Ephesians 3:7 7of which I was made a minister according to the gift of God’s grace which was given me according to the working of his power.

This verse continues the long sentence begun in v. 1. The pronoun of which refers back to the “gospel” of v. 6. Paul is a minister (diakonos) of this gospel. A “minister” is one who serves as an agent, representative, or works in behalf of another. The verb is passive, so Paul was made to be this minister. The assumed actor here is Jesus Christ who called Paul to take the gospel to the nations as his representative and servant. Paul could not do this on his own. The job was too big, the demands too great, and Paul as a sinful human being too weak. The only way he could ever fulfill his mission was through the gift of God’s grace.  Grace has been the underlying theme of this letter so far. God is a work in Christ Jesus to fill his plan of the redemption of the world. 

This grace was given to Paul to fulfill Christ’s mission. Even if this meant sitting in prison (v. 1), Paul would find Christ’s grace sufficient for him. Paul exemplifies the important thought that what Jesus calls us to do, he will enable us to do it through his grace and strength, which we experience by the abiding Holy Spirit. Miracles happen when we walk according to God’s will and plan for us. Paul found this true time and time again, even though he had to suffer greatly at times and eventually even lost his life for this mission. It was God’s power working in him that enabled Paul to carry out his mission, not his own efforts, vision, energy, or personal goals. He had to take a second seat and let God drive forth his life.

Like Paul, we need to see the big picture of life. Too often we get caught up in our daily existence and forget the eternal priorities of our calling. Daily living is important, and we need to do the good works to which God has called us in Christ (2:10), but we also need to see beyond the daily to the eternal. It is our hope in salvation that can sustain us through trials and even death itself. This is a difficult truth to accept and will take faith and trust in the grace about which Paul writes in this letter. God’s power is at work in us. We will experience more and more of this power the more we embrace the way of Christ.

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