The plot unfolds

I am less than the least of all God’s people; yet God gave me this privilege of taking to the Gentiles the Good News about the infinite riches of Christ, and of making all people see how God’s secret plan is to be put into effect. God, who is the Creator of all things, kept his secret hidden through all the past ages, in order that at the present time, by means of the church, the angelic rulers and powers in the heavenly world might learn of his wisdom in all its different forms. (verses 8-10)

Read Ephesians 3:1-12

In novels and movies there are often mysterious elements in the plot which keep us wondering until a point is reached when all is revealed and everything makes sense.

It was a bit like this at the time of Paul, the great Christian missionary to the non-Jewish people. God’s great plan for winning back the world to himself had been in place ever since the fall of humankind into sin, and God had revealed his intentions through people like the prophets, but his purposes were often still unclear to people and were misunderstood. For example, his special purpose in choosing Abraham and his descendants was not always clearly understood.

With the coming of Christ, however, God’s plan for saving people was fully revealed. And with the birth of Christ’s church it soon became plain, through people like Paul, that Jesus came to save everyone, not just the Jewish people.

God’s plan of salvation continues. Some of it is still shrouded in mystery. It is exciting to consider how the plan might end and what part you and I will play in it.

Lord, thank you for your plans to save the world, which include me as a beneficiary as well as a contributor. Help me to play my part well. Amen.

by Richard Hauser, in ‘God’s Peace for each Day’ (LCA, Openbook, 2005)

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