A great Mystery

 

Colossians 2:1-3

Do you enjoy reading a good mystery?  I can get lost in a book that draws me into the unknown; who did it, or how does it end?  But what about the mystery of God, can we really grasp or understand the God who is unseen?  Paul the apostle tells us that if we take hold of Christ Jesus, we have understanding of all the hidden treasures of wisdom and knowledge.  He also tells us that our hearts will be encouraged and knitted together with others who have attained this understanding in love. 

The mystery of God is something fallen man has longed to comprehend, ever since the fall of Adam and Eve.  Great prophets like Jeremiah have ask God questions that many of us have thought about, for example, “You are always righteous, O Lord, when I bring a case before you.  Yet I would speak with you about your justice: Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all the faithless live at ease? (Jeremiah 12:1)  Surely Nicodemus is not the only one who has asked this question of God; “How can a man be born when he is old?  Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”  (John 3:4)  This was the reply of Jesus, “Do not marvel that I say to you, ‘you must be born again.  The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes.  So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” (John 3:7-8)  How many have asked God this question; “Why me?” why do I have to suffer, why must I have cancer, why did my child die, and many other questions about suffering.  This is some of the revelation to that mystery; “No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful.  Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.”  (Hebrews 12:11)  Jan and I have seen the outcome of a dear friend who had cancer and after she was cured, she told us and others that what seemed so terrible at the time, brought her very close to God and her young daughter told her that cancer changed their family for the better.

But the mystery of God has been made clear to all who will receive it; this is the mystery that was hidden from other generations.  “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.” (Ephesians 1:7-10)

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice