Ephesians 3:8 To me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given… God proposes to make man rich in wisdom, rich in goodness, rich in joy, rich in beauty, rich in influence; and to make him essentially and unchangeably rich, by making his wealth inseparable from his being. The world is but a false answer to man's desire for wealth. God warns him of the temptation, and reveals to Him the infinite mine where all the gold is human and eternal. As all material gold, before it came into the possession of men, was first in the earth, so were all the spiritual riches of the angels derived from the Son of God. The Maker of all things must be unsearchably rich. There must be more in His nature than in all things which He has made. There must be worlds on worlds of undiscovered wealth in Him who made the worlds. /iii lovely and precious things are but hints of the riches of the Son of God. Floral loveliness, the fruits of the earth, the splendour of metals, the lights in precious stones, and the glories of the firmament, are the material shadows of His wealth. The beauties of Paradise, and the wonders of the heavens, are higher manifestations of His riches. How can one help being ambitious "to win Christ, and be found in Him"? to exchange the straitness of one's own nature, and the thinness and poverty of one's own righteousness, for the resources of His nature, and the riches of His righteousness! (J. Pulsford.) Parallel Verses KJV: Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ; |
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