The Mystery and God's Eternal Purpose

Jim ButlerEphesians 3:8–13

Ephesians 3:8–13 presents Paul's apostolic ministry and God's eternal purpose as two inseparable realities: Paul's grace-given charge to preach the unsearchable riches of Christ to the Gentiles flows directly from God's comprehensive plan to display His manifold wisdom through the church. The mystery once hidden in ages past — that Jew and Gentile stand as one new man in Christ — is now made known not only to humanity but to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places, as the church serves as a living trophy case of divine wisdom. God's eternal purpose, accomplished in Christ's incarnation, death, and resurrection, secures for believers boldness and access with confidence to the Father. The sermon calls saints to resist despondency, to use the access purchased by Christ's blood, and to find stability in the sovereign God who governs creation, providence, and redemption.