Day 5 Preaching Christ and Administrating the Mystery

Preaching Christ and Administrating the Mystery

Although I am less than the least of all the Lord’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the boundless riches of Christ, 9 and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things.   Ephesians 3:8,9 (NIV)

The privilege ministry of spreading the gospel, entrusted to Paul by the grace of God, is now elaborated in three stages.

Firstly, in making known Christ’s riches to the Gentiles, ‘this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the boundless riches of Christ’ (3:8), the riches He possesses in Himself and which He bestows on those who come to Him. They include resurrection from the death of sin, victorious enthronement with Christ in the heavenlies, reconciliation with God, incorporation with Jewish believers in His new society, the end of hostility and the beginning of peace, access to the Father through Christ and by the Spirit, membership of His kingdom and household, being an integral part of His dwelling among humanity, and all of this as only a foretaste of the riches to come, the riches of the glory of the inheritance which God will give to all His people on the last day. Paul calls these riches ‘boundless’ which literally means ‘not to be tracked out.’ Dynamically equivalent terms might be ‘unsearchable,’ ‘inexhaustible,’ or ‘incalculable.’

Paul has just touched on two of the strongest incentives for evangelism. He began by emphasising that the revelation and the commission given to him belonged together. All revealed truth is held in stewardship. It is given to be shared. Paul then went on to emphasise the invaluable content of the message itself. He was convinced that Christ never impoverishes those who put their trust in Him. In fact, He immeasurably enriches them. Here was God’s double obligation: to share God’s truth and to share Christ’s riches.

The second stage of Paul’s privileged ministry was to make known the mystery to all humanity: ‘to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things’ (3:9). At first this seems to be saying the same thing as the preceding verse but there are three distinct differences.

First, the preaching of the gospel is not here defined as ‘announcing good news’ (Greek: euangelizo) but as ‘enlightening’ (‘make plain’ in NIV; Greek: photizo), a word he has already used in 1:18. The emphasis is not now on the content of the message but is on the condition of those hearing it (darkness and ignorance). Jesus had told Paul at His conversion that His commission was ‘to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God’ (Acts 26:17,18). The prince of darkness holds men and women in darkness and only a supernatural ‘enlightenment’ can open their eyes to see. Our responsibility is to be faithful in spreading the gospel because this is the means God has ordained to bring His light to those in darkness.

A second difference between verses 8 and 9 is Paul’s description of his message. In 3:8 he called it ‘the unsearchable riches of Christ’ but in 3:9 ‘the administration of this mystery.’ Christ’s ‘unsearchable riches’ is the broader term. It embraces Christ’s remedy for the Gentile alienation from both God and from Israel. The ‘administration of this mystery’ is Paul’s particular commission within the church.

The third difference between verses 8 and 9 is that Paul directs his ministry to ‘the Gentiles’ in 3:8 but to ‘everyone’ in 3:9. This was necessary because the mystery concerned both Jews and Gentiles. It was a message of mutual reconciliation and joint membership in God’s new society, the new humanity He was creating. This is probably why Paul concludes 3:9 by describing God as the One ‘who created all things.’ He who created the universe has now begun a new creation.

Even though I am the least significant of all his holy believers, this grace-gift was imparted when the manifestation of his power came upon me. Grace alone empowers me so that I can boldly preach this wonderful message to non-Jewish people, sharing with them the unfading, inexhaustible riches of Christ, which are beyond comprehension.

God’s grace fuels my passion to enlighten every person to this wonderful mystery, which was kept a secret in the heart of God, the Creator of all, and has been hidden from the world until now. Ephesians 3:8,9 (The Passion Translation)

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