“Make Known the Mystery,” Ephesians 3.1-12—Epiphany 1-6-13, Jan. ‘17

1.       Please pray with me.  May the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer.  Amen.  During the Christmas season, God appears as man. During Epiphany, this man Jesus appears as God. He “shines forth” as the eternal light of the world to Jew and Gentile alike. In our text from Ephesians chapter 3 today, the Apostle Paul writes repeatedly of what has been “revealed” in Christ. Paul rejoices that he was given the opportunity to proclaim the “unsearchable riches of Christ” (v.8) to everyone, especially the Gentiles.  The thing that physically sets us human beings apart from other creatures is our God-given awareness, and the Epiphany season is the time we find out what our awareness is for: to see who is shining on us, to see the star, the sky torn open, the dove descending and showing us who this Jesus is. He is God the Lord.  The message is entitled, “Make Known the Mystery,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ.

2.       What is a mystery? In contemporary English it’s something unknown. But this isn’t the meaning “mystery” had in Paul’s day. In Greek the word mysterion refers to something known only to the initiated. It’s not that the thing itself is unknown. It’s known—but only to those to whom it’s revealed. The word is used in this way of ancient mystery religions—the mysteries of Mithra, Isis and Osiris, and Dionysius. People in general didn’t know what went on in these religious cults, but the “mysteries” were revealed to the initiates. When the apostle used the word, it was with similar meaning. He used it to describe something that was unknown before the coming of Christ but is now revealed fully.

3.       In Ephesians 3 the apostle uses the word “mystery” four times; so the chapter is critical for understanding the most important mystery Paul speaks of.  Paul writes in Ephesians 3:2-6 these words, “¹For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles— ²assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for you, ³how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly. ⁴When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, ⁵which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. ⁶This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.”  What’s this mystery? Quite clearly, it’s that the Gentiles should be made partakers along with the Jews of God’s great blessings in the church.

4.       A person might ask how this is new, seeing that the Old Testament referred to God’s purpose to bless the Gentiles. As far back as God’s calling of Abraham we read: “All peoples on earth will be blessed through you” (Gen. 12:3). It’s true that God announced his intention of saving Gentiles as well as Jews from the beginning. But before the coming of Christ it was understood that this was to happen only as the Gentiles became Jews through conversion. A Gentile could approach the God of Israel, but only as an Israelite. He had to become a member of the covenant people through the rite of circumcision. The new thing revealed to Paul is that this approach is no longer necessary. Christ has broken down that wall, making one new people out of two previously divided people. So now both Jew and Gentile approach God equally on that new basis.

5.       The good news of the gospel didn’t only announce that Christ had bridged the separation between sinful man and the sinless God. It also announced that the “barrier, the dividing wall of hostility” (Eph 2:14) between Jews and Gentiles had been destroyed. No longer would the non-kosher diet of the Gentiles make them ritually unclean for entrance into God’s temple. No longer would their uncircumcision make them “outsiders” from the Jews. In our day we take it for granted that Gentiles are full heirs and members of the gospel promise. In fact, we may have come “full circle” in that we may regard a Jewish Christian as the rare exception in the predominantly Gentile world of modern Christianity. But in the first century church this inclusion of Gentile with Jew was an unexpected aspect of God’s eternal plan. That is why Paul repeatedly uses the words “mystery” in these verses.

6.       The Apostle Paul continues in verses 7-9 saying, “⁷Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God’s grace, which was given me by the working of his power. ⁸To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, ⁹and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things.”  Paul downplays his greatness. Virtually every word he uses serves to direct attention either to his unworthiness or God’s graciousness. This bold preacher calls himself a “servant” of the gospel. We would want to give Paul a greater title, but he calls himself a “table waiter,” one who is “always at the bidding of his customers” (cf. Bauer-Arndt-Gingrich, p. 183, and “all things to all men” in 1 Co 9:22).  It’s Paul’s privilege and passion to make plain to everyone that the sins of the world are taken away in Christ. Unlike the sweepstakes offer which tells us we may have already won, he announces that we’ve already won through our Savior Jesus. Paul doesn’t suppress this fact; he shouts it from the rooftops.

7.       Ephesians 3:10-12 says, “¹⁰so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. ¹¹This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord. ¹²in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him.”  The Apostle Paul says that as the Church makes this mystery of the Gospel of Jesus Christ known, as she shares this good news in a bad news world, even the angels look on in awe and wonder at what God has done and promised through His Son.  In Jesus every single human being has the gift of access with boldness and confidence to God the Father.  Paul gladly suffers for the privilege of sharing the good news with every single human being.

8.       And so the Apostle’s prayer is straightforward.  He prays to the Father to grant us as Christians to be strengthened by the Holy Spirit, with Christ dwelling in their hearts by faith.  So that we may comprehend with all God’s holy ones the breadth, height, and depth of the all surpassing love of God given to us in Christ so that each of us may be filled up with all the fullness of God.  This is the mystery that we want to make known.  That Jesus Christ, true God and true man, has appeared and made Himself known to us.  He was rejected by his own people, crucified, and resurrected from the dead.  All to save us from our sins that once separated us from God our Heavenly Father.  The mystery is that the Gospel in Christ is God’s great equalizer.  The Bible marks everyone as a sinner, for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, so that anyone can be lifted up by God’s grace through faith in Jesus as their Lord and Savior.  Amen.