What is God's Mysterious Plan Revealed in Ephesians 3?

Published May 7, 2024, 4:26 PM

Israel Kamudzandu returns to the Enter the Bible podcast. Join Kamudzandu and our co-hosts as they explore Ephesians 3:2-6, unveiling God's mysterious plan: including Gentiles in His economy, previously undisclosed. 

Guest Dr. Israel Kamudzandu is the Associate Professor of New Testament Studies and Lindsey P. Pherigo Chair at Saint Paul School of Theology, Kansas City, Missouri. Kamudzandu has a Ph.D. in New Testament Biblical Interpretation from Brite Divinity School.

Do you have Bible questions you would like answered? Go to our website at https://enterthebible.org/about to get started.

Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/N2JruNijbUc

#enterthebible #podcast #lutherseminary #workingpreacher #bible #katielangston #kathrynschifferdecker #israelkamudzandu #biblicalinterpretation #theology

Hello and welcome to another episode of the Enter the Bible podcast, where you can get answers, or at least reflections on everything you wanted to know about the Bible but were afraid to ask. I'm Katie Langston.

And I'm Kathryn Schifferdecker, and we have again as our special guest, Israel Kamudzandu, who is Professor of New Testament Studies and Biblical Interpretation at Saint Paul's Theological Seminary in Kansas City. And we just want to mention that Israel has a new book called Translation as Incarnation: The Bible in the 21st Century Global South. So it's an important, an important work, because, the church is growing by leaps and bounds in the global South. And so this contributes to the scholarship on the global South church and from the global South Church because you yourself, Israel, remind me you're from Zimbabwe, right?

Yes, yes.

Yes, so, though you've you've taught for many years in the United States, so you speak both as a global South Christian and as a scholar of global South Christianity.

Ah, thank you, thank you.

So thank you. Yeah. Thank you for being with us again. Israel. Uh, so our our question for today comes from a listener. Uh, and again, if you have a question, go to enter the Bible to, to send it to us. Here's the question: what is God's mysterious plan revealed in Ephesians three verses two through six? So I'm going to begin just by reading that passage in the NRSV translation, and then we'll hand it over to Israel to explain this mystery. So, uh, Ephesians three two through six, "for surely you have already heard of the commission of God's grace that was given me for you, and how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I wrote above in a few words, a reading of which will enable you to perceive my understanding of the mystery of Christ In former generations this mystery mystery was not made known to humankind, as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the spirit. That is, the Gentiles have become fellow heirs, members of the same body, and sharers in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel." So this passage, in this passage, uh, Ephesians talks about mystery a few different times. The mystery of Christ, the mystery not made known to humankind, but now revealed to the apostles and prophets. Um, so, Israel, how would you begin to answer this question?

Wow. The mystery mystery of God revealed. Paul was talking. Uh, remember, Paul was a Jew and he died a Jew. And Paul, uh, was never a Christian. But we know that in the book of acts, we we read about the spiritual biography of Paul, when he had an encounter with Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus and how that transformed him to become this passionate lover of God, you know, the passionate love of Jesus Christ. And so Paul, again, he regards himself as an apostle to the Gentiles. Outsiders, and we have to know that to be an outsider, they needed to be an insider. And the concept of chosenness had blinded so many, uh, is one of the human condition we struggle with. And Paul is here telling the Ephesians, who were Gentiles, that the mystery of God has been revealed. To include Gentiles into the economy of God. That at one point you were not a people, Paul writes in Ephesians, but now you are a people, the people of God. And so Paul is saying, the mystery that was revealed was that Jesus Christ died for you. Jesus Christ rose from the grave for you. And God unveiled that not because it was plan B. No, it was God's plan all along. Because Abraham was called to go and and go somewhere and wherever you go, become a blessing to the nation. And so Paul now comes to say, through the Holy Spirit, you who were outsiders, God's mystery, God's plan is being unveiled in you. So this mystery of God that Paul is talking about is the opening of the wide opening of God's door to the Ephesians, who were the Gentiles. So that's part of this mystery, right? And in that mystery Paul talks about the nature of God, that God is an impartial God. God of impartiality. God who shows no favors. So we may ask the question, who are the Gentiles? The Gentiles are people who were outside of the covenant, you know. But now because of Christ, we are included in this mystery of God. So we are the mystery. You know, we are the mystery that was. That was so. So hidden. But now we are, we are the light of the world? We are are the salt of the world. And so Paul is advocating, encouraging them to become members, you know, of this new plan of God, be baptized, believe in Jesus Christ, not that Jesus Christ is the Messiah. So this mystery of God it continues to unveil to people we like and the people we don't like, you know.

And so if God can like some of those people, that is a mystery, right?

So, so, God loves people. We think they are outside of God's face, you know. So this mystery is a living thing for poor. It's what makes God God. It is a mystery. It is. It is embracive and inclusive of all people. It is where the heart of the gospel is, that Jesus died for all people, including outsiders, including people we we don't talk to. You know, God died for us. So as Desmond Tutu writes in one of his books, that God loves people we don't like, you know, and that's the nature of God. So that's how I can define, uh, briefly, what the mystery is all about.

You know, I was going to, I was going to say, you know, as as you were talking, you know. As Gentiles, I'm speaking for myself and Kathryn and Israel, I'm assuming, as well, you know, as as Gentiles who maybe have grown up always just assuming that we were included, because here we are Christians, right? Um. You know, I was going to ask like, well, you know, that doesn't seem so mysterious to me, but why might it have been mysterious to them at that time? But then I think you kind of answered that just by how you broadened that and sort of said, we still do this. We're still asking about the mystery of God, including and loving the people that we don't necessarily like or identify with. And yeah, that does seem to be something that, um, as humans, we struggle to accept that from time to time.

Yeah, yeah and we do struggle because I was teaching one time, a course and I, I asked this question to my students, what makes you think that you are a Christian?

Say that one more time. Sorry.

What makes you think that you are a Christian?

Ah, ah

And they said because I was born in America.

Wow.

You know, so this this understanding that America is a Christian nation has blinded so many. But Paul says this mystery is revealed to those who believe. And when you believe, you get baptized. That's how. That's the entry way into this mystery of God and without without being baptized. There are some things that you will not know, because this mystery is revealed to only those who believe in God. You know, it's believed that those who are hungry for God, who are always searching and testing for for God. And with revelation comes miracles, come signs. Comes wonders. You know I was blind, but now I see, you know. And so God is on the move. God is on the move in this global world to make sure that everyone is included in the plan of God. And so Paul is writing this to the Ephesians, but Paul is also writing this to us. You hear young people saying, I'm not religious, but I am spiritual.

Yeah.

What are they saying? They are saying, God speaks to me. I may not put it in in the right way, but Paul is saying, these young people, this generation, even somebody who did not know God in drugs or whatever, when they believe in God, something happens. It's a mystery. It's a mystery. It's a mystery. Yeah.

It's not, I want to distinguish between. So there are. There were people in the early church who talked about mystery too. And and secret knowledge. We call them the Gnostics, right?

Yeah, Gnostics.

Uh, uh, the Gnostics who thought that, you know, only they had the, the, uh, understanding of who God was. And I want to distinguish that from what Paul is saying here. And if in Ephesians, because it's not a, it's not a mystery just for the select few. Right. Or it's not knowledge just for the select few. He says it here, right. That, that um. The Gentiles, uh, have become fellow heirs, members of the same body, and sharers in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. And that kind of strikes us as well, of course, because, again, we're all Gentiles on this, on this podcast. But that was a pretty radical statement.

Yes.

Is that right? For Paul?

It was. Yeah. It was very much radical in a world that thought of itself as a religious, you know, group of people, would think that some secrets are supposed to be known by us only and not by anyone else. And how? The human condition says we are the chosen ones. No one else is, you know. So God breaks that, you know, God breaks that. And God says, my plan has always been there. It has been revealed through the prophets, you know, uh, through the apostles. And now it's being revealed through the missionaries, evangelists, laypeople, you know, who give their lives to Christ. So it's an ongoing, um, unveiling of God's plan. We don't know what it is. It still remains a mystery, you know? And we hear our wise people, elderly people saying, it's a mystery. I don't understand it. You know, I don't know how I walked in the doors of this church. It's a mystery, you know, I don't know how I fell in love with this friend. It's a mystery. I don't know how I happened to be in the United States. It's a mystery, you know? So it's an ongoing one. And then Paul writes also in that verse three, that this revealed secret is that Gentiles are part of God and are included in God's universal salvation. You know, they are not visitors anymore, but they are part.

Yeah.

They belong. Yes, yes.

And you, I think you mentioned this just a little while ago that, in some ways, this shouldn't be a surprise because God said all the way back to Abraham, you know in Genesis 12, that he and his family, his descendants would be a blessing to the whole world. So there are these, these, these moments, these passages in the Old Testament that speak of that kind of, opening up of membership in God's people, right? Or the opening up of God's grace to to the whole world through Israel, through, uh, through Abraham's descendants. And we see things like in Isaiah two, where all the nations come to Jerusalem to worship the God of Israel. Yes. So there are these moments, right, that we can talk about God's, uh, God's working through Israel to through the nation of Israel to bless the whole world. Yes. And I see that same kind of theme here, uh, in Ephesians. Yeah.

I see the way the too Paul talks about this word. We sometimes we miss together. You know, it points to our equality as a human family that from God's perspective, we are one, you know, no matter how much we resist. You know, other people, other cultures or other genders. We are one people together. We are one people. We have got rights. You know, we have got privileges. That's why we can share in the inheritance. Actually, Paul says, we we are co-heirs with with Jesus Christ. You know, we are co-heirs. And that doesn't say that which nation, which gender, which which, uh, age group, but all of us as children of God. So again, this mystery, it places the kingdom of God right into our culture, that God is not away from our culture. God is always involved in us, and God is working through those who believe. Whether it's a small church, it's one Christian. But wherever we are, we are the mystery of God. As I said, how do we talk? How do we sing? You know. How do you look at other people? All those things? They have to draw people to this kingdom of God. That. Wow, that's a Christian there. Or they may say, what makes you do what you do? He tells them it's a mystery. It's a mystery. You know, I think everyone in there, Paul is saying that as members of one body, we are equal in our relationship. We are equal together to our God, to Jesus Christ. We are part of the promises of God. But the key is for all of us to believe as one family. Yeah, yeah yeah, yeah.

Well, thank you so much, Israel. That was, uh, that was a wonderful answer to this question about the mystery, God's mysterious plan revealed in Ephesians three that the overwhelming, uh, the inclusive, the the wide reach of God's grace, uh, it is that.

It is this way.

Back in the Old Testament and continues.

It is the wonder. It is the wonder that God, you know, brings to us. It is the one that that God is always, you know, wanted even in the book of Genesis, you remember the story of, um, Adam and Eve. God comes back and says, where are you, Adamah? You know, I think God is still calling us. Where are you, Adamah? Because God wants us to be involved and to be part of the kingdom and to be with God in eternity. But it's up to us, as Paul is writing. It's now up to you as Ephesians. Do you receive the word I preach? You know? Yeah, yeah.

That was beautiful. Thank you so much, Israel. And, um, for being here with us and, for sharing your wonderful insights on the expansiveness of God's mercy and grace. Uh, and thank you to those of you who have joined us, whether you're listening on your favorite podcast app or watching on YouTube, we appreciate you being here. Uh, be sure to head over to Enter the Bible. Org for more of this kind of great conversation, podcasts, videos, commentaries, courses, anything that you might need to dive into the Bible. And of course, if you have enjoyed this podcast, we invite you to review us and share your share this podcast with a friend. Uh, until next time. We'll see you later.