Search
Galatians 1:11-12 says, “I make known to you, brothers, concerning the gospel announced by me, that it is not according to man. For neither did I receive it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation by Jesus Christ.” The gospel came to Paul, that is, it was received by Paul, through a revelation of Jesus Christ. Here the apostle shows us one thing—the revelation of Jesus Christ. This is not merely a revelation received through Jesus Christ but a revelation concerning and belonging to Jesus Christ Himself.
Verses 15 and 16 continue: “It pleased God...to reveal His Son in me.” Moreover, Colossians 2:2b-3 says, “The mystery of God, Christ, in whom all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden.” Verse 9 says, “In Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily,” and 1:26 and 27 read, “The mystery which has been hidden from the ages and from the generations but now has been manifested to His saints; to whom God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Furthermore, Ephesians 3:3-5 says, “That by revelation the mystery was made known to me, as I have written previously in brief, by which, in reading it, you can perceive my understanding in the mystery of Christ, which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in spirit.” All these verses show us that there is something that has never come up in our mind and does not exist in our mind. The Chinese do not have it, and in fact, everyone in the entire world other than those who have been enlightened by God do not have it. What is it that none of these people have? It is the revelation of Christ.
There is something in this universe called the revelation of Christ. The meaning of the word revelation, not to mention the phrase the revelation of Christ, is hard for us to understand. If we ask the saints what revelation means, I believe only a few could give us its meaning. The revelation in the Holy Scriptures is not merely the revelation of the things contained in the Holy Scriptures, but even more it is the revelation of Christ. Moreover, the word revelation itself indicates that this is something that has never occurred to our mind nor come up in our heart.
It is really profitable for us to spend some time to see what a revelation is and to proceed further to see the revelation of Christ. Literally, the word revelation in Greek means “the opening of the veil on a stage.” We all know that before a show begins, the stage is completely covered with a veil and that people can see only this veil. When the show begins, the veil covering the stage is gradually opened. Revelation is the opening of the veil in order to show us something. In the past something was hidden from us, and there was a veil separating us from that thing. But now the veil is opened to show us the real situation behind the veil. This opening is a revelation.
The Lord Jesus is truly a mystery, and the whole universe is a mystery. Throughout the world people who are somewhat thoughtful know that the universe is a mystery. Philosophers throughout the ages still have not been able to explain to us what the universe really is. Why is there a universe? Why are there so many different kinds of things in it? Why are there human beings? For what purpose do they exist? What is the meaning of human life, and what is the purpose of our living? Not only did the Chinese sages find it difficult to answer these questions, but even the Western philosophers have no answers for them. Neither Confucius nor Socrates knew the answers. Even godly people in the Bible, such as Elijah, Jeremiah, David, Moses, and Abraham, did not know. They only knew that there is a sovereign One in the universe and that this sovereign One is Jehovah God, the unique and true God who created the heavens, the earth, everything within the heavens and the earth, and mankind. This was all that the prophets, the ancient saints, and the past sages knew.
The ancient saints and the past sages throughout history have no answer to the questions: What is the purpose of God in creating the heavens and the earth? Why did He create mankind? Some people may ask, “Are we too much in saying this?” We are not too much in saying this. We do have the scriptural basis. Both Ephesians and Colossians tell us clearly that God has a hidden mystery. We all know that a mystery is something that is not manifested or made known to others. For example, when a speaker is standing at the podium, we know that he is going to preach and speak. However, if he keeps his mouth shut while he is standing there, we have the sense that he is a mystery. We cannot hear anything from him; we can only see him standing there with his mouth shut. This is his mystery.
Our God also has a mystery. This phrase, the mystery of God, is found in Colossians 2:2. Ephesians also tells us that this mystery is one that was hidden in God (3:9). God hid this mystery in Himself and did not tell anyone about it. Moreover, this God who hid the mystery in Himself is the God who created all things. Hence, this mystery was hidden in God, who created all things. This is recorded in Ephesians 3. In reading the Bible, most people can easily find speaking concerning things like humility, patience, and peace, but they cannot easily see the speaking concerning the mystery of God. Ephesians 3:9 says, “To enlighten all that they may see what the economy of the mystery is, which throughout the ages has been hidden in God, who created all things.” Please notice that this mystery was hidden in God and that He is the One who created all things. Thus, this mystery was hidden in God, who created all things.
Verses 3 through 5 read, “That by revelation the mystery was made known to me, as I have written previously in brief, by which, in reading it, you can perceive my understanding in the mystery of Christ, which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in spirit.” This reveals that God had a mystery. Although He created all things and man, He did not tell man of this mystery. It was not until the New Testament, when the apostles and prophets came, that He revealed it to them. These prophets were not of the Old Testament but of the New Testament. Although they knew that all things were created by God, they did not know God’s purpose for creating all things.
Even in the New Testament age there are still many people who do not know why God created the heavens, the earth, and man. Until this day it is still a mystery to many people. Although they have their religious thoughts, concepts, and living, and although they also worship and serve God, their service is not something of revelation but is something of religion. They are completely ignorant of God’s purpose. What is man? Why does God save man? Is His intention merely for man to enjoy peace today and go to heaven in the future? All these thoughts are religious concepts. Please bear in mind that God does not save us merely for us to enjoy peace; rather, He saves us for a purpose hidden in Himself.
There is indeed a mystery hidden in God. For example, why did God create the universe? Why did He create mankind? Why did He create all things? Initially, He did not tell anyone about all these things. God hid this purpose in Himself, so it became a mystery. He created the heavens, yet the angels in the heavens did not know why He did it. He created the earth, yet the people on the earth also did not know why He did it. Throughout the ages there were many prophets, but He never told any of them the purpose of His works; He never told anyone. Then what is this mystery? What is the purpose of God? Colossians 2:2 tells us, “The mystery of God, Christ.” God’s purpose is Christ. God created the universe for Christ. God created mankind for Christ. God created everything for Christ. Everything of God is for Christ.
Today God is still working because He has not yet obtained His purpose. When all things are headed up in Christ, then the work of God will be fully accomplished. Ephesians 1:10 says, “Unto the economy of the fullness of the times, to head up all things in Christ, the things in the heavens and the things on the earth, in Him.” This word says clearly that at the fullness of the times all things will be headed up in Christ. It is because all things are for Christ that God created the universe, it is because all things are for Christ that God created man, and it is because all things are for Christ that God created everything. God’s purpose is for Christ, and God’s purpose is Christ. Hence, the mystery of God is certainly Christ.
The Chinese sages and the Jewish prophets did not know this mystery. Even Paul, who had been taught by a great rabbi, originally did not know it. Yet one day God opened the veil to Paul, and he immediately saw something—he saw Christ. This is a revelation, a revelation unveiling Christ. Before God revealed Christ, there was a veil covering the universe. There was such a thing as the purpose of God for which God created the universe and mankind, but this purpose was hidden and not seen until the New Testament age when Christ came and was manifested for men to see. When the Holy Spirit opened the veil, Christ was seen by men. Now that we can see everything clearly, we realize that the story of the universe is the story of Christ. It is not a matter of whether or not we worship God but a matter of whether or not we have Christ.
I hope that we all will see the revealed Christ. The revealed Christ is none other than the hidden Christ who revealed and unveiled Himself. Who is this Christ? This Christ is God Himself, the God who became flesh. If we are not in Christ, even though we may say that we are serving God, in actuality we cannot serve God because God is not in our service. Originally, this was Paul’s situation. He seemed to be zealously serving God, yet he was actually opposing God. Hence, we need to see that the mystery of God is Christ. One day God opened this mystery to man. This opening is the revelation of God, and this revelation shows Christ to us. So what is revelation? When man touches and contacts God in Christ, this is revelation.
We have been deeply influenced by religion, yet we are very shallow concerning the revelation of Christ. Even young brothers and sisters, not to mention those who are in their seventies or eighties, have religious concepts. Many young people believed in the Lord and were baptized, but they have less of the element of Christ in them than they do of religion. If we speak with them, we will find that they all have an idea of what it means to serve God. They already have a picture in their mind of what it is to serve God before they have read the Bible or listened to a message. For example, their mind is already filled with many religious concepts regarding how to be a Christian and how to treat the saints. In fact, we are all filled with religious concepts but short of revelation. After being saved, there is not a single person who serves God in the church without having a set of religious concepts. The Chinese have the Chinese concept, the Americans have the American concept, the Japanese have the Japanese concept, and the Indians have the Indian concept. Furthermore, the males have the male concept, and the females have the female concept. We all came into the church with a set of concepts regarding serving God. If we had these concepts before even reading the Bible, where do they come from? This is a mystery that no one can explain. Every saved person has certain concepts regarding how to be a Christian and how to conduct himself in the church. These concepts are nothing more than man’s own concepts.
The kind of person we are determines the kind of Bible we read. When the Chinese read the Bible, they say that the Bible is really good because it talks about loyalty, filial piety, kindness, love, propriety, justice, honesty, and a sense of shame. When the Indians read the Bible, they also say that the Bible is really good because it teaches man to suffer. One day a sister came to me and said, “In recent days my husband, who is also a Christian, has been very cruel to me. Having come to my end, I went to read the Bible and eventually found a teaching saying that husbands ought to love their wives” (Eph. 5:25). She then thought that the best Christian is one who loves his wife. This shows the concept that was in her mind. She already had within her three words, love your wives, even before she began to read the Bible. Hence, when she came to the Bible, she could not see anything else. However, once she read the words love your wives, these three words seemed to be magnified. All these cases show us that the kind of person we are determines the kind of Bible we read.
For instance, I once knew a meek person. One day he came to me and joyously said, “According to the Bible, a meek person is the best, because among the nine blessings there is one concerning the meek.” In Tsingtao I met a harsh brother. He said, “These days I have been seeing the light that sometimes we should not be too polite or gentle, because even the Lord Jesus Himself used a whip one day to drive the merchants out of the temple.” We have seen so many cases that are, in principle, just like this. In 1937 I came back from Tientsin to Chefoo and released a few messages there. In those messages I said that for us to follow the Lord, we have to learn to bear the cross. I said that the mothers-in-law have to learn to bear the cross and that the daughters-in-law also have to learn to bear the cross. I also gave some examples from the Scriptures. After one of the meetings an elderly sister came to me and said, “Brother, your preaching was really from God. My daughter-in-law is very disobedient. The message that you released today was very much needed.” The interesting thing is that after she had finished speaking and had left, another person came to me and said, “Brother, it is really hard to believe how badly the elderly sisters treat their daughters-in-law at home. You said that the mothers-in-law have to bear the cross. This is truly God’s will.” The message was the same, yet one person heard one thing, but another person heard another thing. Likewise, the Bible is the same, yet one person reads one thing, but another person reads another thing. We all have seen the condition of man, yet we have not seen the mystery of God. We know ethics, filial piety, propriety, justice, honesty, and the sense of shame, but we do not know the mystery of God.
We think that as long as we behave ourselves in a certain way, we will be able to please God. Such a concept is of religion and is in blindness. The reason a person gropes in blindness is that he does not have revelation; he does not see. His inner being has not been enlightened, so he has to grope in darkness. Although we are saved, I am afraid that even to this day we are still in religion. Have we really seen the revelation of God? The revelation of God is Christ. Only Christ is the purpose of God, and only Christ is the revelation of God. Only when a person has received such a revelation will he truly know the Christ of revelation and the service that is of revelation. Everything hinges on Christ. Whatever is not in Christ, no matter how beautiful it is, is of religion and not of God’s revelation. Whatever is of God’s revelation is Christ.
Revelation is like the lifting of a curtain, the opening of a veil. Yet once the veil is opened, there are two other requirements—light and sight. Even when the veil is lifted, if there is no light, we will not see. If there is light, but we do not have the sight, we still will not be able to see. In the New Testament age the revelation is already here, but the strangest thing is that many people still do not have the light or the vision in their reading of the Bible. Why is this? First, it is because they do not have light. Second, it is because they do not have the sight—their eyes are not opened. Before the veil is lifted, we surely will not see anything. But even after the veil is lifted, if there is no light, we still will not see anything. If our eyes are blind, even though there is light, we still will not see. But if our eyes are opened, we will be able to see the vision spoken of in the Scriptures. What is a vision? A vision is a scene, not an ordinary one, but a particular scene that we see from God.
Today when we come to the New Testament, all that is contained in the Bible has already been revealed. Yet when reading the Bible, if our eyes are not opened, we will not be able to see the vision of God even though the Word of God is right in front of us. But if our eyes are opened when we pray and read God’s Word, we will immediately see the vision. At that time the revelation will become our vision. While revelation is objective, vision is subjective. I hope that all of God’s children will truly see something through this word and therefore put aside everything that is outward and traditional so that they can read God’s Word carefully with a simple mind and a single eye. We should not read the Bible with our traditional concepts or with our colored eyeglasses. Rather, we should put aside all our concepts and simply come to the Bible—the Word of God. If we do this, I believe that one day God will have mercy on us and show us His revelation. At that time we will know that God’s mystery, God’s treasure, and God’s eternal purpose are just Christ. We look to God to save us in this matter so that we may see Christ. Only he who has seen Christ has seen the revelation, and only he who has seen the revelation can know God.
