Do you like mysteries, a good mystery story or movie? Do you like to solve puzzles, uncovering the key or special clue that reveals the answer? Many of us do. We like the challenge of trying to figure out mysteries. Our Scripture from St. Paul’s letter to the believers in the city of Ephesus speaks of one mystery. We read here of a mystery that was once hidden from our understanding, and is now revealed to us. Let’s see what this is.
When we read a mystery book or see a mystery movie, there is usually some type of crime that has been committed, often a murder, and we don’t know who did it. We follow the detective through chapters, trying to solve the mystery. Was it the butler? Was it the spurned lover? Then in the last chapter, some hidden clue is revealed, and we find our mystery solved. Or maybe we are trying to figure out some puzzle, and the key, the solution, the answer is finally revealed. What is this mystery mentioned in our Scripture? It is not a typical “who-done-it” or puzzle. This is something that had been hidden from our understanding for ages, but now the Holy Spirit has revealed this to our knowledge.
This mystery is that salvation is opened to the Gentiles, and that they are now partakers to the promises of God (vs. 1-6). Throughout the Old Testament we read of how God’s chosen people were the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and how He made His covenant with them. Those who were not a literal descendant of the twelve tribes of Jacob were outside of God’s covenant. There were scattered prophecies, primarily in the Book of Isaiah, where we saw hints of the opening of the way for Gentiles to come within the covenant of grace, but this remained a mystery for ages. Now, however, this mystery has been revealed, and the way opened up, as Paul declares it to us and the world.
The descendants of Jacob were heirs of God’s mercy and grace, and now, through the Lord Jesus Christ, we see this mystery revealed, that, along with the Jews, the Gentiles are also joint heirs and partakers of the promises God made to Abraham. The Apostle Paul was given the honor, but also this great responsibility, to reveal this mystery to the world through his epistles (vs. 8-10).
Most of us reading this are probably of Gentile heritage. We are not physically descended from one of the twelve tribes of Israel. So this mystery which has been opened up, bringing the Gentiles into God’s covenant, benefits us and the whole world, those whom the Lord Jesus died to save.
We are now heirs of the unsearchable riches of Christ (vs. 8). Not only are we now heirs of salvation and eternal life, which would be treasure enough, but we are also heirs of all of the riches in Christ Jesus. Jesus has riches that are unsearchable, that are beyond any and all comprehension. They are beyond the calculations of arithmetic, or the imagination of dreams. We can look, study, and ponder but Jesus is greater than anything we can think. He is willing and able to supply all of our needs. Jesus does not treat His servants stingily.
When we trust in God, having real faith in His Word, we can have a holy boldness in our prayers, just like Elijah and Paul did (vs. 12). God is not inaccessible. We are not left abandoned, like on some remote island in the South Pacific. We can come to Him in prayer at any time and always.
In closing, we see the mystery revealed, the keys are given. Gentiles are welcomed at God’s throne through His Son, Jesus Christ. This is what the season of Epiphany celebrates. The Gentile Magi were among the first to come and worship the Lord Jesus, and now anyone, Jew or Gentile, can become a joint heir of His grace and mercy.
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