Ephesians 3:8 8To me who is the least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ,
Paul reveals some humility in v. 8. Although he had experienced many blessings and been the instrument of divine power through miracles, he still saw himself as least of all the saints. His low level was self-imposed because of his effort to imitate Christ by giving up his “rights” and “power” from a human perspective and taking on the form of a servant in love (1 Corinthians 11:1). Being in this lowly position enabled him to rely more on God’s grace than human ability. The open door to grace is submission and humility. The passive verb was given assumes that God is the giver, for all genuine grace comes from God through Jesus Christ.
This grace was given for the specific purpose of helping Paul preach to the Gentiles. This was the calling he received on the road to Damascus and which kept him going even through suffering and imprisonment, such as when he wrote this letter. The topic of his preaching was the unsearchable riches of Christ. Paul will delve deeply into this topic in his prayer in a few verses, beginning in v. 14. The letter opened in 1:3 with a reflection upon these riches. Unsearchable (anexichniaston) can also be translated as something that is “incomprehensible.” God’s grace in Christ opens the door to all “riches of his grace” (1:7, 18; 2:4, 7; 3:16). As Paul sat in prison writing this letter (or perhaps dictating it to Tychicus; 6:1), he kept reflecting on God’s grace in Christ. It was this grace that gave Paul hope and sustained him through great trials.
God’s grace in our lives should never be stopped by our individualism or selfishness. Like Paul, we can and should be instruments of grace and allow what God has done in our lives through the richness of Jesus Christ to reach out to others in a “mission of grace.” Paul provides a model for all believers in this simple verse. Our calling may be different and may not take us to far away places or to face the degree of suffering that Paul did, but we can still be used by God wherever we are if we will open up our lives in humility to experience more and more all that God has for us “in Christ Jesus.”
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