Ephesians 3:8
That I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.
The word unsearchable here means untrackable or untraceable, so past finding out is thus too great for human comprehension. So it is a great advantage to be in Christ, identified with Him by a spiritual baptism into His death, burial, resurrection, and ascension into Glory (Heavenly Places).
God has blessed members of The Church with 'all spiritual blessings in Heavenly Places in Christ.' Is Ephesians 1:3 talking about you and like-minded believers?
Can you say that you have already been seated or enthroned with Christ in Heavenly Places? See Ephesians 2:6.
Do you believe that The Church is witnessing to the Heavenly Places, to the beings there, the manifold (multi-colored) wisdom of God? See Ephesians 3:10.
Do you have a part in His inheritance in the saints (The Holiest Of All)? Ephesians 1:18.
Do you hold citizenship in the Holiest of All? See Ephesians 2:19.
Do you believe that the Father has made you meet or fit to be a partaker of the inheritance in the Holy of Holies in the Shechinah? Colossians 1:12.
It may be that when you read these over, you will find out that you have been missing something. Don't sell your birthright for a mess of pottage, as did Esau.
Do you have an assurance that you will be manifested with Christ in Glory (Heavenly Places) someday? Colossians 3:1-4.
How about your citizenship or homeland? Where is it? Philippians 3:20. Be sure to have all your boarding papers.
Are you confident that you were chosen before the overthrow? Ephesians 1:4.
Have you been accepted in the Beloved? Ephesians 1:6: Or do you believe you have been accepted on your own merits and works?
Is your Hope connected with Christ's Kingship over Israel and the nations on earth or with His Headship over The Church, which is His Body in the Heavenly Places?
Are you positive that you have a part in that promise of life in Christ made before the overthrow of the age times? Ephesians 3:6; 2 Timothy 1:1; Titus 1:2. Check carefully on this.
Do you realize and believe that the will of The Father (Ephesians 1:1-4), the work of the Son (Ephesians 1:5-12), and the witness of the Spirit (Ephesians 1:13-14) concern you? Do you appreciate God's concern and provision for you?
These questions are being asked in order to clear up some things that ordinarily are confusing and mixed up to Christians that have never been taught Paul's Prison Epistles. Some think that all the saved will live on the earth in a future life, and others are convinced from the above quotes that they have a home in Heavenly Places, far above all, enthroned there with Christ. Now every Christian needs to make up their mind as to whether one can rely on the traditions of men or the perfect Word and Will of God.
Remember that this life is the only time to make this choice. And if you make the wrong choice, you will forfeit what The Father and Son want you to have.
Ephesians 3:8 'Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.'
Note that Paul never magnifies himself. He is just the channel thru which his Lord can work. But he never hesitated to magnify his office, his special ministry. He understood that God had given him this special ministry by a special Dispensation of Grace and that to him alone (Eph. 3:2). Remember that the Dispensation of the Grace of God was for Paul only to reveal. No others are included in revealing this Great Dispensation. It was Paul's calling that he might proclaim the Dispensation of The Mystery, which includes all who are called, hear, and believe. The Dispensation of the Grace of God has no need to be given to anyone since faithful Paul made The Secret known, then wrote the doctrinal Epistles, and now The Truth of The mystery is available for all who will come to God by believing in Christ Jesus the Head.
And who are these Gentiles? Did not Paul merge the Jewish and Gentile believers together in Chapter 2 preceding? Yes, he proclaimed the blessed fact that the two were made one, created into one new man, the Body of Christ. This is where the Dispensation of The Mystery began. This is where the Body of Christ, of which He is The Head, came into being. It was when the middle wall of partition was abolished, and the two were created into one new man.
In Chapter 2, we are reminded that at one time, Israel was one nation, and the other nations 70. These always were separate and not reckoned together, but now they are 71, one new man, so making peace. And from that time, they are all called Gentile nations, for Israel is no longer in first position having Salvation; she is merged in with the rest.
So in Ephesians 3:1, Paul speaks of himself as a prisoner for the Gentiles (the 71 nations). And in Eph. 3:8, with which we are dealing now, the Gentiles form 71 nations. Paul proclaims the unsearchable riches of Christ among all who had been Jews and Gentiles. These unsearchable riches could never be proclaimed until the 70 and 1 had become 71, The One Body of which Christ is the Head.
At this point, Paul received a new revelation. There were riches of Christ before this time. But they were searchable; they had been revealed. He had all power in heaven and earth, and He was to be King of kings and Lord of lords, for all this had been prophesied. All this was already known; the tracks were to be found thru all the Hebrew Scriptures.
But to Paul was given a new revelation, one far beyond what the O.T. Scriptures ever knew. To Paul was revealed the fact that Christ had riches that had left no track in the O.T. Unsearchable means untrackable or untraceable. These new riches cannot be found anywhere in previous writings.
And what are they? Ephesians 1:9-10 is revealing a secret that Christ has been made Head of all things in both heaven and earth. This extends His riches and His rule far beyond the earth and its millennial kingdom. In Eph. 1:22-23 we learn that He has been made Head of the Church which is His Body. This is a different body from what we have ever known before, for there is no track of it, even in Paul's Epistles written during the Acts period. Then in Ephesians 3:6, 2 Timothy 1:1, and Titus 1:2, we find a promise never known before that these riches are a new revelation, a Sectret given to faithful Paul.
'Blest with all spiritual blessings.' Not material or carnal blessings, for they have their place with an earthly people, not those whose citizenship is in heaven.
'Blest in heavenly places,' not here on the earth. That is why every blessing is spiritual.
'Blest in Christ.' Not in faithful Abraham. Abraham had been promised land here on earth, not in the heavenlies. He also had spiritual blessings, but not in the Heaven of heavens.
'Chosen before the overthrow of the Cosmos.' The Earth people and their kingdom were chosen and in the mind of God since not before the overthrow.
The purpose of God is that we should be 'holy and without blame before Him in love.' In that respect, we are no different than Israel, for that was the will of God for them too.
We have an adoption, a placing as sons. So did Israel, who was His firstborn here on the earth. But we are firstborn in the Heavenly Places, born of the will of God before age times. God uses the word 'Adoption' for our sonship, knowing that the Greek word uihothesia represented great meaning to all who spoke the common tongue. You see, a firstborn son could be disowned and disinherited, but an adopted son became the first son in the family and could not be removed or lose the family inheritance. The Father and Son love us beyond words and purposed and called us to the praise of God's Glory all by the Good pleasure of His will. Eph. 1:5-6. Remember, these sons are predestined, called, and chosen from among all Christian believers.
We have 'redemption thru the blood of Christ.' So did Israel for redemption will go as far as sin and death have gone in creation.
We have the 'forgiveness of sins also thru His blood.' So did Israel, as they needed it just as much as we did.
God has 'made known to us the mystery of His will, the Headship of Christ over all things.' This was a secret that Israel never knew, for His highest position known to them was that of King of kings and Lord of lords.
'In Christ, we have obtained an inheritance.' But this is not the kingdom of heaven which is to come to earth in the Person of the King. It is an inheritance of God in the Holy of Holies.
Our salvation is that 'salvation that was sent to the Gentiles,' at Acts 28:28. It is not the salvation that was of the Jews, for that salvation had to do with the kingdom, not the church.
We are 'sealed.' The seal is that promised holy spirit, the new nature in the child of God. The Holy Spirit, the Person, is the agent that does the 'sealing' (Ephesians 4:30). The First Century Church of Jews and Gentiles had this too.
We have hope of resurrection. That is called the redemption of the purchased possession, the birth from among the dead. It was true that one had to be born again, or raised from the dead to enter the kingdom.
God desires that we 'know the hope of His calling, the riches of His inheritance in the heavenlies, and the power that raised Christ from the dead.' There were similar desires for Israel, but as to their earthly calling.
Christ is now Head over all to The Church. He was also the King of Israel (but rejected).
'The Church is the fulness of Him who will fill all in all!'
