November 08 2025

Saturday November 08

“Fellow Heirs of the Same Body”

Ephesians 3:1-9

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;

Today we're looking at Ephesians 3 where the Apostle Paul is talking about how God gave him the revelation about the mystery. The mystery which is the church, the body of Jesus Christ by which even the Gentiles can be a part of the promises of God. Partakers of the great covenant promises God has made to His people.

When you read the Old Testament, it mainly is about the covenant promises and the work of God amongst the Jewish nation. The Jewish nation was called of God, set apart for Him and by Him for a specific purpose. That purpose was to make known to the world that you can know God, the true and the living God, the creator God, the only God. And the only way you can know and experience Him is by faith. That's what the life of Abraham teaches us as you study both the Old and the New Testament. He not only is the father of the Jewish nation he is the father of the faithful. This includes both Jew and Gentile who come to experience God by faith. (Read Romans 4 and Galatians 3).  

The only way we can learn about God, that we can know God, that we can begin to understand and comprehend God, is by faith. The writer of Hebrews made this clear in Hebrews 11: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible” (vv. 1-3). “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (v.6).

The Jewish nation was chosen to be an example, to be an illustration, to be a testimony to the world that there is a creator God that wants us to know Him. God revealed Himself to Abraham and the Jews in various ways. As the people of God they gave us His written revelation, the Word of God, the Bible, God's holy inspired word and they also give us the Savior, Jesus Christ the Messiah. God had this specific purpose for them. But as you know, as you study both the Old and New Testament and Jewish history, they fail miserably and rejected Jesus. But God already in eternity past had another plan. That plan was the church, the called out assembly, the body of Jesus Christ.

In the Old Testament, the church was a mystery, a sacred mystery. It was not known before. That's why Paul was writing here in these verses. In verse 5 he writes: "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." Now, my friend, we've got to understand something. You know, it's been 2,000 years since the Apostle Paul was writing to this church at Ephesus and explaining to them how as Gentiles, they are now in the body of Christ. They now can be reconciled to the Jewish people and be partaker of the promises with them. That was a new thing, a brand new thing.

Now today, after 2,000 years of history, we have churches on every corner in America, churches all over the world, a church everywhere. And I’m afraid that we take the church for granted. You can go down any Sunday morning in America and walk into a church building and become a member of that church by going forward professing Christ as your Savior, following the Lord in believer's baptism and you're part of that church. We take it for granted that we can be a part of the body of Christ.

Now Paul is telling the folks there at Ephesus, this is a mystery. It's now being revealed. God has given me the opportunity even though I'm the least of all the saints. So it was important to Paul because he knew he was a steward of this mystery. He was the one God revealed it to in the New Testament and he was making sure that he carried out his stewardship. That was the dispensation given to him, the stewardship given to him to make sure that the body of believers, the Gentiles and the Jews alike knew that anyone could be a part of the body of Jesus Christ by faith through the cross, by faith in His resurrection, by faith.

Today you and I become a part of the body of Christ, and we can now exercise stewardship and ministry and have the hope and the peace and the joy that comes from belonging to the body of Christ and being a part of that fellowship of believers. How wonderful is that? I'm telling you, it's awesome.

That's what Paul is talking about in these first 13 verses of this chapter. It is important that you also understand that the church, the body of Christ is so very special, just like His body was special on earth physically when He was here. Jesus went to heaven in that body, but today He gave us the opportunity to be a member of His body the church. He is the head we're the members, and we're members one of another. We have different functions and activities and gifts in the church, but we belong to His church.

My friend, what a great privilege! Don’t take it for granted!!!!

God bless!