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
It is impossible not to sense the wonder in Paul's words in 8, the sense of the disproportion between what he was and the privilege given him. He was gripped by the sheer wonder of it all. This is how he thought of the gospel he was ordained to preach - unsearchable riches indeed, riches 'not to be traced by footprints', as the word has been literally rendered - the sense that no matter how deeply he explored its mysteries, it was always true for him to say 'These are but the edges of His ways'. This is a real antidote to discouragement, when days of darkness assail and seek to bring the spirit down into despair - to light our candle at this flame, and say, again and again, 'Unto me, who am less than least of all saints, is this grace given ....' It will be useful to look back at the opening words of the chapter, in 1, 'I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord Jesus Christ for you Gentiles ....' In the literal sense, of course, the reference is to the Apostle's imprisonment in Rome, as he wrote this epistle; but in the far more important spiritual sense, he was the prisoner of the gospel of the divine love - for the Gentiles. That, in the deepest sense of the words, is what he was for! He was Christ's captive for a lost world, and the divine purposes for that world were being fulfilled in and through him. That is the measure of his commitment to Christ.