“To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery…” Ephesians 3:8-9a
Have you ever lost something and after desperately searching for it found it right at your very fingertips in open sight? The other day I was frantically searching for my car keys to only find them right in my very front pocket. Also, the other day I was with a friend who was looking for their lost sunglasses to only see me point out that they were sitting right on top of their head. Funny moments after the fact, but how frustrating it truly is to look back and realize that all along you were frantically searching for something that was simply in plain sight. An so it is with the countless souls on this planet today that are searching for God…when He is right in plain sight and so ready to be found.
Paul is back at it in the book of Ephesians penning yet another letter to a church he had planted on one of his three missionary journeys, this time to the church in the city of Ephesus. And in this letter Paul was not simply addressing sin problems or doctrinal errors, but simply reveling in the beauty of the great themes and foundations of Christian doctrine. And within chapter three we see Paul refer to the amazing grace of God’s salvation as a mystery. You see, a mystery is indeed a mystery until someone reveals that mystery through exposure of absolute truth. And that is just what the very spirit of God did as a Holy Spirit-infused Paul exposed the truth of God’s mystery of salvation.
In the early newborn church we see depicted in te book of Acts, the gospel of Jesus Christ was quite exclusive. It was a Jewish message, relayed by Jews, and only delivered to Jews. But soon all that changed as God spoke a message to Peter and Paul that the gospel was not exclusive to some, but inclusive for all. And so Paul set out to deliver the good news of Christ not only to Jews, but to the gentile world as well. God was clear, salvation through Jesus Christ is for Jew and Gentile, slave and free, rich and poor….all nations, tribes, and tongues.
But what is odd to me is that even today, 2,000 years later, the truth of spiritual freedom through Jesus Christ continues to be such a confounding mystery to so many. I mean why is the spiritual world seen as such a mystery as compared with other worldly aspects? I think 100% of people will easily and quickly confirm that the physical world is real. And within that reality there is no mystery that certain physical laws must be acknowledged. Allow me to illustrate. If you jump off a very high cliff, gravity will accelerate you downward in such a way that you will no longer be worried about whatever was worrying you before you took the leap. Also, I think 100% of humans today would be quick to acknowledge the lack of mystery that resides within the emotional realm. Yes, you cannot touch the emotional as you can the physical, but I think all can attest to the reality of our emotions when our heart is broken by a first love or we are faced with grieving the loss of a loved one. Yet when it comes to the spiritual realm, that is the mystery in which Paul is openly speaking of, why are we so ready to see it as a complex, confounding, unsolvable riddle that is shrouded in darkness, obscurity, and secrecy?
And herein lies the mystery that surrounds the mystery. You see just as you need your eyes opened to see the physical world, you need your spiritual eyes opened to see the spiritual world. And it is here, that through faith in believing that Jesus Christ can save you from the eternal death penalty of your sins, that you can be allowed to truly see the mystery that is God’s love for His creation. Just as the classic hymn Amazing Grace so eloquently states, “I was blind but now I see,” all are spiritually blind before the Holy Spirit of God opens those blind spiritual eyes allowing them to behold the mystery of the amazing grace of God’s salvation.
Today if you feel you are walking around with a spiritual blindfold on, not allowed to see the truth of the spiritual world, you can experience an eye-opening transformation. But in order to see the truth, it will take faith. Faith in the things unseen. You see, all have sinned and fallen short of the perfection that God asks of His creatures. And even one sin is enough to keep you from being in the perfect presence of Almighty God. But God, out of His love, made a way for His creation to be reunited to Himself. But to claim that way takes belief. You must believe that the mystery is solved through Christ. Admit that you have sinned and that on your own you cannot erase it, correct it, or negate it. Admit that you need a savior to rectify your spiritual condition in order to allow you to stand in the presence of God. It is only in this way that the truth will be revealed and the Holy Spirit of God will lift the veil of human sin and pride and reveal the mystery of the Love of God through Jesus Christ.
I pray today that the mysteries of God will be revealed to your heart in its entirety through faith in Jesus Christ. I pray that you no longer are willing to see the things of God as a mystery that cannot be known, but instead follow the truth of God’s Word to a place that will see your once blind eyes opened to see the glory of God.
Blessings ~ Dan
“God's plan is to make known His mystery to his people, this rich and glorious mystery which He has for all peoples. And the mystery is that Christ is in you, which means that you will share in the glory of God.” Colossians 1:27
