For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles— if indeed you have 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. By referring to this, 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 has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit; to be specific, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, 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.
Stewardship of God’s grace. This means to the careful and responsible management of God’s grace. Paul received the revelation directly from God (Gal 1:12), and he considered it very important to carefully entrust it to its destination.
Mystery. Mystery here is a divine secret which God shares with who he wishes to. The mystery here is that both Jews and Gentiles, are one in Christ, and fellow-heirs to the inheritance. This inheritance is mentioned in Eph 2. This was God’s plan from the very beginning, for when He blessed Abraham, He mentioned that in Gen 12:2, that “And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.”. From the very beginning, Gentiles were in His mind.
Fellow heirs.
This means that Gentiles also have a claim into the promise. This was a radical statement for the Jew. They were brought up all their life thinking that Gentiles were secondary class citizens, and here they are coming into a realization that Gentiles are fellow-heirs. All their life, they had to do keep the law and perform to make sure that they didn’t mess up, and here all of a sudden, Gentiles, with their pagan culture, upbringings, and etiquette, now will be fellow heirs with them in Christ? For some, this was a matter of insult.
This meant that as believers Jews and Gentiles have equal status before God. This is a point which Paul tries to underscore in Gal 3:28-29 as well, that race is not a factor anymore. However, sometimes our culture and upbringing have tried to influence it to the point that we still think of Jewish Christians as higher status than Gentile Christians.
We are privileged to…Paul passionately declares that he was appointed as a minister to reveal the diverse wisdom of God to the world. This wisdom entails the selection of a few individuals from ancient times through grace, endowing them with a covenant, so that Jesus could be born within their lineage, fulfill his purpose, and establish a new covenant, thereby making salvation available to all through faith. We are privileged to proclaim this profound wisdom.
Eph 3:8-10
To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ, and to bring to light 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.
Least of all saints. In an era where many boast about their anointing, position, and demand respect, titles, and honor, Paul humbly declares himself the least of all saints. A few things to note about Paul’s humility is. Humility is not about berating oneself, or not saying about one’s ministry, or hiding oneself from public view, or not standing standing up for truth, for if it was, Paul wouldn’t be the least of all saints or humble. As C.S. Lewis said “Humility is not thinking less of yourself, but rather thinking of yourself less”.
Authorities in the heavenly places.. Paul used the same terminology (“principalities and powers”) to refer to the demonic realm in Eph 6:12. Thus, he emphatically declares that it is our duty as the church to boldly showcase to the demonic realm the diverse facets and expressions of God’s wisdom. Undoubtedly, this is not for their benefit; rather, it is a way to rub it in. As we stride in the power and triumph that Jesus has bestowed upon us, we continually demonstrate to Satan and his cohorts their foolishness, and the boundless wisdom of God.
.stk-59fa661{margin-bottom:1px !important}
Eph 3:11-13
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 tribulations on your behalf, for they are your glory.
Eternal purpose. In context, the eternal purpose was to unite Jews and Gentiles together in Christ Jesus. Jesus was not an afterthought. He was the lamb of God slain from the foundations of the earth (Rev 13:8).
Boldness and confident access through faith in Him. Our boldness is not because of our righteousness, our great deeds, but our boldness is because of Jesus Christ, and His righteousness. Because we are in Him, we have boldness to enter the presence of the Father and confident access to the Father through faith in Him.
Tribulations..Paul is not saying that the tribulation is a great thing, but rather he is saying that this tribulation is because he is preaching the great mysteries of the Word to the Gentiles. So the tribulations are for something glorious. It needs to be understood that we have authority over demons and sickness, but since we do not have authority over people, persecutions may come our way.
Eph 3:14-15
For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name,
One family under God.. We are in Him and we have derived our name from the Father. We are one family, especially because of the revealed mystery, that both Jews and Gentiles are one in Christ Jesus.
Eph 3:16
that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man,
Strengthened with power in the inner man. Paul is praying that God will GRANT you to be strengthened in might in the inner man. The is one of the rare times that Paul prays that. The word might or power is dunamis, and because Jesus said in Luke 24:49 that the disciples will be clothed with power, when referring to the baptism of the Holy Spirit, Paul is actually praying that they will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.. The inner man is strengthened by being clothed with power.
Eph 3:17-19
so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.
Dwell. The word here is κατοικέω (katoikeō) which can be split into:
κατά (kata): This is a preposition that generally means “down,” “against,” or “according to.” In compound words, it can intensify the meaning of the verb it is attached to, suggesting a thorough or permanent action.
οἰκέω (oikeō): This is a verb that means “to inhabit,” “to dwell,” or “to live.” It comes from the noun οἶκος (oikos), which means “house” or “home.”
Thus, κατοικέω literally means “to dwell down” or “to settle down,” which implies making a place one’s permanent residence. Over time, it came to signify residing or dwelling in a place, often with a sense of permanence or establishment.
It is not just Christ living in your heart’s basement as a roommate but rather it is Christ with all the authority to do everything, and being in control over everything.
Through Faith. Paul’s prayer is that he wants Christ to have His way around your heart’s lot. Faith is what allows him that position in your heart. When we entertain fear, we are allowing illegal roommates to share authority.
So that. This is a critical connect. In Eph 3:16, Paul mentioned about he wants us to be strengthened with power in the inner man. Now he says, SO THAT, Christ will be able to have his way in our hearts through faith. He is connecting Christ is able to dwell in authority when we are walking in faith and power.
Being rooted in love, and comprehend. When we are walking in faith and power, and letting Jesus have his way through us, we are ABLE TO COMPREHEND the immeasurability of God’s love, and this helps us to be filled up with the fullness of God. When we are filled with the fullness of God, we are filled with his love and power, because God is love. Since you have his power, you can bring about the change which love can bring about, through His power in you. Because you love, you use God’s power. Because you have God’s power, you are able to love.
Surpassing understanding. This can be paraphrased as, “And to know the love of Christ which passes knowing. Paul was saying that he wants our spirit to know experientially something that is beyond, us being able to figure it out and understand it.”
Rooted in love. He continues the prayer by expressing his desire for them to be firmly rooted and grounded in love. Being rooted in love entails having deep roots firmly established in the soil of love, making it difficult to uproot relationships. Being grounded in love implies deriving all the nourishment of the relationship through love.
Steps to being filled with the fullness of God. It says Christ wants to express Him through faith and power. Since you are clothed with power, you can bring about the change which love can bring about, through His power in you. Because you love, you use God’s power. Because you have God’s power, you are able to love, and able to view but not scale comprehend immeasurable heights of God’s love, and in this we are able to be rooted and grounded in love, growing into the fullness of God.
Fullness of God. It is possible to attain the fullness of God. Many consider this sacriligeous, and keep saying that “we will never reach it”. Though it is an uphill task, we have been called to walk in that fullness. We are have already been conformed to the image of the Son in the spirit, but in the natural, we have to walk in the Spirit and not in the flesh to walk in that fulness.
Eph 3:20-21
Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.
Ask or think. Connecting this with the previous verse, Paul is saying that with love, power and wisdom, we can walk in the fullness of God, and we can do far more abundantly than what we are asking and considering, according to the power that works within us. You don’t need to wait for revival in your city, or wait for something to happen from above, or to wait for God to send signs or fire in the sky, but rather he uses the power that works within us. He expects us to be that revival in the city where we reside.
