Whether it’s Agatha Christie, Enid Blyton, John Le Carre or Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, everyone loves a good mystery novel. When the antagonist is finally revealed as the curtain closes, there’s an ‘a-ha’ moment which makes everything up to that point make perfect sense. Only when the truth is finally revealed, do we glean complete satisfaction from the story line, which often has many twists and turns, to the very end. You see, God’s book, has similarities with a mystery novel. Being the Alpha and Omega (Rev 22:13), He sees the end from the beginning.
God’s outlay for humanity and the course of events, always has the end in mind. God’s word outlines eight mysteries which are often overlooked in our daily devotionals. We should take note, the Old Testament, kings, prophets, priests and patriarchs were not privy to these mysteries, in fact it’s only during this dispensation of Grace (better known as the church age) are they finally divulged.
The word ‘mystery’ or ‘mysteries’ is found no less than 27 times within the New Testament. The Greek word mysterion is used with some frequency in the New Testament, primarily by the Apostle Paul. He actually called himself, a ‘steward’ of these mysteries (1st Cor 4:1-2). A steward is someone who’s duty is to take care of something valuable on behalf of his master. The faithfulness of the steward will be judged in the end, as will we. The meaning of ‘Mysterion,’ reveals knowledge that’s only made known to the ‘initiate.’ The Vines Complete Expository Dictionary of the New Testament, defines Mysterion as: “denoting not the mysterious but that which, being outside the range of unassisted natural apprehension, can be made known only by divine revelation, and is made known in a manner and at a time appointed by God, and to those only who are illumined by His Spirit.”
Thankfully, the New Testament has already revealed these mysteries to Christ’s initiates. Simply put, a problem can be solved by obtaining more knowledge but a mystery cannot. If it could, it would not be a mystery. Thankfully God has solved the riddle for us. The mysteries now presented, although once hidden for millennia, have now been bestowed to us by divine revelation at this appointed time.
Here are the eight mysteries of God revealed in the New Testament:
1. The mystery of the rapture of the church at the end of the church age
(1 Cor 15:51–52; 1 Thess. 4:14-17)
There’s coming a generation, that’s surely upon us now, who will never ‘taste death.’ To this generation, death will have ‘no sting’ (1st Cor 15:54-55). The much fought over doctrine of the translation of the church (aka rapture) will soon be put to rest, as Christ will assuredly return for His beloved, rescuing them from His Father’s wrath, to be poured out within the Tribulation period. In a moment, in the ‘twinkling of an eye,’ we shall all be ‘transformed’ from our mortal bodies into our heavenly abode. This monumental event has already burgeoned counterfeits within the New Age movement, who claim there’s an imminent ‘cleansing of the earth,’ seeking to remove those who are in-congruent with the coming age of Aquarius. In the meantime, we are to ‘occupy till Christ comes,’ (Lk 19:13). Although we do not know the precise hour of Christ’s return, we can surely discern the season.
To learn more about the rapture of the church, click here.
2. The mystery of the church as the bride and body of Christ, comprised of Jews and Gentiles
(Eph 5:28–32; Eph 3:1–11; 6:19; Col. 4:3)
That two become one flesh in marriage is a typology of Christ and His church. This is why Jesus yearns for the imminent presentation of His bride in the Rapture. Self-propagation is the strongest urge in the human body outside of self-preservation. Man’s desire for propagation is in conformity with Christ who propagated Himself in the earth by depositing His Spirit within those who choose to believe on Him. In doing so, Christ created a living organism (the church), comprised of both covenant Jews and Gentiles. The Gentiles were outlaws and forlorn.
The Mosaic Law served as a middle wall of partition to keep Gentiles away from the spiritual blessings of the Jewish covenants. Yet Gentiles are now en-grafted into God’s blessings! The Messiah has now united Jew and Gentile into ‘one new man’ (Eph 2:15) or ‘one body.’ Paul is a striking embodiment of this very union. As a member of the Sanhedrin, staunch Pharisee and former persecutor of the Gentiles, his gospel mandate was ambassadorial to the very Gentiles he once persecuted. God is not without a sense of irony in His wonderful plan to unite all people under His banner of love.
3. The mystery of “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Gal. 2:20; Col. 1:26–27)
If you are saved by the precious blood of Christ, then He lives in you! The Savior of the universe dwells in each and every, ‘saved’ man or woman! The ‘hope of glory’ to come speaks to the resurrection of our mortal bodies, when mortal becomes immortal (i.e. we will one day become ‘flesh’ and ‘bone’ as Christ is). Notice the mention of blood is absent, because the glory of God now flows through Christ’s veins. The Bible speaks of blood not only as the source of life but corruption, as some postulate our blood supply contains the essentia of our sinful nature. Christ made reference to ‘drinking His blood’ as a source of life (Jn 6:53) and His sacrifice provided, ‘once and for all’ atonement for us all (Heb 7:27).
When Christ commended us to memorialize His death, burial and resurrection, it was by communion. The wine symbolizes His cleansing blood, Holy and without sin. In doing so, Christ alluded to our corrupt nature that could only be redeemed by His untainted blood, seeing ours was already stained by sin. Christ was able to consume fish on the beach with Peter in His resurrected body. He even walked through walls, after convening with His disciples. We all have a wonderful future ahead of us, in a glorified body of ‘flesh and bone’ (not blood – Lk 24:39). The only blood found in heaven, is the blood of Christ on the Mercy Seat. Every saint walking on streets of gold, in their glorified bodies, is thankfully without any residue of sinful Adamic blood!
4. The mystery of God manifest in the flesh
(Col. 2:2, 9; 1 Cor. 2:7)
Only the King James Bible, describes the ‘mystery of godliness’ (1st Tim 3:16), i.e., that the God of the universe would one day manifest Himself in the flesh. This concept is sometimes difficult to comprehend albeit, God loved us so much, He was compelled to rescue us from our sinful condition. Only His incarnation and bloody sacrifice could quench God’s wrath toward us. The Gnostic’s claim Christ never came in the flesh. This is a marker of many cults. To believe on Him is to willingly partake of His godliness, which manifested in the flesh, firstly. Because Christ was born supernaturally of a virgin (with God as Father), His blood supply was free from sinful contamination. The bloodline of the child, always follows the father.
In Christ’s case, His blood contained the very essence of His Heavenly Father, dissevered from the Adamic bloodline. Sadly, the New International Version (NIV) lists ‘Joseph’ as Christ’s father (Lk 2:33), instead of God Almighty. The devil is in the details and malevolence in the minutia.
5. The mystery of Israel’s blindness during the gospel age (Rom. 11:25)
Blindness in part has come upon Israel, despite our attempts to spark jealousy in Her for Christ. This is seemingly a blindness of God’s making. Paul described the Jew as ‘enemies’ concerning the gospel (Rom 11:28-29), but they’re also the ‘called’ of God and His ‘elect.’ Sadly, they must soon suffer Jacob’s trouble for their rejection of Jesus as Messiah. The ‘mystery’ is that God is not finished with Israel! Since the restoration of Israel as a nation (May 1948), the clock ticks ever closer to the midnight hour of the Great Tribulation. Despite this ever-present blindness to the reality of Jesus as Messiah, in the meantime, God honors His covenant with Abraham (i.e., “I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you” Gen 12:3).
Every nation that’s persecuted Israel has either been severely reprimanded for doing so, in one form or another, or lost its empire in the process. Spain lost it’s empire due to persecution of the Jew. God used Sir Francis Drake to put an end to Spain’s dominance, shortly thereafter. Centuries later (circa. 1918), when England reneged on the Balfour Declaration, not granting the Jews their rightful land, a nail was hammered into the coffin of the British Empire. Ironically it was a young Winston Churchill who spawned this last minute betrayal, much to the disdain of Puritan Sir John Halsam. God keeps an ever-watchful eye on Jerusalem and His covenant people, the Jews. Persecutors beware.
6. The mystery of iniquity (2 Thess 2:7)
This powerful force of lawlessness was at work in Paul’s day and is very much evident today. This force of iniquity (or evil) is being held back by the presence of the church in the earth. Once the restrainer (the church) is removed in the rapture, the ‘lawless one’ or ‘Son of perdition’ (aka Antichrist) will be revealed upon the world stage. The coming Antichrist will seek worship in the soon to be restored third temple in Jerusalem. We should not forget that Caligula, was the first Roman Emperor to erect a statue in Jerusalem, ordering the populace to worship him in effigy.
Those who did not comply were killed on the spot. Caligula, was merely one ‘type’ of many Antichrists down the years. In like manner, the coming Antichrist will harbor an insatiable desire to be worshiped. In Paul’s day Rome was considered the quintessence of evil. Indeed, the Papacy today piggybacks off the mystery religions it has assimilated throughout the centuries, seeking to influence the rulers of this world and getting rich in the process. Believe it or not, the Latin equivalent of the Greek “anti” is “vicarious” from which comes the term, ‘vicar.’ For centuries, various Popes have called themselves the ‘Vicar of Christ,’ which literally means ‘Antichrist.’ Many believe the Antichrist will originate from the Papal order. Only time will tell…To learn more about the archetypal protagonist of the ages, click here.
7. The mystery of the seven stars (Rev. 1:20)
The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches mentioned in the Book of Revelation. That means, that each of the churches (Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea) have angels watching over them! The word angel is mentioned 77 times in the book of Revelation, and are specifically messengers of either God or Satan. Everywhere else in the Book of Revelation, angels are supernatural messengers and there is no reason to make an exception here. If angels are set over winds, fresh sources of water and fire (Rev 7:2), then why not the churches also? You could consider them guardian angels, albeit this is not a truth shared in the Old Testament. It’s intriguing to consider that our present day churches have angels watching over them for our spiritual providence.
8. The mystery of Babylon, the harlot (Rev. 17:5, 7)
The identity of Mystery Babylon the harlot was known when the apostles put ink to parchment. Revelation chapter seventeen is a crystal-clear description of the Babylonian whore and her counterfeit religion which still permeates the earth today. A harlot partakes in illicit relations, outside the marriage covenant, which is the environment God intended for such intimacy. She is also paid handsomely for her services. At the time of John’s revelation, this whore was seated in Rome. The Roman Empire still works clandestinely through its operatives today, seeking to influence nations for personal gain, purveying a false system of works based religion, as passage to heaven. This is in complete contradiction to the teachings of Christ and the Bible as a whole.
To learn more about Mystery Babylon click here.
Author – Carl G.M. Joseph
Have you believed on the Lord Jesus Christ? If not, click here to find out more…
Bibliography:
W. E. Vine, Merrill F. Unger, and William White Jr., Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words (Nashville, TN: T. Nelson, 1996), 424.
Norman L. Geisler, “Mystery,” Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics, Baker Reference Library (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1999), 515.
Merrill Frederick Unger et al., The New Unger’s Bible Dictionary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1988).
The 7 Mysteries of God – Dr. Peter S. Ruckman (BB Bookstore, Pensacola, FL, 1981).
Flavius Josephus and William Whiston, The Works of Josephus: Complete and Unabridged (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1987), 494.
Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum, The Messianic Bible Study Collection, vol. 182 (Tustin, CA: Ariel Ministries, 1983),
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