Ephesians 3
Ephesians 3:1-21
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.
14 For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
15 from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,
16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man,
17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height—
19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,
21 to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
For Paul, there was a purpose that had so much more to do with those he served than himself. This was something he completely humbled himself to fulfill, also, considering it an honor as, what he considered himself to be, simply the least in status, but faithful in service. His mission was to share this treasured revelation of the gospel, the defining identity of his life, with those he had grown up considering to be outside of God’s family. It is from this humble positioning that he commits himself to a passionate prayer for supernatural revelation of this truth to bring transformation to their lives. This was so much different than what he had committed most of his Jewish discipline to in the keeping of religious rituals. This was the complete changing of life through the knowledge and understanding of what happened in Christ. This would require so much more than just information and subscribing to dictates. They would need the Spirit to impart conviction of who Christ had already made them to be and where they were as a result of that identity.
What an example to follow in this chapter, to not just receive the effect of his prayer in personal transformation, but to humbly submit to the sharing and praying of this truth for the benefit of others. This would seem to be one of the greatest experiences of its intended effect, to lose self-focus in a passionate commitment to the Father’s heart for our lives in imparting life to those we may have never before considered to be ready or qualified for it.