The Mystery of Christ

Dear class,

The readings today are taken from Genesis 5,6; Psalms 12 and Ephesians 3.

First introduced to us in Ephesians 1:9, one may wonder about this "mystery" which has been revealed.
The word here is really a transliteration of the Greek word "musterion". In the King James version of the bible, there are some 27 occurrences, majority of which have a reference to some hidden knowledge or plan.

Jesus talked about the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven (Mat 13:11; Mar 4:11; Luk 8:10)
Paul talked about
1) a mystery "kept secret since the world began" (Rom 16:25)
2) The hidden wisdom (1Co 2:7)
3) His will (Eph 1:9)
4) The mystery of Christ (Eph 3:3,4; Col 4:2,3)
5) A great mystery that concerned Christ and the church (Eph 5:32)
6) The mystery of the Gospel (Eph 6:19)
7) Mystery hid from ages, now made manifest (Col 1:26-27)
8) Mystery of the faith (1Ti 3:9)
9) Mystery of godliness (1Ti 3:16)

John mentions the mystery of God (Rev 10:7)

Perhaps the matter might not be so "mysterious" if the word hadn't been transliterated as such, which also happen to be used to denote a sense of uncertainty and fuzziness!

In particular, Paul's use seem to allude to the same thing from different angles. And we realise that it is really not so much as something unfathomable or some kind of Sherlock Holmes style puzzle to solve, but the fact that it was pre-determined and kept under the cover till an appointed time.

All the verses above point to the fact of the plan of salvation through Christ and the church - the Gospel, which was foreordained right from the very beginning and revealed through Christ and the apostles. There's nothing "mysterious", just merely hidden. Nothing impossible to understand but fully accessible to all who will obey. In fact v. 4 hits the nail right on the head - "Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ".

The "mystery" had been revealed for almost 2000 years now! Yet the same call to salvation applies. It remains for us to hang on to that which we have believed and rendered obedience to, and continue to study and deepen our understanding and appreciation AND spread the Message so that more would be privy to the Mystery of Christ.

The Lord bless our day ahead.

In Him
Paul

--
But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. ~ Hebrews 3:13

But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. ~ James 1:22