The Book of Ephesians part 5 – Week 42 / October 14th

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The Mystery

“…how that by revelation He made known to me
the mystery which in other ages was not made
known to the sons of men….”
Ephesians 3:1-21

1. The Mystery Revealed v1-7
A biblical mystery is not a new revelation but an old one! That is, it is embedded in scripture and unearthed, as it were, by the Holy Spirit when the time is right. This is exactly how Paul defines a biblical mystery is Romans 16:25-27. His understanding of the Gentile church came out of his reading and studying of the Hebrew Scriptures. God shed light on that which he was reading and thereby equipped him for the mission that he would discharge to the Gentiles. This revealed mystery was that the Gentiles, upon exercising faith in Jesus finished work on the cross, would become “fellow heirs of the same body.” That is, they would join a “body” that already existed and which was hitherto exclusively Jewish.

The salvation of the Gentiles was never a matter of dispute because Jewish theology accepted that their light would reach the world and save them but they would remain a distinct entity or “second body” if you wish. The thought that Gentiles would join the Jewish Body and share in its destiny as joint-heirs was rejected and considered anathema! But this is exactly what God in His grace has done! The Gentiles have therefore not replaced believing Israel but enlarged it. We are grafted into a Jewish spiritual olive tree.

2. The Mystery Demonstrated V8-13
God’s intent is that people who were once wicked, broken, evil and devil-dominated are now the recipients of imputed and imparted righteousness and empowered in a way that they can fully overcome dark powers and principalities that once ruled over them. This is amazing and all because of the incredible grace of God extended to us in Christ. Knowing this Paul is determined that tribulations and trials will not stop him telling the world about Jesus. Everyone needs to hear this as it constitutes God’s eternal purpose for the world. But they will not hear it without a preacher. You, like Paul, are such a preacher! Somehow the Church, confident of its blessings in Christ, is to rise from its weakness to this place of testimony. Mary Queen of the Scotts, who persecuted the reforming church, testified that of all things that she feared she feared the prayers of John Knox the most. May this be true of us!

3. The Mystery Understood V14-22
Realizing the potential locked up in the Church of the living God Paul faithfully prays that the Church would become all that God wants it to be because of the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. The Church must experience God’s great love and power. Both are enormous and so amazing that they are past finding out but can be tapped into. Just as you can assert that you have swum in the Atlantic Ocean because you enjoyed its waves on the shore but really you will never swim in its vast length, depth and width. You can always have more and never have enough! So, you can always have more of Jesus and never have enough because He is past finding out. We must however be changed and transformed in the “inner man”, exude a love that is entirely supernatural and be bold in what we ask for and expect from God because He can do “exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,” Christians must startle and amaze principalities and powers and not be laughed at by them because of their weak and beggarly spiritual lives. We must understand our position in Christ and live it out. When this happens, and it has, there will be “glory in the Church.”

Malcolm Hedding.

©Malcolm Hedding Ministries

2013Devotional