and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things.
Ephesians 3:9
We’ve all missed something. Whether it was a turn while driving or searching frantically for your glasses which were right there on your head. All of us miss things.
How many times have you dialed someone’s cell phone so they could find it? Or did they dial your cell phone? Ever walk out of a store and wonder, where in the world did I park?
When it comes to God, he works hard at making it impossible to miss him. God is so interested in showing us who he is that it impacted the way he made the universe.
since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.
Romans 1:19,20
His creation is an unavoidable billboard along the road of life that we just have to see it. There are many, many signs throughout our life that point us to God.
It’s like driving along I-95 on the east coast. There are about 175 billboards between Georgia and Virginia for South of the Border[1]. There are so many of these signs that it’s just impossible to miss it. They are big, brightly colored, and with large lettering so there is no chance that you can ignore it.
This is only a small illustration in comparison to the whole of creation that points us to God. It screams for our attention.
That was Paul’s job, to make God and his plan so visible, so plain, so unmistakable, that there was no way we could miss it. God’s plan wasn’t something that he just cooked up. No, it was his plan all along. And Paul’s responsibility was to bring it out into the open, into the light for all to see.
It wasn’t Paul’s idea. He didn’t think this up in his garage. It didn’t come to him while he was in the shower. He didn’t write it up as a draft and then change it.
This is God’s idea and plan. Period. His plan was to take Jew and Gentile and put them together on equal terms. Yes, the Jews were there first, but God has always been interested in reaching the Gentiles.
Think about it. Who can see creation? Only the Jews? Of course not. Everyone can see his great creation. You can’t miss it.
And one more thing. I’m about to say something that might throw you for a loop, but that’s all right. It’s me. So here goes.
Abraham was a Gentile. Yes. Father Abraham was called by God. He’s at the top of the Jewish nation, heritage, religion, and culture. And we need to treat his memory with respect.
But, before God spoke to Abraham, he was a Gentile. After God’s message was received, Abraham obeyed and circumcised all the males in his household, including himself. This is the birth of the Jewish people.
Paul’s job was to tell God’s plan to everyone. Jew and Gentile alike. The Gentiles are now on equal terms with the Jews. Paul’s words and life were to bring this important truth to light. He was to explain this mystery to both sides.
In God’s eyes, there are no more sides. No more separation. No more barriers. No more walls to divide us from one another.
For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility
Ephesians 2:14
This was Paul’s message to the world. He was to spread it everywhere. And he did it in such a way that it couldn’t be missed. His words, actions, and writing were like giant billboards along the highway of life. You couldn’t miss them.
The truth that God gave Paul was going to revolutionize life in his time. Within 300 years, the Greco Roman world was going to be changed by a sweeping revolution of changed lives. Not by military or political might, but by individual lives that were totally transformed by the power of the risen Jesus.
Isn’t that what we need now?
Noodling Questions
List three things that God has revealed in your life that were hidden.
What impact did they have in your life?
Where do you need God to reveal a mystery to you now?
[1] https://www.sobpedro.com/
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