Mysteries Revealed in Jesus

The Church has been plagued for centuries by prophets, seers, and mystics who claim to possess secret knowledge and new insights into the mysteries of God beyond anything found in the Scriptures, knowledge obtained via visions and dreams, or perhaps by deciphering the Hebrew alphabet or the Jewish calendar. The Bible certainly does speak of God’s “mysteries,” His unexpected ways that differ radically from human wisdom, but they were disclosed in His Son twenty centuries ago.

This is not to say that our finite human minds can acquire let alone comprehend all there is to know about an infinite deity. But God has provided all that His children need to attain salvation, everlasting life, and to live righteously in a fallen world.

[Photo by Mark Fletcher-Brown on Unsplash]

Certainly, Jesus himself declared that not everyone is able to understand the “mysteries of the kingdom.” It is God who reveals the deep and hidden things to whomever He chooses. But the New Testament also teaches that what was once hidden has now been revealed in His Son, Jesus of Nazareth, especially in his death and resurrection.

God did not disclose the full understanding of His redemptive plan until the appropriate time. The “mystery kept silent in past ages has been manifested,” which is the “obedience of faith for all the nations” made known through the “proclamation of Jesus.” And the Creator of all things did not send Jesus UNTIL “the fullness of time” - (Romans 16:25-27, Galatians 4:4).

GOD’S FULL DISCLOSURE

He certainly revealed truth in the Levitical system with its animal sacrifices and other rituals, as well as elsewhere in the Law and the Prophets. 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 definitively “in His Son” - (Hebrews 1:1).

The full understanding of who God is and how He works has been available to everyone ever since the ascension of Jesus and the outpouring of the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost.

The prophets foretold the coming salvation that would be revealed by the Messiah; but they did not possess or comprehend the details or ramifications of that promise since they were “not to themselves but to us were ministering them, which things have now been announced to you” - (1 Peter 1:10-12).

Thus, the “mystery” previously concealed has been revealed in Jesus, and at the appointed season. And above all, IN HIS DEATH AND RESURRECTION.

The “Law and the Prophets” were vital parts of God’s revelation, but in them, many of His “mysteries” remained hidden. However, they are now disclosed in His Son, the Crucified and Resurrected Messiah, AND NOWHERE ELSE. They cannot be found in lunar phases, solar eclipses, or hidden codes in the Hebrew text of the Old Testament.

The rituals and ceremonies of the Mosaic legislation, including its calendrical observations and feast days, were fulfilled in the Logos, the “Word made flesh.” Since then, they have been relegated to the status of “SHADOWS AND TYPES.” And Jesus certainly is the substance that was foreshadowed by them.

To now return to the outmoded rituals and incomplete understandings of the old system is to regress to bondage under the “rudimentary things” of this fallen age, including the “powers, principalities, archons, angels, and world-rulers” - (Galatians 4:8-11, Ephesians 6:8-12, Colossians 2:16-17).

Neither is there any need to resort to mysticism, scrutinizing astronomical signs, or decoding Hebrew letters and numbers to gain secret knowledge about divine “mysteries.”

IN JESUS

His “mysteries” are revealed in the Nazarene. They are available to anyone who hears the “word of the Son.” The mystery “not made known in other generations, has now been revealed” IN HIM - (Romans 16:25, Ephesians 2:9-22, 3:3-11, Colossians 1:25-27).

Moses gave the Law, but “grace and truth came to be in Jesus.” IN HIM, the knowledge of the Father is unveiled. No longer must men attempt to obtain deeper insights into the nature of God from esoteric knowledge and subjective mystical experiences.

By God’s grace forgiveness and salvation are made available to every man and woman. And by His Word and the inspiration of His Spirit, anyone may behold the glory and fullness of Yahweh in the “face of Jesus Christ.”

The accurate knowledge of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, including what he taught and did, is preserved for all humanity in the apostolic tradition, namely, the New Testament.

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