“Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself.”
—Ephesians 1:9
Now what does the Apostle Paul mean when he speaks of “the mystery of God’s will”? The term mystery is an important term used throughout the New Testament. The Greek word “musterion” means sacred knowledge which is unknown by natural human reason. It is only known by God’s special revelation. Jesus spoke of mystery in Matthew 13 when He was teaching the people about the kingdom of God. You remember how the Lord taught the people in parables, and the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables? He answered and said to them, “Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given” (vss. 10-11)
In other words, the teaching concerning the kingdom of heaven is a mystery which Christ makes known only to His disciples and that’s the point. Even though the Pharisees and many unbelievers were hearing the same message that Jesus taught His disciples, yet they didn’t understand what He was saying. They didn’t understand the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven and they walked away with the wrong impression.
The Apostle Paul uses the term mystery many times in his epistles. Romans 16:25-26, “Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began, but now has been made manifest, and by the prophetic Scriptures has been made known to all nations, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, for obedience to the faith.” 1 Corinthians 2:6-8, “However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.”
The word mystery is a key term throughout the New Testament writings, and if we don’t understand its meaning we will go astray in the matter of how a person becomes a Christian. The term mystery in the New Testament does not mean some kind of mystic secret which is only revealed to a select few and guarded from everyone else. That’s how the word is used by Eastern Gurus and Shamans. There were “mystery religions” in Paul’s day, and most cults and secret societies in our day practice this kind of thing: secret rituals, secret handshakes, secret codes, and some of these societies make their new converts swear a blood oath never to tell anyone else their dark secrets, such as the Masons and Mormons in temple rituals.
But this is the opposite of the Christian faith, which calls believers to proclaim, explain, and reveal the teaching of the Bible. The word mystery, as used in the New Testament, doesn’t mean some closely guarded secret into which only a few initiates are admitted. Neither does it mean something that is vague or incomprehensible to the human mind. Rather, the New Testament teaches that a mystery is something that is comprehensible and clear but is not discoverable by the unaided human mind. Only when the human mind is enabled by the Holy Spirit and the Word does it begin to understand the mystery. 1 Corinthians 2:9-10, “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” Many will stop here and say we don’t know what God has for us in heaven. “But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit.” 1 Cor. 2:12, “Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.”
As believers, we have been given the mind of Christ. The only reason a person understands and believes the teaching of Scripture is because God has made it known to them. He alone has revealed the mystery of redemption in Christ by His Word and Spirit. The mystery which was not known as clear in the Old Testament, nor was it known by the rulers of Paul’s day, this mystery is made known and clear to those regenerated by the Holy Spirit and taught the truth of Scripture.
Tuesday Encouragement: March 26, 2024
In Christ
Pastor S. Henry