The Boundless Riches of Christ
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It’s a story of unfathomable riches. During the 1840’s, the Peralta’s, a family from N. Mexico, struck gold somewhere in the Superstition Mountains. For a few years, they extracted the precious gold ore.
But in 1848, things changed. On Feb. 2nd, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo put an end to the Mexican-American war, transferred half of Mexico’s territory to the United States, and transformed what we think of today as the American West. This treaty made our state a U.S. territory. The Peralta’s days in the gold-rich Superstition mountains were numbered. So they tried to find as much gold as they possible could. But there was a problem. This land wasn’t just a U.S. territory, it was also sacred to the Apache people.
So the Apaches chased the miners away from the mines and into an area where they were hemmed in by the cliffs & canyons. At a place now called Massacre Falls, they killed all but a couple of the Peraltas. Then, the Apaches buried the gold & covered the mines. The riches of the Superstitions were hidden once again.
At least for a little while. 20+ years later, Jacob Waltz found the mine with the help of a Peralta descendant. He and another man worked the mine and hoarded the gold they found in hillside caches, until that mining partner was killed. Some say the Apaches struck again. Others suspect Waltz got greedy.
Twenty years later, on his deathbed, Waltz told some people fuzzy details about the mine’s location. People looked for it. Many paid for it with their lives. If any of them did find it, they kept it a secret. Even today, people traipse in the Superstitions looking for the Lost Dutchman’s Mine, hoping to find unfathomable riches. No one is sure if the story is even true. Yet, some still keeping searching.
Whenever there is a story of unfathomable riches, there’s always a crowd of people willing to go to great lengths to find it & keep it for themselves. They’ll do unspeakable things for unfathomable riches.
What they don’t do, is speak about to anyone who will listen. Yet, that is exactly what the Apostle Paul does here. Not because the riches of a gold mine are physical and real and Paul’s are spiritual and imaginary, but because the riches that Paul is speaking about are boundless. The riches of Christ are unfathomable. Without limit. Paul wanted the Ephesians to know the true story of the riches of Christ.
Wealth like the Peraltas and Waltz may have had in their mines was worthless in the end. It didn’t prevent the Peraltas from being killed, because the Apaches didn’t care about that kind of wealth. It didn’t stop Jacob Waltz from growing old and dying, which is why he was so willing to give the details to others while he was on his deathbed. (Pr. 11:4) Wealth is worthless in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death. What we all need isn’t unfathomable material wealth, but righteousness. Peter tells us: (1 Pt. 1:18-19) It was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ.
In Christ we have the riches of full redemption from all our sins. In Christ, we have received (Eph. 2:7) kindness, (Php. 3:9) righteousness & (2 Tim. 2:10) salvation. In Christ, (Php. 4:19) all our needs are met. In Christ we have (Eph. 1:3) every spiritual blessing. In Christ, we have something greater than a goldmine.
But we don’t always live that way, do we? Imagine you were one of those people Jacob Waltz gave the directions and description to on his deathbed. Would you say to yourself: That’s a nice story. It’s amazing what is out there in the wilderness…and leave it at that?
Of course not! Even if you hadn’t the slightest clue how to mine or what to look for or even what to do with gold ore, you would go out there and poke around. You would spend some time searching for that treasure. Human nature makes it nearly impossible not to do so.
Yet, our human nature does not lead us to look deeply into the spiritual goldmine that God has placed in our hands in his Word and his Son, (Jn. 1:14) the Word made flesh. We tell ourselves that we are too busy to do so. When things slow down, we will make it more of a priority. We highlight our lack of skill & qualifications: I’m no expert in that stuff. I don’t understand all that I’m reading. It’s too hard to do!
There are tough things to understand in God’s Word. That’s true. When we don’t know something, we have applied ourselves to certain study and learn how something works. We may not have become an expert in it, but we have developed a certain proficiency, a better understanding. We are wiser because we have invested time and energy into the matter. Why, if we want to become wise in the things that really matter, do we think it will take less time & effort?
God gives us time each day, each week, year after year after year, and yet we spend so little of it diligently searching the Scriptures. We exert far too little energy pursuing the path of righteousness and instead settle for the path of least resistance and greatest pleasure.
God’s Word calls us to do tough things, too. But we have all managed to do tough things in other arenas— ignorance and inexperience hasn’t stopped us then. When we don’t know how to do something, we have sought the advice of others. We have gone on YouTube and watched complete strangers do it. Then we tried our hand at it.
But in spiritual things, we often give up even before things get tough. When someone sins against us, our first reaction isn’t to mine the riches of mercy, grace, and forgiveness we have in Christ. No, we dwell on what has been done to us by miserable sinners, instead of what has been done for us by our merciful Savior. We claim we just can’t find the strength to forgive them right now. But we’re looking in the wrong place. We’ll never find the strength to forgive within ourselves. We’re sinners!
The riches of Christ are far greater than any goldmine. And that’s not just because these riches are boundless. It is because God doesn’t leave us to search for a mine of his mercy. He doesn’t tell us there a rich vein of his righteousness somewhere out there and we have to go find it for ourselves. God sends servants to reveal these boundless riches. That’s what he did for Paul and through Paul.
Paul says (Eph. 3:7) I became a servant of this Gospel by the gift of God’s grace given me through the working of his power. It’s a wordy way of taking us back to Paul’s trip to Damascus. Paul was to looking for a cache of Christians. He planned on rounding them up and bringing them back to Jerusalem to stand trial and face death.
But God’s power intervened. (Acts 9:3) A light from heaven flashed around Paul and he fell to to the ground. Jesus told Paul that Paul was persecuting the Lord Almighty and his holy people. Then Jesus told him to go into Damascus and await instructions. When Paul got up, he couldn’t see anything for three days. Finally, the Lord sent a man to restore Paul’s sight, baptize him, & commission him (Acts 9:15) to proclaim the name of Jesus to the Gentiles and their kings.
Paul, this persecutor of Christians, became (Eph. 3:8) a preacher of the boundless riches of Christ. This is why he calls himself (Eph. 3:8) less than the least of all the Lord’s people.
God revealed to Paul what had been inconceivable to him before. A person is not righteous before God because they live righteously. No one can do that. (Rom. 3:23) All…fall short of the glory of God.
(2 Cor. 5:21) But God made his Son, who had no sin, to be sin for us so that in Christ, we might become the righteousness of God. These are the boundless riches of Christ that God in his infinite wisdom & grace has chosen to bestow upon Jews & Gentiles alike.
How does God do this? (Eph. 3:10) Through the church, the manifold wisdom of God is made known—all that (Eph. 3:11) he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. God wants us (Eph. 3:9) to make plain to everyone what Christ has done and is doing. So “church” cannot merely be a place we call our own, but a calling God gives to his own people to go out to people and tell them all about what God has accomplished in Christ.
God even goes so far as to say that (Eph. 3:10) the manifold wisdom of God is being made known to the rulers & authorities in the heavenly realms. Who is Paul talking about? The angels! God has not revealed every detail about his wise plan of salvation to the angels. God has given you a task the angels righteously “envy”. As they (Heb. 1:14) minister to you, they are watching you minister. They are serving all those who will inherit salvation as we all serve the Lord in proclaiming that rich inheritance we have in Christ.
That might be hard to fathom. I mean, why wouldn’t God send the angels to do this work? They are never going to mess it up. They are never going to make excuses. They are never going to drop the ball. When God gives the angels a task they do it perfectly.
But do you know what an angel cannot do? An angel cannot say, I was dead, but now I’m alive in Christ. Jesus saved me. Jesus redeemed me. Jesus forgave me. Jesus gave me his righteousness. Jesus gives me hope in death. But you can say that. You can tell people about the boundless riches that only sinners have in Christ.
In Christ we have the riches of full redemption from all our sins. In Christ, we have received (Eph. 2:7) kindness, (Php. 3:9) righteousness & (2 Tim. 2:10) salvation. In Christ, we have (1 Tim. 3:13) assurance, (2 Tim. 2:1) strength, (1 Pt. 5:10) eternal glory, (1 Pt. 5:14) peace, (Gal. 2:4) freedom, and (1 Cor. 15:18-22) hope even as we face death. (Col. 2:10) In Christ we are a (2 Cor. 5:17) new creation. In Christ we have been brought to fullness and (Col. 1:28) maturity. (Eph. 4:32) In Christ we have the power to forgive sins. In Christ, (Php. 4:19) all our needs are met. In Christ we have (Eph. 1:3) every spiritual blessing and we are prepared for every good work. In Christ, we have something greater than a goldmine. In Christ we have boundless riches to share with everyone. Amen.
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