The Book of Ephesians

Chapter 3

The Mystery

The Apostle Paul has given us 15 blessings throughout the first two chapters of Ephesians.  These blessings were not known under the Old Covenant, but revealed to the Apostle Paul under the New Covenant.  The apostle now continues on with what we know of as chapter 3.

3 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 now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets:

The Apostle Paul considered himself a prisoner of Jesus Christ because of the Gentiles in which he had ministered to over the past several years.  In other words, when the apostle wrote this letter, he was sitting in a Roman prison under house arrest, being chained to a Roman soldier by night to avoid escape, but was free to roam his house during the day, having a Roman soldier stand guard at his door.  There the apostle had many visitors, to where he couldn't go to them, but they could come to him in his house prison.  There he ministered to many believers and accomplished much for the Kingdom of God.  It was also during those two years of his imprisonment that he wrote several letters to various churches he had founded on his three missionary journeys. 

We will see throughout many of Paul's prison letters that he referred to himself as a prisoner of Christ.  His purpose was to convey to his readers that he was there because of Christ.  As such, he felt strong that God had called him to that prison for that time and season, and God had a purpose for his imprisonment.

As the apostle begins this section of his letter to the Church at Ephesus, he is reminding them about God's strategy in this new plan of grace, which now included the Gentiles in His plan of salvation.  He wanted to be sure that they understood that God had given him the revelation of this plan, and that he was the messenger of this truth.  Although a mystery, meaning "secret hidden throughout the ages," the end results were the joining of the Jews and the Gentiles into one body - all under Christ Jesus.  This mystery has now been opened and the Apostle Paul was eager to share his revelation of that mystery to anyone and everyone who would listen. 

• Again, referring back to our beginning Background study, the Apostle Paul, known then as Saul the Pharisee, highly skilled and trained in the Scriptures, had an open vision encounter with Jesus and became born-again.  His life dramatically changed from an unbeliever to a believer, giving His life to serve the Lord.  Shortly after his conversation, God called him to go away to Arabia for three years to be ministered to by the Holy Spirit, receiving revelation upon revelation of God's mysteries from the Scriptures that were hidden throughout the past ages.  Part of that mystery was the joining of the Jews and Gentiles together as one in Christ, as had never happened before,  and then receiving the revelation of the blessings that come from Christ.  As such, God chose Saul the Pharisee to become Paul an apostle of Jesus Christ to make known these mysteries to a Gentile world.    
  
• In another vision as we see in the Book of Acts, God chose Peter, who had been a disciple and trained under Jesus for three years while He walked the earth - how God now includes the Gentile people as His own, therefore, the Gentiles needed to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 
  
  Thus, God used both of these men, being trained under Jesus for three years - both in different ways.  God chose Peter to preach the Gospel mainly to the Jews, but accept Gentiles to receive Christ, and God chose Paul to bring the good news of the Gospel to the Gentile world, as well as any Jew who would accept Christ as well.  Both men, along with the other 11 disciples of Jesus then preached the good news of salvation to a dying world.

⁶ that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and 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.

The biggest mystery was the joining of the believing Jews and the believing Gentiles into one body - the Body of Christ.  This body is now known as the Church, filled with members who have accepted Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.  Each member together and individually are all partakers of the blessings and promises that are given to those who are in Christ.  This is the Gospel!

The Apostle Paul expressed that he was appointed by God to be a minister, meaning servant, to minister the Gospel to them - all because of God's grace upon him, as well as the working of God's power that was at work within him to accomplish what God had called to be and to do. 

As a quick review, let's go over the blessings that we have learned so far from chapters 1 and 2.

#1  God chose us "in Christ" before the foundation of the world:  Remembering that Adam in the fall fell from the grace of God.  God then chose the Jews to be a part of His family through Adam and reconfirmed through Moses.  The Jews rejected Christ - the Son of God, when He came, and as such God chose the Gentile people to come into relationship with Him through Christ. 

#2  God predestined us "in Christ" before the foundation of the world:  Not only did God choose the Gentile population to be a part of His Kingdom, He predestined them - even before the foundation of the world.  He purposed from the very beginning, seeing down the corridors of time that the whole world, no matter what ethic background they come from, salvation is offered to all of mankind.  As Gentiles, or any other ethnic group, you and I have been offered the gift of salvation through Christ Jesus.  We do, however, have to accept that offer through God's grace in our faith in Jesus Christ.

#3  "In Christ," God created us to be made acceptable in the beloved:  God knew who would accept Jesus as His Son, and for those who would, they are accepted as one of His.  We belong to His family - the Kingdom of God, entitled to all of the inheritance given to whoever is part of His Kingdom.  Again, all because of Jesus.

#4  "In Him (Christ)" we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.  Because of Jesus' shed blood for our sins, that is God's gift to us in that we have forgiveness from those sins.  We then have been saved from eternal condemnation that the world will experience.  We've been saved from the power of Satan because of all Jesus has done for us!  And that is only the beginning!

#5 - "In Himself (Christ)," God made known to us the mystery of His will:  It actually pleased God to have us know the mystery of His will - His great place for the ages to come - not just this life, which is powerful, but in the life come.  The Old Testament believers did not know this mystery -but it is given to us...and we will talk more on that as we go along!

#6 "In Christ" Jesus will gather together in one all things in the fullness of the times:  Systematically, the Apostle Paul has been walking us through God's grace upon us - starting from before the foundation of the earth, and the time of the Gentiles coming to Christ, and now in this verse, we are at the Rapture of the Church when Jesus will gather all of HIs believers into One and escort us into our heavenly home.

#7  "In Christ" we have obtained an inheritance:  While we are saved by grace through out faith, which is our entrance into heaven, it is how we serve the Lord through our obedience to His Word which gives us our inheritance, and how much we will receive.  Remember, the Old Testament was our teacher to show us right from wrong.  That's foundational to our belief system and never changes.  We, as believers, will stand before Christ at the Judgment Seat of Christ on what our rewards will be when we co-rule and co-reign with Christ for 1000 years, and it will be dependance on how much inheritance we will receive.

#8  "In Christ" we were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise:  When we first accepted Christ, the Holy Spirit came to indwell believers in Christ.  The Holy Spirit then became our comforter, guide, instructor and power as we serve Christ here on earth.  Then, it is the Holy Spirit that brings us to heaven - that same power that raised Jesus from the death - now lives within us to that we can spend our eternity with God in heaven. 

#9  "In Christ" we have been made alive even in our trespasses and sins:  We have forgiveness of sins when we come to God in repentance both from our unintentional and intentional sin.  We are no dead in our sins.

#10.  We have been raised up to sit with Him in heavenly places "in Christ." Because Jesus sits on the throne of God, He also tells us here that as the Body of Christ, we too sit with Him on the throne, having authority.  Not physically yet, but spiritually, we have our authority in Christ over all of the powers of the enemy forces. 

#11  During the Millennium God is now showing us our exceeding riches we have "in Christ Jesus" so that we will co-rule and co-reign with Him for 1000 years. During the Millennium, as we co-rule and co-reign with Christ, we will use our inheritance (rewards) as we serve Christ over the 1000 year period.  Then God will continue to show His exceeding riches of His grace toward us as we enter into eternity, and will continue forevermore.

#12  By God's grace, we can now come to Christ through our faith for salvation.  God's gift of grace is given to the undeserving.  We do not have to do anything, outside of our faith in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sin.  But because of His grace, God chose us, as Gentiles, before the foundation of the world.  Faith alone didn't save us, but God's love and grace given freely to us by accepting Christ through faith.  

#13  "In Christ Jesus," we are His workmanship for good works. As believers in Jesus, He knew and planned before you were born that you would be God's workmanship.  He has a plan and purpose for your life, giving you gifts and talents to be used for the Kingdom of God.  God wants us to walk in our workmanship so others can be saved and Jesus gets the glory.  So then to go to heaven, we don't have to do anything outside of our faith in Christ Jesus.  But how we spend our eternity does depend on our behavior - how we live our lives on earth.  Righteous living is our workmanship for good works.

#14  "In Christ Jesus" you have been made near by the blood of Christ.  Gentiles are no longer aliens or strangers to God.  They are now reconciled to God.  They have been brought near to God because the blood of Jesus was shed for the sins of all mankind. 

#15  "Through Him" we have access by one Spirit to the Father. Because of the  indwelling Holy Spirit, we not can we come near to God, we also have access to be in His presence.  Jesus became the bridge to bring us to God.  

#16  "In Whom" you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit:  We are, individually, each a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.  The Holy Spirit lives within us; furthermore, our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit.  

 Discovering the Fellowship of the Mystery

⁸ To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ,

The Apostle Paul is not exalting himself as a minister of the Gospel, calling himself the least of all the saints.  Considering the destruction that he had done to Christians before he came to Christ, the apostle is now humbling himself, calling himself simply as a servant and messenger of Christ.  God's grace was to use him regardless of his past.

• I will point out that when the apostle first began this letter, he called himself an apostle of Christ Jesus.  He did for a very definite purpose.  He wanted to make sure that those whom he wrote this letter to understood that he was called by God to be a "sent out" one for the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  As a "sent out" one, God has called him to preach the good news of Jesus Christ.  As an apostle of Jesus Christ, he knew that God called him to go our and preach the Gospel to the Gentile people.  That was his calling.

#17 Make known the fellowship of the mystery "through Jesus Christ."

 ⁹ and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ; 

As a preacher of the good news of Jesus, the apostle has been called by God to reveal the "unsearchable riches" that Gentile believers have when they come to accept Christ in their lives.  Those "unsearchable riches" are more than we, in this life, can even fathom.  They are the keys to the Kingdom of God.  While on this earth, we will never know them fully, but when we get to glory, we will experience them to the fullest.

• To think that God had all this planned from the foundation of the earth - that Jews and Gentiles would come together in Christ to experience these "unsearchable riches forever and ever.  He has entrusted us with that mystery that was hidden in God from the beginning of the ages to be experiences in preview even here on earth and then God will reveal it to us in completion when we get to glory.
• Because of what Christ Jesus did for us with His shedding blood for the redemption of our sins, we recognize that we have entered into a New Covenant with God in Christ.  We have also entered into a new dispensation - one of grace - given to all who believe in Christ Jesus - Jew and Gentile alike. 

#18  Make known by the Church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places.

¹⁰ to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places, ¹¹ according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, 

God's manifold wisdom, meaning in Greek (Strongs G4182 from G4183 and G4164), God's variegated, multifarious, divers and abundant wisdom, God intended for all of this wisdom to be made known not only to the Church, but that the Church clearly makes it known to all of the angelic powers that roam in the heavenly places - both godly and ungodly.

• We are free to let Satan and his demonic hosts who we are, who we represent, and what kind of power we have over them - all in the name of Jesus.

There is a continuous war going on in the heavenlies between God's and Satan's angels

All angelic beings watch over us, evil and godly - being interested and instructed by us by our words and actions.  God's angels fight against Satan's angels, and depending how we live our lives and pray for God's will to be done, will determine the outcome of how the battle goes on in the heavenlies. 

While we are commanded not to speak directly to God's angelic hosts, we can go through God; however, we have learned that we have power and authority of Satan and his demonic hosts - they are under our feet.  We need to make that widely known to him.  Remember, that authority is ours - it belongs to us.  In other words, we determine how the battle will be fought and who will win that war in the heavenlies. 

That takes us to our next blessing.

#19  In Him we can have boldness and confidence to come before God - our access - because of our faith in Him.

¹² in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him. 

We have the right to command Satan out of our life, and here we see that we can come boldly and confidently before God - to come into His presence to seek out the manifold wisdom of God as we read in verse 10.   That confidence and boldness resides within us to access God to work on our behalf.  All we have to do is use it. 

• Remember, we are a temple of the Holy Spirit of God. 
• God lives within us.
• He wants us to come to Him continuously.  We belong to Him. 
• As such, we need to purpose to discover and live in God's manifold wisdom each and every single day so that God's angelic beings can work on our behalf and we can effectively put Satan's angels under our feet, where they will be defeated in our lives.

Just this alone gives us a glimpse and foretaste of the Millennium when believers will co-rule and co-rein with Christ upon the earth and all of God's people will walk in His righteousness as Satan is bound in the bottomless pit for 1000 years.  God is giving us a birds-eye view of how we will live out our future in glory so that we can experience a foretaste of that even here on earth.  The Church has that kind of power.  You have that power.

¹³ Therefore I ask that you do not lose heart at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.

The Apostle Paul is asking the Ephesian church not to lose heart at his imprisonment.  He did not want them to be discouraged because everything that happened to him was in the eternal plan of God.  Part of that plan was the writings of the letters of Ephesians, Colossians, Philippians, and Philemon.  I'm sure the apostle did not have the full knowledge of what his letters meant for and to the Church at large, and how those letters have been passed on down from generation to generation so that we, as Christians today, can also discover the mysteries of the Gospel of Christ.  As such, no matter what kind of tribulation we may be going through, we have the promises of the Gospel working on our behalf.  In that, we can rejoice.

Praying God's Purpose

The Apostle Paul wants to pray for these Ephesians believers, having specific requests on their behalf.

¹⁴ For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁵ from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 

Bowing his knees, in the position of utmost humility, the Apostle Paul prayed according to God's will and purpose for the believers of the Church at Ephesus.  Paul directed his prayer to the Father, as Jesus always did from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, meaning God is Lord over all.

Pauline Prayer #2

¹⁶ that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, ¹⁷ that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, ¹⁸ may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— ¹⁹ to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

On bended knees, the Apostle Paul's prayed that:

God would give to the believers in Ephesus (as well all other believers then and now), strength and might through the power of the Holy Spirit Who dwells in their spirit.  That strength and might then needs to be according to the riches of God's glory.  

• In other words, our inner man, which is just as real as our physical body, needs to be built up strong in the ways of the Lord so that we can receive God unsearchable riches which go far beyond where we could ever imagine. 

Paul continued to ask that Jesus would dwell, which means to permantly live within them and be strong in these believers, so their faith grows strong in Him. 

• In order to do that, they (and we) need spiritual strength for Christ to live and grow within us to become victors in this life. 

He continued praying that each believers would be rooted deep and grounded in their love for the Lord as well as love for one another.  So much to where they all would know and experience the fullness of God's love from all dimensions toward them, which passes any knowledge man could comprehend.  

The apostle so wanted these believers to experience life in Jesus to the fullest and for God to give all that He is and has to those who follow after Him.  

What a fantastic prayer to pray for any believer.  Just as the Apostle Paul prayed for the Ephesian Church, this same prayer, which is known as the 2nd Pauline prayer can be extended to all believers - then and now.  We can pray this prayer over each other regularly and then watch to see what God does in their life.

One thing to be fully aware of:  The dimensions of God's riches in glory is dependent on how we have lived for the Lord while we lived upon the earth.  As saints, we all have access to heaven when we leave this earth, but for those who have lived righteously before the Lord while on earth, they will be rewarded much more when they  receive God richest riches at the Judgment Seat of Christ.  Our righteousness does make a difference how we spend our eternity.  This is an important key to remember as we live our day-to-day lives here on earth.   

Doxology

²⁰ Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, ²¹ to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

In this short praise to God as a closing to His prayer, known as a doxology, the Apostle Paul is expressing praise to God for all He has done.  He has done exceedinly abundantly above all that we can ask or think - but only to the amount that we allow His power to work in us.  This tells us that we can ask for EVERY good thing in life because God is able.  He wants to pour out His greatest blessings upon us.

So then, let's put our faith to work to believe and experience all that God has for us. 

To God be the glory forever and ever.  Amen

 

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Pastor Joyce Erickson
Believersbibleschool.com