Mysteries Revealed

God’s mysteries are unveiled in Jesus, especially in his Death and Resurrection. Are we looking for revelation and insight in the right places? - Romans 16:25.

We hear discussions and claims about discovering new “revelations” of God by accessing the “spirit realm” through visions, dreams, and other subjective personal experiences. Many seek insights into things beyond what is recorded in the New Testament. For example, one popular “prophet” divines the future from baseball scores. Perhaps God has been holding back information from His people so we must find or create ways to access it.

[Bible - Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash]

The Bible certainly does refer to the “mysteries” of God, His unexpected ways that differ radically from human wisdom, truths hidden from men in times past. Did not Jesus declare that not everyone can understand the “mysteries of the kingdom”? God reveals the deep and hidden things to whomever He pleases! However, the New Testament also teaches that what was once hidden is now revealed in God’s Son, especially in his Death and Resurrection.

God did not disclose the true understanding of His redemptive plans until the appropriate time. The “mystery kept silent in past ages has been manifested,” namely, the “obedience of faith for all the nations” made known through the “proclamation of Jesus,” the one whom He sent “in the fullness of time” - (Romans 16:25-27, Galatians 4:4, Ephesians 2:9-22, 3:3-11, Colossians 1:25-27).

God revealed truth in the old Levitical system with its animal sacrifices sacred calendar, but that earlier word was partial and incomplete. - “In many parts and many ways of old” God spoke to Israel “in the prophets,” but now, “upon the last of these days,” He has spoken to us “in His Son” - (Hebrews 1:1).

The revelation of Who God is has been available to everyone since the Death and Resurrection of Jesus and the outpouring of the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost. He is not withholding that knowledge until a future generation or any company of “forerunners” with special insight and access into the “spirit world.”

The prophets foretold the salvation that was to be revealed by the Messiah. However, they did not comprehend the details of the promise. They mediated this information “not to themselves but to us, which things have now been announced to you” - (1 Peter 1:10-12).

The “mystery” previously concealed was revealed in Jesus at the appointed season. The “Law and the Prophets” were vital parts of God’s redemptive play. However, many of His “mysteries” remained hidden until the arrival of Jesus, the Messiah of Israel when he began to proclaim the Kingdom of God in “Galilee of the nations.”

The rituals of the Mosaic Legislation have been fulfilled in the “Word made flesh,” the ‘Logos’. Consequently, many of the things of the old order have been relegated to the status of “shadows and types.” Returning to those outmoded forms would mean bondage under “elemental things,” regression to an older and incomplete stage of Salvation History - (Galatians 4:8-11, Ephesians 6:8-12, Colossians 2:16-17).

God’s “mysteries” are unveiled in Jesus. They are available to everyone who hears and embraces the “Word of the Son.” He is the place where the glory and presence of God dwell and are seen, the expression of God. Therefore, he who has seen Jesus has seen the Father. Moses gave the Law, but “Grace and Truth came to be in Jesus.” No man can come to the Father except through His Son, Jesus Christ.

There is, therefore, no justification for seeking deeper understandings of God from secret knowledge or mystical experiences. By God’s grace and His written Word, believers may behold the glory and fullness of the God of Israel in the “face of Jesus Christ.”

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SEE ALSO:

• Stand Fast in the Tradition - (To avoid deception and apostasy believers must cling to the apostolic traditions, lest they drift away)

• Famine in the Land - (The contemporary church is plagued by famine for hearing the words of God, but one that is a self-inflicted wound)

• Ignoring Scripture - (Was the Apostle Paul serious when he exhorted Timothy to only appoint elders and ministers who were above reproach?)