Ephesians 3:10, commentary and pictures

God now makes His many-sided wisdom known through the church to rulers and authorities in heaven, not to this world only but to the whole universe. This is according to His eternal purpose in Christ Jesus, hidden in God from the beginning of the world and now revealed by the Spirit, that the Gentiles are fellowheirs of the same body and partakers of His promise in Christ by the gospel. That wisdom is the greatness of His love, goodness, compassion and righteousness in saving humanity, declared by Christ's death and learned through His resurrection, intercession and atonement for all who come to God by faith. The church makes it known by representing Christ's character in vital union with Him and with one another, uniting Jew and Gentile in love and fellowship, and by transformed lives and converted sinners in whom His light shines. Because the end is near, this is a present message laying a worldwide work on believers now, to proclaim with one voice the last warning of salvation in earnest while mercy still calls today.

Verse Words and Setting

God makes His many-sided wisdom known to the principalities and powers in heavenly places by and through the church. The church is to reveal the principles of His kingdom and the greatness and glory of His purpose accomplished through His people, not to this world only but to the universe. This revealing comes through preaching the unsearchable riches of Christ and making all see the fellowship of the mystery hidden from the beginning in God who created all things by Jesus Christ. The church's own experience of redemption is what reveals that wisdom to the universe, fulfilling God's eternal purpose in Christ Jesus.

That display is according to the eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ Jesus the Lord, devised before time began to display before the universe the glory of divine love in the salvation of man. From the beginning of the world the divine counsel of that purpose was hidden in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ, and after Satan tempted Eve and she and Adam sinned, that hidden fellowship of the mystery was to be made known. Now His intent is that the manifold wisdom of God should be known by the church to the principalities and powers in heavenly places. Creation itself was originated so that God might glorify Himself in the redemption of His people, to whom the church is His dearest object on earth, and therefore no work is to shape or separate itself from the church, demerit the ministry, or exalt itself above it, but every worker is to be a co-worker with God in humility and unity. The church makes the wisdom known by representing Christ's character, united to Him by vital connection as branches to the vine, just as Jesus came as the visible representative of the invisible God and gave Himself wholly in infinite sacrifice to redeem the world so His people might be sanctified. Believers are to walk humbly with God, yoked with Christ as co-laborers in a work as enduring as eternity, and a deeper experience with God and peace with Him enable them to make that wisdom known, including proclaiming Christ's unsearchable riches.

The word now marks present revelation as the exalted privilege of the church, met when each member stands in his place representing the life and character of Jesus Christ. The connection of heaven with earth is very close, with all heaven engaged in preparing a people to stand in the day of the Lord's preparation. The restoring power of transforming grace upon the human agent is of highest value and displays that wisdom, while heavenly intelligences wait with almost impatient earnestness for human instrumentalities to hasten to their place so they can labor together with angels to present Jesus as Redeemer full of grace and truth, the only Potentate and propitiation for sins. Those heavenly rulers and authorities are at work in this world to influence people to follow Christ, the divine Example.

The chapter belongs to the work to be done for everyone who is saved: Christ is to be revealed in them and through them.

Hidden Mystery Now Revealed

The mystery was hidden from the beginning of the world in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ, the divine counsel of His eternal purpose purposed in Christ Jesus the Lord being hid in Him until after sin entered through Satan's tempting of Eve and the fall of Eve and Adam. In other ages it was not made known to the sons of men as it is now revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets. Now to that intent the fellowship of that hidden mystery is to be made known, and by the church the manifold wisdom of God is made known unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places.

The revealed mystery is that the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ by the gospel, sharing with Israel and with believers in Israel. This inclusion of the Gentiles belongs to and serves God's eternal purpose in Christ.

The mystery becomes known by preaching among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ and making all men see the fellowship of the mystery which from the beginning of the world was hidden in God who created all things by Jesus Christ. That preaching reveals His glory not to those living in this world only but through the church on earth to principalities and powers in heavenly places. This belongs to the mystery once hidden in God and now revealed, and it fulfills God's eternal purpose in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Mysteries God has not revealed are withheld because human minds would not know how to handle His treasures of wisdom without tarnishing His glory. What He has revealed is to be cherished and understood by diligent study as truth that works by love and purifies the soul, shunning all spiritualistic ideas of God as leprosy. The plan of redemption in rescuing humanity from sin through Christ, with Christ's without-parallel sacrifice as its supreme subject for reflection, remains a mystery beyond the full comprehension of both people and angels, calling hearts awakened by grace to gratitude and adoration.

Creation itself was originated in God's purpose that He might glorify Himself in the redemption of the fallen race and of His people, the highest work of God being the salvation of souls and the triumph of His grace and love. For this Christ came to seek and save the lost, giving His incarnate life as incarnate God so that sinners through faith in Him and cleansing by His blood may secure life that measures with the life of God. Abundant provision is made with the grace of His Spirit given to save to the uttermost all who come by faith, and the reward of His sufferings is to see souls saved, to see of the travail of His soul and be satisfied.

The church is now to unfold mysteries into which angels have desired to look and which prophets and kings and righteous men desired to know. This unfolding is the magnifying of the law of God by presenting its claims and holy character widespread through books, papers, and the spoken word. It is the proclaiming of the message of Christ's righteousness from one end of the earth to the other, arousing God's people to prepare the way of the Lord. It is the sending forth of the third angel's message as the last message of mercy to a perishing world, so sacred and glorious, as a lamp that burneth.

Content of Manifold Wisdom

The manifold wisdom embraces the greatness of divine love, goodness, compassion and glory in saving humanity. It makes righteousness known, for nothing unrighteous can be wise, and the death of Christ declares His righteousness in a way no man, woman or child can declare by human strength or human words. That display of the glory of divine love in the salvation of man belongs to the eternal purpose devised before time began.

Through the church God makes the full display of His love and wisdom known, for the church as the repository of Christ's grace reflects His fullness and sufficiency. The ransomed church is Christ's recompense for His conquests and the chief source of His glory. Made able by His ascension, He gives His followers guidance and protection in a special sense through the Holy Spirit and is glorified in them.

In Christ that wisdom is learned through His resurrection, His intercession for those who come to God by faith, and the atonement by which He claims pardon for them, in whom all fullness dwells and in whom believers have boldness and access with confidence by faith. It is made known by exalting Jesus higher and higher as the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world, sweeping away the refuge of lies. That wisdom is brought home to the soul in the development of individual character, so that those who thought themselves wise become fools that they may be wise, with human wisdom bowing to revealed divine truth.

The church's experience of redemption itself reveals the wisdom to the universe. The redeemed, having known conflict with sin and worked with Christ in the fellowship of His sufferings, bear a testimony about redemption that unfallen beings do not have. Their witness helps the universe see God's justice in dealing with evil and why sin deserves lasting condemnation. The wisdom is also seen in allowing Satan's rebellion to unfold rather than immediately destroying him, so that created beings could witness sin's nature and consequences and understand God's justice and mercy and the unchanging goodness of His law, securing His character and government against doubt through all ages.

Working out redemption in this world's history reveals the Father not only to men but to angels, showing both Satan's work in degrading and ruining the race by sin and God's work in recovering and uplifting man through Christ's grace. Every soul that develops a righteous character and withstands the power of evil is a testimony that Satan's charges against the divine government are false. The exaltation of the redeemed through eternal ages will testify to God's love and mercy and display the exceeding riches of His grace and kindness through Christ. Christ's mercy transforms fallen people, once children of wrath, into sons and daughters of God whose characters reflect the divine likeness, a change that astonishes and gladdens angels, remains incomprehensible to Satan, and stands as a fortress against his deceptions.

The loyal angelic host in their appointed orders study with deepest interest God's dealings with the fallen race and learn by the church this manifold wisdom. What they contemplate is the immense sacrificial death of Christ that alone makes it possible for man to carry out God's purpose and partake of the divine nature. What is made known is that every soul elected to salvation is elected to obedience to all the laws of Christ's kingdom and purification from all disloyalty, appropriating through the Holy Spirit the efficacy of Christ's blood that cleanses from all defilement and guilt, fulfilling His prayer that those given Him be with Him to behold His glory with the Father's love in them. God's eternal purpose is not only to save believers but to reveal through them to the universe the perfection of Christ's character, which otherwise could not be made known, with the blessings of grace given for Christ's sake as its fruits.

How Church Makes Known

The church makes the manifold wisdom known by representing the character of Christ, united to Him by vital connection as branches to a living vine. As Jesus came into the world as the visible representative of the invisible God and gave Himself wholly in infinite sacrifice to redeem the world so that His people might be sanctified, so each member standing in his place represents His life and character. This is the exalted privilege given according to the eternal purpose devised before time began, that through the church the glory of divine love in saving humanity should now be displayed before the universe.

That display is made by the union of members with Christ and with one another, through which the transforming power of the gospel is diffused throughout the world. The fellowship of the mystery is the uniting of Gentiles and Jews through faith in Christ in bonds of Christian fellowship, whose foundation principles are love and wisdom that make those at variance one in Christ, hid with Him in God. It is a blessed union of sanctified believers in body, soul, and spirit, kept in the unity of the Spirit in the bonds of peace, where the human is joined with the divine and Christ identifies Himself with members. Such union convicts the world, magnifies truth, brings convincing power to the rulers of darkness, and reveals great power for truth and holiness to lead souls to Christ, leaving no place for complaint where Christ is formed within as the hope of glory.

The gospel gathers believers into one family with access to God as Father, loving one another unselfishly and avoiding contention and strife. When those words of grace and calling are believed and lived, their fellowship displays God's wisdom, serves His eternal purpose in Christ, and becomes a foretaste of heaven on earth. This same oneness is the standard for home life, where husband and wife are to be one in Christ and children are a sacred trust to be trained for the Lord.

Every believer must show growth by receiving the Word into the heart so that life and character are transformed and the influence flowing out is a positive, life-giving power. By letting light shine forth in good works they show the advantage of Christianity over worldliness, that God may use them to convert others and lead them to wash garments of character white in the blood of the Lamb. This is the work committed to believers both as individuals and as members of the church, according to the eternal purpose in Christ who created all things, by preaching the unsearchable riches of Christ and making all men see the fellowship of the mystery hidden from the beginning of the world in God.

God is glorified before principalities and powers of heaven and earth when sinners are converted, for He designs that His glory and not the glory of men shall be manifested through human beings. His light shines through His agencies as Christ draws sinners by cords of love to unite them to Himself, that they may be laborers together with God not in pride but in meekness and lowliness. Transformed in character by beholding Him, they become witnesses and a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men, revealing that transformation by Christlike forbearance and love.

The wisdom is made known when those who took baptismal vows keep their covenant to be dead to the world, separate and on the side of God, truth, and righteousness. Father, Son, and Holy Ghost have pledged themselves to work in their behalf and supply every deficiency they need, giving power to prevail with God and to receive the fullness and greatness of experience purposed from the beginning. Keeping that covenant fulfills Christ's commission to teach all nations, baptizing in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, teaching to observe all things commanded, and trusting His abiding presence to the end of the world with encouraging faith.

God brought His people together in church capacity and organized the church to represent truth and reveal the wisdom of Him who formed it, knowing what plans to outline for efficiency and success. Adherence to those plans testifies to the divine authorship of His great plan for restoration and calls for vigorous missionary work. That witness requires faith that works by love and purifies the soul from sloth, with zeal shown in watchfulness unto prayer, humble heart-searching, self-examination to detect defects of character, and avoidance of self-exaltation, without which labor for the perishing weakens and disappoints Christ in His church.

As God's agent devoted to appointed work in God's order to dispel darkness and spread the light and knowledge of God and of Jesus whom He sent, the tidings of every successful effort are borne upward and presented before heavenly intelligences. The report thrills through all principalities and powers and enlists the sympathy and cooperation of all heavenly beings. Heavenly intelligences and human agents become a unit in practical sympathy to save the lost, with ministering angels supplying the inefficiency of the living human agency, so that even the smallest sincere earnest effort for souls for whom Christ died thrills heaven.

The church through whom this is done includes all united to Christ by faith who embrace truth that works by love and purifies the soul, magnifying truth in the world with sanctifying, cleansing, and refining influence through whom the gospel work is carried out. The restoring power of transforming grace upon the human agent is of highest value and displays that wisdom, while all heaven is engaged in preparing a people to stand in the day of preparation. Heavenly intelligences wait with almost impatient earnestness for human instrumentalities to hasten to their place to labor together with angels, presenting Jesus as He is, the Redeemer full of grace and truth, the only Potentate and propitiation for sins, with man using intellect to the highest capability to devise and plan and laying hold by living faith on the strength of a living Advocate for souls ready to perish.

To fulfill this the church must shine forth fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners, by preaching the unsearchable riches of Christ and making all men see the fellowship of the mystery hidden from the beginning in God who created all things by Jesus Christ. God's servants labor together with Christ to roll away the curse that has made the church lukewarm. Therefore no work or institution such as a sanitarium is to stand as an independent interest, shape or separate itself, demerit the ministry, or exalt itself above the church, for creation itself was originated that God might glorify Himself in redemption and the church is His dearest object on earth. Genuine medical missionary work is never to be divorced from gospel ministry, and no one man is to be sole head, but every worker is to be led by God under Christ as head in humility and unity as a co-worker with God.

Present Commission and Living

Ephesians 3 is a present message for believers because the end is near, laying Paul's burden on the church now to make known the manifold wisdom of God in a worldwide work to be done earnestly and in a short time. It calls for united proclamation with one voice of the truth as the last message of warning and salvation, with believers aroused to their true position in view of swiftly coming judgments. Satan plans to keep the Lord's forces out of the work, and there is no second probation, so all are to turn fully to the Lord while it is called today to receive mercy and abundant pardon and to be found ready at His sudden coming. Showing God's people their transgressions and sins is required because those sins hinder the proclamation.

That work of proclaiming salvation in unity is hindered by alienation, disunion, diversity of opinion, envy, evil surmisings, faultfinding, seeking the highest place, self-seeking, transgression and sin, and letting commercial business absorb attention and means that ought to be given to the proclamation. Had believers put self out of sight and refused Satan's plans, a thousand times more might have been done and the work would be much further advanced. Instead time passes, the work remains undone, and the world grows worse, yet the Spirit of God still strives with souls and calls believers to put on the whole armor of God and go forward. It is a message for ministers of Christ to give the gospel invitation to the whole world and to tell those who have never heard where the world stands in its history. They are to compel even those fallen through sin to the very lowest depths to come in as they are, because the supper is proclaimed His own and the time will come when those who refuse will not be allowed to taste of it.

Paul counted it his highest privilege to preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ and to make all men see the fellowship of the mystery hidden from the beginning of the world in God who created all things by Jesus Christ, so that now the manifold wisdom of God would be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in heavenly places according to the eternal purpose in Christ Jesus our Lord. Having a part in that work brings about the blessed state when all things are made new and all the earth is filled with the glory of the Lord. This knowledge is to be the first education of life and the foundation laid for all else, to be built on not with hay, wood, and stubble but with gold, silver, and precious stones, so the work will have lasting value. This work cannot be done unless both hands of faith are reached up to God.

Ephesians 3:7-21 is for every minister in every conference, whether formally ordained or not, and for the church and its ministers, to be read carefully, prayerfully and solemnly and impressed on minds as describing present privilege and duty. It calls shepherds of the flock to more than casual interest in lost sheep, to earnest travail for souls, to earnest heart-searching and prayerful seeking to know God and the power of His grace. The religious experience called for is not tame and commonplace but marked by grace and the decided working of the power of God with human effort. Ministry is work done with God, requiring God-given wisdom and prayerful judgment in carrying out the work entrusted rather than dependence on human direction.

That solemn work demands the whole self-sacrificing work of ministry, not preaching alone, with well-directed personal labor as a servant of the people, broken and fashioned as a vessel unto honor laboring together with God for the saving of souls. Without that ministering work labors will not be acceptable to God, while faithful labor produces a solid and beautiful saving work in all countries. It is a lesson for all teachers, all ministers of the gospel, and all who occupy responsible positions that they must show a converted character and set a right example in spirit and in action in their families, in the school, in the church, and in the world. If imperfections of character are manifest and a wrong example is set, they must become converted or take up some other calling where they will not act the spirit of the unbeliever and lead others in the wrong direction, for if truly converted they would reveal great power for truth and holiness and work with God to lead souls to Christ, with Christ formed within as hope of glory leaving no place for complaint.

Practicing the instruction means grasping rich blessings by faith, having courage in the Lord, relying on divine strength, speaking courage and strength and faith with no doubt or unbelief, and bearing a living testimony for God under all circumstances in reliance on Christ who is always with His people, knows every individual necessity and temptation, and lives in heaven as Advocate to make intercession. Together with the preceding chapter it teaches workmen to cease trusting in man and make God their efficiency by seeking wisdom from God in most earnest prayer, learning the way of the Lord as no human voice or human counsel can teach. The chapters teach the reason for the great sacrifice on Calvary, that transgression of the law required the blood of the Son of the infinite God as propitiation for our sins and for the sins of the whole world, so the sinner hates the sins that wounded Jesus, preserves a contrite heart, and views Jesus as a compassionate, tender High Priest. That manifold wisdom makes righteousness known, for nothing unrighteous can be wise, and Christ's death declared His righteousness, which no man, woman, or child can declare in human strength or by human words. This wisdom prepares a people to stand in the day of God's preparation, who put every spiritual nerve and muscle to the tax, arm for conflict against every obstructing influence, bring the mind to noble and elevated thoughts, seek truth with humble prayer and searching, and strive for entrance into the city which has foundations whose builder and maker is God.

A deeper experience with God and peace with Him enable believers to make that wisdom known, and believers are to walk humbly with God, yoked with Christ as co-laborers with Him in a work as enduring as eternity.