23 Sept. Paul works to reveal God's 'secret plan'
"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 the 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."
"By God's special gift of grace given to me through his power, I became a servant to tell that Good News. I am the least important of all God's people, but God gave me this gift - to tell those who are not Jews the Good News about the riches of Christ, which are too great to understand fully."
"And God gave me the work of telling all people about the plan for his secret, which has been hidden in him since the beginning of time."
"He is the one who created everything. His purpose was that through the church all the rulers and powers in the heavenly world will now know God's wisdom, which has so many forms..."
"In Christ we can come before God with freedom and without fear. We can do this through faith in Christ. So I ask you not to become discouraged because of the sufferings I am having for you. My sufferings are for your glory."
(Ephesians 3:1-13)
Although Paul is a prisoner awaiting trial, he is not dismayed by his circumstances as he has been blessed with an understanding of God's 'secret plan'.
Paul continues to pray for the non-Jewish believers in Ephesus because God’s ‘secret plan’ is that the Gentiles – as well as the Jews – might have a full share of God’s blessings:
"This is the 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." (Romans 3:6)
Paul continues his work because, "God gave me this gift - to tell those who are not Jews the Good News about the riches of Christ, which are too great to understand fully." (Romans 3:8)
So Paul urges his readers not to become discouraged as the Good News is that they can now come before God without any forboding: "In Christ we can come before God with freedom and without fear. We can do this through faith in Christ. So I ask you not to become discouraged because of the sufferings I am having for you. My sufferings are for your glory." (Romans 3:13)
The photo shows Hadrian's Temple in Ephesus.
You can read more from Paul's Letter to the Ephesians @ https://www.thebiblejourney.org/…/15-paul…/gods-secret-plan/