Ephesians 3:1-8 - "The Mystery of Christ"

Ephesians 3:1-8

"For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward: How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel: Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power. Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;"

Here the apostle begins by showing that the very message he preached—the mystery of Christ—brought upon him the enmity of men. Yet he calls himself not the prisoner of Nero, but "the prisoner of Jesus Christ" (v.1), knowing that all things are in Christ’s hands, and that he was exactly where the LORD had put him for the sake of the Gospel. As with Joseph, so with Paul: “But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good” (Genesis 50:19–20). Men may oppose, but God ordains it for His Glory and for the Salvation of His people.

Paul writes of “the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward” (v.2), acknowledging that all he knew of Christ came not by natural reasoning but by Revelation. A steward handles what belongs to another; so Paul was an appointed steward of the mysteries of God. He did not choose the task—“He is a chosen vessel unto me… for I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name’s sake” (Acts 9:15–16). His message was the "unsearchable riches of Christ" (v.8), preached not with a proud spirit but with the confession: “Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given” (v.8).

Why then is the Gospel called "the mystery of Christ" (v.4)? Because it must be revealed. Men may possess great minds in natural things—astronomy, education, science—yet remain utterly ignorant concerning God, Salvation, and how God is “just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus” (Romans 3:26). Give man a million years, and he could never discover the Way to approach the Holy God. Natural religions prove it—each one an attempt to climb upward, while God’s Way has already been declared in His written Word and revealed by His Spirit.

The Godhead is a mystery: three Persons, and yet one God. The incarnation is a mystery: Christ is both God and Man. Redemption is a mystery: Christ dying for the exact number the Father purposed to save. Election, redemption, regeneration—these are revealed, not reasoned. “We speak the wisdom of God in a mystery… which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory” (1 Corinthians 2:7–8). Such was their enmity that had they truly known He was the LORD of Glory, they would have sought another way to get rid of Him, lest they unwittingly fulfill the very will of God. Yet God used their wicked hands to offer up the one Sacrifice He would accept (Acts 2:23). The blood of bulls and goats could never put away sin (Hebrews 10:4). These were but types and pictures of Christ’s Sacrifice. But at Calvary, the True Lamb of God was offered, that through His death, He might save the great number appointed to salvation from eternity (Hebrews 10: 12-14).

This mystery—that Jew and Gentile should be fellow heirs—was not fully revealed in past ages, though glimpses appeared in Rahab, in Ruth, and in the promises of old. Now it is plainly declared: “Ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ” (Ephesians 2:13). Peace is made “by the cross” (Ephesians 2:16), for Christ has “broken down the middle wall of partition” (Ephesians 2:14). In the end, the mystery of Christ shines forth in this glorious truth: that by His one Sacrificial death, He has redeemed a people chosen from both Jews and Gentiles, forming not two separate communities but one new body in Himself, (Ephesians 2:15). The cross dismantles every barrier, gathers the scattered, and unites the redeemed into His one body, the Church. Here, all distinctions that once divided are overcome by God's Sovereign, Redeeming Grace in Christ. "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus", (Galatians 3:28). Herein, we behold the Wisdom of God—calling, reconciling, and perfecting His elect in a single fellowship of love, worship, and everlasting peace, to the praise of His glorious grace.

And how is this mystery communicated? Through humble means—through men God calls out and makes ministers “according to the gift of the grace of God… by the effectual working of his power” (v.7). True preaching abases the sinner and exalts Christ. And unless the Spirit is pleased to open the heart, even the greatest wisdom of men falls short: “But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit” (1 Corinthians 2:10).

Ah, the mystery of Christ! If He has chosen you, and if Christ has redeemed you, He will most certainly reveal Himself in you.