There are dozens of things that God has done for us through Christ.
Ephesians 1:7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace 8 that He lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. 9 And He has made known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Christ 10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to bring all things in heaven and on earth together in Christ. BSB
There are times where the verse break doesn’t make sense and that is true here as verse 8 is the continuation of what Paul is teaching in verse 7. The word translated as “lavished” (Strong’s 4052 perisseuó) expresses the idea of this grace being given abundantly and in excess to the point of overflowing.
Wisdom and understanding are typically attached to revelatory events. Wisdom isn’t a “head” word since it is neither information nor knowledge. Instead, wisdom is a heart and hands word that relates to how you live based upon this knowledge you have now received. We know something we didn’t know before and our lives need to be lived in a way that reflects this revealed truth.
Understanding (insight in some translations) is an “ah-hah” moment. In Matthew 16, Jesus asks who do the people say that I am? Peter jumps right in and answers that Jesus is the Christ.
Purpose looks back to verses 4 and 5 regarding being chosen and destined before time. The outcome of human history has been predestined with God’s will having been revealed in Christ. God’s purpose is to reconcile and unite all things in Him on Heaven and Earth.
A mystery is something that we cannot figure out unless someone tells us. Here Paul is telling us that a mystery has been revealed – we now know something that other people (i.e., nonbelievers) don’t know. We know what God is doing and where history will go. (In Romans, Paul will call this the “mind of Christ”). Despite all that is known, we don’t yet know everything.
Mysteries were also a big player in the pagan cults/religions of the Greco-Roman world. This smuggles itself into Christianity as Gnosticism which is an approach to Christianity that says only people with special knowledge are part of the group. Among these nuggets of information are the words that are needed to get past the toll houses guarding Heaven. The difference in Christianity is that this secret has been openly revealed to all and is shared freely. (Gnostics also deny that Christ came in the flesh).
Deuteronomy 29:29 The secret things belong to the LORD our God; but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law. NHEB
There are things that God has revealed to us and then there are some secret things of God that we don’t know. Here the Law was given by revelation to Moses on Mt. Sinai. Upon receiving the Law, the Jewish people immediately break it and Moses smashes the tablets (Exodus 32:19).
Hebrews 1:1 On many past occasions and in many different ways, God spoke to our fathers through the prophets. 2But in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, and through whom He made the universe. BSB
This is the New Testament version of the Deuteronomy text. We are now at a new place as earlier all we had were portions, i.e., bits and pieces but that is no longer true as a result of Christ.
Time as used here doesn’t relate to chronological time but rather to kairos time. Kairos is time as an opportunity, i.e., the right moment in time. For example, nine months means one thing when flipping through a calendar but it means something else entirely to a pregnant woman whose time to deliver isn’t dependent upon a clock or calendar.
We see Jesus, especially in the Gospel of John, operating with an awareness of this right moment (or hour). In the case of turning the water into wine, the hour for Jesus has not yet come. At John 13, that hour for Jesus has finally arrived.
Colossians 1:15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in Him all things were created, things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities. All things were created through Him and for Him. 17 He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. 18 And He is the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning and firstborn from among the dead, so that in all things He may have preeminence. 19 For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him, 20 and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through the blood of His cross. 21Once you were alienated from God and were hostile in your minds because of your evil deeds. 22 But now He has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy, unblemished, and blameless in His presence— BSB
Something that is supposed to fit together has become fragmented. The narrative of Scripture is a creation that fit together perfectly (Genesis 1 and 2) but then falls apart. From Genesis 3 through 11, it is all about things that have broken apart as our relationship with God, other people, ourselves and with creation has been broken. Christ is God’s action to bring things back together.