Ephesians 3:4 – The secret of the Christ

… by which you who are reading are able to apprehend my understanding the secret of the Christ…

To Paul, a secret has been made known. It is precisely to him who calls himself “the least of all saints” (3:8) because he was the persecutor of the ecclesia. He is the living proof of GOD’s grace and therefore also suitable for “the administration of GOD’s grace”. Completely in accordance with this, not only a secret was revealed to him but “the secret”. “The secret of the Christ”.

Especially in verse 6 Paul will explain what this secret entails. It is not called “the secret of the Christ” because Christ Jesus made it known to Paul. That is true in itself (Gal. 1;12), but it is not the explanation of the term. “The secret of the Christ” is that “the Christ” is no one person but a company of people! It is the ecclesia that forms the body of which Christ Jesus is the Head. Everything he has received in the heavenly realm, is also for the ecclesia (1:3).

“The secret of the Christ” is not that we share in the blessings of Israel on earth, but that we are made one with Christ Jesus in heaven!

Delen: