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 3:11-13
Paul’s job description fit perfectly with what God had planned all along. Even before Adam and Eve sinned, God knew that sinful people would need to be reconciled with him. His eternal purpose was to send Jesus to earth to die for our sins and rise again so that we could be forgiven. Now through faith in Jesus, each believer has boldness and access to God. The word Paul used for boldness means “all speech.” That means that through Jesus we can speak to God about anything. And because of Jesus we can enter God’s presence at any time. Remember when Esther was afraid to visit the king? Back then, if anyone entered the king’s throne room without permission, he would be killed. But the king was happy to see Esther and gladly accepted her visit. This is how it is with Christians. Because Jesus has already paid for our sins, we can visit God by prayer at any time and God enjoys our visits! With all of these wonderful truths to think about, Paul didn’t want the Ephesians to be sad about him being in prison. Rather than be sad, they were to see the glory of telling others about Jesus and even suffering for him when necessary.
- Did God plan for Jesus to die for our sins before or after Adam and Eve sinned?
- What does the word boldness mean?
- Why was Esther afraid to visit the king?
- Why can a Christian speak to God at any time?
- Should we be sad when a Christian goes to prison for preaching about Jesus?
