The Great Mystery
There is something very exciting about the word mystery. It challenges us to investigate and see if we can uncover what the mystery is. Thousands of people spend millions of dollars each year on mystery novels. Television and cinema productions have a great appeal if they have an element of mystery.
Mystery writers devote a considerable amount of energy and care making sure their work will be all that it claims to be. They begin by weaving a thread of seemingly unrelated happenings and conclude by bringing all of the pieces together as smoothly as a completed jigsaw puzzle. The best mystery writers are able to drop continual clues throughout the account and yet maintain the suspense and conceal the outcome until the very end. The readers are continually trying to second-guess the author. More often than not, the reader is actually surprised by the unexpected outcome of the mystery.
In many respects God is the greatest mystery writer of all time. He has given His Word to mankind, in which all of His plans and purposes are concealed. God begins by weaving a thread of seemingly unrelated happenings, through which He has inserted supernatural clues.
God has purposely concealed certain things and veiled them in a mystery. Yet, there is a time appointed for the full unveiling of those purposes. Daniel was told to seal up the words of his prophecy until the "time of the end."
As we approach the end of time, we can expect more and more knowledge, understanding, and wisdom to come to the people of God.
A Mystery Defined
The origin of the word mystery seems to correspond to the religious usage found among the ancient Greeks. The “mysteries” were religious rites and ceremonies practiced by secret societies. Those who were initiated into these “mysteries” became possessors of certain knowledge, which was not given to the uninitiated.
A more simplified definition of a mystery would be: “Knowledge that can only be known by the initiated.”
There are many things relative to the kingdom of God that natural man cannot understand (1 Corinthians 2:6-16). Without being initiated by the Holy Spirit, there is no way natural man can know the mysteries of God. If man is to have any knowledge of the supernatural mysteries of God, he is going to have to be initiated by God Himself.
God, the Revealer of Mysteries
God has veiled much of what He has given to mankind in mystery form. He hides the riches of His glory from the uninitiated, who have no sincere desire for eternal things. The uninitiated person is living based on the earthly, the sensual, and the temporary things of the physical senses.
The true riches of God are found in the heavenly, the spiritual, and the eternal. God takes no pleasure in unveiling supernatural mysteries to the uninitiated. See - 2 Corinthians 4:3.
God has a desire to let the initiated in on what He plans to do. God wants to “tip us off,” so to speak, in regard to His plans and purposes. He wants to “keep us posted” right up to the second coming of Christ. See - 1 Thessalonians 5:4.
Part of the might and ministry of the Holy Spirit, as the great initiator, is to let God’s people in on what God plans to do. He is the one who will guide us into all truth, and even show us things to come. John 16:15-16. He wants to trust us with being faithful over the “mysteries”-His plans and purposes from the very beginning. 1 Corinthians 4:1.
Lets look closely at something Jesus said:
“To you it has been given to know the mystery
of the Kingdom of God, but to those who are
outside, all things come in parables."
Mark 4:11 NKJV
What a great adventure we can go on! Discover the mysteries for yourself. Become one of the initiated by confessing that the risen Christ is your Lord, and then be filled with the power of the mighty Holy Spirit.
Some Bible mysteries that most people do not fully understand:
1. "Unless one is born again, he cannot enter the kingdom of God." John 3:3 NKJV
2. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." John 1:1 NKJV
3. "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us."
John 1:14 NKJV
4. "... having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the Word of God which lives and abides forever." 1 Peter 1:23 NKJV
5. "For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death." Romans 8:2 NKJV
6. We are already blessed, forgiven and healed! We need to take hold of what already belongs to us. (Ephesians 1:3; 1 Peter 2:24; 2 Peter 1:2-4)
