October 19 – Now Revealed

“When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. This mystery is* that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.” – Ephesians 3:4-5 (ESV)

We have again a promise-packed passage by the Apostle Paul which teaches a most precious truth for our world, especially today. We are in an upheaval between truth and the lies the devil spreads in order to sow chaos in our world. Our enemy’s goal is to discredit by leading astray those who by faith believe and confess that Jesus is the Son of God and their Savior. Paul declares a mystery about the promise of salvation from Christ. What does ‘mystery’ mean? Many truths were hidden until later revealed in the New Testament that are called mysteries. Here Paul reveals one: Jew and Gentile brought together in one body in the Messiah. The cry against racism may truly exist among the unbelieving but for those who do believe and follow the teachings of Jesus, there is no room for this critical race theory now being bandied about. "Paul not only wrote of the mystery that, in Christ, Jew and Gentile become one in God’s sight and in His kingdom and family, but also explained and clarified that truth. He taught us that spiritual knowledge must precede practical application. What is not properly understood cannot be properly applied."**

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*The words 'This mystery is' are inferred from verse 4

**The MacArthur Study Bible: New American Standard Bible., (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2006), Eph 3:4.

 

August 28 – Faster Than A Blink

“Behold, I am telling you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.” – 1 Corinthians 15:51-52 (NASB)

We do have a special kind of promise about what will one day happen. It’s not based on how we act or behave but we’re promised how long this promise will take to happen. There is another underlying promise: All who are in Christ Jesus by grace through faith (also a gift) are promised to one day be changed. Our present state, which is physical, mortal and perishing will be transformed into immortal and like that of Jesus after His resurrection. We all know how every person on earth is destined to a physical death but, there is this exception for those who are alive when Jesus returns for His believers – also called His Bride and the Church. When He returns He will take up believers who have passed and are buried and those yet alive. We do not know when but it is imminent, nothing else has to happen first. It will be faster than fast. An eye twinkle is a reflected particle of light seen in the eye. It’s reflected light entering the eye and then being reflected and it occurs in about a billionth of a second.  Faster than a blink, it happens.  

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July 14 – A Mystery Revealed

“To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” - Colossians 1:27   (ESV)

A common misconception about God is that He is separate from us, up in Heaven while we are here on earth. It is common for people who have not believed in Jesus and who are therefore separate from God, to refer to Him as “the man upstairs.” But those who have believed, trust the Word of God so, we know differently. God is with us and in us, and it is natural that we are looking forward to the glories of Heaven.  Our promise is the basis for our hope of experiencing the glories of heaven. For when we believe in Jesus, He becomes a part of our life. We are no longer separate from Him. It is not as if we are here on earth living our lives by ourselves and Christ is in heaven performing His ministry. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is a part of our lives, not just for now but for always. This is called a mystery in this verse and it really is hard to understand. It is a mystery because it was a revelation of something new. Jesus Christ indwells believers. We believe it because the Bible says so!

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February 17 – Right on Schedule

“…which he [God] lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.”  - Ephesians 1:9-10 (ESV)

Despite the political uncertainty and military unrest in the world today, we can be assured that God is in control.  The word translated “mystery” is a Greek word that does not mean “mystery” as we think of it. For us a mystery is something strange, an enigma,  even a weird phenomena This is the common understanding. It is used in Paul's letters to mean a “secret”–something that has been kept hidden, something previously unrevealed. But now God has revealed his secrets to us through those whom He inspired to write the Bible–especially the New Testament. These secrets which are often identified as the mystery and unrevealed before Christ came into our world, were revealed to the Apostle Paul and others.  The revelation of the risen, ascended and glorified Lord is set forth in this passage where Paul is reminding us of the promise that Jesus Himself is the sum total purpose of human history. In Jesus Christ, the Son of God, all things will be summed up and all accounts settled and made right—all human history will be resolved and united to the Father through the work of the Son. 

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June 15 – What We Know

“The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law.” Deuteronomy 29:29 (NASB)

The truths and promises in this verse expressed long ago by God's servant Moses are given to us to remember and realize that we serve a wonderful God.  The same God who lead Moses and the Children of Israel out of Egypt and to Mt. Sinai has given them so that we may know.  God has not made known or revealed all things to us – for there are things that are still a mystery to us.  But God has made known exactly what He wants us to know and what we need to know.  The Bible contains the complete revelation that has been given by God to us.  These many things teach us and guide us in how we should live to please Him and serve Him in truth and love.   We are so glad for the many truths that He has chosen in His wisdom to reveal to His human creatures.  Our verse reminds us that it is God's will that we pay close attention to what God has taught us.   Let's never neglect to follow the teaching we have from Him and let's teach it to our families and others in our world.   

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February 1 – Mystery Made Known

“To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”   Colossians 1:27  (ESV)

Let's think about what this verse calls a mystery which God has chosen to make known here in this world.  It is called a mystery because before Jesus came to live in our world, it was not well known what His hope and plan was for His creators.  We consider that we are a part of the process of making it known to others.  God wants us to be aware and to realize that when we become His children by believing in Jesus as our Savior an important part of the change that happens to us is that Jesus Christ comes to live within us.  Our verse today reminds us that this is the promise of a hope of glory – a promise that one day we will fully experience the glory of God and its riches.  It is an assurance we have through Christ being in us that eventually we will be living with Him in heaven and enjoy that glory for eternity.  

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July 15

“To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Colossians 1:27 (NIV)

If you have believed in Jesus Christ as your Savior, you are no doubt looking forward to the glories of Heaven.  So what is the basis for our hope of experiencing the glories of heaven?  It is the fact that when we believe in Jesus, He becomes a part of our life. We are no longer separate from Him. It is not as if we are here on earth living our lives by ourselves and Christ is in heaven performing His ministry. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is a part of our lives, not just for now but for always. This is called a mystery in this verse and it really is hard to understand. It is also called a mystery because it was a revelation of something new, that Jesus Christ indwells and is living in believers. We believe it because the Bible says so!