The Mystery Revealed

Over the next three weeks we will study the Ephesians chapter three. In these three lessons I hope to reflect on the mystery of the church as it is revealed to Paul through the Holy Spirit. May the Holy Spirit of God confirm the Word in each of us as we study it together.
The Mystery Revealed
Ephesians 3:1-7
V.1 For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles- 2. If indeed you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which was given to me for you, 3. how that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I have briefly written already, 4. by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ), 5. which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets: 6. that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and be partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel, 7. of which I became a minister according to the gift of the grace of God given to me by the effective working of His power.
V.1 “For this reason,” Paul was imprisoned for preaching the gospel to the gentiles, insisting that they were heirs to the same privileges that the Jews. Paul told that they did not have to partake of circumcision, which set the Jews apart from the rest of the world, therefore making them privileged to the promises of God. He was first imprisoned in Caesarea, where he appealed directly to the Roman emperor, causing him to be delivered to Rome a prisoner.
“the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles” For preaching the gospel to the gentiles telling them that they were not bound by the law, but were called fellow citizens with the saints that died in the faith. This caused the Jews to persecute Paul, have him put in chains, and conspired to have him put to death. Paul was not alone in her persecution, as I have included one story from John Foxe’s book, “Christian Martyrs of the World”.
Marcus, the Bishop of Arethusa, a town in Thrace, destroyed a heathen temple and had a Christian church built in its place. This so enraged the heathens of the town that they waited until he was alone and captured him one day. After they had beaten him with sticks, they asked whether he would rebuild the temple he’d torn down. Marcus not only refused to rebuild it but threatened to destroy it again if anyone else rebuilt it. His persecutors looked around for some way of punishing him, finally deciding on a plan that was as cruel as it was unusual. They tied Marcus with ropes and placed him in a large basket, which they hung in a tree after smearing the poor man’s body with honey. After being hung up in the tree, Marcus was asked once more to restore the temple; he refused, and his tormentors left him to die from the stings of the wasps he attracted.
This is only one account of the many that have been, and still are today persecuted for their willingness to preach the gospel of Christ.
V. 2 On Paul’s visit to Ephesus, he taught them the basics of Christianity. In Acts 20:27 He says that he had not avoided to tell them the whole counsel of God. In verse 2 he reminds them to fall on the teachings they had received, and recognize that it was indeed from God. If there had been more that was needed for them to function as the body of Christ that he would have told them. A fellow that I know had begun preaching and asked me how you knew if you preached long enough. I told him every time he got up there to just lay everything that God had laid on his heart on the people. That way he knew he had held nothing back. I feel that if you empty yourself that you allow the space needed for God to fill you up again. I think that this is what Paul was alluding to when he mentioned the dispensation of grace. That in God’s plan for the redemption of mankind, that He chooses to work though willing vessels. That if we empty ourselves to His will, that He is faithful to use us to reach His goals. John told the people gathered in the wilderness that he must decrease in order that Christ increase, when we surrender our wants and desires for the wants and desires of God, than the words that we speak seem not to come from ourselves, but from God. I know this to be true as I listened to a message I preached over seven years ago, and was astounded that those words were coming from my mouth. This is given by the grace of God in order that the saints may learn the gospel and be used of God to further the work of the church.
V.3 In this verse Paul tells the that what he told them came not from consulting
others, not from his opinions, nor from studying ancient prophets, but by direct revelation from God. Does God still work in this way? Since we know that God never changes, than I would have to say most assuredly yes. Since His Spirit is alive in us, then it is through His spirit that these direct revelations are made.
V.4,5 The great Mystery Paul speaks is that God was reveling to man, through revelation, that the gentiles were now receiving the gospel. Until the time of Christ the power of God reveled through His people as a light unto the world. Now the true light had come unto the world, first to His own, than to the Gentiles. Jesus was to be the one to break down the wall separating God’s chosen people and the gentiles, to bring them together as one spiritual body. It was possible for others to be saved by their faith outside the Jews, case in point of Rahab. The Jews could not think, nor can we, that God is there for one denomination, but for all those who would trust in His Son. Where God worked directly with His prophets in the Old Testament, His Spirit was now dealing directly with the Apostles of the church, in order to bring the Jews and the church together. We know form the Word that this didn’t always happen, and may not be fulfilled till the final days.
V.6 “That the Gentiles should be fellow heirs,” This was the essence of the great mystery of Christ, that the gentiles would be joint heirs to the promises given to Abraham. That through faith, we are to become one in body not only with Christ but with Jewish believers. I have talked to misguided Christians who display a dislike for the Jews for the treatment of Christ. Not realizing that it was not the Jews that crucified our Lord, but our own sins. A stark image that I am reminded of was a man knelling at the empty cross with a hammer and nails in his hand.
V.7 Paul again tells the Ephesians that it was not his words that he spoke, but that that was revealed to Him by God. Christians are to give all glory to God, for His work is exactly that, His work. We are His vessels, bought with a price and not our own. We can do nothing lasting for His kingdom, lest the power of God is in it.