Ephesians 3: 1 – 13 NLT
God’s Mysterious Plan Revealed
When I think of all this, I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus for the benefit of you Gentiles . . . 2 assuming, by the way, that you know God gave me the special responsibility of extending his grace to you Gentiles. 3 As I briefly wrote earlier, God himself revealed his mysterious plan to me. 4 As you read what I have written, you will understand my insight into this plan regarding Christ. 5 God did not reveal it to previous generations, but now by his Spirit he has revealed it to his holy apostles and prophets.
6 And this is God’s plan: Both Gentiles and Jews who believe the Good News share equally in the riches inherited by God’s children. Both are part of the same body, and both enjoy the promise of blessings because they belong to Christ Jesus. 7 By God’s grace and mighty power, I have been given the privilege of serving him by spreading this Good News.
8 Though I am the least deserving of all God’s people, he graciously gave me the privilege of telling the Gentiles about the endless treasures available to them in Christ. 9 I was chosen to explain to everyone this mysterious plan that God, the Creator of all things, had kept secret from the beginning.
10 God’s purpose in all this was to use the church to display his wisdom in its rich variety to all the unseen rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. 11 This was his eternal plan, which he carried out through Christ Jesus our Lord.
12 Because of Christ and our faith in him, we can now come boldly and confidently into God’s presence. 13 So please don’t lose heart because of my trials here. I am suffering for you, so you should feel honored.
Paul continues with the expanation about Jews and Gentiles are now one in Jesus Christ. He is writing this letter from Rome where he is in prison. How did he get there? The story is told in the last chapters of Acts, especially chapters 21: 17 to 23. Paul arrives at the temple and brings some Christian Gentiles into the temple. That began a riot. Soldiers arrived to take Paul away but Paul convinced them to let him speak to the people in the temple. Paul told them about hsi conversion on the road to Damascus and how God had sent him to bring the good news to all people. That started the riot again, and they were shouting, “Away with such a fellow from the earth, for he should not be allowed to live” (Acts 22: 22). Paul had to be taken into the barracks. When they discovered he was a Roman citizen, that began the long journey to Rome where Paul was imprisoned for some time.
This statement that Jews and Gentiles were one was horrendous to the Jewish people. That is why Paul spends so much time explaining it in his letter to the Ephesians. He wanted to make sure that this new, thriving church wouldn’t be split over Jews really not accepting Gentiles as equals.
There are a couple of verses in this section of Ephesians that stood out to me. One is Paul’s statement “though|I am the least deserviing of all God’s people, he graciously gave me the privilege of telling the Gentiles about the endless treasures available to them in Christ.” There are places in the New Testament where Paul talks about his early life persecuting the church. He knows that he would have gone on persecuting Christians if God hadn’r stopped him on the road to Damascus. In the days after his conversion to Christianity, the Jewish leaders and people in the church were very nervous about accepting him. They didn’t think they could trust this man who led troops against the church.
Sometimes we look at our past – or even the mistakes we make now – and think that God really can’t use us. We are very aware of the things we’ve done wrong, the things we’ve said we wish we could take back. We may even regret the time we’ve just wasted doing things of no consequence – like the hours we’ve spent watching TV. Paul is so thankful that God chose to stop him in his tracks and use him to spread the Good News to the Gentiles. Maybe lately, you’ve sensed that God is speaking to you about something that needs change in your life. Maybe you sense he is calling you to serve him in some way that makes you a little nervous, so that’s why you haven’t volunteered yet. Maybe you sense he is asking you to give something up, something that isn’t really that worthwhile in life. No matter how much you feel unworthy for something, know that God has plans to use you in this life.
Verse 12 also caught my attention. “Because of Christ and our faith in him, we can now come boldly and confidently into God’s presence.” When you are worried and nervous about something, know you can talk about it with God. In those moments when you wonder if God really knows you among the millions of people on this planet, you can be confident that he wants to talk with you personally. Like Paul who is sitting in prison, life might be tough for you right now for some reason. But you can still be confident that God will listen to you. You can come right to him.
“And this is God’s plan: Both Gentiles and Jews who believe the Good News share equally in the riches inherited by God’s children. Both are part of the same body, and both enjoy the promise of blessings because they belong to Christ Jesus.” You belong to him and you can be confident that you can come to him anytime.
Our song for today is Then Christ Came by Mercy Me.