-Paul was given two undeserved gifts by the Lord, the first being to evangelize to the nations the unfathomable riches of Christ (previous verse), and the second (here) to shed light on how God is implementing His age-old plan to include all the other (non-Jewish) nations in the assembly of His people. The former helps bring about the latter in fact, as God’s plan to gather the Gentiles in to His forever family involves the use of human messengers - evangelists, church-planters, missionaries, teachers, disciplers, pastors, neighbors, etc...and Paul, Christ’s apostle to the nations. And while Paul was not the first Jew to be used to lead a Gentile to faith in Christ (by all accounts that distinction belongs to Peter - cf Acts 10.44ff), he was the first official ambassador of Christ to the nations, called and sent first to Asia Minor and subsequently to Macedonia and regions beyond. And everywhere he went, to everyone who would listen, he was faithfully unpacking the details of God's mysterious and wonderful plan.
-But the greater point here is that God has a plan, a holy playbook if you will, and He is carrying it out. He created all things, everything-that-is out of nothing-that-ever-was. He simply spoke it all into existence (whoa), and all things were VERY good. But He created them all for a reason, for the ultimate pupose of the showing off and the celebration of His breathtaking goodness, and He is superintending every last detail and minutia in order to bring it to pass. The same mind-blowing omnipotence behind the creation is the very same power now employed in the implementation of God’s eternal plan. God has a plan, a plan fantástico, He knows what He’s doing, and He is way more than able to make it happen...
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