The Mystery Revealed…
The Mystery Revealed from Ephesians 3:1-13
In chapters 1 and 2 of Ephesians Paul has been explaining to the Ephesians about God’s wonderful grace and love. He gives a detailed account of how God brought about His plan for salvation through Jesus. Paul also lets the Ephesians know how he prays for God to give them wisdom and a deeper knowledge of God and His Word.
Here in chapter 3 he continues with another prayer but he gets sidetracked in verses 2-13 explaining to the Ephesians, who are mostly Gentiles, that a wonderful mystery has been revealed. In verse 14 he picks back up on his second prayer for the Ephesians, which we will talk about next week.
“If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward:”
EPHESIANS 3:2
Pauls Life as Minister to the Gentiles
Ephesians 3:1-2,13
Paul starts with another prayer but expounds upon his statement about being a prisoner of Jesus on account of the Gentiles. The circumstances of Pauls life is controlled by Jesus. Paul is the Apostle to the Gentiles. Pauls reason for living is to serve Jesus.
Paul has been given the dispensation of God’s Grace in proclaiming the Gospel to the Gentiles. In other words, he has been given stewardship of revealing God’s Love and plan of salvation to the Gentiles. This great mystery that his will tell them about.
Are we being good stewards over the responsibilities that God has given us? If we have been saved by Jesus and now children of God, we have a job to do. We are saved and created new, not by works but unto good works. Are we doing our job and being a good steward of it?
Paul is also literally in prison at Rome at the moment. In prison, as a result of being a prisoner of Jesus and Apostle to the Gentiles. He has suffered because of his ministry to the Gentiles.
But he is saying in verse 13 he doesn’t want them to feel bad about his problems, it’s a privilege to serve God and be the minister to the Gentiles.
Do we serve the Lord and find ourselves still having difficulty and problems in our lives?
Paul is the example here that just because we are serving doesn’t mean we are going to have an easy life, maybe just the opposite.
God will put us where He wants us and where we can serve Him best. Sometimes that may be an easy task but a lot of times it will be hard. God is right there ready to help us with that task. He will not leave us to do things by ourselves.
“Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.”
EPHESIANS 3:13
The Mystery Revealed
Ephesians 3:3-10
Paul says a great mystery has been made known to him, the apostles and prophets. A mystery in the Bible is just something that hasn’t been revealed yet. It’s not something that stays unknown.
The mystery is that Jews and Gentiles are on equal standing with God. The Gentiles are fellow heirs of the promise in Jesus.
You don’t have to be a Jew to be saved, you just have to repent and believe.
This mystery has not been known until recently. No one knew about it, even the angels in heaven or the fallen angels on earth.
The Apostle Paul gives us another great example of being humble as well in verse 8. Paul says he is the least of all the saints. Because of God’s wonderful grace, he has been given the task of preaching to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ!
When we have the proper view of ourselves and admit just how bad we are, humbly realize we have no righteousness of our own, know it’s all because of Jesus, that we can serve Him with thanksgiving and astonishment just like Paul did.
We Have Boldness and Confidence
Ephesians 3:11-12
This boldness and confidence is two fold.
1. Our approach to God the Father.
Now because we are in Christ Jesus we can boldly approach God with confidence He accepts us like His children. We have unlimited access to Him. We can boldly tell Him all our problems and sorrows, like a father not holding anything back. He already knows anyway.
We don’t need a high priest to approach God for us. We have Jesus as our high priest being the great mediator between us and God.
2. We can boldly and confidently serve the Lord.
We don’t have to be “timid” Christians, we serve a mighty, all powerful God that is in complete control and has complete knowledge of every situation. We are His children and joint heirs with Christ Jesus. He loves us and treats us as such.
We should walk around with our head held high, not because of anything good about us, but because of Jesus and because we are children of God. We might get uncomfortable about situations here on this earth but we can boldly and confidetly deal with anything knowing who is our Father.
Are you a child of God?
“According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord: In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.”
EPHESIANS 3:11-12