The Mystery Now Revealed
“To make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ.” Ephesians 3:9
What is a mystery but something that is hidden, not understood or grasped. The word can be applied to multiple situations, circumstances, or just things that exist. Biblically speaking, Paul speaks of a “mystery” that is of monumental, and singular importance. The Spirit of God through the Apostle Paul reveals something of the significance of this mystery by qualifying it when He says that, “…from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God.” Paul goes on to indicate that when Pentecost came, and the Spirit of God was “…poured out upon all flesh,” with the baptism of the Spirit, and the body of Christ being formed, that this mystery was revealed to men, specifically to the “holy apostles” and the prophets. With the Ascencion of Christ, and the Spirit of God being sent forth, this promise of the Father, a strikingly new era began, not only historically, but spiritually in the hearts and souls of men, specifically of believers. Where once the Spirit of God came upon individuals to reveal the glory of God by enabling them to do the will of God, and fulfill the purposes of God for their time, now the Spirit of Christ has come to INDWELL the heart and soul of the believer. That eternal act, transaction, and transforming power gave birth to the church, the body of Christ. With the revelation of the truth of “Christ in you, the hope of glory,” (Col. 1:27), came also the unveiling of the truth that this union with Christ by the Spirit, this inseparable union with the life of Christ, was made available to all men, both Jew and Gentile, of every strata of social and religious life on the globe. There would be no corner of the earth, where the power of this miracle would not eventually be felt, for eventually there would be believers from every “kindred, and tongue, and people and nation.” (Rev. 5:9) It appears that this period of history, this continuing event and power, was hidden “in God,” in His wisdom, being situated between the preceding ages of God’s revelation to men, and the coming aftermath of His judgment upon man’s refusal to believe in His Son. Its purpose was to reveal the “unsearchable riches of Christ” (Eph.3:8) not only by the preaching of the truth concerning God in Christ, reconciling men to God, but by the unveiling of Christ’s very nature, the life of the incomparable Christ revealed in the hearts of men. This age of the church, when the glory of God is revealed to, and in, the heart of every believer, has for its purpose to present to mankind, specifically to the unbelieving world, that God has come to “save us all,” and to give eternal Life to all who will respond in faith to his call. It is a day, a period of great revelation to all men of the goodness and mercy of God, with the corresponding blessing of His promised power by the Spirit, that every member of Christ’s body should show forth the excellency of His blessed life “on earth as it is in heaven.”
There is another reason for which union with Christ was a mystery, especially and specifically in regard to His church, His body. It was for the testimony to “…the principalities and powers in heavenly places,”…that they might know BY THE CHURCH the manifold wisdom of God. (Eph. 3:10) The testimony of God in Christ, revealed since the outpouring of the Spirit at Pentecost, was first hidden, but then revealed at exactly the right time, to demonstrate in greatest measure, and in God’s wisdom, the incalculable and incomprehensible greatness of the goodness and mercy of God, where Christ’s enemies are completely without excuse, and all men are called to come to Him and be saved.
The mystery of Christ in the church is magnified by the fulness of the Spirit.
Dear Father, Open our blind eyes. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
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