For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles—
2 Surely you have heard about the administration of God’s grace that was given to me for you, 3 that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly. 4 In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, 5 which was not made known to people in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets. 6 This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.7 I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace given me through the working of his power. 8 Although I am less than the least of all the Lord’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the boundless riches of Christ, 9 and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things. 10 His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, 11 according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. 12 In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence. 13 I ask you, therefore, not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory. Eph. 3:1-13
Have you ever used the following acronyms - ALOTBSOL, BBFLUDDUP, GNSTDLTBBB, MOM, PICNIC, SWALK, HOLLAND, BOLTOP ? AI lists these as failed acronyms, in other words someone made them up, thinking they would be widely used and embraced, and they just weren't helpful or were too tedious. They mean in order. Always look on the bright side of life, best friends for life until death do us part, good night sleep tight don't let the bed bugs bite, microsoft operations manager, problem in chair not in computer, sealed with a loving kiss, hope our love lasts and never dies, and better on lips than on paper. Someone thought they were a good idea - they weren't.
In Christianity we have a few that have stuck such as WWJD or FROG but one that hasn't is TRUTH - trusting Jesus, resting in his promises, understanding His precepts, testifying to His goodness, hearing His voice. A rapper named daT.R.U.T.H. came up with a song called JIFE - Jesus is for everyone, which was somewhat ironic and funny - a rapper with a failed acronym for a name writing a song with a failed acronym, but if we could entitle Ephesians 3, it would have to be J.I.F.E. - Jesus is for everyone.
This was the mystery not only hidden from humanity, although it was there in the Old Testament in people like Rahab, Ruth, Naaman, Jethro, Melchizadek, the Ninevites, and Uriah the Hittite, but also hidden from the heavenly realm such as angels and demons. The mystery was revealed through a direct revelation to Paul (Acts 26:17) and also to some apostles (Acts 10,11) at the right time (John 1:11,12) and was magnified and illustrated through the church - Jews and Gentiles in unity worshipping in one body, the enmity and prejudice erased at the foot of the cross where everyone was equal.
The mystery that Christ would die and shed His blood to wash away our sins so we could once again be restored to a relationship with God that had been broken for approximately 4000 years in the garden, and that this would be available to everyone on Earth was the greatest proclamation in the history of the world and Paul, a persecutor of Jesus, felt so honored to be given this good news that to be beaten, imprisoned, and to lose all personal freedom for the rest of his life paled in comparison to be given this great administration.
When I think of the greatest proclamations in recent history, I have to think of these headlines, yet they pale in comparison to what Paul is proclaiming. When I hear J.I.F.E., I shouldn't laugh but see it as the greatest news of all time. Paul did. Am I willing to give my life, freedom, comfort, time to spread that good news or am I living my life selfishly keeping that news to myself. Paul didn't. Neither should we.
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