Defining the mystery of God.

Many people desire to know of the mystery or the secrets of the Christian faith, I have heard on numerous occasions in prayer ‘Lord reveal your secrets to us’, such prayers have an element of faith and trust in the Lord, but yet they have failed to grasp what the bible says plainly and clearly – that Christ is the mystery and that He has been made known to us (Colossians 2:2). This ‘mystery’ can be known, it is not a happen chance that we might discover in a dark cave the mystery and have it revealed to us by a special revelation or spiritual being, No it is Jesus Christ Himself. We can read of the mystery of God in the Gospels and read about His life and learn about the wonder and greatness of God, we can consider His grace to sinners and love to the world in His death.
I believe many people consider themselves insignificant and unable to know the mystery of God unless they can perform a special task or feat. Many people go to great lengths in fasting and prayer so that they might have ‘secrets’ revealed to them. Why is this so when Christ is the glorious secret of the cosmos that has been revealed to men, ‘slain from the foundation of the world’ that which even angels desire to understand. The mystery was revealing in flesh, the Christ became a man, lived, breathed, shed his blood and died for our sins so that we might be forgiven ours. This is a great mystery – that God should love sinners like you and I. Often the clear and straightforward truth of scripture is ignored and considered old or boring, it is known and therefore not relevant or exciting, this is just not the case when it comes to knowing Jesus and the salvation that He was won for us.
In 1 Timothy 3:16, the mystery of godliness is declared…whose godliness? – Christ. Our righteousness is found in the wonder of His, our salvation in His very human death, our resurrection in the power of the resurrection by the Holy Spirit who would live within us. Have we grasped as an hymn says the ‘old, old story’ have we heard the message of the glorious gospel of God, that has been seen and witnessed by the angelic beings, preached about in the nations – yet have people believed the simple message that Jesus is salvation. This mystery is our hope of glory because Christ Jesus was received up into glory by His and our heavenly Father. Salvation is won; it is a ‘no contest’ in the heavenly realm, the hope is now ours.
Matthew Armstrong
Blantyre, December 2009.