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His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord (Ephesians 3:10-11).

For many of us, when we think of Christ\\u2019s work of salvation, we think of individual souls being saved. We think of personal conversion stories. But when Paul writes about the mystery of gospel, he expounds on the church. The result of the preaching of Christ\\u2019s unsearchable riches and the mystery is the birth and growth of the church. Gentiles and Jews embraced the gospel, were converted, and found themselves joint members of the family of God and the body of Christ. The church is central to the redemption project of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

It was happening as Paul wrote. The mystery that God revealed to him was taking concrete shape before people\\u2019s eyes. And in this new community, this new multi-racial humanity, the wisdom of God was being displayed. People could see it with their eyes. Indeed, the coming into existence of the church as a community of saved and reconciled people is a public demonstration of God\\u2019s power, grace, and wisdom.

God\\u2019s mighty resurrection power, his immeasurable grace and kindness, and his manifold wisdom were on display as people once separated by language, custom, politics and religion were forged into a new community through the anvil of the cross. The word for manifold means many-coloured, and was used to describe flowers, crowns, embroidered clothe and woven carpets. The church as a multi-racial, multi-cultural community is like a beautiful tapestry. Its members come from a wide range of colourful backgrounds. No other human community resembles it. Its diversity and harmony are unique. It is God\\u2019s new society. And the many-coloured fellowship of the church reflects the many-coloured wisdom of God.

So then, as the gospel spreads throughout the world, this new and variegated Christian community blossoms. It is as if a great drama is being enacted. History is the theatre, the world is the stage, and the church members in every land are the actors. God himself has written the play and he directs and produces it. Act by act, scene by scene the story continues to unfold.

But where is the audience? The audience are the cosmic intelligences, the principalities, and powers in the heavenly places. We are to think of them as spectators of the drama of salvation. Thus, the history of the Christian church becomes a graduate school for these spiritual beings.

Beyond this we cannot say much about what these spiritual beings are. We just don\\u2019t know. As the creation reveals God\\u2019s glory to humans, the church reveals God\\u2019s glory to these beings. We cannot see them, but they can see us. They watch fascinated as they see Gentiles and Jews being incorporated in the new society as equals. Indeed, they learn from the composition of the church not only the manifold wisdom of God but also his eternal purposes. This purpose he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, in the arena of history, through his death and resurrection, the gift of His Spirit, the preaching of the gospel and the emergence of the church.

Who these beings are is not important. What is important is that we understand what God is doing. We must recon with the truth that the church is central to God\\u2019s grand design for history. God has a purpose for the church, she is the showpiece through which he reveals his power, grace, and wisdom. And all who believe in Jesus Christ become part of this great intergalactic drama.

It may not always appear that there is much power, grace, or wisdom in the church. But know this, God has no other plan. And he will work until all those rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms have bent the knee before the Son and declared him, Lord.

Then this doxology will be complete:

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. (Ephesians 3:17-21).