For hundreds of years God had worked exclusively through the Jews, but He promised Abraham that in him all the nations of the earth would be blessed (Genesis 12:3). This may appear at first to be kind of Oh Hum! Who cares? But this is what much of the Bible is all about. God is revealing that all the nations were to be blessed in Christ by the gospel. Paul calls this the mystery of Christ. A mystery is a truth previously hidden in God then being brought to light. The mystery was that former enemies of the Jews – the Gentiles – were to be included in God’s purpose of grace. They (both groups) were to become one new body. This was big, very big!!
Paul referred to his calling to the Gentiles as a dispensation that was given to me (1 Corinthians 3:1-2). A dispensation is a stewardship (Ephesians 3:1–5). Now follow this! The word stewardship is the Greek word oikonomia. Here it is translated “dispensation.” It means “household manager,” or the building of a house from the bottom to the top. At a special time and place in history, God gave Paul the responsibility to manage the spreading of this Jew/Gentile mystery of Christ to the world. Plainly said, Gentiles would be included as fellow heirs and partakers of God’s promise in Christ through the gospel (Ephesians 3:5).
God used Paul as our role model. Paul called himself an example for those who would afterward believe in Christ for eternal life (1 Timothy 1:15–16). The word example is translated both “pattern” and “standard.” It literally means a “prototype.” A prototype is a model. Paul’s life and ministry are to model the life and ministry of every Christian. The ultimate sinner became the ultimate saint. God’s great enemy became His finest servant. Somewhere between these extremes fall the rest of us. In studying Paul’s pattern, Christians can learn much about themselves.
God passed His spiritual baton from Paul to the church at Corinth. Paul preached the gospel in the ancient city of Corinth, and many Gentiles came to faith in Jesus Christ. Paul said to the believers at Corinth, “I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus” (1 Corinthians 1:4).
Notice the abrupt change in direction of the grace coming from God. Paul did not repeat his usual “according to the grace that was given to me” but which “was given you Corinthian believers.” God passed Paul’s stewardship responsibility on to the Corinthian Christians. They, like Paul, had been given a stewardship responsibility to fulfill. Christians throughout history have been created, called, and saved by God to perform a faith work, a stewardship. My Christian friend, this is why you are here and not in heaven.
There are many well-meaning Christians today who see their role as getting as many people on the membership roll of their local church as they possibly can. That is not a bad thing to do as long as we realize that the local church is not the end of ministry – it is the beginning. It is designed by God to be the means of ministry. The local assembly of Christians is God’s equipping center for those who do His work throughout this world. The church is to equip believers to do their work of faith!
Paul carried the powerful gospel to the Ephesians, and the church began to grow. God’s prescription for growth was taught and used. One small passage reveals this prescription. As we will see it stands in a direct contrast to all of the modern market-driven techniques for growing the church today. Many organizations that call themselves “churches” are not using this method at all. First, Paul changed the direction of God’s grace from himself to the Corinthians, now he is shifting it to us.
“But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift” (Ephesians 4:7). Notice the words “each one of us.” One can’t be more exclusive than this. Being a Christian is much more than going to Sunday school and church, listening to a sermon, singing in the choir, serving on committees – all good to do but for the most part just entertaining each other. Every Christian is given his or her own special work of faith to accomplish within the body of Christ. We are somebody very special to God and are here for a very special purpose. We have all been equipped by God to fulfill a destiny similar to every person mentioned in Hebrews 11. Stay safe and stay tuned!