Ephesians 3:4-5

"When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it is now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit."

in writing to the Ephesians, Paul is sharing the revelation of the mystery of Christ of which previous generations knew nothing, because it was a mystery ( i.e. a hidden thing). So now they can perceive the reality of the depth of his insight.

Paul had a revelation of this mystery, a sudden understanding given by God of how Christ came to fulfil the law of Moses and all the prophecies concerning the Messiah. Nobody saw this in previous generations as clearly as the apostles did in the time since Christ's death and resurrection.

Where Paul excelled was the depth of his insight into the revelation. Many people receive revelation about salvation, but a proportion of them don't move into insight. They stay with the revelation, “Jesus died for my sins so now I am forgiven.” The insight comes when we realise that, because off this my whole life must be lived for him. It is that insight that propels us from forgiveness to sanctification.

Paul wants the Ephesians to perceive his insight, that is to move forwards in their understanding of how much God loves them, the spiritual authority that they now have, and the implications of all this in their personal discipleship, in their relationships, and in their service of the Lord.

Paul says that the mystery of Christ has been revealed to the apostles and prophets. I made some mention of these gifts in 2:20 where Paul says the church is like a building built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Christ as the cornerstone.

the apostles and prophets were godly men and women given the task leading the church into deeper insight off the revelation of Christ. One of the tasks of the church is to discern whether those who claim to be apostles and prophets are true servants of the Lord Jesus. As was stated earlier, this is by testing their teaching and revelation against scripture and against the character of Christ.

When any person- apostle, prophet, standard untitled Christian- receives a revelation or even a doctrine or Bible verse, we must test whether what they are saying against the revelation we already have. It is possible that we have the truth and they are deceived. It is possible that what they say jars because we have an inadequate understanding. Most often, the truth lies in between these two extremes .

apostles and prophets were the ones who unveiled the mystery, who gave clarity and insight into what had previously been hidden, namely the grace of God in sending his one and only Son for us. They still have this role now- to reveal the centre of our faith, the person of Christ.

key points in these verses

• The person of Christ was a mystery until the apostles and prophets gained revelation that unveiled what was hidden.

• paul had a special measure of insight, particularly in respect of the inclusion of the Gentiles in God’s Kingdom .

• Paul wanted to share that insight so that others could grow in their understanding and relationship with Christ.

• apostles and prophets still share this ministry of unveiling Christ.