Ephesians 3:3-11 reveals that we may experience and enjoy Christ as the mystery of the church.
Christ as the mystery of the church was not made known to man in other generations but was revealed to the apostles and prophets in their spirit. In Ephesians 3:4-5 Paul speaks of the mystery of Christ, “which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in spirit.” This mystery is God’s economy, which is to dispense Christ, as the embodiment of God, into God’s chosen people in order to produce a Body to be the increase of God’s embodiment in Christ, that God may have a corporate expression.
According to verse 5, Christ as the mystery of the church was hidden in other generations but has been revealed in the New Testament age. In the New Testament we have the revelation, the unveiling, of God’s economy. In other ages and generations this economy was a hidden mystery. It was not made known to Adam, to Abraham, to Moses, to David, or to Isaiah and the other prophets. God’s economy, which is to dispense Himself into man in order to produce a Body for His Son, had not been revealed to them.
Christ, the Son of God, is the embodiment of God. God’s economy is to dispense Himself into a great number of human beings in order to produce a Body for this embodiment of Himself. This means that the Son of God as the embodiment of God requires a Body, an increase, an expansion. This expansion can be produced only by God’s dispensing of Himself into His chosen people. This is the greatest mystery in the universe. God’s economy is to dispense Himself into His chosen people in order to produce the Body as the expansion of the Son of God for the full expression of God in the universe. Nothing is greater or more important than this.
This mystery was revealed to the apostles and prophets. Apostles in Greek means “sent ones.” The apostles are the ones sent by Christ, representing Him to carry out His commission in God’s New Testament economy. The prophets are God’s spokesmen, not primarily predicting the future but speaking for God and speaking forth God in the revelation of God’s eternal economy.
Verse 5 says that the mystery was revealed to the apostles and prophets in spirit. The word spirit here refers to the human spirit of the apostles and prophets, a spirit regenerated and indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God. It can be considered the mingled spirit, the human spirit mingled with God’s Spirit. Such a mingled spirit is the means by which the New Testament revelation concerning Christ and the church is revealed to the apostles and prophets. We need the same kind of spirit to see such a revelation.
It is important to see that the hidden mystery is revealed to the apostles and prophets, not in their mind but in their mingled spirit. Our spirit is the organ in which God reveals His mystery to us. To see and to understand the mystery of Christ, our human mentality apart from our mingled spirit is altogether inadequate. If we remain in our mind, we will be unable to see God’s revelation, but if we turn to our spirit, we will have the vision of God’s mystery. The revelation of God’s hidden mystery in Ephesians 3 can be seen only when we are in our spirit. This is the reason that the apostle Paul prayed that God would give us a spirit of wisdom and revelation (1:17) so that we may understand the church, which is the mystery of Christ. In order to see the hidden mystery in God’s eternal economy, we should exercise not only our eyes to read the Word and our mind to understand the Word but also our spirit to apprehend the Word. We need to open our being, be poor in spirit, and pray that the Lord would reveal to our spirit what is on His heart concerning the church.
Moreover, in order to see the revelation of the hidden mystery, we must be strengthened into our inner man, our regenerated spirit, and allow Christ to make His home in our heart (3:17). Being strengthened into the inner man is the secret of seeing the revelation of the mystery.
We need to receive the same revelation given to the leading apostles and prophets. Paul could not receive this revelation for us; we must receive it ourselves personally and subjectively by being strengthened into our inner man. This revelation concerning Christ and the church is the economy of God, the hidden mystery. Whether or not we are today’s apostles and prophets depends on whether or not we have seen the revelation. If we do not have the revelation, then we cannot be apostles and prophets. If we have the revelation of God’s economy, we will be followers of the apostles and prophets in God’s New Testament ministry.