Eph. 3:8-10 - Very Least of All Saints

8 To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ,
9 and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things;
10 so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places.

Unfathomable Riches of Christ

Vs. 8 - “To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ,”

“Very least of all the saints” - Paul had a lot to be proud of; yet in view of Christ, and His sinless perfection — nothing to be proud of. (See: 1 Cor 15:9; 2 Cor 12:11; 1 Tim 1:15; Phil 3:8) I wish I did not have the problem of self pride! Paul is not expressing a false humility.

“This grace was given” - This privilege, the unmerited favor from God, to trust in Paul to spread the Gospel to the Gentiles.

“Unfathomable riches of Christ” - A fathom is a depth measurement, thereby the riches are bottomless, to much to measure. The KJV says “unsearchable” - which is literally “not tracked out”. The implication is clear! In Christ we have so much, that the full measure will never be known to us.

Vs. 9 - “and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things;”

“bring to light... administration... mystery” - To help men see how God’s plan works. From verse 8, Paul was given two tasks: (1) Preach to the Gentiles; (2) To point out the working out of God’s mystery.

“Which for ages” - (Col 1:26) - It was not until Christ was crucified, glorified, that it became clear that salvation was available to all - both Jew and Gentile. But this was alluded to in the Old Testament (Psa 86:9; Isa 9:2, 42:1, 49:6, 55:5, 60:3; Hos 2:23; Mal 1:11). Surely leaders of the Jews knew that salvation was to be available to the Gentiles, but...
Even the verses listed above do not convey just how the Gentiles would have (or gain) such direct access to God. Knowing how people think, the Jews probably felt, to the last, that any access to God would be through Judaism. They did not heed Jesus’ warning (Matt 21:43).

Vs. 10 - “so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places.”

In this verse we see the purpose of exposing God’s working out of His plan. If I understand this verse, God hid His plan of salvation for everyone for many generations, even hundreds of years. The method (acceptance of Christ as Savior - see Rom 10:9-10; Heb 11:6) was not fully explained nor revealed. And the fact that now all may come, in Him, was especially astonishing. Through the church the gospel is spread.
God’s wisdom, through the teaching by example, through the teaching of the prophets, by “types”, etc., all point to Christ. Hindsight is 20/20 vision. As we look back and have had 2000+ years to analyze we see the teaching that brings us to Christ. God’s purpose was to reveal, through the church, that salvation is open to all. God’s purpose was to reveal to Satan and his cohorts, that salvation was now simple - in Christ. We may never know, but I can’t help but believe that Satan was shocked, dismayed, stunned to hear God’s Good News.

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