MYSTERY REVEALED - EPHESIANS

Welcome back; Let's pray:  Father, Abba, thank you for placing in my heart the desire to know you 24/7, more and more.  Thank you for saving me and restoring me and for being the Shepherd in and of my new life in Christ. .Continue to lead and guide me into all the truth for me that I need, and to enlighten the eyes of my understanding - so I can know the truth, and be made free - to be your child. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen!!!!!

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Let's look at Ephesians 3: entire chapter:

King James Version (KJV) Ephesians 3

   ¹For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles,

   ²If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward:

   ³How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words,

   ⁴Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ)

   ⁵Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit;

   ⁶That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:

   ⁷Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power.

   ⁸Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;

   ⁹And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:

   ¹⁰To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,

   ¹¹According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:

   ¹²In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.

   ¹³Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.

   ¹⁴For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

   ¹⁵Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,

   ¹⁶That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;

   ¹⁷That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,

   ¹⁸May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;

   ¹⁹And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.

   ²⁰Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,

   ²¹Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

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Amplified Bible (AMP)  Ephesians 3
¹FOR THIS reason [^[a]because I preached that you are thus built up together], I, Paul, [am] the prisoner of Jesus the Christ ^[b]for the sake and on behalf of you Gentiles--

    ²Assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace (His unmerited favor) that was entrusted to me [to dispense to you] for your benefit,

    ³[And] that the mystery (secret) was made known to me and I was allowed to comprehend it by direct revelation, as I already briefly wrote you.

    ⁴When you read this you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ.

    ⁵[This mystery] was never disclosed to human beings in past generations as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles (consecrated messengers) and prophets by the [Holy] Spirit.

    ⁶[It is this:] that the Gentiles are now to be fellow heirs [with the Jews], members of the same body and joint partakers [sharing] in the same divine promise in Christ through [their acceptance of] the glad tidings (the Gospel).

    ⁷Of 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.

    ⁸To 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],

    ⁹Also 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.

    ¹⁰[The purpose is] that through the church the ^[c]complicated, many-sided wisdom of God in all its infinite variety and innumerable aspects might now be made known to the angelic rulers and authorities (principalities and powers) in the heavenly sphere.

    ¹¹This is in accordance with the terms of the eternal and timeless purpose which He has realized and carried into effect in [the person of] Christ Jesus our Lord,

    ¹²In Whom, because of our faith in Him, we dare to have the boldness (courage and confidence) of free access (an unreserved approach to God with freedom and without fear).

    ¹³So I ask you not to lose heart [not to faint or become despondent through fear] at what I am suffering in your behalf. [Rather glory in it] for it is an honor to you.

    ¹⁴For this reason [^[d]seeing the greatness of this plan by which you are built together in Christ], I bow my knees before the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

    ¹⁵For Whom every family in heaven and on earth is named [that Father from Whom all fatherhood takes its title and derives its name].

    ¹⁶May He grant you out of the rich treasury of His glory to be strengthened and reinforced with mighty power in the inner man by the [Holy] Spirit [Himself indwelling your innermost being and personality].

    ¹⁷May Christ through your faith [actually] dwell (settle down, abide, make His permanent home) in your hearts! May you be rooted deep in love and founded securely on love,

    ¹⁸That you may have the power and be strong to apprehend and grasp with all the saints [God's devoted people, the experience of that love] what is the breadth and length and height and depth [of it];

    ¹⁹[That you may really come] to know [practically, ^[e]through experience for yourselves] the love of Christ, which far surpasses ^[f]mere knowledge [without experience]; that you may be filled [through all your being] ^[g]unto all the fullness of God [may have the richest measure of the divine Presence, and ^[h]become a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself]!

    ²⁰Now to Him Who, by (in consequence of) the [action of His] power that is at work within us, is able to [carry out His purpose and] do superabundantly, far over and above all that we [dare] ask or think [infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, hopes, or dreams]--

    ²¹To Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations forever and ever. Amen (so be it).

Footnotes:

• Ephesians 3:1 Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Holy Bible: The Jews persecuted and imprisoned Paul because he was an apostle to the Gentiles and preached the Gospel to them
• Ephesians 3:10 Webster's New International Dictionary offers this as a definition of "manifold" (the King James Version's rendering of the Greek polupoikilos).
• Ephesians 3:14 Many manuscripts consider that Paul here resumes the thread of verse 1.
• Ephesians 3:19 Marvin Vincent, Word Studies.
• Ephesians 3:19 Marvin Vincent, Word Studies.
• Ephesians 3:19 Marvin Vincent, Word Studies.
• Ephesians 3:19 Joseph Thayer, A Greek-English Lexicon.

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The Message (MSG):Ephesians 3

The Secret Plan of God

   ^{1 -3}This is why I, Paul, am in jail for Christ, having taken up the cause of you outsiders, so-called. I take it that you're familiar with the part I was given in God's plan for including everybody. I got the inside story on this from God himself, as I just wrote you in brief.

   ^{4 -6}As you read over what I have written to you, you'll be able to see for yourselves into the mystery of Christ. None of our ancestors understood this. Only in our time has it been made clear by God's Spirit through his holy apostles and prophets of this new order. The mystery is that people who have never heard of God and those who have heard of him all their lives (what I've been calling outsiders and insiders) stand on the same ground before God. They get the same offer, same help, same promises in Christ Jesus. The Message is accessible and welcoming to everyone, across the board.

   ^{7 -8}This is my life work: helping people understand and respond to this Message. It came as a sheer gift to me, a real surprise, God handling all the details. When it came to presenting the Message to people who had no background in God's way, I was the least qualified of any of the available Christians. God saw to it that I was equipped, but you can be sure that it had nothing to do with my natural abilities.

   ^{8 -10}And so here I am, preaching and writing about things that are way over my head, the inexhaustible riches and generosity of Christ. My task is to bring out in the open and make plain what God, who created all this in the first place, has been doing in secret and behind the scenes all along. Through followers of Jesus like yourselves gathered in churches, this extraordinary plan of God is becoming known and talked about even among the angels!

   ^{11 -13}All this is proceeding along lines planned all along by God and then executed in Christ Jesus. When we trust in him, we're free to say whatever needs to be said, bold to go wherever we need to go. So don't let my present trouble on your behalf get you down. Be proud!

   ^{14 -19}My response is to get down on my knees before the Father, this magnificent Father who parcels out all heaven and earth. I ask him to strengthen you by his Spirit—not a brute strength but a glorious inner strength—that Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite him in. And I ask him that with both feet planted firmly on love, you'll be able to take in with all followers of Jesus the extravagant dimensions of Christ's love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives, full in the fullness of God.

   ^{20 -21}God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us. 

   Glory to God in the church! 
   Glory to God in the Messiah, in Jesus! 
   Glory down all the generations! 
   Glory through all millennia! Oh, yes! 

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Remember to prayerfully read and journal - and check back in for the next discussion - Peace and Love in Jesus Christ!!!!!