Beloved, I am glad to share with you today the above theme from Ep 3:1-2 and following. Indeed, here the apostle highlights the “now revealed” mystery that forms the subject, that of Christ and the Assembly. The history of man is divided into periods called “centuries” (Eph 1:18-21; Eph 2:4-7), dispensations and economies in which God reveals Himself under a certain name to a certain class of people. During the dispensation of grace, ours, characterized by the presence of the Holy Spirit on earth, God reveals Himself as Father and calls a heavenly people.
For if divine wisdom can be contemplated in creation (Ps 104:24-26; Pr 3:19-20), how it shines even brighter in God’s unchanging plans for the glory and eternal joy of His beloved Son. This “so diverse” Wisdom was manifested in a sovereign and entirely new way “by the Assembly”. The angels admire him; nations receive “the good news.” And it was to Paul, by a special call, that this revelation was given, the greatness of which lowers him in his own eyes. He was charged with making known to all the riches of grace (Eph 1:5-8; Eph 2:4-7) and divine glory (Eph 1:18-21; Eph 3:14-18). The promise of Ps 84:12, “The Lord shall give grace and glory,” was fulfilled on the cross. These wonderful and free donations are now our part. Privileged as we are, let us value them above all else.
Thus, this new prayer of the apostle is addressed to the “Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Eph 1:15-20). May “He who can, beyond all things, do infinitely more than we ask or think” (Eph 3:20) answer it for each of us. May He give us to understand something of His glory in every sense unfathomable and eternal. But however great the prospects for this glory may be, they do not fix or hold back our affections. This is why the apostle adds without transition: “and to know the love of Christ…” So it is with glory: it is that of Jesus whom we love.
Thus, together with the apostle, let us ask that His Spirit strengthen our “inner man”. If Christ dwells in us, it is nothing less than “all the fullness of God” that will fill us (Col 2:8-12) and with it power, love, faith, and intelligence. For the Father has made room for us in his house. Have we made room for Jesus in our hearts? After presenting this great display of truth, Paul begins to exhort us to walk in a manner worthy of such a high call (or vocation). For he indicates how precisely the Lord has entrusted to him the ministry in relation to all this truth which he calls “the mystery”; and once again he records the contents of his prayers for the believing Ephesians.
Obviously, he felt that his exhortation to walk in a manner worthy of our calling [or: vocation] would have more strength if we understood how much all the Lord’s authority was behind this exhortation. A “dispensation” or “administration” of God’s grace to beings such as us had been entrusted to him, for the “mystery” had been specially revealed to him, and he had just written briefly about it. This is an allusion to what he had written (Eph 1:19 to 2:22). But this was an aspect of God’s purpose in blessing that was quite unknown in previous centuries: necessarily unknown, of course, because if it had been known, the order of things established in relation to the law and Israel was ipso facto destroyed. So it was a secret hidden in God until Christ was exalted in the heavenly places and the Holy Spirit was sent here on earth.
But now this mystery is revealed, and the apostle Paul was made his servant. It was revealed not only to him, but also to the other apostles and prophets. Thus the reality of this mystery was unmistakable and indisputable. Can we seek and identify these blessings in such a way that we can completely dominate the subject? We cannot. Because they are too big for our little understanding. They are unfathomable, and so is all that we have in Christ.
Indeed, the mystery concerns Christ and the church, and more particularly the place that the Gentiles occupy in it, as Paul has already explained. The administration concerns the practical arrangements for the life of the assembly, its order and its testimony, which Paul had established everywhere. These provisions were commanded by the Lord so that, even in the present condition of the church, there could be a manifestation of the things that are true and established concerning the congregation in the eternal counsel of God.
The mystery itself was something entirely new, for from the beginning of the world until then it had been hidden in God. Therefore the administration of the mystery was entirely new. Previously God had only dealt with one nation, and He had done so on the basis of the law. But God was calling chosen people from among all nations according to His grace, and what was simply national was melted into this larger and more complete purpose. In God’s assembly everything was to be put in order and administered according to these words of God. The apostle does not cease in this epistle to instruct us on the details of this divinely ordained administration; he will do so again by writing his first letter to the Corinthians.
Then the apostle Paul establishes that Jews or Gentiles are “built up together, to be a dwelling place of God by the Spirit” (Eph 2:22). This is one of the great subjects included in the mystery. For Paul declares that consequently the Spirit is sovereign in the house where He dwells. And He dwells there to be able to act to the glory of God: “But the one and the same Spirit operates all these things, distributing to each one in particular as he pleases”. But there is reason to fear that in our days the administration of the mystery will be set aside, lightly, by many Christians, and even by good serious Christians; but we are assured that they are doing so for their great loss, both now and in the century to come. But, since angels do not die, these same eyes once looked, and saw the beauty of God’s diverse wisdom, when the excellence of God’s divine administration, exercised by Paul, was first seen in the early days of the church.
Then, for a brief period, things have been “according to the purpose of the centuries, which he established in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Eph 3:11). Since then, and for a long time, things have been mostly according to the disjointed desires and arrangements of men, although many of those who made the arrangements were undoubtedly pious and well-intentioned men. In addition, we do not easily or quickly enter into the power and enjoyment of these things. That is why, at this point, the apostle begins to pray, and he is led to give us in writing the content of his prayer, so that we may be revived. Prayer is addressed to the Father, and it relates to the operations of the Spirit for Christ to have the place due to Him in our hearts. The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are thus involved in this prayer.
For prayer is addressed to the Father as to the One who confers His name and character on every family that will ultimately fill heaven and earth. The Lord Jesus is our Head, and He is also, in a certain sense, the Head and Conductor of each of these different families. Among the heavenly families there will be the church and the spirits of righteous men made perfect (or “consumed”; Heb 12:23), that is, the saints of the Old Testament. Among the earthly families there will be Israel, the Redeemed Gentiles, etc. Nowadays, among men, families take their name from the one who is the father, from the one who is at the origin of it. But fatherhood among men is only a reflection of divine fatherhood.
For the main subject of prayer is that Christ dwells by faith in our hearts, that He always remains the center of direction of our deepest affections. This can only happen if we are strengthened by the power of the Spirit as to the inner man, for by nature it is selfishness that controls us, and we are fickle and uncertain. Indeed, if Christ dwells in our hearts, we become rooted and founded in love (His love, not ours). Only when we are rooted and founded in love can we begin to know the love of Christ that surpasses all knowledge.
Then the apostle speaks of what is at the center of everything, Christ dwelling in us, and being rooted and founded in love. For in Eph 3:18-19 we pass to the widest possible circle of blessings, love, and glory. Indeed, it is not easy to draw a circle unless one of the branches is firmly fixed. Once one of the branches is fixed, the circle can be easily drawn. For once rooted and founded in love, the vast and powerful embrace of verses 18 and 19 becomes possible:”You may understand with all the saints what is the breadth, length, depth, and height, and know the love of Christ, which surpasses all knowledge, so that you may be filled to the fullness of God.”
The following verses have been compiled for your edification and grouped together for your better understanding.
The mystery of Christ:
- Divine Revelations
Dn 2:22 He reveals what is deep and hidden, He knows what is in darkness, and the light dwells with Him. Am 3:7 For the Lord, the Lord, does nothing without revealing His secret to His servants, the prophets. Jn 15:15 I no longer call you servants, because the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you all that I have learned from my Father. 1 Co 2:9-10 But, as it is written, these are things that the eye has not seen, that the ear has not heard, and that have not ascended to the heart of man, things that God has prepared for those who love him.10 God has revealed them to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit probes everything, even the depths of God. Eph 1:9-10 making known to us the mystery of his will, according to the benevolent plan he had formed in himself, 10 to put it into effect when the times are fulfilled, to gather all things in Christ, those that are in heaven and those that are on earth. Eph 3:5 It has not been manifested to the sons of men in other generations, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to the holy apostles and prophets of Christ. Col 1:26 the mystery hidden from all times and in all ages, but now revealed to his saints,
- Spiritual heirs
Rom 4:13 Indeed, it was not by law that the inheritance of the world was promised to Abraham or his posterity, it was by the righteousness of faith. Rom 8:17 Now, if we are children, we are also heirs: heirs of God, and co-heirs of Christ, if we suffer with him, so that we may be glorified with him. Gal 3:29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are the seed of Abraham, heirs according to the promise. Gal 4:7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if you are a son, you are also an heir by the grace of God. Tt 3:7 that, justified by His grace, we may become, in hope, heirs of eternal life. Hb 1:14 Are they not all spirits in the service of God, sent to exercise a ministry on behalf of those who are to inherit salvation? Hb 6:17 Therefore, God, wanting to show more clearly to the heirs of the promise the immutability of his resolution, intervened by an oath; Hb 11:7 It was by faith that Noah, divinely warned of things that were not yet seen, and seized with respectful fear, built an ark to save his family; it was through it that he condemned the world, and became heir to justice which is obtained by faith. 1 P 3:7 Husbands, in turn show wisdom in your dealings with your wives, as with a weaker sex; honor them, as must also inherit with you the grace of life. So be it, so that nothing will stand in the way of your prayers.
- Wisdom of God
Jb 12:13 In God reside wisdom and power. Advice and intelligence belong to him. Ps 104:24 How many of your works are, O Lord! You did them all wisely. The earth is filled with your possessions. Pr 3:19 It was by wisdom that Jehovah founded the earth, It was by intelligence that he strengthened the heavens; Dn 2:21 It is he who changes times and circumstances, who overthrows and establishes kings, who gives wisdom to the wise and science to those who have intelligence. Rom 11:33 O depth of God’s wealth, wisdom, and science! How unfathomable his judgments are, and his ways incomprehensible! For 1 Co 1:25 For God’s folly is wiser than men, and God’s weakness is stronger than men.
- Discernment
1 Kings 3:9 Therefore, grant your servant an intelligent heart to judge your people, to discern good from evil! For who could judge your people, this people so numerous? Isa 7:15 He will eat cream and honey, until He knows how to reject evil and choose good. Isa 11:3 He will breathe the fear of the Lord; He will not judge on appearance, He will not pronounce on hearsay. 1 Co 2:14 But the animal man does not receive things from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot know them, because it is spiritually that they are judged. Hb 5:14 But solid food is for men made, for those whose judgment is exercised by usage to discern what is right and what is evil.
From all of the above, we note that we must know what surpasses all knowledge, and understand what escapes any true definition. Indeed, four dimensions are listed, but we are not told what they refer to. The dimensions of what? No doubt those of all the great truth that Paul had unfolded, namely, the dimensions of Christ’s unfathomable riches. These things are to be understood only with all the saints. We need each other when we start learning them. All saints should be eager to understand them, and they can only be understood by keeping all the saints in sight. For those who do this are the most suitable to understand the mighty scope of Christ’s unfathomable riches, to know His love which is centered on all the saints, and to be filled with all the fullness of God. Contemplation in prayer, such heights of light, affection, and spiritual blessings, drove the apostle’s heart to worship, and that is why Paul ends with glory to the Father. What he had desired in his prayer would be impossible to accomplish if it were not for the power that operates in us, namely the Holy Spirit of God. Through this Power, the Father can accomplish what irresistibly surpasses our thoughts and desires. Eventually, many of us, reading the Apostle’s desires for us, were able to say to ourselves: Quite wonderful, but quite out of my reach. Let’s remember, however, that this does not exceed the Power that operates in us. For all this blessing can be truly and consciously to us, and to us as a present possession. That is why the glory attributed to God will certainly be His. For during all ages, the church will radiate His glory. As a bride, wife of the Lamb, she will be said to be: “Having the glory of God: her luminary was like a very precious stone, like a crystalline jasper stone” (Rev 21:11). And all that the church is, and all that it will be forever, is by and in Christ Jesus. For Jesus Christ is the most glorious Servant of the glory of God. He operated on this glory, and covered himself with glory in doing so. This is how we can sing with such joy. Our prayers support you all in your efforts to follow what the Lord Jesus teaches.
PRAYER OF ACCEPTANCE OF JESUS CHRIST AS LORD AND PERSONAL SAVIOR
I now invite every person who wants to become a new creation by walking in the truth, to pray with me the following prayer:
Lord Jesus, I have long walked in the lusts of the world ignoring your love for humans. I admit to having sinned against you and ask your forgiveness for all my sins, because today I have decided to give you my life by taking you as Lord and personal Savior. I recognize that you died on the cross of Calvary and rose from the dead for me.
I am now saved and born again by the power of the Holy Spirit. Lead me every day to the eternal life that you give to all who obey your Word. Reveal yourself to me and strengthen my heart and faith, so that your light may be shining in my life right now.
Thank you, Lord Jesus for accepting me into your divine family, so that I may also contemplate the wonders of your kingdom.
I will now choose a nearby watering point to baptize myself by immersion, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
All adoration, power and glory are yours, now and forever and ever. Amen!
I would be happy to respond to any questions and comments you may have, before sharing with you tomorrow on “Unity of the Assembly – Diversity of donations and services.”
May the Lord Jesus Christ bless you abundantly.
David Feze, Servant of the Almighty God.