God's Open Secret: The Great Gentile Invasion Text: Ephesians 3:1-13
Introduction: The Plot Twist of History
Our modern world is obsessed with secrets. We have conspiracy theories, classified documents, and hidden knowledge for the initiated few. Men whisper in back rooms about what is "really going on." But the biblical concept of a mystery is almost the exact opposite. A biblical mystery is not a secret to be hoarded by a gnostic elite, but rather a truth that was once hidden for long ages, but which has now, in the fullness of time, been gloriously and publicly revealed. It is an open secret. God has pulled back the curtain, and He wants everyone to see what He has been planning all along.
And the central mystery, the great plot twist of all redemptive history, is the subject of our text. It is the full and equal inclusion of the Gentiles into the covenant people of God. We tend to read this and think of it as a nice, inclusive theological adjustment. But this is to completely misunderstand the seismic, world-altering nature of what Paul is saying. For a Jew in the first century, the dividing wall between Jew and Gentile was the most basic reality in the world. It was a distinction established by God Himself, through circumcision, through dietary laws, through the Temple. To suggest that this wall was not just being lowered, but utterly demolished, was blasphemous insanity to some, and glorious, unbelievable grace to others.
What Paul describes here is not a merger or an acquisition. It is a divine invasion. It is the fulfillment of God's promise to Abraham that in him all the families of the earth would be blessed. This chapter is a doxology to the staggering wisdom of God, who planned from all eternity to create one new man out of two warring factions, and to display this new creation, the Church, as a trophy of His grace to the entire cosmos.
The Text
For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles, if indeed you heard of the stewardship of God’s grace which was given to me for you; that by revelation there was made known to me the mystery, as I wrote before in brief. About which, when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it was now revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit: that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of thebody, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel, of which I was made a minister, according to the gift of God’s grace which was given to me according to the working of His power. To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to proclaim to the Gentiles the good news of the unfathomable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for all what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things; so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places. This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and confident access through faith in Him. Therefore I ask you not to lose heart at my afflictions on your behalf, which are your glory.
(Ephesians 3:1-13 LSB)
The Prisoner of the Plan (vv. 1-3)
Paul begins by identifying himself not by his apostolic authority, but by his present circumstances, which he reinterprets through the lens of the gospel.
"For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles, if indeed you heard of the stewardship of God’s grace which was given to me for you; that by revelation there was made known to me the mystery, as I wrote before in brief." (Ephesians 3:1-3)
Paul is in chains, but he does not see himself as a prisoner of Rome or of Nero. He is the prisoner of a higher king, Christ Jesus. His chains are not a mark of defeat; they are a badge of office. He is imprisoned for the Gentiles. His suffering is directly connected to the message he preaches, a message so offensive to the established order that it landed him in jail. The gospel has consequences. A gospel that is welcome in every parlor is not the gospel of the apostles.
This mission was not something he cooked up. It was a "stewardship," a divine administration or household management. God, the master of the house, gave Paul a specific task, a portfolio to manage. And what was it? The "stewardship of God's grace...for you." Paul was entrusted with delivering the payload of God's grace to the Gentile world. This wasn't a human initiative. He received it "by revelation." This mystery was not something he deduced from the Old Testament, though it is consistent with it. It was directly revealed to him by the risen Christ. This is why he can speak with such authority. He's not sharing his opinion; he is delivering a message from the command center of the universe.
The Secret Unveiled (vv. 4-6)
Paul then defines the content of this once-hidden, now-revealed mystery.
"About which, when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it was now revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit: that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel..." (Ephesians 3:4-6)
This mystery was not entirely absent from the Old Testament. The prophets spoke of a day when the nations would stream to Zion. But the how was veiled. The assumption was that Gentiles would become Jews, proselytes who came under the Mosaic law. The staggering revelation, the part that was "not made known," was that Gentiles would be brought in as Gentiles, on equal footing with Jews, with the dividing wall of the ceremonial law smashed to rubble by the cross.
To make this radical equality clear, Paul piles up three compound words. The Gentiles are now: fellow heirs, fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers. This is a total leveling of the ground at the foot of the cross. There is no junior varsity team. There is no associate membership. Gentiles get the full inheritance, full incorporation into the body of Christ, and full participation in the promise. This is not just about individual salvation; it is about the creation of a new humanity, a single body where the old hostilities of Jew and Gentile are crucified with Christ.
The Unlikely Herald (vv. 7-9)
Paul then marvels at the grace that chose him, of all people, to be the messenger of this glorious news.
"of which I was made a minister, according to the gift of God’s grace which was given to me according to the working of His power. To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to proclaim to the Gentiles the good news of the unfathomable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for all what is the administration of the mystery..." (Ephesians 3:7-9)
Paul's ministry is a gift of grace, empowered by God's own power. He never gets over the shock of it. He calls himself "the very least of all saints." This is not false humility; it is the sober judgment of a man who knows he was a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a violent opponent of the very Christ he now serves. The chief of sinners became the chief of apostles to the Gentiles. God loves to use crooked sticks to draw straight lines, to demonstrate that the power is in the message, not the mailman.
And what is his task? Two things. First, to proclaim the "unfathomable riches of Christ." The wealth of Christ's grace, mercy, and love is unsearchable, like a mine with veins of gold that can never be exhausted. Second, his job is to "bring to light" the administration of this mystery. He is to make plain to everyone how God's secret plan, hidden for ages, is now being put into effect. He is pulling back the curtain on the stage of history so everyone can see the director's grand design.
God's Cosmic Theater (vv. 10-13)
Here we come to the breathtaking purpose behind it all. Why did God save Jews and Gentiles and forge them into one body? For a cosmic audience.
"so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places. This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and confident access through faith in Him." (Ephesians 3:10-12)
The church is God's theater. We, in our messy, complicated, multi-ethnic unity, are the play He is putting on. And who is the audience? The "rulers and authorities in the heavenly places." This refers to the entire angelic realm, both good and evil. God is demonstrating His "manifold," multi-colored, multifaceted wisdom to the angels and demons by means of the church. When a Jewish Christian and a Gentile Christian, who would have been enemies in their former lives, love one another, serve one another, and worship together, God is pointing to them and saying to the principalities and powers, "Look at that. My wisdom did that. My cross did that."
The church is Exhibit A in God's case against Satan. The devil's whole strategy is to divide, to accuse, to create hostility. The church, as one new man in Christ, is the living refutation of that strategy. This was not God's Plan B after Israel messed up. This was the "eternal purpose" that He planned before the foundation of the world and executed in Christ Jesus.
Because of this, we have "boldness and confident access" to God. We do not approach Him as strangers or aliens, but as beloved children, full members of the household. Paul concludes by tying it all back to his own suffering.
"Therefore I ask you not to lose heart at my afflictions on your behalf, which are your glory." (Ephesians 3:13)
Paul's chains are not a reason for despair, but for glory. Why? Because his imprisonment is the very price he is paying to bring this glorious mystery to them. His suffering is the validation of the message. It is the labor pains that brought about their birth into this new family. His chains are inextricably linked to their crown. They are glorious afflictions because they are part of God's glorious, eternal plan.
Conclusion: The Church on Display
We must recover this vision of the church. The church is not a religious social club. It is not a weekly self-help seminar. It is the primary vehicle through which the triumphant, multi-colored wisdom of God is being declared to the entire cosmos. Our unity in Christ across every conceivable human barrier, Jew and Gentile, slave and free, male and female, black and white, is a sermon preached to the devil and his angels. It is a declaration that their kingdom of hatred and division is doomed.
Every time we forgive one another, every time we bear with one another's weaknesses, every time we refuse to allow the world's categories of race or class to divide us, we are taking our place on God's stage. We are acting out the drama of redemption. We are showing the rulers and authorities that God's eternal purpose, accomplished in Christ, is an unstoppable success. Our very existence as the one body of Christ is a declaration of war, and a promise of ultimate victory.