1 For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles— 2 Surely you have heard about the administration of God’s grace that was given to me for you, 3 that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly. 4 In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, 5 which was not made known to people in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets. 6 This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 3:1-6)
Today, we return to our study of Ephesians 3 where the theme of the "mystery" is front and center. It is mystery which makes life exciting and interesting, and, at the same time, frustrating.
In v.1 of today's passage we read, "For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles."
The Apostle Paul was imprisoned to Christ and that led him to being imprisoned in Rome. As a result, he preached the gospel of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles. The Apostle was put in prison for the advancement of the mystery. The "mystery" is that which only God knows about. Mankind desperately needs to know about it. And, believers in Christ, have the responsibility of knowing the mystery and making it known to others. The mystery was made known to us by revelation from God, so that we like Paul, would be engaged in giving this "mystery" out to others. The mystery, the key to all of our issues in life is Christ.
In v.4-6 the Apostle elaborates on the mystery. He says, it has been hidden in the past. The men in the Old Testament did not understand this mystery. It wasn't really understood until the Lord Jesus himself came to earth and began to explain the mystery.
Included in the mystery are the Gentiles who are identified as heirs, with Israel. In fact, Paul invented a new term here. When we came to Christ, Jews and Gentiles are now joint heirs of the promise. The resurrection of the Messiah was not explicitly taught in the Old Testament. There are a few references in the Old Testament but they did not understand the resurrection and what it would produce. They did not understand that the answer to fallen man's problem is the indwelling Holy Spirit. And, they didn't understand the connection between the death of the Messiah, His resurrection and the freedom of the Holy Spirit to indwell the believer's life. When we ignorantly feed the flesh, those evil desires that are yet in us, there is no way we can keep from living in disharmony with those around us. But, when we learn to live by the Spirit, then we can love and forgive one another. When we feed the Spirit of God who lives in us, eternal life is realized here and now.
Finally, the promise that was given Abraham way back in Genesis is realized now by anyone who trusts in the finished work of the Lord Jesus on the cross. The mystery is that God's Spirit would live in the believer in Christ, and empower us to experience the life that has the stamp of eternity upon it, right now. A.W. Tozer once said, "The Spirit-filled life is not a special, deluxe edition of Christianity. It is part and parcel of the total plan of God for His people."
