I’m a sucker for a good mystery. Whether the detective on the case is Sherlock Holmes, Father Brown, or Inspector Morse, I take pride in attempting to find out “who done it” before the big reveal.
In Ephesians 3, Paul is the detective peeling back the curtain on a different kind of mystery: the mystery of God.
Notice where Paul is when he writes: a prison cell. Most detectives prefer to stay out of jail. Not Paul. He is not theologizing from a candle-lit study, pipe smoke filling the room; he is chained, "a prisoner for Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles." (Eph 3:1) The message Paul carries is from God, and no earthly authorities will get in his way of spreading the good news.
The Mystery
Unlike British crime dramas, Paul doesn’t wait until to end to disclose the mystery: “the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel” (Eph 3:6). Those who were once outsiders, are now brothers and sisters in Christ. Those who were once enemies, are now members of the same body. This comes through participating in the promise of God by believing the good news that Jesus Christ is the God-man who came down from Heaven to bring sinners to salvation.
The Church
This effects of this revealed mystery are stunning. Paul was sent to preach “the unsearchable riches of Christ, . . . so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places” (Eph 3:8–10). God chose to display his wisdom in the church, among ordinary people who would never have shared a room otherwise. Your church, with all her faults, is how he makes his case to a watching world. More than this, the wisdom of God is made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places!
Paul’s Prayer
In response to this revealed mystery, Paul kneels. He bows before the Father and asks that we would be “strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being,” that Christ would dwell in our hearts through faith, and that we would be rooted and grounded in love, able to grasp a love that surpasses knowledge (Eph 3:14–19). Paul wants Christians to marvel at this knowledge of things that were previously hidden so that that knowledge may deepen our love for him. When our love for him increases, so does our love for one another.
Confidence, Boldness, and the Church
Applying this chapter is straightforward. First, walk with confidence and boldness, because through Jesus, you have access to the Father. No more veils, no more outer courts, no more outside mediators. Through faith in Jesus, you can come to the throne of your creator and ask whatever you wish. In Christ, you have “boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him” (Eph 3:11–12). Second, commit to your local church, since God has tied his own glory to it (Eph 3:21), and the unglamorous work of church membership counts for more than it feels like it does. The church is where the wisdom of God is made known. Finally, pray with the infinitude of God in mind, because he “is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think” (Eph 3:20).
