The plan is this, that both Jews and Gentiles who believe in Christ as God and Savior and that He died on their behalf would be saved of their sins. He explains that they both share in the great inheritance they will receive as children of God. Believers, whether Jew or Gentile are part of the same body. They both can rest in the blessings promised to them because of their faith in Christ.
While Paul is blessed to take the Good News of salvation to all the world, particularly the Gentiles, he is humbled to do so for he sees himself as undeserving to have been chosen as the carrier of the message. For any of us, it might be a difficult thing to do for we could become proud of ourselves and begin to believe that it is we who created the message or that we must be awesome because we were chosen. You can see that it may be easy for us as humans to get full of ourselves rather than staying humble in any success God has given us while sharing the Good News.
God's plan was to use the church, the body of believers, to exhibit His wisdom before all the unseen rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms. That plan was carried our by Christ and it is our responsibility to carry it on today.
Because of all Christ has done we can, with faith, come to God with confidence and boldness. Christ has opened that door to God on our behalf. Prior to that we would surely die if we came before Him.
When Paul ponders the Good News and God's plan to use the church to show His glory, he falls on his knees and prays to the Father. How often are we overwhelmed by what God has done for us to the point that we fall to our knees? Paul did not say he dropped to his knees, leading us to think of a controlled, deliberate desent. He stated he fell to his knees, painting a picture of a lack of strength or a weakness in his body that caused him to fall. He was over taken to the point of weakness considering the plan and promise given to us by God Himself through Christ. Paul encourages believers to not become disheartened by all the hardships that Paul was suffereing. He said rather they should feel honored that he was willing to endure such things on their behalf. This is a picture of a man doing his best to live as Christ lived. He was willing to be abused and eventually killed for the sake of people like you and me. How much do we love God and His plan? How much do we love those around us? Are we willing to endure great sacrifice and hardship on behalf of those around us? This may be another good time for a personal spiritual check up. Do we realize how great the gift? Do we realize how great the sacrifice of Christ and of those who came after Him? Do we think our 1 hour a week on Sunday is a reasonable response to what we have been given? Do we think that we are sacrificing much for our friends let alone a person we don't like? Do we think that taking time to ponder such things is too much to ask? Do we have any idea how horrible an existence we will not have to endure because of Christ?
Pauls prays that God's unlimited resources will empower the believers with great inner strength from His Spirit so that we too can do what Paul is doing. When we accept this and our trust in Him grows, "then" Christ will make our hearts His home. Like tree roots that grow deep into the earth to find life giving nourishment and strength, so then our roots will grow deep into God's love and give us strength. When that happens we will have the power to fully understand just how great, high and deep God's love really is. Paul prays that believers will deeply understand and experience the love of Christ. That being said, he comments that we will never be able to fully comprehend how great that love is. When we find that place in His love, then we will be made complete with a new fullness of life and power that can only come from God.
Paul closes by praising God and offering all glory to Him who can lead us to live a life that will accomplish more than we can even imagine. His last line offers all glory to Him in the church, in Christ, and in all the generations to come.