Unsearchable Riches of Christ
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.
Let me give the ingredients
of the true servant of God using the above scripture.
I am not going to go very in-depth on Grace, humility, knowledge and boldness as I want to really focus on the unsearchable riches of Christ. But let me show in short and take the example of apostle Paul, who was prideful in his fallen nature, had a zeal for religion yet persecuted the church, he was full of pride but his prideful journey came to an end and he fell to the ground when the Lord spoke to him from heaven, “Saul, Saul why are you persecuting Me.”? (Acts 9:4) Here is the transition the change of Paul.
Ac 9:15 But the Lord
said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel
unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children
of
Here is the grace of God for a hell bound sinner who persecuted the church yet, God in his mercy and grace chose Paul as his instrument. Salvation is of God according to his sovereign power; Paul did not choose God but God chose Paul. This was the unmerited favor of God. You will realize how majestic and great God is and how sinful you are and praise God for salvation.
"For I am the least of the
apostles, and am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the
(1 Corinthians
15:9)
1Ti 1:15 This is a
faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the
world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.
The result of true grace is humility. This is a sign of the new birth. Once you are born again, the mind is illuminated, the will of man is renewed, the affections are changed, and the conscience is renewed. We see God as our King, Lord and Savior and we as his creatures. Now we bow down to him, acknowledge him, worship and serve him.
1 Pet 5:5 Yea, all of
you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisted
the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.
When God chose the apostles he did not chose the most educated and the brightest like how the world would do but chose the poor and the uneducated. Lord Jesus gave these weak men who did not have any human power the power of God the Spirit of God with knowledge and boldness to preach the gospel.
Ac 4:13 Now when they
saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and
ignorant men, they marveled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had
been with Jesus.
The last part of Ephesians 3:8 which I would like to emphasize, it says that Paul preached the unsearchable riches of Christ to the Gentiles. In the gospel you will find the doctrines of Christ and you will see the unsearchable riches of Christ which we should preach in the gospel.
But today there is the gospel of amusement. The gospel is not an entertainment, not an amusement as there is a new age type of gospel that is spreading which is called seeker friendly church. In these churches you will find where sinners can come and be comfortable instead of conviction and turning to Christ.
Jude 1:3 Beloved, when
I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful
for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for
the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.
4 For there are certain men crept in unawares,
who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the
grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our
Lord Jesus Christ.
We cannot add amusement to the gospel or anything to the gospel. Christ is all in all you cannot add anything to him. As Jude says these teachers secretly slip into the church, they come without warning, slowly like a snake but they are godless as they change the grace of God into a license for sin.
What do you mean by unsearchable riches of Christ? Only the born again Christian can understand the riches of Christ as only the born again Christian knows that he or she was naked, full of poverty, poor and miserable. May be there are rich Christians who may say, I am not poor and I am not naked but I am rich and wealthy. Listen to the words of Jesus.
Re 3:17 Because thou
sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and
knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and
naked:
18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in
the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be
clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine
eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
“Oh, the unsearchable riches of Christ,
Wealth that can never be told!
Riches exhaustless of mercy and grace,
Precious, more precious than gold!”
Christians are despised, ridiculed, mocked and may be poor in this world. But our Lord is eternal, he is rich, he owns the universe, he is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, we are his children and although we are poor in this earth we have all the riches in Christ Jesus and we are heaven bound.
1Co 2:9 But as it is
written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart
of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
Jas 2:5 Hearken, my
beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and
heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?
Ro
Apostle Paul preached to the Gentiles the unsearchable richness of Christ.
Christ is rich because he is God, he is divine. We need to preach the deity of Christ. Many cults like the Jehovah’s Witness do not believe the deity of Christ. Christ is rich in his person, character, teaching and example. We will talk of Christ’s richness for the rest of our lives and still it never ends, since the time of Genesis the Bible speaks of the richness of Christ, the savior and the Lord and the talk still continues in Christianity and there is no end to it as it is infinite.
Christ is rich as he was sinless, he is rich as he is perfect, holy blameless, and he is rich as he is the truth. There are all kinds of knowledge of truths in the world; you can learn these truths with education. But there is only one truth in regarding to salvation. All other truths are outside of your soul but the real truth that touches your heart is Christ alone.
Joh 14:6 Jesus saith
unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father,
but by me.
All other knowledge is below on this earth but the knowledge of Christ excels above the earth as it is the only true divine knowledge. Apostle Paul said:
Php 3:8 Yea
doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge
of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do
count them but dung, that I may win Christ,
Ro
34 For who hath known the mind of the Lord? Or
who hath been his counselor?
35 Or who hath first given to him, and it
shall be recompensed unto him again?
36 For of him, and through him, and to him,
are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.
Christ is the manna, the bread and the water to the soul. All spiritual blessings come from Christ,
Christ is the happiness for our soul; he is the Physician
who can heal us when we are spiritually wounded. He is our Friend who will
comfort us in need. He is the
Christ is the only ladder between earth and heaven. He is
the only mediator between God and man. (1
Christ is the wisdom of God, the knowledge of God, the understanding of God. Christ is the truth of God and the faithful witness. The heavens and the earth cannot exist and no human cannot exist or could do anything without Christ. There is no heaven without Christ. There is no life without Christ; there is no God without Christ. There is no peace without Christ; there is no reconciliation without Christ. There is no faith without Christ, there is no forgiveness without Christ, there is no justification without Christ, and there is no sanctification without Christ. There is no love without Christ, there is no mercy without Christ, and there is no grace without Christ. There is no salvation without Christ; there is no election without Christ. There is no church without Christ. No Christianity without Christ. Christ alone is the infinite treasury of God.
God hears our prayers by Christ; Christ prays and intercedes for us. Christians turn your eyes upon the Lord, look to Jesus. Don’t gaze on the toys of this world. The world did not die for you, the world cannot forgive your sins, the world cannot reconcile you to the Father, and the world is against Christ. Only Christ is at the bosom of the Father, it is Christ who came down from heaven, it is Christ who paid the penalty for sin, only Christ who can take the wrath of God away, it is Christ who can save the soul, it is the blood of Christ who can wash sins, Christ is all in all.
The sinner is changed to a saint in Christ, un holy man becomes holy in Christ, and the hell bound man change the course to heaven in Christ. The anger, quarrels, fights can cease in Christ. The drug addict stops doing drugs in Christ, the thief stop stealing in Christ, the murderer drops the gun in Christ, prostitutes and adulterers stop fornicating in Christ, liar stop lying in Christ, homosexual stop his unnatural behavior in Christ, drunkard stop drinking in Christ, pleasure seekers stop, and find pleasure in Christ.
We go to the Library to find knowledge and read books, there are some libraries that are pretty large. But think of Christ, Christ who is above all, who created the heavens and the earth, washed the disciples feet, his knowledge and wisdom is infinite but also what he did on earth were written in books, there will be not enough space for the books of Christ.
Joh 21:25 And there
are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be
written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the
books that should be written. Amen.
There are hundreds of religions in the world. When it comes to salvation all the other religions differ from Christianity. All the other religions believe salvation is by doing but only in Christianity salvation is the finished work of Christ.
He is the beginner and the finisher of our faith, the Alpha and the Omega, He is the Son of God and in Christ we become sons of God.
Eph 3:17 That Christ may
dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
18 May be able to comprehend with all saints
what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;
19 And to know the love of Christ, which
passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God.
In Christ we grow, in Christ we love and we give all the glory to God in Christ.