The mystery is to the Body of Christ what air is to our human bodies. Without air, we would be dead in a matter of moments, and without the mystery, the entire Dispensation of the Grace of God is empty. We need to understand this mystery in order to see that there has been a change from the kingdom program to a grace program, which we are under today.
In Romans 11: 25 we read, “For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in.” We want to understand this mystery, so that we do not come across incorrectly in the age-old question of salvation– “What must we do to be saved?”
Our goal is always to see the lost become saved, because this is God’s goal. In 1Timothy 2:3-4 we see God’s goal — “For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior; who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.” The truth is that Christ has died for our sins. He has paid the price for our sin, and by simple faith in what Christ has already done, we will be saved.
Even though the Mystery has many parts that need to be seen in order to totally understand this administration, we are now going to look at the heart of the mystery. In I Corinthians 2:7-8 we read, “But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory. Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.”
Even before God created the world, He knew there would be a “Mystery Program”. The reason that He had to wait to reveal this mystery is that if Satan would have known the end result, he would not have done his part in allowing it to happen. What God did was to take a seemingly bad event, (from a Christian standpoint) and turn it around– making it the single most wonderful event that has ever happened to the human race.
Satan knows the Word of God better than you or I will ever know or understand it. When Paul uses the phrase “princes of this world”, he is referring to Satan and his evil helpers. Had Satan known what the result of Christ’s death on the cross would be, He never would have allowed it to happen. It would only mean that his own judgement and doom would then be sealed.
Christ’s physical crucifixion on the cross is not the Mystery. As we look at the actual event, we need to divide it into two parts. There are both physical and the spiritual aspects of the crucifixion. The physical side of the cross is not the Mystery. We need only to look at the book of Psalms to see that the crucifixion was foretold. In Psalms 22, we see clearly that the events of the cross were foretold, and in great detail. We need to remember also that Christ himself foretold His death. In Luke 18:32-33 we read, “For he shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and spitted on: And they shall scourge him, and put him to death: and the third day he shall rise again.” The death of Christ is not the mystery.
Joel Finck, in his book The Mystery, said: “Many times the prophets wrote down or spoke things and they did not know what it meant. Or they didn’t know when it was going to happen. God used them as a vessel, as an instrument, but He didn’t give them the full understanding of what they were saying. We sometimes have the false notion that the prophets understood everything that they said and wrote”1. We in the Body of Christ, having the full revelation of the entire Bible, rather than the partial truth of the Old Testament, have a definite advantage. Paul himself said in I Corinthians 13: 11-12, “When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.”
We see things a lot more clearly than the people of past dispensations did.
The spiritual side of the cross is now where we end up. The cross was more than a physical death. Yes, Christ did physically die on the cross. Paul tells us the whole story in I Corinthians 15:3-4 when he says, “For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.” This is the Gospel– the good news for us today. Colossians 1:20 puts things in proper order when we read, “And, having made peace through the blood of his cross.” The peace of the cross is the secret, and Paul faithfully preached this. Paul is the one who said first in Romans 16:25, “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”. Paul is the first one to call the cross the “good news”. With forgiveness now possible through Jesus Christ, we truly have the best message possible.
Who are you looking to for forgiveness of your sins? You can try to live a good life, but you will fall short of being perfect. You can hope and pray that God will forgive you in the end, or you can turn to the cross of Christ. If you understand that only the message of the cross of Christ will save you; you too can be saved from eternity in hell. Trust in the cross of Christ, and what Christ has already done when He died for all of our sins. Praise God that this truly is the mystery.
1. Finck, Joel, The Mystery, Bible Doctrines Publication, 1997