Photo by Bryan Minear on Unsplash

Ephesians 3:8 Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;

To many Christians the Grace of God is but one note. To many believers Grace is all about salvation from sin. Grace is indeed about salvation from sin. The Bible tells us that:

Romans 5:6-9 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.

The Bible is very clear that humanity is fallen from the glory of God. There are no naturally “good” people. Yes, there are moral people. There are nice people. There are even religious people. But there are none good. The Bible says:

Psalm 14:2-3 The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one.

Our Lord Jesus said in Mark 10:18 “there is none good but one, that is, God.” No one is naturally good. We are all crooked in the eyes of God. This is why our Lord Jesus Christ came. He came to:

John 1:29 … Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

The Unsearchable Riches Of Christ Both
Covers And REcovers Our Sins

What was done at the Cross of Christ was that our sin was COVERED. Sin must be paid for. God is holy, just, and ever righteous. And an offense against God is not a light thing. When Jesus died on Calvary His Blood covered our guilt. But salvation does not stop there. Once saved, God moves into our lives. He not only COVERS our sin He RECOVERS us from sin. He changes us. He begins a change in us that will be a very real change in who we are. The Bible tells us that Heaven is a place where NO SIN CAN ENTER IN. We are told that in glory:

Revelation 21:27 … there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

Nothing that worketh abomination shall enter into Heaven. We are introduced to the word abomination in the Old Testament. From one commentary called Wikipedia I found this definition:

“Abomination (from Latin abominare, “to deprecate as an ill omen”) is an English term used to translate the Biblical Hebrew terms shiqquts שיקוץ and sheqets שקץ,[1] which are derived from shâqats, or the terms תֹּועֵבָה, tōʻēḇā or to’e’va (noun) or ta’ev (verb). An abomination in English is that which is exceptionally loathsome, hateful, sinful, wicked, or vile.”

When God uses the word abomination He speaks of something that is to Him that is exceptionally loathsome, hateful, wicked, or vile. God does not allow abominations into Heaven. The Bible states:

Proverbs 6:16-19 … These six [things] doth the LORD hate: yea, seven [are] an abomination unto him: 17 A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, 18 An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, 19 A false witness [that] speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.

These things are NOT ALLOWED IN HEAVEN, and yet, dear ones, have not we all engaged in many of these things on the earth? When we think of abomination we think of sexual sins that perhaps we don’t do. Of homosexuality:

Leviticus 18:22 Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.

or of adultery or incest:

Ezekiel 22:11 And one hath committed abomination with his neighbor’s wife; and another hath lewdly defiled his daughter in law; and another in thee hath humbled his sister, his father’s daughter.

or of cross dressing:

Deuteronomy 22:5 The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman’s garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the LORD thy God.

or of child sacrifice or abortion:

Jeremiah 32:35 And they built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire unto Molech; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.

When you read the Bible you will find – if you read it honestly and apply it to yourself as fairly as possible – that we have all been guilty of doing things that are what God classifies as abomination or unrighteousness. Praise God for His Grace!

His Grace not only covers our sins,
but His Grace changes our nature!

This is why we read in the Scripture …

1 Corinthians 6:9-10 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.

Nothing can enter God’s presence that defiles. No sin can enter into Heaven. This is why Christ came. Though we are all sinners His willing sacrifice on the Cross of Calvary paid for our sins. We are “justified” – a word that means “to straighten that which is crooked”. We are “washed” clean of sin because of His shed Blood. But THE RICHES OF GOD’S GRACE GOES FURTHER THAN MERELY COVERING! It changes us. The Apostle tells the Church at Corinth (and us as well):

1 Corinthians 6:11 And such were some of you: BUT ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.

No Christian should ever feel self righteous, for that is a dangerous way to be. But we should indeed feel blessed. God took us a broken things and covered our brokenness. But the riches of God’s Grace says “this is not enough! No, I will not only COVER their sin, but I will RECOVER them into what I want them to be!”

My daddy was an upholsterer. Sadly, you rarely meet or even hear of upholsterers any more. Furniture is made cheaply, of cardboard and plywood and cheap fabrics and man made fibers. Furniture is made to be used and thrown away. But in my daddy’s day furniture was well made from oak, maple, and stuffed with natural cotton. Furniture was made to not only last, but to pass down as a heritage from generation to generation. People would come to daddy with their furniture, torn, dirty, damaged from life, stinky, smelly. They would pick out a fabric from one of the thousands of samples daddy had. Then daddy would take that couch or chair or recliner, remove all the old and torn, and replace the broken with the new. When daddy was done with a piece of furniture it would be like a brand new item, straight off the show room floor.

That is what the unsearchable riches of Christ does to us. God redeems us by His precious Son’s Blood. He buys us as we are, broken and sin filled. The Bible says:

1 Peter 1:18-20 .. ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain {way of life} received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,

It was at Calvary that Christ made a way for us to come face to face with God. The Cross made payment for our sins so that we can have access to God. But the Grace of God is not just to save us from sin so that we can one day go to Heaven. God’s Grace is much more than this. It is unsearchable riches. God covers our sins, then He begins to RECOVER us, to remake us.

God brings us into His Family.

The Unsearchable Riches of Christ
Brings Us Into God’s Family

The Apostle Paul said:

Ephesians 3:14-15 … For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,

We who have received Christ as Lord and Savior are brought into the Family of God! We are part of a family that is based not just on earth, but in Heaven. The Saints of old are part of that Family. King David – long departed from this earth – is part of that Family. He said:

1 Chronicles 29:10 … David said, Blessed be thou, Lord God of Israel our Father, for ever and ever.

The Great Prophet Isaiah – gone into glory 700 years before Christ came – is a part of that Family. He said:

Isaiah 63:16 … thou, O Lord, art our Father, our Redeemer; thy name is from everlasting.

The ancient Jews did not understand God’s purpose was to make us part of His Family. This was a mystery to ancient Israel. That is what Paul is speaking of in our text when He says:

Ephesians 3:2-6 If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward: 3 How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, 4 Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) 5 Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; 6 That the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:

In the Old Testament the Jews knew that when Christ came that He would be “A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel” (Luke 2:32). But God never revealed to Israel His Grand Plan, that He was going to create a Family from the Blood of His dear Son. That in Christ God would bring together Jew and Gentile, Bond and Free. That He would redeem all and put all who would believe in Jesus into One Family, under One Head. Jesus told us:

Matthew 23:9 … one is your Father, which is in heaven …

The riches of Grace not only saves us, but it enters us into the Family of God. When you do the work of God by believing on Jesus Christ (John 6:29) then this rich Grace of God brings us into the Family of God. Jesus said:

Matthew 12:48-50 … Who is my mother? and who are my brethren? And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.

God has a family that He is building by faith in Christ. This family is both in Heaven and on the earth. Paul was praying for the Ephesians that they would be:

Ephesians 3:16-17 That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith

The word translated dwell means “To be at home in” (Greek κατοικέω katoikéō, pronounced kat-oy-keh’-o). It is the Father’s intent not just to save you, but to make you a temple that Christ can “be at home in”.

If you are are believers then you are entered into the Family of God through the

operation of this same Spirit. God gave His Spirit to us to mark us as His Children. He also gave us His Spirit so that we can be like Christ. The Bible says:

Romans 8:14-17 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

We are adopted into the Family of God by the Spirit of God Who lives and works in each one of us. The world will never understand this relationship between God and man, between believer and Heavenly Father. The world

will never understand that Jesus Christ is not just a Prophet, but Jesus Christ is Eternal God Who made something impossible possible.

The unsearchable riches of Christ saves us.
The unsearchable riches of Christ COVERS our sins.
The unsearchable riches of Christ RECOVERS us from sin.
The unsearchable riches of Christ ADOPTS us into God’s Family.
The unsearchable riches of Christ will make us like Christ.
And The unsearchable riches of Christ gives us purpose.

The Unsearchable Riches Of Christ Gives Us Purpose

Ephesians 3:1 For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ

for you Gentiles …

No missionary ever suffered quite like the Apostle Paul suffered. When recounting what he went through he said:

2 Corinthians 11:24-27 Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. 25 Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; 26 In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; 27 In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.

You would think that Paul would just give up. What suffering he went through! And yet he did not give up. In fact, the Apostle Paul went into Jerusalem to the Temple to preach the Gospel knowing that he would be imprisoned. Why did he keep going?

Because God the Holy Spirit told him:

Acts 23:11 And the night following the Lord stood by him, and said, Be of good cheer, Paul: for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome.

The suffering he was going through was not for no purpose. It was so the glorious riches of God’s Grace could go out into the world. Where better than to preach Christ than before the Caesar in Rome?

The Apostle understood the riches of God’s Grace, and knew that God wanted to save whosoever will through it. Therefore his suffering was for a greater purpose.

The unsearchable riches of Christ did not just save us from our sins, but it saved us for a purpose. Trials come on all of us. But if you are in Christ, these trials do not come to destroy you, but to fulfill the purpose of God in Christ. The Apostle told the Church at Ephesus:

Ephesians 3:13 Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.

The tribulations that came on Paul were not random events, nor cruelties sent his way by satan. No, every tribulation came to aid the Apostle in fulfilling his life purpose. Paul was a man with purpose. God used him to reveal to all that it was God’s intent to save whosoever will believe on Christ. Not just the Jews, but the Gentiles as well. Not just the well to do or best, but whosoever will. And the Apostle saw God at work, moving all things according to His will. He had purpose because of Christ.

Beloved, if you are saved it is not just so you can go to Heaven, but that God can use YOU to reach others for His Kingdom. View everything that happens to you through the riches of God’s Grace – the unsearchable riches of Christ. May God touch your hearts with His Word!