In verse 8 and 9, Paul uses 2 purpose clauses to help explain how precious the grace of God was and is for the Christian.  The   first purpose was to proclaim the incalculable riches of Christ.  This particular word appears nowhere outside of Biblical Greek.  Other biblical writers convey the incalculable nature of God’s attributes. Job speaks of the “unsearchable” ways of God (Job. 5:9; 9:10). Paul elsewhere describes the wisdom of God and His “untraceable” ways (Rom. 11:33).

Paul’s all-consuming subject of proclamation was a person: Christ. Is Christ the all-consuming focus of your teaching and preaching?   We should proclaim the riches of Christ to our own soul daily, and out of the overflow with Him, declare   His glory to others.

Our goal in preaching and teaching and evangelizing is to bring praise for the Savior.  We sing the song, “O, What a Savior!” Jesus changes lives. Keep the life-changer at the heart of your message.

Paul also received grace in order to explain the global nature of God’s plan of salvation.  It is Jew and Gentile together in Christ.  Paul always emphasizes the sovereignty of God; this plan was in the mind of God before the foundation of the world. There is a passion for mission that permeates the whole Bible.   Jesus is the center of the plan of salvation. We remember the story of Phillip and the Ethiopian eunuch.  From the passage he was reading, which we today know as Isaiah 53, Phillip started there and preached to him Jesus. We all know the results. The man came to a decision for Jesus   and was baptized into Christ and went away rejoicing.

 

Larry Miles attends Cherry St. Church of Christ, New Albany, IN and is co-editor of the Word and Work.