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2 July 2007
Ephesians 3 v 1-6
So I, Paul, am a prisoner of Christ Jesus for you who are not Jews. Surely you have heard that God gave me this work through his grace to help you. He let me know his secret by showing it to me. I have already written a little about this. If you read what I wrote then, you can see that I truly understand the secret about the Christ.
People who lived in other times were not told that secret. But now, through the Spirit, God has shown that secret to his holy apostles and prophets. This is that secret: that through the Good News those who are not Jews will share with the Jews in God's blessing. They belong to the same body, and they share together in the promise that God made in Christ Jesus.
A prisoner of Christ! What a strange predicament to consider in modern society when most of us have so much freedom and would abhor anyone even invading our privacy. But does Christ really imprison his followers? In a sense yes. When Paul was writing to the Ephesians he was literally a prisoner, probably in Rome. But here's the paradox. Was he bitter? No, because he had committed himself to serving Christ, whatever the cost. Paul was so engulfed with Christ that he identified himself as a prisoner of Christ, without any resentment. He had counted the cost (Luke 9:23-26, 57-62). He had burned his bridges.
Paul also talks of a special secret that has transformed his life and describes himself as an apostle of this special secret; the mystery that the grace of God is available to all people even the 'unclean' Gentiles! Considering that salvation was exclusive to the Jews for many centuries this really is good news. The Old Testament reveals that Gentiles would be saved. But only in the New Testament is that method of salvation made clear and that secret solved. It is through Jesus Christ that now Jews and Gentiles are heirs together of eternal life.
I am from a very obscure village in South India, a Gentile of Gentiles. Yet through God's grace and his perfect timing I am now a Christian. What a great privileged position I find myself to be in.
How has God's grace been revealed to you? Contemplate this today in your prayers and be grateful.
Lord, even though I am a Gentile I am thankful for the grace that has accepted me and transformed my life. I am truly grateful. Amen.
Written by Douglas Cruz
Ephesians 3 v 1-6
So I, Paul, am a prisoner of Christ Jesus for you who are not Jews. Surely you have heard that God gave me this work through his grace to help you. He let me know his secret by showing it to me. I have already written a little about this. If you read what I wrote then, you can see that I truly understand the secret about the Christ.
People who lived in other times were not told that secret. But now, through the Spirit, God has shown that secret to his holy apostles and prophets. This is that secret: that through the Good News those who are not Jews will share with the Jews in God's blessing. They belong to the same body, and they share together in the promise that God made in Christ Jesus.
A prisoner of Christ! What a strange predicament to consider in modern society when most of us have so much freedom and would abhor anyone even invading our privacy. But does Christ really imprison his followers? In a sense yes. When Paul was writing to the Ephesians he was literally a prisoner, probably in Rome. But here's the paradox. Was he bitter? No, because he had committed himself to serving Christ, whatever the cost. Paul was so engulfed with Christ that he identified himself as a prisoner of Christ, without any resentment. He had counted the cost (Luke 9:23-26, 57-62). He had burned his bridges.
Paul also talks of a special secret that has transformed his life and describes himself as an apostle of this special secret; the mystery that the grace of God is available to all people even the 'unclean' Gentiles! Considering that salvation was exclusive to the Jews for many centuries this really is good news. The Old Testament reveals that Gentiles would be saved. But only in the New Testament is that method of salvation made clear and that secret solved. It is through Jesus Christ that now Jews and Gentiles are heirs together of eternal life.
I am from a very obscure village in South India, a Gentile of Gentiles. Yet through God's grace and his perfect timing I am now a Christian. What a great privileged position I find myself to be in.
How has God's grace been revealed to you? Contemplate this today in your prayers and be grateful.
Lord, even though I am a Gentile I am thankful for the grace that has accepted me and transformed my life. I am truly grateful. Amen.
Written by Douglas Cruz
