What is the Mystery of God?

(Essay #9 – God’s Prophetic Spirit)

KINDLE VERSION

The word “mystery” appears in the New Testament 24 times from Acts to Revelation.[1] To put that in perspective, the various forms of the word “baptism” appear 27 times over the same selection of text. In other words the New Testament writers spent nearly as much time explaining the mystery of God to the early church as they did discussing one’s being baptized. As an engaged student of the New Testament, it is not likely that you have gone long since you last considered the topic of baptism in your studies. How long has it been, however, since you looked at the New Testament’s teaching on the mystery of God? More importantly for the purpose of this series of studies, have you considered the impact of the Bible’s teaching about the mystery of God on its doctrine about the work of the Holy Spirit? If you have not considered the tie connecting these two doctrines you have missed out on a critical aspect about the purpose and need of the Holy Spirit’s work in the church. This essay begins a section of essays devoted to the Holy Spirit’s role in the completion of the mystery of God as described in the New Testament. The first step in the process is to answer the most basic question: “What is the Mystery of God?”

Mystery Defined

The English word “mystery” can carry with it a connotation that leads to some confusion when applied to the Bible. When we speak of a mystery or things that are mysterious, we usually mean that they have a mystical element to them. Our understanding of mysterious things can be that they are in some way inexplicable. However, the Greek word that is translated “mystery” in the New Testament does not have that connotation.

The Greek word in question is “musterion.” It refers to things that are hidden from sight, not things that are intrinsically beyond one’s ability to know.[2] It is akin to the way we speak of the mystery contained in a novel. A mystery novel’s plot is not beyond understanding or belief. If the book is well written, the plot is simply hidden from the insight of the reader. By the conclusion of the book when the evidence is all presented to the reader, the mystery of the book is revealed. The reader then understands the actions and motivations of the characters in the book. The hidden purpose of the author has been made known. The reader has been brought in on the secrets of the author.

The Bible speaks of its unfolding drama in the same manner. Early in its pages God tells His people that His intentions are hidden and do not belong to them. He tells them He has “secret things” that He has not yet made known unto them: “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” (Deuteronomy 29:29).[3] As the revelation of those secret things began to unfold in the words of the prophets, we are told they became curious as to the content of their message:

Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. (1 Peter 1:10-11)

They searched for the ultimate truth hidden in their words, but were told that “they were serving not themselves,” but their words were pointing to another time (1 Peter 1:12). This is best witnessed in the life of Daniel. The last chapter of the book of Daniel contains exactly that interaction between Daniel and the divine messenger visiting him:

Then I, Daniel, looked, and behold, two others stood, one on this bank of the stream and one on that bank of the stream. And someone said to the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the stream, “How long shall it be till the end of these wonders?” And I heard the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the stream; he raised his right hand and his left hand toward heaven and swore by him who lives forever that it would be for a time, times, and half a time, and that when the shattering of the power of the holy people comes to an end all these things would be finished. I heard, but I did not understand. Then I said, “O my lord, what shall be the outcome of these things?” He said, “Go your way, Daniel, for the words are shut up and sealed until the time of the end.” (Daniel 12:5-9)

Daniel was told that it was not his to know the meaning of his message. For him, much of his message was destined to remain a secret thing. In fact no man, not even one of God’s prophets, was ever successful in explaining the fullness of His message before the coming of Christ. Paul stated:

But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him.” (1 Corinthians 2:7-9)

No heart of man had ever imagined what was contained in the “secret and hidden wisdom of God.” The mystery of God belonged to Him. His mystery was hidden and secret.

The Mystery, not Many Mysteries

The Bible does use “mystery” in generic ways to speak of things unknown.[4] Yet, the most common use of this word in the New Testament speaks of “the mystery” or “this mystery.” Around 20 of the 24 appearances of “musterion” in Acts and the Epistles appear in this form. The message is that the mystery of the New Testament is special. There is some specific message in the New Testament that had been hidden from the sight of mankind.

The New Testament Reveals the Mystery

In referencing Deuteronomy 29:29, we call to mind a favorite verse of many when discussing Bible matters. Often in a Bible class when a controversial or uncertain matter is being discussed a good brother or sister will chime in with “the” answer: Deuteronomy 29:29. It will be posited that the matter under discussion is one of the “secret things” of God and perhaps the class would be better served by moving on to another topic. There is certainly wisdom in not causing division on matters that are truly uncertain or not discussed in the text, but to limit Deuteronomy 29:29 to that use misses an important truth about the process of revelation in the Bible. The affirmation of the New Testament is that by the time its revealing is complete, God had delivered to His people “all things that pertain to life and godliness” (2 Peter 1:3). In other words, if the matter under discussion pertains to the life or godliness of God’s people, there are no more secret things.

This truth of the New Testament even applies to the mystery of God. While the prophets were told their message was not for them, Peter follows his thought mentioned above with these words: “. . . they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you . . .” (1 Peter 1:12). The difference between Moses and Peter is powerful. In the days of Moses (and even the prophets to follow) no eye had seen, or ear heard, nor heart contemplated what was in the mind of God. Yet, Peter confidently tells his readers that the things of God had been “announced” to the saints of the first century. The secret had been made known.

To this Paul was in agreement. To the Corinthians he wrote, “But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory . . . these things God has revealed to us. . .” (1 Corinthians 2:7, 10).  To the Romans, he wrote:

Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith. . .  (Romans 16:25-26)

And to the saints in Ephesus he wrote:

[H]ow the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly. 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. (Ephesians 3:3-5)

The message of the apostles is not that God’s mystery was beyond their ability to comprehend. It was not even that God was keeping it from them. The apostles’ preaching emphasized that the mystery of God, long hidden through the ages, was now revealed and that when the saints of God heard and read the words of the apostles they could “perceive” the apostles’ “insight into the mystery of Christ.”

Whatever God’s singular and specific mystery was, by the close of the New Testament, it was no longer hidden. The mystery was revealed and within the perception of man. It is something we can know and should know.

But what is it?

God’s Mystery: The One Body

Nearly half (11 of 24) of the appearances of the word “mystery” under discussion are found in the related books of Ephesians and Colossians. Paul’s emphasis on the mystery in these two letters states as directly as any other place in the Bible what that mystery of God is. The first use in Ephesians makes a simple, broad statement about God’s mystery: “[M]aking 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). God’s purpose (His hidden purpose before it was revealed) was to unite all things under the authority of Jesus Christ. The mystery of God then is just the message of the gospel. From the creation until Jesus returned in His glory to heaven, God had been working to bring all of His creation back from the bondage of sin. It was only after Jesus “accomplished the work” that the Father had given Him to do that the fullness of that message could be preached (John 17:4).

The preaching of that gospel resulted in the creation and growth of the body of Christ in the world. Paul would emphasize to the Colossians that Jesus was the all-sufficient head of that one body: “And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent” (Colossians 1:18). To the Ephesians he exalted that body by saying that it was the full expression of the authority of Jesus in the world:

[T]hat he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. (Ephesians 1:20-23)

The creation of this wonderful body of believers was the supreme manifestation of all of God’s wondrous works and wisdom. Paul proclaims it is in the unique and special nature of this body that all of the heavenly hosts understand the eternal purpose which had been the focus of God’s attention since time began:

To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him. (Ephesians 3:8-12)

In the church, finally the psalmists of God had the answer to his question: “What is man that you are mindful of him?” (Psalm 8:4). Reconciling the whole world back to Himself through the work of the Christ had been the aim of all of His efforts in the world (2 Corinthians 5:18-19). Man’s living in one body under the authority of the exalted Son of God was the fulfillment of God’s eternal purpose.

One Body of Jews and Gentiles

In a first century world the creation of a body of believers capable of uniting all people together under the name of Jesus had a special challenge. Around 2,000 years before Jesus, God had selected a man, Abraham, to be the father of His people. His descendants through Isaac became the nation of Israel and God claimed and protected them above all people:

And the LORD has declared today that you are a people for his treasured possession, as he has promised you, and that you are to keep all his commandments, and that he will set you in praise and in fame and in honor high above all nations that he has made, and that you shall be a people holy to the LORD your God, as he promised. (Deuteronomy 26:18-19)

This rightly created in the mind of the Jews that men could be followers of God only by coming to Him through their nation. Jesus agreed with this sentiment in His discussion with the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well when He said, “You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews” (John 4:22). Paul’s summary of the condition of the Gentile world before the gospel was just as final in its expression of the separation of Israel from the other nations:

Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands—remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. (Ephesians 2:11-12)

It was into a world in which the Gentiles had no hope or standing with God that the gospel was brought.

At the first, the Jews received the message and were enthused by the zeal of their countrymen’s dedication to Jehovah (Acts 2:47). Yet as it became clear that the apostles were leading a movement that was more than a call of renewal under the authority of Moses, opposition from among their countrymen began to grow. Peter, John, and the rest of the apostles were imprisoned and accosted by the Jewish council, the Sanhedrin:

And as they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them, greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. And they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening . . . . and when they had called in the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. (Acts 4:1-3, 5:40)

This growing persecution led to the death of Stephen as described in Acts 7 and under the direction of Saul, the man who would become the apostle Paul, the strength of the persecution caused the Christians to scatter from Jerusalem out into all the world (Acts 8:1-4).

In time, as the gospel spread into the whole world, the conflict created from the preconception of this Jewish primacy was brought into the church.  Peter was the first to carry the gospel outside of the Jewish community when his preaching called Cornelius and his household to be baptized (Acts 10:47-48). But it was Paul’s work among the Gentiles that lifted this issue to the forefront in the church. The Jewish population had difficulty understanding and accepting that Gentiles, without any connection to Moses at all, could come to God. They began to teach among the church that Gentiles must be circumcised in order to be saved: “But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, ’Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved’” (Acts 15:1).

This teaching was so troubling to the church that answering it required the full force of apostolic authority speaking in one voice; a council was convened in Jerusalem. The message of the meeting was that in terms of salvation in Jesus, there was no difference between a Jew and a Gentile: “And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith” (Acts 15:8-9).

Despite this clear statement from the apostles, there were some Jewish Christians who could not let go of this doctrine of prejudice. The epistles of Paul address this issue often:

1. To the church at Rome, he wrote: For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God. (Romans 2:28-29)
2. To the church in Corinth, he wrote: For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. (1 Corinthians 1:22-24)
3. To the churches in Galatia, he wrote: For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love. (Galatians 5:6)
4. To the church in Ephesus, he wrote: But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. (Ephesians 2:13-17)
5. To the church in Philippi, he wrote: Look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh. For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh. (Philippians 3:2-3)
6. To the church in Colosse, he wrote: Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. (Colossians 2:16-17)
7. To the church in Thessalonica, he wrote: For you, brothers, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea. For you suffered the same things from your own countrymen as they did from the Jews, who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out, and displease God and oppose all mankind by hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles that they might be saved—so as always to fill up the measure of their sins. But God’s wrath has come upon them at last! (1 Thessalonians 2:14-16)
8. To Timothy, he wrote: As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith. (1 Timothy 1:3-4)
9. To Titus, he wrote: But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless. (Titus 3:9)

With the exception of Paul’s brief and personal note to Philemon, no letter of Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, lacks a reference to the doctrinal conflict between Jewish and Gentile Christians.

Overcoming this prejudice was the first major hurdle for Christianity. The prophets proclaimed the universal nature of the body of Jesus. All nations would come to be a part of this body (Isaiah 2:2-4). The Gentiles who were not God’s people would be His people in this church (Amos 9:11-12, Acts 15:16-18). Until this was accomplished, the church would not fulfill God’s eternal purpose to unite all things under the authority of Jesus.

Creating one universal body for the people of Jesus is the mystery of God. In Ephesians 3:6, Paul describes the mystery in just this way: “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 3:6). Paul’s special mission was to ensure that this message was fully proclaimed throughout the world. Again, to the Ephesians he stated his work in these terms: “To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things” (Ephesians 3:8-9). His words to the Colossians strengthen the thought:

[O]f which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. 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. . . . that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ. (Colossians 1:25-27; 2:2)

The fullness of the revelation of God’s eternal mystery was evidenced when all men could know that in the body of Christ “neither circumcision nor uncircumcision” counted for anything, but “only faith working through love” and that every man of any nation who worked righteousness would be accepted by God (Galatians 5:6, Acts 10:34-35).

Conclusion

But how could nearly 2,000 years of divine protection, heritage, and tradition be overcome so that the Gentiles would be allowed to stand on even ground with their Jewish brethren? What evidence that God had freely accepted the Gentiles could be provided that would cause all men to see what was the true fellowship of the mystery of God? And ultimately, what could God do to silence the voice of the Jewish opponents to the fulfillment of His eternal purpose?

That is the discussion of the next essay in this series. We will see that the evidence given by God to the Gentiles was the Holy Spirit. We will see that the action that finally silenced the voices of opposition to His purpose was His judgment on the nation of Israel. With those two pieces in place, the Gentiles would gain a place in His kingdom that would never be relinquished. Once God’s mystery was completed no longer would just one physical nation be the people of God, but the all the nations of the world would become “the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ” (Revelation 11:15).

[1] The Greek word “musterion” occurs 27 times in the whole New Testament (24 from Acts to Revelation). It is translated “mystery” or “mysteries” 24 times and secret(s) 3 times in the ESV.

[2]  “musterion” – “the content of that which has not been known before but which has been revealed to an in-group or restricted constituency—‘secret, mystery.’  . . . There is a serious problem involved in translating μυστήριον by a word which is equivalent to the English expression ‘mystery,’ for this term in English refers to a secret which people have tried to uncover but which they have failed to understand. In many instances μυστήριον is translated by a phrase meaning ‘that which was not known before,’ with the implication of its being revealed at least to some persons” [Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). Vol. 1: Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: Based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition.) (344). New York: United Bible Societies.].

[3] All scripture quotations taken from the English Standard Version (ESV) unless otherwise noted.

[4] The secrets of the kingdom are explain in parables (Matthew 13:11; Mark 4:11; Luke 8:10). A man speaking in a tongue that was unknown to his audience speaks in a “mystery” because his language hides his message from his audience (1 Corinthians 14:2) and other likes uses (perhaps 1 Corinthians 13:2; 15:51, and Ephesians 5:32).