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Articles 2024-2026
The Church was increasing in size across the Roman Empire as God was actively adding and building together its members. At the same time, Paul wanted the believers at Ephesus to see the Lord’s specific work of building them together to become His corporate habitation in that city (Ephesians 2:21 - 22).
For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles–if indeed you have heard of the dispensation (Greek, OIKONOMIA – the stewardship, the administration) of the grace of God which was given to me for you, how that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I have briefly written already, by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge (Greek, SUNESIS – my understanding, my insight) in the mystery of Christ),
Paul was a man of revelation. And what God had revealed to him was an insight, a certain degree of understanding into the mystery of Christ. While he did not have the whole picture, God had clearly given him amazing perception. If it was possible for Paul to know the totality of God’s mystery, he would not have needed Barnabas to bring further insight into his life. Or Silas. And today, we would not need the writings of Peter or John. But the New Testament is more than the writings of Paul and shows us that he needed and then also today that we need the insights of others around us. It is in our togetherness that we have the mind of Christ.
And the Lord had given a stewardship to Paul. The apostle was to bear the grace of God into the lives of the Gentiles living in Ephesus. And as for us as well, our ministries are not about us functioning in our own strength, opinions, and strategies. Like Paul, God has poured His grace into our lives that we too might steward it, that we might impart it to others. As he says later in this letter: Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers (Ephesians 4:29). May God help us to impart in some measure the grace those listening to us will need in order to walk in what He has sent us to say to them. Otherwise, we are merely informing their minds.
So, Paul had insight into the mystery of Christ.
The mystery:
which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets:
While this mystery had not been fully revealed to the writers of the Old Testament, God was now making it more abundantly known to His New Testament apostles and prophets. These two ministries, properly functioning today, will also be marked by this one defining burden – Israel’s Messiah, hidden in a mystery, being unveiled by God to an emerging apostolic and prophetic company, then through them to the Church, and then through the Church to the world.
So, what specifically was the mystery being unveiled?
to be specific, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel,
(Ephesians 3:6 NAS)
God had broken out beyond the borders of Israel and was now revealing to all nations His Messiah made manifest in a corporate body. And through the gospel, Gentiles were now co–members of/co–participants in Israel’s Messiah being members of that corporate body. As a result, they were now co–heirs of God’s promises to the saints of past generations. Heaven’s one new man was now beginning to stand up before the eyes of the whole world. Of this gospel:
…I became a minister (Greek, DIAKONOS – a household servant, a waiter, a runner of errands) according to the gift of the grace of God given to me by the effective working of His power.
Some believers may need to rethink their use of the term minister. To many it is a word primarily meaning one who marries, buries, and regularly preaches sermons. But at its root it actually means one who serves others at the leading of the Lord.
Paul’s servanthood in the gospel was revealed through the grace in his life to be an apostle. While not all believers are called to be apostles, all are called to be servants. And God’s grace in our lives will define what that specific expression of service will look like.
So, Paul served others with the grace to be an apostle at the command of Christ.
To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ,
Paul was not being falsely humble. He really did see himself as less than others. Today, those wielding spiritual authority in God’s house who do not see themselves similarly will likely cause damage to others. True spiritual authority is about revealing Christ, the One who has all authority in heaven and on earth. It is not about us promoting ourselves or our priorities.
And Paul was called to proclaim the unsearchable (unfathomable – NAS) riches of Christ. How does one proclaim what is unfathomable? Of course, it is an impossible task. We who have finite minds expressed through a finite language must convey what is infinite to others who have finite abilities to understand the eternal truths of God. Good grief.
But God’s kingdom is not about what we can do for Him. It is about what He is doing in and through us by the power of His Holy Spirit indwelling us. As Jesus said, apart from Him we can do nothing (John 15:5). At the same time, we can do all things through Him who strengthens us (Philippians 4:13).
Indeed, the Kingdom of God is about God. And it is about what He is doing for His own name’s sake among the nations. And the good news is that He calls and then empowers people to be vessels of His operative grace to reveal His purpose both to the spiritual forces of darkness in the heavens as well as to the nations. What a privilege.
and to bring to light what is the administration (Greek, OIKONOMIA – administration or stewardship) of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things.
(Ephesians 3:9 NAS)
What needed to come to light was how God intended to administer or steward Heaven’s hidden mystery so that change would come both in the heavenly places as well as in the world. Would it be through the brilliant intellects of well–educated believers? Would it be through the most gifted and eloquent speakers in the Church? Would it be solely through apostles and prophets?
No. As God uses apostolic and prophetic ministries to unveil the hidden mystery of the beauty and glory of Christ, the Church will grow in our insight into Him – for a specific reason.
to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places, according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord,
God’s manifold or multifaceted wisdom cannot be made known to the spiritual powers in the heavens simply by a leader or a team of leaders; it must be revealed through the Church. And this process as it unfolds is an integral part of God’s eternal purpose. While one believer can bring forth a particular facet of God’s wisdom, it requires the integrated body of believers to unveil the more complete picture of who God is. Clearly, He wants to say something to the powers who are influencing the nations with evil. And it is the same word that He has for the nations themselves. Very simply, that message is Christ, Israel’s crucified Messiah. He is both the power and the wisdom of God. As he wrote to the Corinthian believers:
For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
Israel’s Messiah, hidden in a mystery and being revealed first in the Church and then through the Church both to the nations as well as to the powers influencing them. Here is our calling. To know Him and to make Him known. Amen.
Donald Rumble – October 2024
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