Episode 2683 - Lesson 9 - Wednesday Feb. 25: The Mystery of God revealed

Mystery of God RevealedRead Colossians 1:26-27. Paul twice talks about "the mystery." What mystery?In another place, Paul refers to "the mystery of God," which is God's eternal purpose "ordained before the ages for our glory" (1 Cor. 2:7, NKJV) and revealed through the plan of salvation. Peter speaks of this truth as something that the prophets anticipated and that "angels desire to look into" (1 Pet. 1:10-12). It was devised "before the foundation of the world" (1 Pet. 1:20) and "kept secret since the world began" (Rom. 16:25). However, through Christ's life, death, and resurrection, this mystery has been unveiled (2 Cor. 3:14).How do the following references to the mystery of God illuminate various aspects of the plan of salvation?Eph. 1:7-10Eph. 3:3-6Ultimately, "all things" in heaven and on earth will be brought together into complete oneness in Christ. This was the focus of Christ's prayer in John 17. Exactly how this would come about was a mystery that has now been revealed through the gospel.Why God would love us so much that He would give Jesus, heaven's priceless treasure, for our salvation, will be our study throughout eternity. But we know this: Christ "died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again" (2 Cor. 5:15, NKJV). As a result, all who believe in Christ, both Jews and Gentiles, share equally in the promises of God through the gospel and have been brought together into one body, the church."Christ in you" (Col. 1:27) refers to Christ's dwelling in the heart by faith (Eph. 3:17; compare Gal. 2:20). This spiritual union with Christ enables believers even now to "sit together in heavenly places" (Eph. 2:6) and taste "the powers of the world to come" (Heb. 6:5). Through Christ's presence in our lives, He is already beginning to unite us with heaven. It is the gospel working in the hearts of believers that "has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light" (Col. 1:12, NKJV).