I love good mystery movies, not the gory violent movies, but those where you have just enough clues to figure out details as you add the pieces to the puzzle. Those who-done-it movies, are the ones that make you think and become engaged in the situation. Finally, at the end, the mystery is revealed, and all is well. That is the way we think about the word mystery.
Paul speaks about a mystery that is far greater than solving a crime or laying guilt where it belongs. In Ephesians 3:1-13, we find Paul on house arrest in Rome while waiting to be brought before Caesar. In the daytime, he could roam around the house, talk to others, and be a witness for Christ, but at night he was chained to a soldier. I can only imagine the witness he gave to those soldiers that were chained to him at night. If they did not accept Christ as their personal Savior, they missed a grand opportunity. If they were not receptive to his words, they would surely be miserable. I laugh and admire how Paul used his circumstances to the benefit of the kingdom. Paul was not looking for pity but wanted his readers to understand the benefits of his imprisonment.
In verse 1, he refers to himself as a prisoner of Jesus Christ. He was not referring to being in a situation that was against his desires, but he understood his purpose and was grateful and humbled to be used. He was taking the good news to the Gentiles. He was going to reveal the mystery to them. In verse 3 Paul lets everyone know this was not his own ideas, but God had revealed it to him specifically to pass on to others.
Ephesians 3:1-5 “For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward: How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit.”
This mystery that Paul would reveal to them was something no Jew would have ever embraced without it being revealed by the Holy Spirit. Through Jesus Christ, the Gentiles would now be fellow heirs with the Jews. Jews and Gentiles worshiping together, and breaking bread together? This was an unthinkable situation in this culture and time. Paul before salvation was a proud, highly educated Jew. Only God could take a man that was a persecutor of the Christian Church, a Hebrew, and a Pharisee to become the main minister of the gospel. It was totally a “God thing!”
In verse 9 we are told this mystery was hidden in God from the beginning of the world. God always intended for all men to be saved. We think of a mystery as something dark and secretive, something that can’t be understood, but when God brings the Light of the world to the world those who have been seeking Him will know Him.
Ephesians 3:6-9 “That the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, and of the same body and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel: Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power. Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ; And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:”
The revelation of this mystery shows us that through Jesus our Lord, we can be bold and approach God with confidence in Him. The mystery is no longer a mystery to those who believe. God has revealed His eternal purpose. Because of this access to God through Jesus Christ, we are not to faint when we are going through tribulations. This mystery reveals to us the bigger purpose for our lives here and for all eternity. I am so thankful for God’s design. I am free of anxiety about the future because I know He has a perfect plan for my life, just as He did for Paul’s. I don’t know all the details, but He does, and because He loves me and is a good God, I can trust the process and the results.
Ephesians 3:10-13 “To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God, According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord: In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him. Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.”
Excellent