MYSTERY REVEALED

EPHESIANS 3:1-13

Adapted from a Jim Black sermonhttp://www.sermoncentral.com/

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Ephesians 3:1 NET For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles — 2 if indeed you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace that was given to me for you, 3 that by revelation the divine secret was made known to me, as I wrote before briefly. 4 When reading this, you will be able to understand my insight

into this secret of Christ.

5 Now this secret was not disclosed to people in former generations as it has now

been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit, 6 namely, that

through the gospel the Gentiles are fellow heirs, fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ

Jesus. 7 I became a servant of this gospel according to the gift of God's grace that was

given to me by the exercise of his power.

8 To me — less than the least of all the saints — this grace was given, to proclaim to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ 9 and to enlighten everyone about

God's secret plan — a secret that has been hidden for ages in God who has created all

things. 10 The purpose of this enlightenment is that through the church the multifaceted wisdom of God should now be disclosed to the rulers and the authorities in

the heavenly realms.

11 This was according to the eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, 12 in whom we have

boldness and confident access to God because of Christ's faithfulness. 13 For this reason I ask you not to lose heart because of what I am suffering for you, which is your

glory.

Paul’s mission was to reveal the fact that God has broken down the walls which

divide and made all one in Christ; a mission which he also gives to the church. We’re

urged to take up Paul’s challenge to reveal the multifaceted wisdom of God to the

world!

The story's told about a young fellow who was very short, but his greatest ambition was to play basketball. His father heard about an old torture stretch rack down at

the local museum. Later the father reported on the success of this experiment like this:

“The rack didn't make the boy any taller, but he did confess to many secrets that I didn't

know about.”

Who doesn’t love having a secret? Don’t you love hearing a secret?

Oh, it is so hard sometimes keeping a secret. The divine secret, revealed to Paul was a secret that has been hidden for ages

in God who has created all things. This divine secret was a real mystery. Paul was

given the answer to the mystery to enlighten everyone about God's secret plan.

I’ve always loved a good mystery, how about you? As a kid, I watched Scooby-

Do solve mysteries & read the Hardy Boys books. Two teenage boys who

always seemed to find themselves in the middle of some dastardly mystery. I

enjoyed mysteries on TV. Perry Mason, Columbo, McMillan & Wife movies.

Dragnet, Magnum PI, Simon & Simon. What is it that makes mysteries so

intriguing to us? Even today, C.S.I., NCIS along with others depicts teams of

criminal science experts unraveling the toughest & graphic crimes. Mysteries

draw us in, don’t they? They challenge our thinking and arouse our interests.

Did you know that in one sense the Bible tells of God’s Plan as being a “mystery”? Now, it’s not the kind of mystery that you and I might think of, a “whodunit,” and it’s not the kind of mystery that could have

been figured out by Perry Mason, Columbo, or Joe Friday.

But in the very real sense what God was ultimately ‘up to’ had not been fully realized-

it was a mystery to many. What God was doing (& had been doing from the very

beginning) to reconcile his people to himself had not been completely clear to the

people. But now, Paul has the privilege of unveiling, of uncovering and revealing the

greatest of mysteries for all time!

Let’s look again the text that we just read, Ephesians 3:1-13 .

Remember Paul has just pointed out that the dividing walls have been broken down, now we are all (Jew & Gentile) on the same

team, so to speak! He’ll build off of that theme and launch into a prayer, but

something stops him short. As he writes, he pauses to reflect upon the ministry that he

has been given.

Paul says, “Let me tell you about My Ministry.”

1 For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles —

2 if indeed you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace that was given

to me for you, 3 that by revelation the divine secret was made known to me, as I wrote

before briefly.

Remember, Paul is in prison here. He’s been given this wonderful ministry to take

the good news to the Gentiles, but now that has landed him in prison. But notice that not even chains will stop Paul from proclaiming

the message! Though he’s chained to a Roman guard, he doesn’t say that he is a

prisoner of Caesar!

Paul knows that he is aprisoner ‘of Christ;’ for the sake of Christ and so he’s going to continue and even use his imprisonment for the Kingdom! While imprisoned he writes some of the most profound texts in all of Scripture.

And then it’s as if this thought reminds Paul of something and causes him to stop short. My Bible has a dash at the end of vs. 1. It’s

an indication of an abrupt change in thought, perhaps something ‘theater folks’

call an ‘aside’. He leaves his train of thought for a few paragraphs, but he’ll return to it

next week in verse 14.

He’s not just aimlessly meandering, he pauses because he has something

important to say! He has been handed a secret. By revelation the divine secret was

made known to me…for YOU gentiles. The stewardship of God's grace that was given to me for you. Paul, by God’s grace, has been made a steward or manager of

this divine secret. Well, what is this ‘divine secret’ Paul speaks of?

4 When reading this, you will be able to understand my insight into this secret of

Christ. 5 Now this secret was not disclosed to people in former generations as it has

now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit, 6 namely, that

through the gospel the Gentiles are fellow heirs, fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ

Jesus.

This divine secret - which those in generations past had not known- has NOW been revealed: The Outsiders have been brought IN! ‘that through the gospel the

Gentiles are fellow heirs, [with Israel] fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers

of the promise in Christ Jesus!’

Imagine what a shock this must have been! Its hard for us to realize because we’ve

grown up in a ‘post-gospel’ era hearing from birth this truth, but for those in the 1st

century, this was a radical statement! Jews had always just assumed that they were

going to be God’s chosen people and Gentiles would always be outsiders.

But Godhad a plan that was a mystery to everyone! Now, to be fair, there HAD been clues along

the way. In commissioning Abraham & giving him the promise, God told him in Genesis 12:2 NIV “I will make you into a

great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.

3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through

you.” Later the prophet Isaiah prophesies

concerning the ‘servant of the Lord’, Isaiah 49:6 NIV he says: “It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have

kept.

I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends

of the earth.”

Jesus himself hinted at this in Matthew 8:11 NET I tell you, many will come from the east

and west to share the banquet with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom

of heaven,

And again John records Jesus making the bold claim, I have other sheep that do not

come from this sheepfold. I must bring them too, and they will listen to my voice, so that there will be one flock and one shepherd.

John 10:16 NET

So, there had been clues, but the whole scope of God’s plan had not been fully laid

out, until NOW!

We may not share Paul’s concern that this be understood. We live in a day & time where this fact is a given- we take it for

granted. In fact, Gentiles have taken over the church! There are relatively few truly Jewish Christians today compared with

Gentile Christians. But let’s remember what Paul is stressing: the unity of the church in

Christ! Thechurch is made up of all kinds of people!

This is a theme he’ll come back to in Chapter 4, but for now let us just emphasize

that the differences which divided Jew & Gentile in the 1st century are FAR more

significant than any differences which divide Christians today! More than race; more than

politics; more than religion!

To be in Christ is to be made ONE with all of those who are also in Christ, like it or not!

Whether you agree with them or not; whether you have anything else in common

or not; whether you speak the same language or dress in the same styles or eat the same food, you are ONE with all those who are in Christ! So, how do we show that

‘oneness’ that we share in Christ?

Well, with Paul languishing in prison, what motivates him to keep going with this

radical message?7 I became a servant of this gospel

according to the gift of God's grace that was given to me by the exercise of his power. 8 To me — less than the least of all the saints — this grace was given, to proclaim to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ

9 and to enlighten everyone about God's secret plan — a secret that has been

hidden for ages in God who has created all things.

Paul’s is a “Grace-Motivated” Ministry! It’s worth pointing out that Paul very much saw this duty as ‘by God’s grace’ or out of his

loving kindness! He saw himself as nothing special, ‘less than the least of all the saints.’

Yet he recognized that God had given him a special grace to be able to proclaim to the

Gentiles this message of Christ . . . the unfathomable riches of Christ . . . to

enlighten everyone! This wasn’t a chore that brought burden for Paul! It was a

wonderful privilege to be entrusted with this gospel message!

And even though he was in chains because of it- he still saw it as a grace! I believe God

has given me a great grace to be your preacher. It’s not because I’m so good or qualified, but because God has given me this privilege to proclaim his good news to you and those you bring with you. It’s the

message that’s important, not the messenger! Being involved in Ministry is a GRACE! Keep that thought in mind as we

move to Paul’s next major point:

Paul goes on to say, “Okay, let me tell you about YOUR

Ministry.” 10 The purpose of this enlightenment is that through the church the multifaceted wisdom

of God should now be disclosed to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly

realms. 11 This was according to the eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, 12 in whom we have

boldness and confident access to God because of Christ's faithfulness.

13 For this reason I ask you not to lose heart because of what I am suffering for

you, which is your glory.Paul is in prison! While he’s doing a lot

even in prison, he’s also writing to encourage the church that his mission is

theirs as well! Paul was given this ministry to the intent that now the entire church

should make known the wisdom of God! His mission of proclaiming this reconciliation in Christ is now the church’s mission, ministry!

It’s what we’re supposed to be about! Ephesians tells us how to be the church! Now let’s think about that mission for a

moment.

Who is ‘the church?’ You know, preachers get into trouble when they start to think a

little too highly of themselves. But, it is also easy for members to think too highly of the

preacher.

Paul didn’t say, “His intent was that now through the wonderful and talented

ministers, the multifaceted wisdom of God should now be disclosed.” Or “Through the

wise and prudent Elders, the wisdom should be disclosed.” NO! He said this is the church’s mission! How can a church

accomplish this?

Some might say. "We can’t tell anybody the good news if they won’t come to church,”

Ohhh, how we’ve misunderstood what church is! The church is YOU! That old hand exercise we learned as kids . ..

“Here’s the church, here’s the steeple, open the door & see all the people,” is WRONG! The church is the people! For many of us,

the church is a place that ‘puts on services.’

We’ve GOT to move beyond this understanding and rediscover God’s intent for the church! The church is the body of

saved individuals who assemble together to lift Him up in praise, to embody the unity

that God models and to be His hands and feet in a lost and dying world! Grace calls

ALL OF US! Its not about hiring a preacher or evangelist to go out and do this for you! If it’s the responsibility of the church, it’s the

responsibility of all of us!

Well, how do we do it? One method that we’ve tried for years and know doesn’t work: wait for them to come to us. If we

know it doesn’t work, why is that typically how we do evangelism?

Albert Einstein is credited of saying, “the definition of insanity is doing the same thing

over and over again while expecting different results.”

Is THIS what we’ve been doing? Paul certainly didn’t wait on unbelievers to come to him! He didn’t learn the mystery of the good news and then sit back to see who came for it. He went to them and took the

message to where they were! What are we doing to take the message to the

community?

Now, part of that might be inviting them to come to our services- but most won’t come

unless invited. That’s just the way many people are. Who have you invited? It’s up to

us. We have a job to do and it involves sharing the good news about Jesus Christ

with others, your family, friends and neighbors. You are uniquely qualified for the job, too, because there is no one else like

you.

You have opportunities each week that I don’t have, that Brother So-&-so doesn’t

have.

Sister What’s-her-name will never have opportunities that God has uniquely given to

you.

What will you do about them?

Well, fortunately, the mission of the church is in God’s hands. We do our part, but He’ll handle the details. We sow and water, but God will bring the increase. This is God’s

church, not ours. Our confidence is in Him, not

ourselves! So, Paul says to the Ephesians, “don’t worry about me. The mission of the church is bigger than any one of us! The good news will be spread whether I’m in

prison or not!”

What are you doing to be a part of this mission? What is your part in revealing this mystery to those around us? The wall which

has divided people from God has been broken down! And that is Good News!

When the Berlin Wall came down, CNN was right there to broadcast it to the world! Where’s the CNN’s broadcasting THIS

NEWS? What are you doing to broadcast it? Who do YOU know needs to hear it?

Have YOU heard it? Do YOU have a relationship with God? If not, did you know you could? That’s the

mystery that Paul is talking about: you can come to God with ‘boldness and confident,’ thru faith in Christ who has taken down that

wall! What’s your faith in this morning?

If you’re willing to turn from that old life of placing your confidence in yourself . . . if you’re willing to place your confidence in

Him . . . if you’re willing to commit yourself to Him thru baptism . . . we’d love to accept

you into the great family of God!He’s got a plan for you, a mission, if you’ll

just accept it!