Thursday after the Third Sunday after the Epiphany of our Lord
Posted on January 27, 2022 by under
Scripture: Ephesians 3:1-12 (NKJV)
3:1 For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles—2 if indeed you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which was given to me for you, 3 how that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I have briefly written already, 4 by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ), 5 which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets: 6 that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel, 7 of which I became a minister according to the gift of the grace of God given to me by the effective working of His power.
8 To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, 9 and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ; 10 to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places, 11 according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, 12 in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him. 13 Therefore I ask that you do not lose heart at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.
Devotion
St. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 4 that those in the Office of the Holy Ministry are “stewards of the mysteries of God.” In 1 Timothy 3:16 he speaks of the “mystery of godliness.” A “mystery,” in the Greek-speaking world of the Bible, was a thing that you couldn’t know or understand unless the originator or keeper of that mystery revealed it to you. Unlike Gnosticism and Greek “mystery religions,” authentic Christianity reveals all its “mysteries” in Holy Scripture. None of it remains “hidden knowledge” reserved for elites; it is clear in God’s Word so no one can “deceive us with vain words” (Eph. 5:6) if we compare all things with what God has explicitly revealed in writing.
The mystery of which St. Paul now writes is that once the Christ would appear, believing Gentiles would be incorporated into one body with those Hebrews who would receive their Messiah with the same faith. In Christ, God’s “eternal purpose” was accomplished. The provision of righteousness for all the fallen children of Adam was revealed, just as God had ordained before the Fall—indeed, before He created the world (Matt. 25:34, Eph. 1:4). Until that time, God kept them separate so the promise of the Messiah and the record of His promise, including how to recognize Him both by lineage and by sign, would be preserved. In this way, all would see His “manifold wisdom” and we would be able to rejoice in the “unsearchable riches of Christ” through whom we have bold and confident access to the Father through faith.
Prayer: Almighty and Everlasting God, mercifully look upon our infirmities, and in all our dangers and necessities, stretch forth the right hand of Thy Majesty, to help and defend us; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
