Ephesians 3 – Paul’s Overview of His Ministry and the Language of God’s Eternal Purpose
God’s eternal purpose has never been an afterthought or a reaction to human failure. From eternity past, before the foundation of the world, God purposed to display His manifold wisdom—and the chosen vehicle for this display is the Church. This is not a secondary matter or a temporary detour in redemptive history. According to Paul, the Church is the very centerpiece of God’s plan, the masterpiece hidden in His heart and now revealed through the gospel.
The Mystery Unveiled: The Church as God’s Masterpiece
Ephesians 3 is not a digression in Paul’s letter—it is the unveiling of the heart of God’s intention. Paul, by the Spirit, declares that the “dispensation of the grace of God” was given to him for the Gentiles. This is not merely a new phase in history, but the revelation of a mystery “which 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” (Eph 3:5).
What is this mystery? That the Gentiles—those once considered unclean, excluded, and hopeless—should be “fellow heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ by the gospel” (Eph 3:6). This is not a parenthesis, not a stopgap because Israel failed. The Church, comprised primarily of Gentiles, is the main focus of God’s eternal purpose. God orchestrated all of history, every covenant, every event, to bring forth this new creation: the Body of Christ.
The Church: Not a Parenthesis, but the Focus
To accept the idea that the Church is a mere interruption in God’s dealings with Israel is to miss the entire thrust of Paul’s revelation. The Church is not God’s Plan B. It is what was in His heart before He created the angels, before He created man, before any covenant was given. The Church is the display of God’s multifarious wisdom to the principalities and powers in heavenly places (Eph 3:10). Angels, who marvel that God would even regard man, now witness God elevating those who were “not His people” to the highest place: members of Christ’s own Body, joint heirs with Him, and the habitation of God Himself.
Paul, a Jew of Jews, was made a prisoner of Jesus Christ for the Gentiles. He was entrusted with the stewardship—the economy—of this grace, to announce the unsearchable riches of Christ to those who were once far off. This is the unique grace of the present dispensation: the revelation of the mystery of Christ, the Church, hidden in God from the beginning of the world.
The Fellowship of the Mystery: Sons, Heirs, and God’s Dwelling
The mystery is not simply that Gentiles are included with Israel. It is that all believers, Jew and Gentile alike, are made one new man in Christ, reconciled through His blood, and brought into the very fellowship that the Father and the Son have shared from eternity. We are not merely forgiven sinners—we are sons of God, predestined to sonship, members of Christ’s Body, and the fullness of Him who fills all in all (Eph 1:23).
This is the inheritance: not earthly land or temporal blessings, but Christ Himself as our portion, our life, our righteousness, our wisdom, and our glory. The Spirit we have received is the Spirit of sonship, the very Spirit of Christ, bringing us into the intimacy of “Abba, Father.” In Christ, we are seated in the heavenlies, far above all principalities and powers, already enthroned with Him (Eph 2:6).
What Is Lost If This Truth Is Rejected?
If you reduce the Church to a mere afterthought or a temporary measure, you gut the gospel of its power and glory. You rob believers of their true identity as sons and heirs, and you obscure the finished work of Christ that has made us one new man, the very fullness of God’s purpose. Worse, you undermine justification itself—if the Church is not the focus of God’s eternal purpose, then our standing as joint heirs and members of Christ’s Body is left uncertain, and the assurance of our inheritance collapses. The entire logic of sonship, inheritance, and the bold access we have to God is lost.
God’s Economy: The Distribution of Christ’s Riches
God’s purpose is not just to forgive, but to distribute the unsearchable riches of Christ to His household. The Church is the sphere in which this distribution takes place. Christ, as the testator, secured the inheritance by His death and now, as the risen Son, mediates the New Testament, dispensing all that He is to the many sons of God. Through the stewardship of the apostles and the gifts given to the Body, the Church is built up as God’s habitation, His masterpiece—His poema (Eph 2:10).
This is not mere doctrine; it is the vision that must govern our understanding of everything God is doing. We are not beggars under the table, nor are we outsiders. We are at the right hand of God, seated with Christ, the very display of God’s wisdom to all creation. The angels, the principalities, and the powers are learning who God is by watching the Church.
The Boldness and Confidence of the Sons
Because this is God’s eternal purpose, we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of Christ (Eph 3:12). We stand in the full assurance of our inheritance, knowing that every detail of history has been orchestrated to bring us into this glory. We are the reason for creation, the masterpiece of God, the Body of Christ, and the habitation of God in Spirit.
Let no one diminish the glory of the Church or relegate it to a footnote in God’s plan. To do so is to deny the very heart of the gospel and the finished work of Christ. The Church is the eternal purpose of God, the revelation of His wisdom, and the sphere of His riches—forever.
