Search
Scripture Reading: Eph. 3:4-11; Col. 2:2, 9
In the Bible there is a mystery. Without the heavenly vision in the spirit we may read through, study, and even research the Bible yet still not see it. The word mystery is used many times in the New Testament. Ephesians 3:4 speaks of the mystery of Christ. Colossians 2:2 mentions the mystery of God. In Romans 16:25 Paul refers to the revelation of the mystery. In addition, the apostle Paul even writes concerning the economy of the mystery (Eph. 3:9). How great are all these expressions! This economy is related to grace. God’s grace has an economy called the economy of the grace of God, which is to dispense God Himself in Christ into us. This is the mystery in the Bible.
The book of Genesis reveals that God created the heavens and the earth. It also reveals that God created man and records the history of the man created by God. Man’s history in Genesis began with Adam, then continued through Abel, Enoch, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. The record of creation and human history is the structure of the book of Genesis, but hidden there is something that the Bible calls the mystery. The entire Bible, the Old and New Testaments, contains many stories, doctrines, and even a number of visions, yet we may still not see the mystery buried there.
All thoughtful people realize that the whole universe is a mystery. By looking at all the planets, you have to admit that there must be some significance to all the birds, animals, flowers, and pleasant plants. Even a human being is wonderful. Throughout all the generations many scholars and philosophers have spent their entire lives trying to find the meaning of this universe and the meaning of human life. We all realize that there is a human race on this earth, and there is human society. Although we are so small, we are so meaningful. In the libraries you can read things written during the past four thousand years, but you cannot find one page that tells you the meaning of human life. Philosophers such as Socrates, Plato, and Confucius did not know. Even if you were to go to Moses or Abraham, they could not tell you. They were speaking for God and speak ing forth God, yet the meaning of this universe, the human race, and even the nation of Israel was hidden to them. Do not think that Moses, Elijah, or David knew. They did not know, because Paul in Ephesians 3 says that this mystery was not made known to the sons of men in other generations. “Generations” is a much better translation of the Greek word than “ages.” Ages means times, periods, or centuries, but generations not only means the times but also the people. In the past generations—including the generations of Adam, Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David, Elijah, and Isaiah—this mystery was never made known.
Ephesians 3 tells us that this mystery was concealed, hidden in God, throughout the ages. The ages here means “eternity.” From the beginning of eternity, this mystery was hidden in God. God did not tell Adam or the patriarchs. Moses and David were not told. God never told anyone. This was never made known to the sons of men. It was altogether hidden in God. Ephesians 3:9 says that it “has been hidden in God, who created all things.” God created all things, but He never told anyone of the human race what His purpose in creation was. Furthermore, in verse 9 the King James Version says, “To make all men see.” However, this is not the right meaning. The proper meaning in Greek is “to enlighten all.” Although I may be here with you day and night for three hundred sixty-five days, not one of you may know what I have until the first day of the next year when I enlighten you. Until the apostles, especially until the apostle Paul was raised up, this hidden mystery was not made known. Here, Paul tells us clearly that it was not until his generation, the generation of the apostles.
Paul calls the apostles holy apostles (v. 5). This means that they were separated ones, not common people. Confucius, Socrates, and Plato were common, but here are some apostles who are holy, not ordinary, regular, or common. They are special. They are not angels, but neither are they human beings in a common way. They are separated ones, because they have seen something that human beings and the saints of God have never seen. They have seen the mystery. Paul could boast to all the angels that even though they knew how to serve and to do things by fulfilling God’s commandments and God’s orders, they never realized the purpose of the universe.
If you had the universe without God, the universe would be empty. Without God the universe would be only worthy of weeping. If there were no God in this universe, we would all have to weep for its emptiness. There would be a big container but no content. The planets are here because of God. The flowers are so beautiful because of God. The animals are so wonderful because of God. Human beings are here because of God. God is the answer. The atheists may say that this is altogether superstitious and nonsensical. However, we know why there are the heavens and the earth. All the flowers, grains, animals, and birds exist because of God. There is a universe because of God. This is not superstition.
Not only did the apostles know, but today we also know the mystery. We know that the mystery of the universe is God. We know the mystery of God’s creation. We know the mystery of human life, and we know the mystery of the Bible. However, this mystery is still a mystery today even to so many Christians. They only realize the need of God’s salvation so that they will not perish in hell but be rescued and brought to heaven. They feel that while on earth they are here just to display good Christian behavior to glorify God and to help people. However, God’s intention is not just to bring a group of sinners into heaven.
The book of Romans begins in chapter 1 with fallen sinners, even a fallen people, and goes on to chapter 12 where they have become the Body of Christ. The book of Ephesians is different. It begins with God in eternity. Your condition makes no difference. God began this mystery long before you were born, even before the world was created. God began this mystery from the beginning of eternity. Nearly all Christians would consider themselves according to Romans 1, as sinful and fallen, but if you come to Ephesians, you have to forget about yourself. This book has such a term—the eternal purpose (3:11). In Greek this term means “the purpose of the ages.” The purpose of the ages was a mystery until the apostles were raised up. God opened His own heart to show His apostles the mystery hidden within Him.
We must then ask, what is God’s mystery? Where is God? The Jews and Muslims all believe in God. Upon this earth no one dares to declare that other things are God. They know that all those things are not God but idols. There is only one God. The Jews believe in the Old Testament, and the Muslims believe in the Koran, which is an imitation of the Old Testament. They all believe in the unique God, but they do not know that this God is a mystery. Neither do they know that this mystery of God is Christ (Col. 2:2).
The divine mystery is first the mystery of God and second the mystery of Christ. We need to read, study, and pray over Colossians and Ephesians, for they unveil to us the mystery of God, Christ. The Jews have God in name, but they do not have God in reality. They have God in a mystery. They do not have God in reality, because they do not know the mystery of God. The mystery of God is Christ! If you do not know God and if you have not met God, just come to Christ, because God is embodied in Christ. All the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily in this Christ (Col. 2:9). If you do not believe in Christ, you miss God. Without Christ, although you may say that you believe in God, you believe only in terms. You believe God as a mystery. You could never realize God. You could never touch God, get God, or get into God except through Christ. The Muslims and Jews have God without Christ, but eventually they have nothing. The very God is in Christ. If you do not have Christ, you do not have God. Christ is wonderful because He is the mystery, the answer, the definition, the embodiment, and the reality of God. He is nothing less than God, but He is God with something more. Christ is God-plus. It is hard for us to explain. He was a little man who came from a despised region called Galilee, yet this man is the mystery of God. Outside of Him and without Him you could never see God. Whether you believe it or not, He is God. He is just God! In the whole universe God is in Christ. Where Christ is, there is God. Apart from Christ, you could never find God.
Christ is the mystery of God. Where then is Christ? In history there has never been a name so wonderful as Jesus Christ. Whether they are for Him or not for Him, today all the nations use the calendar of Jesus. This is the year of Jesus. Every year is the year of the chronicle of Christ, of that little man. Is not this Christ wonderful? There is no man so big. There is no name bigger than the name of Jesus. Yet where is He? Some say that He is in the heavens. He is not only in the heavens but right on this earth. He is right here in this room. The mystery of the universe is God, the mystery of God is Christ, and the mystery of Christ is the church (Eph. 3:4-11). For years and years I have been ministering Christ and the church, and the more I minister, the more I have to minister. Over fifty years ago I learned that the church is not a Western bungalow with a bell tower. I learned that the church is the gathering of God’s called ones. However, even to say that the church is the gathering of God’s called people is too superficial. The church is the Body of Christ. The church is an organism, not an organization. Do not consider the church as an organization but as an organism. For so many years I never saw that the church is a mystery. The church is the mystery of Christ. In other words, the church is just Christ in a mysterious way. The church is Christ (1 Cor. 12:12). So, when we say that we are the Christ, this is not too much. Hallelujah, we are the Christ here! On one hand, we are wonderful persons, and on the other hand, we are Christ in a mysterious way. Within us we have a mysterious part, and that part is Christ. Christ today is right here.
This mystery has an economy. To us today the mystery is no longer mysterious. The mystery is no longer hidden. It is an open mystery. We do know that the whole universe is the mystery of God, this mystery of God is just Christ, and this mystery of Christ is the church. We are the mystery of Christ, Christ is the mystery of God, and God is the mystery of the universe. Surely we are a mysterious and universal people!
The word economy in the English language is an anglicized word borrowed from the Greek. It contains the matter of dispensing, as in today’s modern economy. In modern economy a kind of dispensing is implied. If we have billions of dollars worth of capital, we have to dispense it. Hence, in God’s economy the first aspect is to dispense Himself into His chosen ones.
In dispensing anything you need a steward to take care of the dispensing. This taking care of the dispensing is a stewardship, a kind of service. When God is dispensing Himself into His chosen people, He uses the apostles. All the apostles are stewards, but they are not taking care of U.S. dollars, British pound sterling, or French francs. They are taking care of God in Christ as a mystery dispensed. The apostles are stewards dispensing Christ as the mystery of God to the Jews and to the Gentiles. The stewardship is just one aspect, the dispensing service, of God’s economy.
The first aspect of God’s economy is dispensing, the second is stewardship, and the third is administration. If you dispense anything, you need the service. To carry out the service, you need a kind of administration. The one word economy in Greek implies dispensing, stewardship, and administration.
None of us were saved in an accidental way. According to our feeling, our conversion might have been an accident, but it was actually part of God’s economy. In God’s economy He wanted to dispense Himself into His called ones. Praise the Lord that we are one of the many! Our conversion was a part of God’s dispensing, and this dispensing was carried out by the stewardship. God has given this stewardship to some of His chosen ones, such as the apostles, who have been much used by the Lord. Through their kind of ministry this dispensing got into us. Hence, our conversion was a part of God’s dispensing, and this was carried out by the stewardship. Right after our conversion, we were under the administration of the mystery. This administration is a part of the economy, and now we all are in this wonderful administration. In every meeting there is the dispensing, the stewardship, and the administration. The more we meet together, the more we fellowship, the more dispensing we receive. As a result, the more that we are in the stewardship, the more we are under the administration to carry out God’s mystery. This mystery eventually is just the very embodiment, reality, and expression of the Triune God. Hallelujah, we are the mystery of Christ!
Among us we have God’s economy, and God’s economy is just to carry out His mystery. Whenever we meet together, we have God’s dispensing, we have the stewardship, and we are under the administration. Then, the reality of God, the embodiment of God, and the expression of God will be carried out. Do not think that one day when we get into the New Jerusalem we will be surprised. When we get there, we will have been in this for years and years. Even now we are in the foretaste of the New Jerusalem. The New Jerusalem is just God’s expression, God’s administration, God’s stewardship, and God’s dispensing. This is altogether God’s economy, and this economy is the economy of the mystery. We are here enjoying the dispensing of God, the stewardship of God, and the administration of God. Now we are the reality, the embodiment, and the expression of the Triune God. Praise Him!
