Ephesians 3

The Apostle Paul was given a special job that had much to do with God’s plan to bring the message of grace to the world. The pivotal figure in the plan of grace was not Paul, but Jesus. It is Jesus who had provided the obedience necessary for Gentiles (and Jews) to have right standing with God. It was Jesus who took the sins of the elect on Himself through His death, so that the debt that we had before God could be cleared. It was Jesus who proved the reality of the plan of God in His own resurrection. It was Jesus who sent forth the apostles to make disciples of all nations. It was Jesus who met Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus, and left this persecutor of the church blinded and bewildered, so that he had to be led by the hand to the home of a Christian man named Ananias. It was Jesus who informed Ananias that Paul would be His chosen instrument to carry His name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. It was Jesus who gave Paul great insight into the mystery that Gentiles would be on an equal standing with Jews in the Lord’s church as fellow heirs of the promises of God together with circumcised believers. There were many passages in the Old Testament that had clearly indicated that the plans of God for mercy extended far beyond Israel to all the family groups of the earth (See Genesis 12:1-3, Psalm 100, and so many others). What was something of a mystery was the extent to Gentiles would be members of the same body with Jews, and that they would be able to remain as Gentiles, rather than having to become Jews according to the ceremonial laws of the Old Covenant. This blessed message, entrusted to Paul, came from Jesus.

As with all gifts that we are given, Paul’s knowledge of the Scriptures and the eternal plan of God was a trust given to him by God, and it was something that He saw as a matter of stewardship, not of money, but of something far more valuable, the gift of salvation that the Bible calls “grace.” The way that elect Gentiles would become fully acceptable to God would be through the message of God’s grace to us in the death of Christ.

This message is called the gospel, which means “good news.” Paul was made to be a messenger of that good news, a servant of Christ and of the good news of Christ that people everywhere needed to hear and to receive. The fact that Paul had a very important and special role to play was obviously not a matter of Paul’s merit, since he was chosen in the act of troubling the church. There was no better choice, in a sense, to remind us that Christ has brought us this good news by the working of His power through servants that He chooses to use for His own purposes. If we have heard the Word of grace and have been given the great task of proclaiming the unsearchable riches of Christ, none of this is for the purpose of glorying in ourselves. It is our privilege to stay at our post, and to rejoice in Jesus Christ.

God’s plan (Ephesians 1:10) to unite all things in Christ, things in heaven and things on earth, is now moving forward. The way that Jews and Gentiles have become one body in Christ is now clear, and should be clearly proclaimed. Together in Him we have been given this sacred trust as well, since it is through the church that the manifold wisdom of God is being made know, not only in all sorts of lands on the present earth, but even to the rulers and authorities in heavenly places. All of this is happening according to the Lord’s eternal plan that God has realized in the Messiah, Jesus Christ, who is our Lord and King.

In Jesus we have a new boldness and a confident access to the throne of Almighty God, so that we can come to Him with praise, thanksgiving, and all kinds of petitions, both on earth and in heaven, and we are heard as the beloved of God through faith in Jesus. Meditating upon these privileges and making use of them in prayer will help us to grow in courage and hope. The troubles that we face in a world of misery might cause us to be tempted to give up and to leave our calling behind. We need to remember the eternal purpose of God to bring glory to Himself in the reuniting of heaven and earth in Christ. The decisive victory has been won at the cross, and the best evidence of that victory has been provided through the Lord’s resurrection. By God’s grace, it is ours to stay the course that has been charted for us.

Meanwhile, the church faces troubles, the ministry runs into obstacles, and individual Christians suffer. Paul writes this letter from prison, but look how he is getting through this challenging providence. He is persuaded that the trials he faces in the course of preaching the gospel to Gentile lands is for their benefit, and that somehow it is glorious, and not some accident or mistake. He is not writing to get their pity, their money, or their approval. He is writing to be a blessing to them and now to us as we receive this message of true Christian thinking.

He is moved to prayer and not to bitterness. He knows that God’s plan is big, and that he is privileged to be despised and imprisoned as a part of that plan of bringing together all things in Christ. He wants them to have spiritual power from the Holy Spirit. He wants them to have Christ, to have faith, to have love, and to have all the good things of God in increasing measure, so that they might be filled with all the fullness of God together with the church everywhere. No matter how deep your trouble may be, no matter what prison you are in, no matter how dark your night is, take in the truth of these words: God is able. He is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us. May He receive all the glory for His grace among His people who worship Him, now and forever and ever. So be it!