Recognizing Ownership

Recognizing Ownership
Ephesians 3:1-7
“For this reason, I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus, for the sake of you Gentiles.”
            When Paul wrote the letter to the church in Ephesus, he was sitting in the one place no one desired to be. He was sitting in the prison of the Roman Empire.  The Romans regulated his life and day and what they would allow him to do.  It was a place where discouragement could quickly descend upon the soul.  However, amid his circumstances, Paul changes the narrative so that the focus shifts from the Romans to God’s sovereign control of his life.
            In 3:1, Paul makes a surprising statement.  Paul does not write that he was a prisoner of the Romans for the gospel's sake.  Nor does he state that he is a prisoner for Christ Jesus, thus pointing out that he was in prison because of his association with Christ. Instead, he states that he is a prisoner of Christ Jesus. Paul uses the same language in his letters to Philemon (vv. 1,9) and Timothy (2 Tim. 1:8) when Paul was in his 2nd imprisonment.  Having set forth our exalted position of being adopted children, Paul now focuses upon his present identity, and that is that he is a prisoner of Christ.
            When one is in prison, he is under the authority and control of those that are in charge and placed him there.  Paul, however, affirms that his life is governed by Christ’s sovereign authority.  He was not in prison because of the Jews or the Romans; he was in prison because that was Christ’s purpose for him. This emphasis on God's sovereignty in Paul's life reassures us of the security and guidance we have in our faith.
            When we face adversity, we often attribute it to the broken world in which we live.  We sometimes question God for allowing these things to happen.  Paul had a different perspective.  Paul saw all his circumstances, even those that were adverse, as the outworking of Christ’s plan for him to proclaim the gospel to the Gentiles (vs. 8).
God is in control of our lives; He orchestrates our circumstances to put us where we can be a witness for him. Instead of our lives being governed by others and by arbitrary circumstances, Christ moves within the circumstance to position us where He can fulfill His intent for our lives. This is why Paul could rejoice even amid his suffering (Col 1:24).
            Our most effective ministry is not accomplished through our strengths but through our weaknesses.  We often see adversity and suffering as a hindrance to ministry.  In reality, the opposite is true.  Adversity and suffering are God’s instructors to equip us for ministry.  For Paul, ministry is not grounded in our skills, talents, and abilities but in our weaknesses and struggles so that the “faith of people would not rest upon the wisdom of men but on the wisdom of God” (2 Cor. 2:3-5).  When we are at our weakest, God becomes most evident in our lives.  Paul realized this in his own life when he affirms, “If I have to boast, I will boast of what pertains to my weakness” (2 Cor. 11:30).  To be called into ministry is to be constantly delivered over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death works in us, but life in others (2 Cor. 4:11-12). We belong to Christ and everything that happens to us is governed by his sovereign purpose to achieve his plan for us. When you are going through times of adversity, instead of thinking God has abandoned you, look for opportunities for you to be used by God by ministering to others.