1 For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles—2 assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace that was given to me for you, 3 how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly. 4 When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, 5 which 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. 6 This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.
7 Of 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. 8 To 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, 9 and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things, 10 so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. 11 This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realised in Christ Jesus our Lord, 12 in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him. 13 So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory."
Ephesians 3:1-13
Paul makes two points in particular in these verses. One has to do with what he calls 'the mystery of Christ', hid from ages and generations and now revealed in the gospel; the other has to do with the ultimate purpose in that 'mystery', in relation to what he calls 'the principalities and powers'. It has been suggested that this twofold emphasis can be summed up by saying that what is in view is (i) a sense of history, and (ii) a sense of eternity. We shall look at these two in turn. As to the first, in speaking of 'the mystery of Christ', one needs to think only for a little to realise that this is a phrase that repeatedly comes up in Paul's writings. In Romans 16:25, 26 he speaks of 'the mystery kept secret since the world began, but now is made manifest ... and made known to all nations for the obedience of faith'. In 1 Corinthians 2:7 he speaks of 'the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory'; in Colossians 1:26, 27, he speaks of the mystery which hath been hid from ages and generations, but now is made manifest to His saints ... this mystery ... which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.' This is clearly an important part of Paul's teaching. Not that this mystery was completely unknown in past ages, as cf Genesis 12:3, 22:18; Psalm 72:17; Isaiah 49:6. But - and this is the point - it was not revealed then as it is now. The 'as' in 5 has the force of 'in such a manner as', or 'with such clarity as', or 'in the way it is now'. What was not clear, and not understood, in time past, was that the old exclusive 'theocracy' was to be completely abolished, and that in its place a new organism would arise, in which Gentile and Jew would be on an equal footing, a complete and perfect fusion, making of twain one new man (2:15) - this was what was hidden from the view of Old Testament saints. This is an important and significant consideration, and we shall consider it further in tomorrow's Note.