“And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 3:9).

In the third chapter of Ephesians, the apostle Paul is outlining the tremendous message he had been called by God to preach. By special “revelation,” God had “made known” to him the essentials of what had previously been a great “mystery” (vv.3,4). Since all—both Jew and Gentile—had the same Creator, and since that Creator had now become the Redeemer, therefore all were to be “partakers of His promise in Christ by the gospel” (v.6).

Thus there was established a wonderful fellowship among all those whom He has created and redeemed. This great mystery, long hidden from the Gentiles and from the Jews (accustomed to viewing themselves as the chosen nation), must now give way to “the manifold wisdom of God, According to the eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord” (vv.10,11).

That great purpose, now revealed, had from the beginning of the world been “hid in God.” He had first “created all things by Jesus Christ” (see our text for the day) and “now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ” (Ephesians 2:13). He has forever reconciled both Jew and Gentile to the Father and to each other “in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby” (v.16).

True fellowship between any two groups can only be on this basis. That is, both the creation of all things and the blood-bought redemption of all things have thereby been completed through the Lord Jesus Christ. This former mystery is now fully revealed as the essential foundation of true fellowship with God and man. HMM