The Mysteries of God
“Now to Him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith: To God only wise, be glory through Jesus Christ for ever. Amen.” Romans 16:25-27
Most everyone likes a good mystery book or movie. Some even like those “slasher” movies full of blood and gore. I don’t, but everyone is different. If I counted correctly, there are 27 times in scripture when the word “mystery” or “mysteries” appear, and they are all in the New Testament. There is not a lot of mystery in the Old Testament, which plainly shows that people are sinful and in need of a Savior. The biggest mystery in the Old Testament, I suppose, would be why God ever made man in the first place since man is so sinful and tries to live his life apart from his Creator. Other mysteries in the Old Testament might be some of the customs that the ancient Israelites displayed like parents choosing the spouse for their son or daughter, a man being forced to marry his brother’s widow, or why women were treated as second class citizens. Regarding that last statement, one of my former Sunday School teachers and mentor used to say, “Jesus Christ is the greatest liberator of women that has ever been.”
So what are these mysteries that the Bible speaks of? There are several mysteries in scripture, but I will cover just a few for time’s sake. (Most folks don’t like to get bogged down in a long article because we are all so busy, too busy, I say.) The first mystery is found in Matthew 13:11, “the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven”. One of these mysteries was the plan of salvation which at the time that Jesus ministered on earth, the event that would reveal the plan of salvation had not yet occurred, that being the crucifixion and the resurrection. Even Jesus’ disciples had not received the revealing of this mystery until after Jesus ascended back to His Father. Another mystery is the resurrection of believers when Jesus returns for His church. This has not yet occurred, but the basic description of resurrection is given in I Corinthians 15:51-52 and I Thessalonians 4:14-17. The trumpet of God will sound, and those who have died in the Lord will be brought out of their graves and given new bodies, coming to life never to die again. Believers who are still living will also be changed “in the twinkling of an eye”, and brought together with the risen saints. We believe this will happen, but it is a complete mystery just how and when it will happen. Will the graves burst open, as the old gospel song says, or will they remain undisturbed? Jesus didn’t need the stone rolled away from the tomb to exit; it was rolled away to let His disciples see that He was no longer there. What about believers who are driving down the highway? These are mysteries, but not to God. He has it all planned out, and His plan will not fail nor will it leave anyone behind who belongs to Him.
Another mystery of scripture is why Israel was blinded to the truth of the gospel. Why didn’t they see Jesus as the Messiah? Paul wrote in Romans 11:25 that “blindness in part is happened to Israel until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in”. Israel had plenty of proof from the writings of the Old Testament prophets who gave specific details of the coming of the Messiah. However, it was Israel’s blindness and rejection of Christ that made it possible for salvation to come to the Gentiles. The greatest mystery is the Godhead–Father, Son, and Holy Spirit–three Persons in One. Some have tried to explain this mystery by referring to a man being a son, a husband, and a father, the same man, but three different roles, yet this is really not sufficient to explain the Godhead. God doesn’t expect us to understand all these mysteries. He just asks us to have faith and believe.
One more mystery that no human on earth can explain: does God choose us or do we choose Him? The answer is “Yes”. He calls us to Himself, but we have to respond. My former pastor from years ago explained it like this: if someone held out a quarter to give to you, you would have to reach out and take it in order to receive it. There are some folks who believe God chooses who will be saved and who will not, but I Timothy 2:4 tells us that God “will have all men to be saved and come unto the knowledge of the truth”. Of course, since God is omniscient, that is, He knows everything from the beginning to the end, He knows who will believe on Him and who will reject Him. Does God send the Holy Spirit to knock on the door of every person’s heart? That is another mystery. All I know is that He knocked on my heart’s door years ago, and I answered, giving Him my life. One thing that is not a mystery: God is a loving and merciful God.