Grace

Ephesians 3

Background:
A key theme of the letter is the mystery of the church, which is “that the gentiles should be fellow heirs of the same body and partakers of his promise in Christ through the gospel”. A truth completely hidden from the old Testament saints. All believers in Jesus Christ, the messiah, are equal before the Lord and his children as citizens of his eternal kingdom, a marvelous truth that only believers of this present age possess. (Mc Arthur 2005 pg. 1681)

What a mystery that God has chose to reveal to Paul in jail through his letter to the church in Ephesus which was capital of the Roman province of Asia. (Asia Minor, Modern day turkey) This grace was so abundant that even it was being talked about by the angels. (3:10) Even the fallen angels who has no capacity to praise God was able to see the Glory of God in the salvation and presentation of the church. The abundant grace is that the Jews are God’s chosen people and salvation was promised to them. Now God is saying through his holy spirit at this time that both Jew and Gentile stand on the same ground before him, they have the same promises in Christ Jesus. What a beautiful revelation; one that should be rejoiced upon daily.
Paul who was literally the least of all the saints, one who had persecuted the churches, was given to be an apostle to the gentiles. His life work was to present the gospel to people who had no background in God’s way. God had equipped him and it had nothing to do with his natural abilities. Many of us can attest to being scum of the earth, literally breaking God’s commandments daily without repentance. Yet he still calls us children of God and commands us to go and preach this same gospel.
We have to go out in the open and make plain that God who created all things in the first place has been doing in secret behind the scenes all along. (11-13) All of this is proceeding along the lines by God and then executed in Christ Jesus. We are free to be bold in him and say what needs to be said. We have to make it our life work to tell everyone of the gospel of Christ and this wonderful grace of how it was revealed to us.

I close, with Paul Prayer. (14-21) I ask him to strengthen us by his spirit-not a brute strength but a glorious inner strength-that Christ will live in your heart through faith; and I ask him that with both feet planted firmly in love, you’ll be able to take in with all followers of Jesus the extravagant dimension of Christ’s love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives in the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask of think, according to the power that works in us, to him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generation, forever and ever. Amen.