September 24 - Ephesians 3:1-21 - The Secret is Out

I spent part of my lunch hour today sipping a Pumpkin Spiced Latte and answering questions from a government investigator. I have a friend who is being considered for a job that will require a higher security clearance, and I was given as a reference. Apparently the information my friend is going to be exposed to is sensitive and confidential; if it gets in the wrong hands it could jeopardize national security. The investigator’s job is to make sure this candidate can keep a secret.

The Biblical Greek word for ‘secret’ is mysterion. It is translated ‘mystery’ in the NIV and it appears four times in today’s text. A literal translation of the word could be “the kept close.” Paul tells us that the mystery that was revealed to him is the mystery of Christ. This could be understood as the mystery that belongs to Christ, or the mystery that IS Christ. Paul then makes clear what the mystery is: ALL nations, along with Israel, are heirs together, one body together, sharers together of the promises of God. The puzzle is, God has been saying this since He spoke to father Abraham about producing a nation that would bless all nations. Most of the Old Testament prophets cast visions of all the nations streaming into Jerusalem to worship the Lord. How is this a mystery?

I’m going to go out on a limb here and cling to the literal translation, “the kept close.” What we’re talking about here is not a mystery that God spun to baffle us for centuries. This is no high level government encryption. This is not a secret that God wanted to hide from the world to protect Israeli national security. No not mystery, not secret, but rather “the kept close.” The “deeply treasured,” the “precious possession” of God, which was His only-begotten Son. Yes, from Abraham on, God was quite plain that His plan included blessing all the nations. What was unknown was the extent to which God would go to make it happen. That God would fully release His "closest kept;" the fullness of His love and mercy wrapped up in the Son of God. The mystery is the suffering God was willing to endure to secure blessing for every tribe and tongue and nation. He kept these treasures close to His heart, and then, in Jesus of Nazareth, the secret was out.

Let’s go unravel the mystery for anyone who will listen. Anyone, from any nation. Let’s go tell the secret that there is no love like God’s love, no blessings like the inexhaustible riches of grace that come from Jesus Christ.

I pray: that out of God’s glorious riches

he may strengthen you with power

through his Spirit in your inner being,

so that Christ may dwell in your heart

through faith.

And I pray that you,

being rooted and established in love,

may have power, together with all the saints,

to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,

and to know this love that surpasses knowledge —

that you may be filled

to the measure

of all the fullness

of God.

 Now to him who is able to do

 immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine,

according to his power that is at work within us,

to him be glory in the church

and in Christ Jesus

throughout all generations,

for ever and ever!

Amen.