Paul had been given the job of telling Gentiles about Jesus. He was so excited to tell the Ephesians about it, that he interrupted his sentence to tell them about it.
Read Ephesians 3:8
Paul was excited about the job God had given him, but he wasn’t a proud man. He considered himself to be the least of all Christians. He probably thought this way because he had formerly been such a violent enemy of Christians. Did you know that before Paul became a Christian, he had captured Christians and put them in jail? He hated Christians then, but one day while traveling to Damascus, God had opened his eyes to understand his sinfulness and need for Jesus. When Paul repented of his sin and believed Jesus, God changed him and also gave him the grace to preach the gospel message to the Gentiles. He described the message as the unfathomable riches of Christ. What does that mean? A fathom was a unit of measurement to show how deep water was under a boat. They would tie something heavy to a measuring rope and lower it over the side of the ship until it hit the bottom of the sea. If the water was too deep to measure, it was considered unfathomable. This is a good way of understanding what Jesus has given to all who have believed. There is so much given to us that it can’t be measured. Among other things, we have been chosen to be holy, redeemed by the blood of Jesus, we have an understanding of God’s will, the sealing of the Holy Spirit, hope from God’s calling, and have become God’s inheritance. We could continue to list many more things that God has given us in Jesus. There sure are a lot of things God has done for us!
- Why did Paul consider himself to be the least of all Christians?
- When did God change Paul?
- What must anyone do to be saved?
- What does unfathomable mean?
- What wonderful things has Jesus done for us?
