THE MYSTERY OF CHRIST
Ephesians 3:4-8 NKJV
4 by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ), 5 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: 6 that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel, 7 of which I became a minister according to the gift of the grace of God given to me by the effective working of His power.
8 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,
I was recently speaking with a guy who had a great question. He asked how not to get discouraged when reading Bible 365, particularly in reference to books such as Ephesians and Galatians. I know exactly what he is talking about. So I encouraged him along these lines. Don’t get bogged down by what you don’t know whenever you read a chapter. Just read, and often, I re-read in order to quiet my mind. Oh, and read out loud if you are able to. That helps you engage your heart and mind. But then don’t fixate on what you don’t know or understand. Remember, this is a spiritual book, and often I hit areas where I don’t understand verses. But I appreciate what I do understand and know that if I will stay with it, my understanding continues to build over time.
And Ephesians is a seriously doctrinal letter. There is a great amount of revelation knowledge that Paul refers to in our verses for today as the mystery of Christ. No one saw what was coming in Christ. If Satan had known what the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus accomplished, he would not have pushed to have Jesus killed. But God is always smarter than the devil, and His plan in Christ was completed for our good. God revealed this mystery to people such as Peter, Paul, and John, and it was written for our benefit.
Part of this mystery is that the Gentiles, those who are not from Jewish heritage, can become part of God’s family, part of the body of Christ, and can receive all the promises that are in Christ. No longer is there Jew or Gentile or male or female, but we are all one in Christ. Can I completely explain this, or how it happens? Well, no, not exactly. But I can believe it, and my spiritual knowledge continues to grow over the years. This is why Paul prayed for the church to be enlightened so that we may see what has been done for us in Christ.
Paul wrote of preaching to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ. The word unsearchable initially makes me think that I can never know what I have because it’s unobtainable. A better way of looking at this from the NLT which calls unsearchable the endless treasures available in Christ. Now we’re talking. There is so much available to us in Christ, we will be discovering these treasures throughout eternity. What a promise. What a future.
We know some of what is available to us in Christ. We know we are forgiven, accepted, blessed, and redeemed from Satan and the works of darkness. We know we are free from sin and death and healed by the stripes laid on Jesus. We know we are dead to sin and alive to God, and we can walk connected to Christ in a totally new way of living. But wait, there is more. We have been redeemed, bought out from the curse of sin, sickness, poverty, and despair. And we could continue, but you are getting the gist of this. There is so much in Christ. Rejoice in what you do know and trust that by God’s grace and the help of the Holy Spirit, you’ll know more in the days, years, and eternity to come.
PRAYER
Thank You, Father, for what You have done for me in Christ. Please continue to reveal the endless treasures available to me because of Jesus.