Ephesians 3 The Voice
(VOICE)
For Paul there are two kinds of people: Jews and Gentiles, or to put it
another way, insiders and outsiders. The Prince of Peace is establishing peace
where division and hostility once ruled unchallenged. In the Jerusalem temple,
a stone wall separated Jewish from non-Jewish worshipers. According to Paul,
the cross is God’s instrument to dismantle the wall, end the segregation, and
make the two into one. God wants one people of God. That has been His plan all
along.
Today walls continue to exist, erected strategically to separate people
by race, religion, class, culture, and sex. Those who erect these walls,
protect them, and maintain them will find that they are enemies of the gospel
that brings all together into one worshiping family.
3 All this is exactly why I, Paul, am a
prisoner of Jesus the Anointed, His representative to the outsider nations. 2 You have heard, haven’t you, how God
appointed me to bring you His message of grace? 3 And how the mystery was made known to
me in a revelation? I briefly wrote about it earlier. 4 When you read what I have written, you
will be better able to understand the depth of my insight into
the mystery of the Anointed One, 5 a mystery that has never before been shown to past
generations. Only now are these secrets being revealed to
God’s chosen emissaries[a] and prophets through the Holy Spirit. 6 Specifically, the mystery is
this: by trusting in the good news, the Gentile outsiders are becoming fully
enfranchised members of the same body, heirs alongside Israel, and
beneficiaries of the promise that has been fulfilled through
Jesus the Anointed.
7 I became a servant and preacher of
this gospel by the gift of God’s grace as He exercised His amazing power
over me. 8 I cannot think of anyone more unworthy to this
cause than I, the least of the least of the saints. But here I am, a
grace-made man, privileged to be an echo of His voice and a
preacher to all the nations of the riches of the Anointed One, riches that no
one ever imagined. 9 I am privileged to
enlighten all of Adam’s descendants to the mystery concealed from
previous ages by God, the Creator of all, through Jesus the Anointed. 10 Here’s His objective: through the church, He intends now to make known
His infinite and boundless wisdom to all rulers and authorities in heavenly
realms.11 This has been His plan from the beginning, one that
He has now accomplished through the Anointed One, Jesus our Lord. 12 His faithfulness[b] to God has made it
possible for us to have the courage we need and the ability to approach the
Father confidently. 13 So I ask you not to become discouraged because I
am jailed for speaking out on your behalf. In fact, my
suffering is something that brings you glory.
14 It is for this reason that I bow my knees before
the Father,15 after whom all families in heaven above and on
earth below receive their names, and pray:
16 Father, out of Your honourable
and glorious riches, strengthen Your people. Fill their souls with the
power of Your Spirit 17 so that through faith the Anointed One will reside in their hearts. May
love be the rich soil where their lives take root. May it be
the bedrock where their lives are founded so that together 18-19 with all of Your people they
will have the power to understand that the love of the Anointed is infinitely
long, wide, high, and deep, surpassing everything anyone previously
experienced. God, may Your fullness flood through their entire beings.
This is a doxology of praise to the One
with power that is beyond understanding.
20 Now to the God who
can do so many awe-inspiring
things, immeasurable things, things greater than we ever could ask
or imagine through the power at work in us, 21 to Him be all glory
in the church and in Jesus the Anointed from this generation to the next,
forever and ever. Amen.
NIV
Application Commentary
The
Doxology (3:20–21)
The
doxology brings the first half of Ephesians to a close at the place it began in
1:3, in giving praise to God. Doxologies in the form “glory to God” are
frequent in the New Testament, though most are much briefer. The use of “glory”
in Ephesians and throughout the New Testament is fascinating. God is a God of
glory (1:17; Acts 7:2), and his glory reveals who he is (John 1:14; Rom. 6:4;
Heb. 1:3). God gives glory to Christ (John 17:22; Acts 3:13; 1 Cor. 2:8; 1
Peter 1:21) and people (Rom. 2:10; 8:30; 1 Cor. 2:7). Christians are
transformed from glory to glory (2 Cor. 3:18). People are to do everything for
God’s glory (1 Cor. 10:31) and are to give glory back to God (Eph. 1:6; Phil.
1:11). In the eschaton further glory will be revealed (Rom. 8:18). “Glory” is a
word that virtually encompasses the whole of Christianity. Here the focus is on
the praise and honor that should be given God for his saving work.
This
doxology is striking in its assertion that glory is given to God “in the church
and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever.” No other
passage mentions the church explicitly in a doxology, although other doxologies
imply it because Christians are the ones giving the praise. To suggest that the
church and Christ are accorded equal status is presumptuous. The passage only
assumes an unending relation between God, his people, and Christ. The presence
of the people with God, made possible by Christ, will be a cause for eternal
praise. This is what Paul had in mind in 1:18 with the expression “the riches
of his glorious inheritance in the saints” (see also 2:7).
In
verse 19 the love of Christ is beyond understanding, and in verse 20 the
activity of God is beyond expectation or thought. The heightened language
throughout the prayer shows the depth of Paul’s emotion. A wordplay occurs in
the Greek text of verse 20 between “to him who is able” (to dynameno) and
“power” (dynamis). Note the preponderance of words for God’s activity, a theme
that has marked the letter from 1:1.
This
doxology sums up the intent of the first half of the letter. We should praise
God for his astounding work in Christ Jesus. Paul’s point is not merely that
God is able to do beyond what we expect. Rather, this power is already at work
in us (cf. the similar language in Col. 1:29, which describes God’s work in
Paul’s ministry). God does not fit the limitations of our expectations. The
language is reminiscent of Isaiah 55:8–9: God’s ways and thoughts are
exceedingly beyond our ways and thoughts. God is at work and eager to work in
us to achieve his purposes for salvation.
The
Bible Panorama
Ephesians
3
V
1–7: REVELATION The fact of the oneness of all believers in Christ leads Paul
to pray the prayer that comes later in verse 14. But first, writing from
prison, he digresses to disclose his apostolic authority which enables him to
deal with some important things. God revealed to Paul individually what,
through the Spirit, He revealed to His prophets and apostles collectively, that
believing Gentiles would be part of the same body as believing Jews. Thus his
message is not a subjective ‘bright idea’ of Paul’s own making, but one that
can be seen objectively as having come from the Holy Spirit.
V 8–13: RICHES His task is to make the
‘unsearchable riches of Christ’ known to the Gentiles and to make all see the
wonderful things that God has done in Christ. He expects to suffer tribulation
in doing this and tells them so. His tribulation will lead to their glory.
V 14–19: REQUEST He prays, in submission to
the Lord Jesus Christ, that these Gentile believers will be strengthened by the
Spirit inwardly, and know Christ’s indwelling in their hearts. He asks for
stability in their Christian life and an understanding, with all of the
Christians, of the immensity of the love, fullness and will of God.
V
20–21: REMINDER Paul reminds them that God is able to answer their prayers
‘exceedingly abundantly’ above their expectations. God acts with the power of
the resurrection and of the Holy Spirit, which power is also experienced within
each Christian and is limitless. Paul wants God to be glorified for ever in the
church.
