… and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.
Summary: Paul explains the point of the mystery he has been letting us about. He points us to a promise made by the Son of God. We can have true life if we accept him as our Lord and King.
As we begin our meditation today, let’s put one thing on the table first. I don’t know anybody who says “sharers together” about anything. That feels like a very awkward grammatical construct. Looking at other translations, we find a few “sharers in the promise,” but most translations use the word “partakers.”
Why?
As it turns out, the Greek “symmetochos” is only used twice in the New Testament. Looking at the origins of “symmetochos,” it appears to combine parts of words that mean:
- To be joined together
- To have a share in (meaning partial ownership of and/or belonging to)
- To share in the work of
For example, if you own a timeshare in a vacation business, you are joined together with all the other owners by contract. You have a share in owning the timeshare’s properties and a right to use them, and your maintenance fees share in the work of maintaining the properties.
In fairness to the translations that use “sharers,” there is no good English equivalent for a word that describes Paul’s apparent intent here. So let’s look at what Paul was trying to get at.
“This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.” (Ephesians 3:6)
Paul has explained that the “mystery” is God’s love for all his creation. As humans, we cannot fathom the expanse of God’s embrace. This love is seen in God’s inclusion of us Gentiles in the New Covenant in Jesus’ blood. (Matthew 26:28) Together, Jew and Gentile, we become one spiritual body with Jesus as the head. (1 Corinthians 12: 12-31)
Why is this important? What is the “promise in Christ Jesus?”
Suppose for a moment that a person falls into deep water. Imagine that they don’t know how to swim, and they start to sink. What do they want more than anything else at that moment?
Isn’t it interesting how a life can come clearly into focus in a situation like that? All of the dreary details and complaints of daily living are swept away by the threat of drowning. There is only one thing that matters. If a person stops breathing, life ends. We want to live.
More than anything else, we want to live. What is hard for many people to understand (I know this from personal experience) is that there are two parts to life. The physical part of life is the obvious part, but we are also spiritual beings. The air we breathe spiritually is God. He is our life. Without him, we are dead. Jesus offers us life. (John 14:6)
Application: Choose life.
Food for Thought: When you read the words “promise of Jesus Christ,” what comes to mind?
There are many promises that we have in Christ Jesus – salvation, an inheritance, future rewards, the indwelling Holy Spirit, etc. All of these are priceless. But the promise I think is perhaps most precious is Jesus Himself. God so loved the world the He gave us someone – His Son (John 3: 16) Jesus will be with us always and will never forsake us (Matthew 28: 20; Hebrews 13: 5). Someday He will surround us with Himself and be out temple (Revelation 21: 22). Jesus gives us Himself fully, unconditionally and eternally. He is the best promise of all.
BTW: I have always thought of the term “the promise” of originally tracing back to Genesis 3. 15, in which we are promised one who would crush Satan’s head. Jesus defeated sin, death and Satan. But even then, the gift is Himself in human flesh.
Rich,
Thank you! I love the way you model how an in-depth knowledge of Scripture provides an intimate understanding of our relationship with our Lord.
Thank you Rich,
I normally avoid reading other postings until I post mine so I can avoid being influenced by others. Today I reviewed what Rich has posted, and I believe he has very quickly covered this meditation extremely well. I go with him.
Thanks Ron!
I agree, Rich did a great job of summarizing God’s affirmations of his love for us.