I Am: Afflicted – Identifying with the Suffering of Jesus
Ephesians Chapter 3, verses 2-13
In this, the sixth sermon in the Identity Sermon Series, Pastor Eric Kuykendall discusses how suffering can make us better Christians.
Every person on Earth will go through some period of suffering. In this week’s scripture, Paul explains how suffering has a benefit–a benefit for you, for others, and for the Kingdom of God.
Ephesians 2:1-13
3 So I, Paul, am a prisoner because I serve Christ Jesus for you who are not Jews. 2 Surely you know that God gave me this work through his grace to help you. 3 God let me know his secret plan by showing it to me. I have already written a little about this. 4 And if you read what I wrote, you can see that I understand the secret truth about Christ. 5 People who lived in other times were not told that secret truth. But now, through the Spirit, God has made it known to his holy apostles and prophets. 6 And this is the secret truth: that by hearing the Good News, those who are not Jews will share with the Jews in the blessings God has for his people. They are part of the same body, and they share in the promise God made through Christ Jesus.
7 By God’s special gift of grace, I became a servant to tell that Good News. He gave me that grace by using his power. 8 I am the least important of all God’s people. But he gave me this gift—to tell the non-Jewish people the Good News about the riches Christ has. These riches are too great to understand fully. 9 And God gave me the work of telling all people about the plan for his secret truth. That secret truth has been hidden in him since the beginning of time. He is the one who created everything. 10 His purpose was that all the rulers and powers in the heavenly places will now know the many different ways he shows his wisdom. They will know this because of the church. 11 This agrees with the plan God had since the beginning of time. He did what he planned, and he did it through Christ Jesus our Lord. 12 In Christ we come before God with freedom and without fear. We can do this because of our faith in Christ. 13 So I ask you not to be discouraged because of what is happening to me. My sufferings are for your benefit—for your honor and glory.
(Ephesians 3 ERV – Paul’s Work for the Non-Jewish People, https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians%203&version=ERV)
