The Fellowship of the Mystery Ephesians 3:9

Paul the apostle considered himself “less than the least of all saints”, and he knew it was to him “grace” was “given” that he “should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ”. In chapter three and verse nine of his letter, Paul shared about “the fellowship of the mystery” of God that was given to him where we read:

And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world has been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:

The verse begins, “And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery,...” Paul began, “And to make all men see” which is the Greek phrase “phōtizō pas phōtizō” and means “to give light, shine, illuminate and render evident to each, every, any, all, the whole and everyone ” “what” or “who, which or that” “is the fellowship” which is the Greek word “koinōnia” which refers to “association, community, communion, joint participation and intimacy” “of the mystery” which means “the hidden, secret, not obvious to the understanding purpose and counsel”. Paul's commission was to “give light” to everyone concerning the “communion” of God's “secret purpose” for all people.

The verse goes on to say, “...which from the beginning of the world has been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:” Paul added, “which from the beginning of the world” which means “forever, an unbroken age, perpetuity of time and eternity” “has been hid” which means “” “in God” which refers to the Godhead bodily and trinity which is comprised of God the Father, Christ the Son and the Holy Spirit” “who created” which means “” “all things” or “” “by Jesus” whose name means “Jehovah is Salvation” and is “the Messiah and Son of God” “Christ” who is “the anointed One, the Messiah and Son of God”. Though God “hid” His “mystery” from the “eternal ages”, the Creator of everything by Jesus Christ committed these things to Paul.

When we think through these words of Paul, we begin to understand just how “good” our “God of grace” is. He commission Paul the apostle who considered himself “less than the least of all the saints” to “share and give” His gospel to everyone whether they were Jews or Gentiles. The Creator of the Universe wanted to have “communion” with fallen man, and no matter the person's station in life, God desires to have a relationship with all of them. We should rejoice in God's intentional passion to relate to us, and He did so through the apostle Paul.

Next time Paul shares how “principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.