Imagine someone in your family bringing home a wrapped package which they don’t open right away. They say that it will be opened at some future time, at just the right moment. There are some hints given, some that are seemingly rather clear, but no one seems to understand. It remains a mystery until the time is appointed. At that time it will be revealed. In our Scripture from Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians we read of a mystery that was also hid by God until the appointed time. As we read, God used the Apostle Paul, and others, to reveal this to the Church. Let’s look into His Word.
The pattern that the Apostle Paul usually followed when he went on his missionary journeys throughout the Mediterranean world, and which he followed in Ephesus as well, was to first search out the local synagogue in whatever village or city he went to. Paul would go there on the Sabbath day. Synagogues at this time would often invite a traveling guest to share any word or message they might have with their congregation. At this time Paul would always open the Old Testament Scriptures and begin preaching and teaching to those gathered together, showing them from the Word of God that Jesus of Nazareth was the promised Messiah. Generally at each village and city Paul was in there were some Jews who believed his message. However, many did not. Paul would continue at his location, usually for several weeks. When he started to get opposition, though, he would turn to the Gentiles and seek to reach them. Many of these Gentiles would accept Jesus. Many of the Jews found that difficult to comprehend, that God would accept Gentiles, and they found this even more difficult to accept.
When Paul used the word “mystery” in this Epistle to the Ephesians, and in his other Epistles, he was not using the word in the sense of a “who done it” mystery. It is referring to something that was hidden in former times, but now is made known. Here the mystery is that God would provide salvation for the Gentiles as well as the Jews, and bring them both together in one body in Jesus.
Though many of the prophets, particularly the Prophet Isaiah, had spoken of salvation for all races, it was not really comprehended or understood until this time with Paul and the other apostles. This mystery is that those who accept Jesus Christ as their Savior are one united body, with no racial, social, or spiritual distinctions. Both the Jewish people and the Gentiles are fellow-heirs of God (vs. 6). They have an equal share in the heavenly inheritance, and have the same equal standing before God. Both are now intimately related to the Lord, and both are just as much loved by Him. As believers and followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, we need to accept all of those who also are born-again and follow the Savior, even if they are of a different race or background than ourselves.
At the time of his writing this Epistle to the church in Ephesus, Paul was in prison for preaching the Gospel (vs. 1). Even though he was under arrest, he knew that God was in control of all that happened to him. No matter what happens, God directs the world’s affairs. Paul did not pick his calling and ministry (vs. 2). This was not something that he decided to do on his own. It was given to Paul by God. It was God who commissioned him to preach the Gospel, and He gave Paul the particular ministry to bring the Gospel to the Gentiles. Paul always remembered that even though he once tried to destroy the Church out of ignorance, the Lord forgave him and gave him the privilege of helping to build the Church (vs. 8).
This mystery, now revealed to us, shows us the riches of the bountiful mercy and love of the Lord. The riches of Christ are unsearchable (vs. 8). They are more than we could ever know. They are beyond calculation of arithmetic. His riches are beyond the measurement of reason, beyond the dream of imagination or the eloquence of words. Jesus is more willing and able to supply all of our needs than we are to confess them. For this we should always be giving the Lord God our praise and thanksgiving.
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