that makes Israel
different than the church. distinct from the
church. We know that Israel was called by Yahweh
to be a light to the nations, right? You find
that language all throughout the book of Isaiah.
In fact, I'll give you a few verses. Isaiah 42
says, I am the Lord. I have called you in righteousness.
I will also hold you by the hand and watch over
you. And I will appoint you as a covenant to
the people, as a light to the nations, he says
to his people, to open blind eyes. To bring out
prisoners from the dungeon and those who dwell
in darkness from the prison. Does that language
ring a bell, by the way? The end of that? Jesus
cites that when he goes into the synagogue of
Nazareth, right? And he reads from the prophet
and then closes the book and says what? This
has been fulfilled today in your hearing. He
cites from Isaiah 42. Then in Isaiah 49, 6, we
see God promise his servant, the Messiah. will
be a light to the nations. Look at this verse.
Yahweh says this, it's too small a thing that
you should be my servant to raise up the tribes
of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of
Israel. In other words, to the Messiah, he says,
your mission will not be limited just to Israel.
It's gonna be so much bigger. He goes on, I will
also make you a light of the nations so that
my salvation may what? Reach to the ends of the
earth. Same language as in Acts chapter one.
Make sure you see these connections between Old
and New Testament. They are critical to understanding
how God has been consistent from beginning to
the end. So catch this now. This is the important
part. Israel was not sent out by Yahweh. Israel
was not sent out. Israel did not receive a great
commission from Yahweh to go out and make disciples.
This is one of the things that makes Israel different
from the church. No Jewish missionaries were
sent out to the Ammonites or to the Moabites
or any other idolatrous nation. Instead, Israel
was called to be a light to draw people to it.
That's an important distinction. A light to draw
the nations to it. A light that would shine the
glory of Yahweh and draw the nations to Jerusalem.
Now, in a broad sense, you can still say, all
right, well, their set -apartness and their response
to the covenant did have a missionary intent
to it, but the consistent picture in the Old
Testament is of the nations being invited to
come to the light of Israel, not Israel going
to the nations. By the way, this is one of the
reasons why you don't see Jews today proselytizing,
do you? It's not in their religious DNA. It's
not in their practice of their faith. They do
not share Judaism with you or I. It's not called
for in the scriptures. So this is an important
distinction between Israel and the church, something
that our all -millennial covenant theology brothers
and sisters tend to overlook. And by the way,
yes, there is an eschatological feature in that
distinction. If you go back to Isaiah again,
Isaiah 60, the Lord speaks of a restored and
glorified Zion, Jerusalem, something that will
happen in the last days. Isaiah 60, verses two
and three says, Behold, darkness will cover the
earth in that day and deep darkness the peoples,
but the Lord will rise upon you, Zion, and his
glory will appear upon you. Nations will what?
Come to your light. Come to your light and kings
to the brightness of your rising. That's the
promise in the last days. It gets even more clear
if you go back to Isaiah 2. This is a long verse,
but listen carefully to the language here. Now
it will come about in the last days that the
mountain of the house of the Lord will be established
as the chief of the mountains. Imagine, the chief
of all the mountains of the world will be Zion
and will be raised above the hills and all the
nations will what? Stream to it. And many peoples
will come and say, come, let us go up to the
mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God
of Jacob, that he may teach us concerning his
ways and that we may walk in his paths. For the
law will go forth from Zion and the word of the
Lord from Jerusalem. And he, the Lord, will judge
between the nations and render decisions for
many peoples. So the only way to understand this
is that this is the Lord in physical form, which
can only refer to the return of God the Son,
Jesus, who will come to Jerusalem and the people
will then seek him. And then look at that last
statement. And they will hammer their swords
into plowshares. And their spears into pruning
hooks. Yes, global peace. Global peace. So obviously
this is distant future. This has to be the millennial
reign of Christ. There is no other logical explanation
for this passage in Isaiah 2. Now, it's not just
Isaiah that says this, but Micah. predicts this
exact same thing in Micah chapter four of his
prophecy. Look at it yourself, Micah chapter
four. Then there's Zechariah. Listen to what
Zechariah says in chapter eight. Many peoples
and mighty nations will come to seek the Lord
of hosts in Jerusalem and to entreat the favor
of the Lord. Thus says the Lord of hosts, in
those days, 10 men from all the nations will
grasp the garment of a Jew saying, let us go
with you. for we have heard that God is with
you. Has any of that happened yet? Not even close.
This remains to be fulfilled. Not to dredge up
an old sermon, but give me just a little bit
of latitude here. For all the people out there
saying, Israel's been rejected. Israel has no
part in God's future. Those passages we just
read are really difficult to explain. It's become
a trendy thing these days to claim that God is
done with Israel, that the land doesn't matter
anymore. But I wonder if the folks that are saying
that are listening to podcasts and looking on
Twitter for their theology, but they're not really
reading difficult books, admittedly, like Isaiah
and like Zechariah. They've never really dug
into the myriad of promises that are given to
ethnic and national Israel in the Old Testament.
And I know some of them will say, well, all those
promises have been fulfilled in Christ and now
assumed by the New Testament church. But how
does the language in those verses line up with
that idea? It makes it illogical completely.
So friends, I think it's clear there's coming
a day when Christ will return to the earth. His
feet will be on the Mount of Olives. Zechariah
says, and he'll come in great glory and he will
rule the earth from Zion. And in that day, the
nations will stream to see him because he is
God in the city of Jerusalem. Of course, they'll
stream to Jerusalem to see his light and to hear
him judge from Zion. And what a day that will
be, right? Man. Okay, so that was a rabbit trail.
Thank you for that. Back to our story. So Yahweh
has now established a chosen nation in his land
of promise, and there to be a light to the other
nations, and there to be the conduit through
whom the Redeemer will come and arrive. But as
we know, one of the main themes of the Old Testament
is the failure of Israel to be that light, correct?
They're described as a stubborn, stiff -necked
people. They're constantly running after foreign
gods. They're thumbing their nose, not just at
Yahweh, but at the prophets that he sends to
them to warn them. But here's the question. Did
that surprise God? Did that surprise the sovereign
God? Of course not. But to preserve his holy
name like any good father. The Lord disciplined
his children by sending them into exile. He had
promised that that would be the punishment for
disobedience. He's a good father, a faithful
father, and he did that. Yet, yet, in his faithfulness
to the covenant to Abraham, he preserved his
remnant of believing Jewish followers. Still,
as we close the Old Testament, it's a grim picture,
isn't it? Prophecies are unfulfilled. The Messiah
hasn't arrived yet. And Israel is still waiting
for its deliverance. But then comes Christmas.
Right? Are we not excited for Christmas? Then
comes Christmas. In what Paul calls the fullness
of time. God moved. Out of love for humanity.
Out of love for this picture that he is painting.
He moved. And he sent forth his one and only
son on a mission into the darkness of this world.
that desperately needed light. And the focus
of that mission was twofold. First, Jesus came
to reveal the identity and the nature of his
father. And he did that through his life and
through his teaching. And secondly, he came to
die for sin, right? As a ransom for sin. And
yeah, we saw two weeks ago that his primary mission
was the Jewish people. But guess what? He also
left us a whole bunch of breadcrumbs about the
Gentiles. About you and I. In fact, we get a
little bit of foreshadowing right out of the
gate in the Christmas story at the birthplace
of the Christ child. We just read about it. The
Weiss has just read about it. Who shows up to
pay him honor while he's sleeping there in Bethlehem?
Magi from the east. Probably from Parthia or
Persia. Guess what? They're Gentiles. They're
Gentiles. They appear to have messianic expectations.
They're looking for the one born king of the
Jews, but they're not Jews, they're Gentiles.
Right out of the gate, we get that sort of foreshadowing
of what's to come. But that is just the beginning.
If you look in Luke 13, Jesus tells this short
parable about the narrow door to salvation and
how some Jews are gonna be shut out of the kingdom
because he says God never knew them. Here's what
he says. In that place, There will be weeping
and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham and
Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom
of God, but yourselves being thrown out. And
they will come from east and west and from north
and south and will recline at the table in the
kingdom of God. Behold, some that are last will
be first and some who are first will be last.
So see the four directions of the wind there
in that verse. That is a reference to every part
of the world. People will come from every part
of the world and they will be at the table in
the kingdom of God. It's a breadcrumb that's
left that even in America, even as far away as
America, will be able to come to the table in
the kingdom of God. That's good news. In John
chapter 10, Jesus talks about sheep that are
not of the Jewish fold, right? And he says this,
he says, I'm the good shepherd. I know my own.
And my own know me, even as the Father knows
me, and I know the Father, and I lay down my
life for the sheep. Right? The lost sheep of
the house of Israel. I have other sheep, he says,
which are not of this fold. I must bring them
also. They will hear my voice, and they will
become one flock with one shepherd. Gentiles,
people like you and I, sheep from another fold,
but sheep nonetheless, who he will know, and
we will know his voice. That's good news for
us. And then we have the Gentile centurion in
Matthew chapter 8 of whom Jesus says this, truly
I say to you, I have not found such great faith
with anyone in Israel. I say to you that many
will come from east and west and recline at the
table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom
of heaven. Gentiles, Gentiles from the far expanses
of the world will come and recline at the table.
So Jesus leaves us these breadcrumbs. And then,
by the way, he clearly spells it out after the
resurrection. Remember, he said, I'll meet you
up in Galilee and we'll talk some more. And when
he gathers his disciples, he gives them the ultimate
missionary instruction. Go, therefore, and make
disciples of just Judea. No, of all nations.
All nations. baptizing them in the name of the
Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit and teaching
them to observe all that I've commanded you.
And this, you guys, is this beautiful full circle
statement. Listen, just as the Father sent the
Son into the world to represent and reveal the
Father, now the Son sends his children into the
world to represent and reveal the Son. We're
just living out our family commitments as believers.
We get to share the good news of his kingdom.
As we get to the Great Commission, that now brings
us up to speed with our verse for Advent. Cue
Jesus talking to the disciples just before he
ascends. He says, you're going to be my witnesses.
Beginning here in Jerusalem and Judea, but also
to Samaria. And then, think really big. Think
really big. The ends of the earth. And of course,
again, the pattern that Jesus describes in Acts
1. completely unfolds just as he says throughout
the book of Acts. Acts is the story of the church
going out to those three circles. It's beautifully
designed for us. Now, at first, all the action
takes place right there in the center, right
in Jerusalem. Here's what we read in Acts chapter
six. The word of God kept on spreading and the
number of the disciples continued to increase
greatly in Jerusalem. To the point that even
a great many of the priests were becoming obedient
to the faith. So it starts in the inner circle.
But then we read about Stephen knowing. Stephen's
martyred for his testimony. And we're told that
on that day a great persecution began against
the church in Jerusalem. And they were all scattered.
Where? Throughout the regions of both Judea and
Samaria. And that persecution. Then drives Philip
into our second circle, to Samaria in Acts chapter
8, where crowds of Samaritans embrace the gospel
with great joy. We saw that last Sunday, didn't
we? Fast forward then to Acts 10, and we see
Peter encountering another Roman centurion. This
guy's name is what? Cornelius. Cornelius is described
as devout, God -fearing, generous to the poor,
but still a Gentile. And that's problematic,
isn't it? But around noon on a certain day, an
angel appears to Cornelius in a vision and he
commends him for his prayers and his works and
commands him to send for a man named Peter who's
in Joppa. And Cornelius does it. He dispatches
some of his servants to find Peter. Meanwhile,
at the same time in Joppa, Peter goes up onto
the rooftop to pray and he gets a vision, right?
He sees a vision of a sheet descending from heaven
filled with what? unclean animals. Oh, those
things Gentiles eat, right? And then he hears
a voice commanding him to what? This is every
hunter's favorite verse. Rise, kill, and eat.
To which Peter protests, I would never do that.
I'm a Jew. I would never do that. But the voice
then says, what God has cleansed, no longer consider
unholy. which reveals to us a whole other aspect
of the mystery of Gentile inclusion, that now
the dietary laws are changing. As Peter's pondering
this, Cornelius' men arrive, and then Peter goes
back with them to Caesarea, and they enter into
a Gentile house. I know, gasp. Something an observant
Jew would never do. But Cornelius is there. And
you picture him with big arms open, right? His
close friends there are there, his family's there,
and he tells Peter about this vision. And he
falls at Peter's feet. Peter says, get up, don't
do that, right? But in response, in Acts chapter
10, we hear this incredible statement. It says,
opening his mouth, Peter said, I most certainly
understand now that God is not one to show partiality,
but in every nation, how many nations? Every
nation. The man who fears him and does what is
right is welcome to him. And then he goes on
to preach this concise message about Jesus. And
mid -sermon, what happens? The Holy Spirit falls
dramatically on everyone in the household. They
start to speak in tongues. They start to magnify
God. Why is that happening? It's mirroring what
had happened among the Jews in Acts chapter 2.
Now it's happening among the Gentiles. It's sending
a message. It's sending a message. That's when
we get this important confirmation, Acts 10,
verse 45. The gift of the Holy Spirit has been
poured out on the Gentiles also. So at this point,
there's no question that a fundamental change
in the way God operates with his people has taken
place. This is a new dispensation, as we say
in theology terms. God is now operating in a
different way with his people. Jews and Gentiles
together. And in the very next chapter, Jesus'
witnesses now move beyond Judea and Samaria into
the largest of our three circles, to the ends
of the earth. In Acts chapter 11, it says these
scattered Jewish believers make their way to
Phoenicia and to Cyprus and to Antioch in Syria.
And in Antioch, they establish a church that
is purposely built to do what? To send out missions
into Asia Minor and into Greece. to the west.
It's all happening, isn't it? Look at the picture.
It's all happening. And by the time we get to
Acts 13, we have another confirmation of Gentile
inclusion in the kingdom. This is important.
One that is directly connected to the prophecy
of Isaiah. And this is so important. Old Testament
and New Testament coming together. In Acts 13,
Paul and Barnabas declared this to the Jews in
Asia Minor. It says, it was necessary that the
word of God be spoken to you first, you Jews,
but since you repudiate it and judge yourselves
unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning
to the Gentiles. Now, here comes the citation
from Isaiah 49. For so the Lord has commanded
us. What? Old Testament, Isaiah, now we apostles
under the new covenant have been commanded to
do this. What? For the Lord has so commanded
us, I have placed you as a light for the Gentiles
that you may bring salvation to the ends of the
earth. Wow. And when the Gentiles heard this,
this is us, you guys. We should be rejoicing,
right? Yeah. When the Gentiles heard this truth,
they couldn't help themselves. They began rejoicing
and glorifying the word of the Lord. And as many
as had been appointed to eternal life, Uh -oh,
doctrine of election. As many as been appointed,
they believed. And the word of the Lord was being
spread through the whole region. By the time
we get to the Jerusalem Council, just two chapters
later, in Acts 15, the truth about the Gentiles
being included has been widely accepted by the
Jewish leadership, hasn't it? The only question
that remained was, okay. God's doing a work among
them. Now, what does he require for them to join
us in the kingdom of God? That becomes the question.
And with Paul and Barnabas and Peter all in attendance,
James takes the lead at the Jerusalem council
in Acts 15. And guess what he does? He cites
another Old Testament passage from Amos chapter
nine that says this, I will rebuild the tabernacle
of David, which has fallen, says God. I will
restore it so that the rest of mankind The rest
of mankind may seek the Lord and all the Gentiles
who are called by my name. That's the Jerusalem
Council quoting from the Old Testament about
the inclusion of the Gentiles. You see how it
fits together? Later, Paul will write to the
church in Rome, which, by the way, was filled
with Gentiles. The gospel is the power of God
for salvation to everyone who believes. First
to the Jew. but also to you Greeks. We looked
at that two weeks ago, right? But then he says,
look, all fall short of the glory of God, both
Jew and Gentile, all enter into God's family
through the promise given to Abraham long ago
by faith, not by works. Jew and Gentile. And
to the Ephesian church, he writes plainly and
bluntly to the Gentiles there, warning them that
they should be thankful for what has transpired.
He says this, remember, he writes, And Gentiles,
we need to be careful that we don't get arrogant.
That's Romans 11, right? We don't get arrogant
about this. He says, remember, you were once
separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth
of Israel, strangers to the covenants of promise,
having no hope and without God in the world.
Gentiles, remember that. But now, he joyfully
reports, in Christ Jesus, you who formerly were
far off have been brought near by the blood of
Christ. Wow. It's all by his grace, right? For
he himself is our peace, who made both groups,
Jew and Gentiles, into one and broke down the
barrier of the dividing wall. He came and he
preached peace to you who were far away and peace
to those who were near, both Gentile and Jew.
For through him we both have our access in one
spirit to the Father. We have one Father. So
then he concludes, you Gentiles are no longer
strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens
with the saints. You are of God's household.
Man, this is good news for us. We who are Gentiles
living in the West, in America, so far from Jerusalem,
right? So far from Samaria, we're no longer strangers
to God. We've been brought near because of the
blood of Christ. We're now fellow citizens in
this new kingdom. We're members of God's own
house. We inherit every promise in scripture.
We are sons and daughters of the most high. We
are co -heirs with Christ. And according to Ephesians
2, 7, it's gonna take all of eternity for us
to discover the unsearchable riches of God's
goodness and glory that we have in Christ Jesus.
I don't know how we just go home after this.
I don't know how we just go back to regular life
after seeing the goodness of God in all this.
This should be life -changing, you guys. In the
very next chapter, we come to the passage that
we read earlier as our call to worship, Ephesians
3, 1 through 10, where Paul calls all of this
a mystery. I love this. He refers to it as my
insight into the mystery of Christ. He's not
boasting, by the way, than that. He's just saying,
look, this has been revealed to me so I can tell
you about it. my insight into the mystery of
Christ, which in other generations was not made
known to the sons of men. It's now been revealed
to his apostles and prophets in the spirit. This
has been graciously revealed to me by God. Then
he writes, to be specific, here's what I'm talking
about, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and
fellow members of the body and fellow partakers
of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.
Do you see the three fellows there? Three of
them. Gentiles, you are now heirs, members, and
partakers with Jewish believers in the promises
given to Abraham long ago. And here's the thing
we have to understand. Gentile salvation wasn't
unheard of in the Old Testament. It wasn't. There
are examples of non -Jews joining the community
of Israel under the law, under the covenant in
the Old Testament. They were called proselytes,
right? Think about Ruth, the Moabite. You think
about Uriah, the Hittite. We have examples of
this. What's new here under the new covenant
is the absolute equality of Jew and Gentile in
the promise of salvation. That's really what's
shocking and new. Absolute equality. One God,
one Savior, one Spirit, one faith, one people,
one body, one hope. This is the mystery of the
ages, Paul says. This is a mind -blowing truth.
We see this in Romans 11. We looked at this two
weeks ago, but I'm gonna expound on this. There
is this rich root of promises that God has made
to his people. And growing from this root, Paul
describes a cultivated olive tree, right? And
that olive tree is the archetypal example of
what? Of Israel. But because of Israel's unbelief,
Because they sought salvation by works and not
by faith, Paul says the door of salvation was
open to the Gentiles. So Israel's failure means
riches for you and I who are not Jews. Isn't
that good news? So he says, look, natural branches
from that olive tree have been cut off and thrown
into the fire because of disbelief. And believing
Gentiles, who are nothing more than wild olive
shoots, we've been grafted in their place. Now,
here's how you understand this metaphor. This
is so important. Wild olive shoots, and if you
go to Israel, you can talk to any farmer in Israel,
he'll tell you this. Wild olive shoots are useless.
In fact, they're less than useless. They're a
nuisance. Why? Because they produce terrible
fruit that can't be used. They just take up space.
No good fruit. They cannot be used. Wild olive
shoots are simply thrown out. But when those
shoots are grafted into the tree and they can
tap into that rich root, guess what? They produce
good fruit. That's when they produce the same
fruit as natural branches would because they're
tapped into the root, which are the promises
of God. Do you get the metaphor? And so Paul
is so humbled by this truth, by the fact that
God has chosen him to be the point man to declare
this mystery to the world. That's what he writes
in Ephesians 3. He says, to me, the very least
of all saints, this grace was given. That I get
to preach to the Gentiles, look, the unfathomable
riches of Christ. And this, last night as I was
pondering this, it blew my mind. Because we tend
to think of Paul as so wonderful, right? We admire
him. I would say the Bible calls him the most
outstanding of the apostles. But Paul doesn't
even see it that way. He says, I'm the least.
I'm the least of all. It testifies to his awareness
of his unworthiness, of how much grace has been
extended to him. And yet, and yet, this is so
important for us. As concerned as Paul must have
been about his past, a murderer, a persecutor
of the church, he doesn't let the past paralyze
him. He says, look, I'm at the bottom rung of
the kingdom. I'm the least of the saints, but
I will not let that stop me. I have been called
to a task. I've been forgiven. Christ has told
me I'm forgiven. I've been called to this mission.
I will push ahead by God's grace and by his power
and I will preach to the Gentiles what I know,
the unfathomable riches of Jesus Christ. And
that word unfathomable in the Greek refers to
something so high that you can never reach it.
If it were a reservoir, it'd be so deep that
you could swim and swim and never get to the
bottom. It's unfathomable. So Paul says, what
a privilege I've been given to preach this glorious
truth to a people who now have this opportunity
to be grafted into the tree of life. And then
Paul says this, it all has one ultimate purpose.
He says, so that the manifold wisdom of God,
the variety of colors and textures of God's infinite
wisdom might now be made known through the church.
Oh. There we are. Through the church to the rulers
and authorities in the heavenly places. So this
is the telos. This is the ultimate goal of God's
sovereign plan. To show off his gorgeous wisdom
in the way that he is saving and gathering his
people from every corner of the world, from every
nation. To see that there are no wasted strokes
on this canvas. It is gloriously intricate in
design. It is multinational, multiracial, multicultural.
all united in this living organism we call the
church. So dynamic. And notice how this beautiful
truth is communicated. Through the church it's
communicated. That's us, everybody in this room.
We are a part of this. We're the ordinary brushes
that God is using to paint the picture of his
power and wisdom in Santa Clarita and beyond.
Us. We're the brushes. Do we take that seriously?
Does this get lived out in our lives? Are we
taking this really small version of Christianity
and miss the whole big picture, the big canvas?
We, the church, visibly testify to God's wisdom
as we worship him together, as we glorify him
in our lives together. And that testimony is
aimed at who? Paul says, at the rulers and authorities
in the heavenly places. So get this, when they
see us together, the angels stand in awe of what
God is doing. Peter says they like to stoop down
and get as close as they can to the wonders of
redemption to see how God is doing this. He's
saving these sinners. He's gathering them into
his body and they're blown away by it. And the
demons, they see it too and they gnash their
teeth. So that truth should change the way you
view every time you gather with the body. When
this local church is worshiping the Lord and
loving each other well, as we say every week,
we demonstrate to the demonic powers in this
world that they are in fact powerless to stop
the progress of the gospel and the forward motion
of the church. Amen. As we gather in unity and
charge the gates of hell together. Big picture.
Big canvas. So let me wrap it up. Let's come
back to where we started. We are living within
this thing called human history. You are a part
of that. And each successive moment in time exists
to display the infinite power and wisdom of our
great God. By his mercy, God has seen fit to
include Gentiles like us in his sovereign plan,
and he intends to use ordinary paintbrushes like
us to keep painting on that canvas. Guys, every
stroke of the brush matters, both the good things
in life and the hard things in life. The victories
we get and the suffering that we go through,
it's all part of God painting that picture, and
we have to see it that way. It all matters. And
we trust that he's good. We know he's an infinitely
wise artist. We trust that he knows exactly what
he's doing with our lives. And so not one stroke
of his brush is wasted. This Christmas, are you
thankful for these things? It's an important
question. Oh, we love Christmas, all the feels,
right? All the vibes, enjoy it, that's fine.
But come back to this truth. about what God has
done for you in Christ. Are you thankful for
it? If so, does your life reflect the spirit
of thankfulness? Someday, you guys, the vision
that we see in Revelation 7 is not gonna be future.
It'll be present and for all eternity. And if
you're a believer here this morning, you will
be part of it. Here's what it says. John says,
I looked and behold a great multitude, which
no one could count. Think about that. From every
nation, every tribe, every people, every tongue.
all standing before the throne and before the
lamb, clothed in white robes with palm branches
in their hands. And they cry out with a loud
voice saying, salvation to our God who sits on
the throne and to the lamb. That will happen
because long ago in the fullness of time, God
sent forth his son into the world with the message
of salvation to both Jew and Gentile. But listen
now, God's still painting. God is still painting
his instruction to go and to make disciples and
to baptize and to teach is still active today.
It still calls on you and I to play a role in
the work of evangelism and missions and discipleship.
Are we being obedient to our part in this? Oh,
the depths of the riches and wisdom and knowledge
of God. How unsearchable are his judgments and
how inscrutable his ways. Amen? I want you to
bow your heads. Father, thank you for your amazing
grace. Lord, we think distance -wise, we are
so far from Judea here in America, so far from
all of these things that happened in the book
of Acts. And yet you have told us, God, you have
promised us that we've been brought near by the
blood of Christ. And so I can't add anything
more, Lord, to what your word has already told
us. That, God, by your spirit, to ask you to
make us thankful people. To really understand
what we deserved and what we've been given. And
to understand that we have a role to play in
your great painting. That you are doing in this
thing we call time. Help us to see that big picture,
Lord. And help us even now as we sing, Lord,
that we would have those things in our minds
and hearts. and that we would give you the glory
that you deserve. So help us to sing well now,
we pray. In Christ's name, amen.