Ephesians Lesson 22 of 39 part 5

Ephesians 3:9

"And to make all men* see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world (the ages) had been hid in God, who created all things by (through) Jesus Christ." 

* notice men is italicized so it wasn’t in the original, but rather has been added by the translators. So he’s writing "to make all to see".

Christ Jesus is the Light that was first called from out of the darkness as seen in Genesis chapter 1 verses 1-3 and John bears this out in chapter 1 of his synoptic gospel.

Most people have a hard time swallowing the fact that Christ created everything. But for now let’s go back up to the first part of the verse where Paul is now in his Apostleship, and by writing, his letters is reaching out. So that everybody might be able to understand what it is to come into this fellowship. This strange new revelation that had never been heard of before by anyone, not even in religious Israel, though the message had been hidden within the text of their Torah, Psalms and Prophets. Now when we speak of fellowship we think even the secular world speaks of it. You can have your various service and lodge organizations and after all, when everything is said and done, what is the purpose of their meetings? To fellowship one with another. It is the same way here. Paul is bring out the fact that to become a believer, of these Pauline truths, brings us into a fellowship, a very close relationship of like-minded people. Of one spirit within the Spirit.

Not by church attendance but by fellow-shipping with those of like mindsets, those who have acquired the mind of Christ. We all know that within each church group that there are many smaller groups some of mixed sexes others of just male and another of just females and there are some of just children. And at times these small groups can and do cause factions within each other. Then with any given city there are groups of churches labeled by a denominational or non-denominational title or name which is determined by their particular statement of faith. Much like the Hebrews had within their camp, of Pharisee's, Sadducees and scribes each having a statement of faith. The contention between each at times would heat up to a red hot crescendo and would boil over into the community and they would have riots between each organization sometimes to the point of blood shed. It could and often would cause family feuds and hardships unbearable at times, sometime these factions would destroy a family or church group and cause a dividing of them. By this we all should know who and what was behind it all, the Devil and Satan. Which is the lot of the worlds church mindset.

We have stressed, that when you are a true believer you can go a thousand miles from home, and get into a fellowship of like-minded believers and you are not a stranger for over 5 minutes. Why? Because we have that like-mindedness, we are of the One Spirit by who we are in Christ, by virtue of simply believing what He has done on our behalf. Coupled with the illumination of revelation which He imparts to each of us. All right now Paul is trying to help everyone see what is the fellowship of this mystery.

Ephesians 3:9a

"And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery,..."

We said earlier that the Lord opened the sealed small book in order to reveal these things which had been hidden, of which a few of the Old Covenant people and prophets had by vision seen as only in the far off distance. Much like the small light at the far end of a long train tunnel. Not everyone is going to agree with me, and we don’t expect them too, and they don’t have to. But to us when Paul speaks of the mysteries, he is speaking about this whole volume of revealed Truths that had never been revealed before. And why, because it had been veiled as we have stated in the very text of scripture, that is what the idea of a mystery is. It was a secret, so that means no one knew the fullness about them except God Himself. Jesus said Himself told Peter that He had given him the keys of the kingdom and then in another place that there had been nothing hidden that would not be made known. But Jesus also stated that we have to have a clear eye in order to see and this is what is required of us all as we have stated elsewhere. This is the whole concept behind Paul’s teaching, that beginning with his revelations of the mysteries, God is now opening up to the human race, through this Apostle, concepts that had never been revealed before. We are not going to put the mysteries on just a singular mystery. We know some footnotes claim that the mystery was that God would make up the Body of Christ with Jews and Gentiles. We do not disagree with that, because that is only part of the mystery. The mystery is this whole volume of the Pauline Truths. And you can not start these mysteries out with, "What is man?" We have to start them with, Why are You so mindful of Man? Because many of church theologians have reproached it wrong and why should we do as they have done, this does not mean that we have too.