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In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles—
Surely you have heard about the administration of God’s grace that was given to me for you, that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly. In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to people in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets.
This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.
Ephesians 3:1-6
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
There are many things about our God that are a mystery to those us on this side of Heaven. But as we saw yesterday, our Lord has deliberately chosen to reveal certain secrets to His people through the scriptures.
In the first of this two message series from the first chapter of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, God let us know that there is a day coming, a day when He will send His Son Jesus back to earth in full authority over all things in heaven and on earth which He will bring together in unity. We learned that God revealed this mystery to us by way of His good pleasure which meant it brought Him joy to share His secret.
Today, we skip forward for a brief moment to look at a second mystery God wished to reveal, a mystery that brought some clarity to what He meant that all things would be brought together in unity by His Son. Look again at the opening six verses of Ephesians, chapter 3:
For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles—
Surely you have heard about the administration of God’s grace that was given to me for you, that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly. In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to people in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets.
This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.
Note that this development was brand new. It had not been shared people in prior generations and this means it wasn’t shared with any of the prophets of old. Rather, by way of the Holy Spirit, God chose to reveal it to the holy apostles and prophets of the first century after He sent Jesus to bring a new covenant with His created people. This new covenant was grounded in the Gospel message found in John 3:16:
For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Before Jesus, salvation was reserved for the Jews, God’s chosen people, through the old covenant He had established. He would be their God and they (the Jews) would be His people. Those who weren’t Jews (those referred to as the Gentiles) were treated as if they were unclean and unworthy of being in God’s presence. The temple in Jerusalem was off limits with the exception of a court outside the entrance where Gentiles were permitted to gather and pray.
This is what made this revealed mystery so radical. For whoever believed in Jesus would gain eternal life from God, no matter if they were Jew or Gentile. And this meant that the Gentiles were equal heirs to the Israelites, the ones who had treated them as outcasts before God stepped in and changed their future forever.
Today, it is no mystery anymore just as much as it was when Paul penned the words in His letter. Whoever believes in Jesus as Savior will be saved, no matter who they are. There are no other qualification standards to gain everlasting life, a life lived with God and Jesus forever. Let’s forever give praise to the Maker and Master of all creation for blessing us with a hope that can never be taken from us.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to Gods4all@aol.com
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