Unto me, who am the less of the least of all saints is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ. Ephesians 3:8
An unusual and interesting news account tells of some businessmen who want to charter a space ship of some kind to travel to some of the asteroids that are not far from earth. These asteroids, they believe, contain gold and other minerals, enough to make the very expensive trip well worthwhile. Although little is known about these asteroids, there are hundreds, and possibly thousands of them in space within practical travelling distance from earth. They range in size from a few centimeters across to a few hundred kilometers. They are made up of minerals of various kinds, and those who seek to explore them believe those minerals include gold. This means that the finite amount of gold on earth – much of which has already been discovered – can be supplemented by an unknown amount of gold from asteroids, and even from other planets. If history were to march on long enough, all of this gold, even the asteroid gold, could eventually all be discovered and mined. It’s not like the unsearchable riches of Christ, which can never be calculated or exhausted.
How many times have you heard someone preach a sermon on John 3:16? I can say for certain that every one of those times, the sermon has been different, with something new that you had never heard before. The same goes for all of the great texts of Scripture. As we explore and delve into the wealth of the Word of God, we find that its magnitude appears to expand until our minds must accept the reality that the Word is infinite. No Bible scholar has ever exhausted all that is contained in one book of the Bible, let alone the entire Bible. This great treasure of God’s riches for our souls is indeed unsearchable in its extent.
Just as the Word is unsearchable, so too are the manifold blessings we have in Christ. We could never track the boundaries of our Lord’s daily kindnesses and mercies and provisions. Nor could we ever discover the extent of His blessings in providing us with the Person of the Holy Spirit as our Comforter and Guide, the companionship of fellow believers with whom we fellowship, and exceeding rich and precious promises that give us our steadfast hope in Christ. And these are just a few of the unsearchable riches that we receive this side of the Glory. What will be the extent of the riches that we encounter when we reach Home?
Our text reminds us that Paul never deserved the riches that God brought him into. If Paul was less than the least of all saints, how much less deserving are you and I? And yet, the grace of God has brought us into this wealth! -Jim MacIntosh