Chapter 3
Ephesians 3:7 - 3:9 — A Living Miracle
Amplified Bible:
Ephesians 3:7 Of this [Gospel] I was made a minister according to the gift of God's free grace (undeserved favor) which was bestowed on me by the exercise (the working in all its effectiveness) of His power.
Ephesians 3:8 To me, though I am the very least of all the saints (God's consecrated people), this grace (favor, privilege) was granted and graciously entrusted: to proclaim to the Gentiles the unending (boundless, fathomless, incalculable, and exhaustless) riches of Christ [wealth which no human being could have searched out],
Ephesiasn 3:9 Also to enlighten all men and make plain to them what is the plan [regarding the Gentiles and providing for the salvation of all men] of the mystery kept hidden through the ages and concealed until now in [the mind of] God Who created all things by Christ Jesus.
Paul does not take credit for anything that he does. He was MADE a minister. It was an undeserved grace that was bestowed on him by God. He counts himself as the least of all saints. He has been entrusted with this ministry from God. The plan of salvation and the gospel was hidden from all men. He was gifted to enlighten all men and make plain what had been hidden through the ages. This mystery was in the mind of God who created by Christ. Here is an important concept: It is God's idea. You cannot be invested in outcome because you begin to judge this and that...you and everyone you would bless becomes a loser.
Paul’s path has been completely turned around in the Damascus road experience and the time of instruction from the third heaven. Paul has lost himself. He understands and accepts that he is an instrument in the hands of God. I see Paul’s life as a living miracle. He has been given so much, and he knows that. Living this miracle, he gives to others who at this point have less…knowledge, grace, forgiveness, etc. It all comes from the hand of God through Paul. Through the miracle of his life, his love is expressed and the love of God is made manifest.
Paul is not just giving them a new theology. He is attacking their fear. Fear of being less than. Fear of not being as good as. Fear of being measured as inadequate. Theology does not redeem. Fear reduction is a miracle that opens a door way for redemption. It comes from love…from the earthly Paul and from the heavenly Father.
It seems to me that God has a time table. God has had a plan from the very beginning of creation. It was hidden through the ages. It was concealed until Paul’s ministry. Paul, who was so quick to build a wall between Jew and Christians, is now all about tearing down the walls between Jew and Gentiles. His life is a living miracle that he pours out for others. He exemplifies loving others as you do self. He recognizes that without the gospel the people are left to their own devices much the same as was his lot when on the road to Damascus.
The Damascus Road experience is that of all of us. At many places in our lives we have been given a vision of Jesus that gives us an understanding that we have been persecuting Jesus. We do not want to believe this. We justify it. We dress it up. We blame. It is time that we accept the ministry that is given to us as it was to Paul. Tearing down walls. Do we recognize that we are the least of saints? Do we understand that our lives lived for others are miracles, also. We keep waiting for God to do a miracle when all the time he has called us to live a miracle of love and service. There really is not anything else that fulfills our calling in God.
Our Damascus Road experience may not be the same as Paul’s. Probably will not be. It is none the less as dramatic when embraced as a calling to give a gift to someone else…a gift of God’s love and acceptance. It means that we have to love and accept, also. The Damascus Road experience not only calls you to a new path; it calls you from an old one.
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