Paul's mission was to reveal God's plan to reconcile all people, both Jews and Gentiles, as equal heirs through faith in Christ. This was a divine secret hidden for ages but now revealed. Paul encourages the church to continue spreading this message of unity in Christ to those around them, as it is the church's responsibility, through each individual member, to proclaim God's wisdom to the world. Though Paul suffers in prison, the mission will continue through the church taking the good news to both believers and unbelievers.

1. Adapted from a Jim Black sermon
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2. Ephesians 3:1 NET For this reason
I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the
sake of you Gentiles — 2 if indeed you
have heard of the stewardship of God's
grace that was given to me for you, 3 that
by revelation the divine secret was made
known to me, as I wrote before briefly. 4
When reading this, you will be able to
understand my insight into this secret of
Christ.

3. 5 Now this secret was not disclosed to
people in former generations as it has now
been revealed to his holy apostles and
prophets by the Spirit, 6 namely, that
through the gospel the Gentiles are fellow
heirs, fellow members of the body, and
fellow partakers of the promise in Christ
Jesus. 7 I became a servant of this gospel
according to the gift of God's grace that was
given to me by the exercise of his power.

4. 8 To me — less than the least of all the
saints — this grace was given, to proclaim
to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of
Christ 9 and to enlighten everyone about
God's secret plan — a secret that has been
hidden for ages in God who has created all
things. 10 The purpose of this
enlightenment is that through the church the
multifaceted wisdom of God should now be
disclosed to the rulers and the authorities in
the heavenly realms.

5. 11 This was according to the eternal
purpose that he accomplished in Christ
Jesus our Lord, 12 in whom we have
boldness and confident access to God
because of Christ's faithfulness. 13 For this
reason I ask you not to lose heart because
of what I am suffering for you, which is your
glory.

6. Paul‟s mission was to reveal the fact that
God has broken down the walls which
divide and made all one in Christ; a mission
which he also gives to the church. We‟re
urged to take up Paul‟s challenge to reveal
the multifaceted wisdom of God to the
world!

7. The story's told about a young fellow who
was very short, but his greatest ambition
was to play basketball. His father heard
about an old torture stretch rack down at
the local museum. Later the father reported
on the success of this experiment like this:
“The rack didn't make the boy any taller, but
he did confess to many secrets that I didn't
know about.”

8. Who doesn‟t love having a secret? Don‟t
you love hearing a secret?
Oh, it is so hard sometimes keeping a
secret. The divine secret, revealed to Paul
was a secret that has been hidden for ages
in God who has created all things. This
divine secret was a real mystery. Paul was
given the answer to the mystery to
enlighten everyone about God's secret
plan.

11. Did you know that in one sense the Bible
tells of God‟s Plan as being a “mystery”?
Now, it‟s not the kind of mystery that you
and I might think of, a “whodunit,” and it‟s
not the kind of mystery that could have
been figured out by Perry
Mason, Columbo, or Joe Friday.

12. But in the very real sense what God was
ultimately „up to‟ had not been fully realized-
it was a mystery to many. What God was
doing (& had been doing from the very
beginning) to reconcile his people to himself
had not been completely clear to the
people. But now, Paul has the privilege of
unveiling, of uncovering and revealing the
greatest of mysteries for all time!

13. Let‟s look again the text that we just
read, Ephesians 3:1-13 .
Remember Paul has just pointed out that
the dividing walls have been broken
down, now we are all (Jew & Gentile) on the
same team, so to speak! He‟ll build off of
that theme and launch into a prayer, but
something stops him short. As he writes, he
pauses to reflect upon the ministry that he
has been given.

14. 1 For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of
Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles —
2 if indeed you have heard of the
stewardship of God's grace that was given
to me for you, 3 that by revelation the divine
secret was made known to me, as I wrote
before briefly.

15. Remember, Paul is in prison here. He‟s
been given this wonderful ministry to take
the good news to the Gentiles, but now that
has landed him in prison. But notice that not
even chains will stop Paul from proclaiming
the message! Though he‟s chained to a
Roman guard, he doesn‟t say that he is a
prisoner of Caesar!

17. And then it‟s as if this thought reminds Paul
of something and causes him to stop short.
My Bible has a dash at the end of vs. 1. It‟s
an indication of an abrupt change in
thought, perhaps something „theater folks‟
call an „aside‟. He leaves his train of thought
for a few paragraphs, but he‟ll return to it
next week in verse 14.

18. He‟s not just aimlessly meandering, he
pauses because he has something
important to say! He has been handed a
secret. By revelation the divine secret was
made known to me…for YOU gentiles.
The stewardship of God's grace that was
given to me for you. Paul, by God’s
grace, has been made a steward or
manager of this divine secret. Well, what is
this „divine secret‟ Paul speaks of?

19. 4 When reading this, you will be able to
understand my insight into this secret of
Christ. 5 Now this secret was not disclosed
to people in former generations as it has
now been revealed to his holy apostles and
prophets by the Spirit, 6 namely, that
through the gospel the Gentiles are fellow
heirs, fellow members of the body, and
fellow partakers of the promise in Christ
Jesus.

20. This divine secret - which those in
generations past had not known- has NOW
been revealed: The Outsiders have been
brought IN! „that through the gospel the
Gentiles are fellow heirs, [with Israel] fellow
members of the body, and fellow partakers
of the promise in Christ Jesus!‟

21. Imagine what a shock this must have been!
Its hard for us to realize because we‟ve
grown up in a „post-gospel‟ era hearing from
birth this truth, but for those in the 1st
century, this was a radical statement! Jews
had always just assumed that they were
going to be God‟s chosen people and
Gentiles would always be outsiders.

22. But God
had a plan that was a mystery to everyone!
Now, to be fair, there HAD been clues along
the way. In commissioning Abraham &
giving him the promise, God told him in
Genesis 12:2 NIV “I will make you into a
great nation and I will bless you; I will make
your name great, and you will be a blessing.

23. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and
whoever curses you I will curse; and all
peoples on earth will be blessed through
you.”
Later the prophet Isaiah prophesies
concerning the „servant of the Lord‟, Isaiah
49:6 NIV he says: “It is too small a thing for
you to be my servant to restore the tribes of
Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have
kept.

24. I will also make you a light for the
Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to
the ends of the earth.”
Jesus himself hinted at this in Matthew 8:11
NET I tell you, many will come from the east
and west to share the banquet with
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom
of heaven,

25. And again John records Jesus making the
bold claim, I have other sheep that do not
come from this sheepfold. I must bring them
too, and they will listen to my voice, so that
there will be one flock and one shepherd.
John 10:16 NET
So, there had been clues, but the whole
scope of God‟s plan had not been fully laid
out, until NOW!

26. We may not share Paul‟s concern that this
be understood. We live in a day & time
where this fact is a given- we take it for
granted. In fact, Gentiles have taken over
the church! There are relatively few truly
Jewish Christians today compared with
Gentile Christians. But let‟s remember what
Paul is stressing: the unity of the church in
Christ! The
church is made up of all kinds of people!

27. This is a theme he‟ll come back to in
Chapter 4, but for now let us just emphasize
that the differences which divided Jew &
Gentile in the 1st century are FAR more
significant than any differences which divide
Christians today! More than race; more than
politics; more than religion!

28. To be in Christ is to be made ONE with all
of those who are also in Christ, like it or not!
Whether you agree with them or not;
whether you have anything else in common
or not; whether you speak the same
language or dress in the same styles or eat
the same food, you are ONE with all those
who are in Christ! So, how do we show that
„oneness‟ that we share in Christ?

29. Well, with Paul languishing in prison, what
motivates him to keep going with this
radical message?
7 I became a servant of this gospel
according to the gift of God's grace that was
given to me by the exercise of his power. 8
To me — less than the least of all the saints
— this grace was given, to proclaim to the
Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ

30. 9 and to enlighten everyone about God's
secret plan — a secret that has been
hidden for ages in God who has created all
things.
Paul‟s is a “Grace-Motivated” Ministry! It‟s
worth pointing out that Paul very much saw
this duty as „by God’s grace‟ or out of his
loving kindness! He saw himself as nothing
special, „less than the least of all the saints.‟

31. Yet he recognized that God had given him a
special grace to be able to proclaim to the
Gentiles this message of Christ . . . the
unfathomable riches of Christ . . . to
enlighten everyone! This wasn‟t a chore
that brought burden for Paul! It was a
wonderful privilege to be entrusted with this
gospel message!

32. And even though he was in chains because
of it- he still saw it as a grace! I believe God
has given me a great grace to be your
preacher. It‟s not because I‟m so good or
qualified, but because God has given me
this privilege to proclaim his good news to
you and those you bring with you. It‟s the
message that‟s important, not the
messenger! Being involved in Ministry is a
GRACE! Keep that thought in mind as we
move to Paul‟s next major point:

33. 10 The purpose of this enlightenment is that
through the church the multifaceted wisdom
of God should now be disclosed to the
rulers and the authorities in the heavenly
realms. 11 This was according to the eternal
purpose that he accomplished in Christ
Jesus our Lord, 12 in whom we have
boldness and confident access to God
because of Christ's faithfulness.

34. 13 For this reason I ask you not to lose
heart because of what I am suffering for
you, which is your glory.
Paul is in prison! While he‟s doing a lot
even in prison, he‟s also writing to
encourage the church that his mission is
theirs as well! Paul was given this ministry
to the intent that now the entire church
should make known the wisdom of God! His
mission of proclaiming this reconciliation in
Christ is now the church‟s mission, ministry!

35. It‟s what we‟re supposed to be about!
Ephesians tells us how to be the church!
Now let‟s think about that mission for a
moment.
Who is „the church?‟ You know, preachers
get into trouble when they start to think a
little too highly of themselves. But, it is also
easy for members to think too highly of the
preacher.

36. Paul didn‟t say, “His intent was that now
through the wonderful and talented
ministers, the multifaceted wisdom of God
should now be disclosed.” Or “Through the
wise and prudent Elders, the wisdom
should be disclosed.” NO! He said this is
the church‟s mission! How can a church
accomplish this?

37. Some might say. "We can‟t tell anybody the
good news if they won‟t come to church,”
Ohhh, how we‟ve misunderstood what
church is! The church is YOU! That old
hand exercise we learned as kids . ..
“Here‟s the church, here‟s the steeple, open
the door & see all the people,” is WRONG!
The church is the people! For many of
us, the church is a place that „puts on
services.‟

38. We‟ve GOT to move beyond this
understanding and rediscover God‟s intent
for the church! The church is the body of
saved individuals who assemble together to
lift Him up in praise, to embody the unity
that God models and to be His hands and
feet in a lost and dying world! Grace calls
ALL OF US! Its not about hiring a preacher
or evangelist to go out and do this for you! If
it‟s the responsibility of the church, it‟s the
responsibility of all of us!

39. Well, how do we do it? One method that
we‟ve tried for years and know doesn‟t
work: wait for them to come to us. If we
know it doesn‟t work, why is that typically
how we do evangelism?
Albert Einstein is credited of saying, “the
definition of insanity is doing the same thing
over and over again while expecting
different results.”

40. Is THIS what we‟ve been doing? Paul
certainly didn‟t wait on unbelievers to come
to him! He didn‟t learn the mystery of the
good news and then sit back to see who
came for it. He went to them and took the
message to where they were! What are we
doing to take the message to the
community?

41. Now, part of that might be inviting them to
come to our services- but most won‟t come
unless invited. That‟s just the way many
people are. Who have you invited? It‟s up to
us. We have a job to do and it involves
sharing the good news about Jesus Christ
with others, your family, friends and
neighbors. You are uniquely qualified for the
job, too, because there is no one else like
you.

42. You have opportunities each week that I
don‟t have, that Brother So-&-so doesn‟t
have.
Sister What‟s-her-name will never have
opportunities that God has uniquely given to
you.
What will you do about them?

43. Well, fortunately, the mission of the church
is in God‟s hands. We do our part, but He‟ll
handle the details. We sow and water, but
God will bring the increase. This is God‟s
church, not ours. Our confidence is in Him,
not
ourselves! So, Paul says to the Ephesians,
“don‟t worry about me. The mission of the
church is bigger than any one of us! The
good news will be spread whether I‟m in
prison or not!”

44. What are you doing to be a part of this
mission? What is your part in revealing this
mystery to those around us? The wall which
has divided people from God has been
broken down! And that is Good News!
When the Berlin Wall came down, CNN was
right there to broadcast it to the world!
Where‟s the CNN‟s broadcasting THIS
NEWS? What are you doing to broadcast
it? Who do YOU know needs to hear it?

45. Have YOU heard it?
Do YOU have a relationship with God? If
not, did you know you could? That‟s the
mystery that Paul is talking about: you can
come to God with „boldness and confident,‟
thru faith in Christ who has taken down that
wall! What‟s your faith in this morning?

46. If you‟re willing to turn from that old life of
placing your confidence in yourself . . . if
you‟re willing to place your confidence in
Him . . . if you‟re willing to commit yourself
to Him thru baptism . . . we‟d love to accept
you into the great family of God!
He‟s got a plan for you, a mission, if you‟ll
just accept it!