UNDERSTANDING THE MYSTERIES OF THE KINGDOM!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

TUESDAY JANUARY 09, 2024.

SUBJECT : UNDERSTANDING THE MYSTERIES OF THE KINGDOM!

Memory verse: "He answered and said unto them, Because it is given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.” (Matthew 13 vs 11.) 

READ: First Corinthians 2 vs 6 - 16 :

2:6: However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing.

2:7: But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory,

2:8: which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

2:9: But as it is written, “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”

2:10: But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.

2:11: For what man knows the things of a man, except the spirit of man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.

2:12: Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.

INTIMATION:

The mysteries of the kingdom are the knowledge that is outside the range of unassisted natural apprehension, and 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. In the ordinary sense a mystery implies knowledge withheld; its Scriptural significance is truth revealed. Hence the terms especially associated with the subject are “made known,” “manifested,” “revealed,” “preached,” “understand,” “dispensation.” 

The definition given above may be best illustrated by the following passage; “the mystery which has been hidden from all ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints” (Colossians 1 vs 26). The mystery is used of: (a) spiritual truth generally, as revealed in the gospel. Among the ancientGreeks “the mysteries” were religious rites and ceremonies practiced by secret societies into which any one who so desired might be received. Those who were initiated into these “mysteries” became possessors of certain knowledge, which was not imparted to the uninitiated, and were called ‘the perfected.’

In the passage we read today, the apostle Paul has these ‘mysteries’ in mind and presents the gospel in contrast thereto. Here ‘the perfected’ are, of course, the believers, who alone can perceive the things revealed in the Scriptures.

b) Christ, who is God Himself revealed under the conditions of human life, and submitting even to death, but subsequently raised from among the dead, that the will of God to co-ordinate the universe in Him, and subject it to Him, might in due time be accomplished, as declared in the gospel.

(c) the Church, which is Christ’s Body, that is, the union of redeemed persons with God in Christ. (d) the rapture into the presence of Christ of those members of the Church which is His Body who shall be alive in the earth at His ‘Parousia’—His second coming (First Corinthians 15 vs 51). (e) the operation of those hidden forces that either retard or accelerate the kingdom of God (Matthew 13 vs 11; Mark 4 vs 11). (f) the cause of the present condition of Israel (Romans 11 vs 25). (g) the spirit of disobedience to God. (h) the ways of God in grace.

These mysteries; the secret or hidden truths of the kingdom reign of God were being revealed to those who were willing to listen and learn. However, for those who would not listen to Jesus, the truth concerning the kingdom reign would not be revealed simply because they would not listen to Jesus. 

God revealed the eternal plan of salvation to all men through Jesus. Through the grace of the gospel that was revealed on the cross (Titus 2 vs 11), God is able to establish our hearts in Christ Jesus. Therefore, it is upon the foundation of the event of the death of Jesus for our sins and His resurrection for our hope that we spiritually stand justified before God (see First Corinthians 15 vs 1 - 5). Upon the foundation of the fact of the gospel event we are emotionally assured that we will be raised in the end to walk with Jesus in a heavenly environment. 

Before the world was created, God had planned the events of the cross and resurrection. The mystery of the gospel (mystery of the kingdom), however, was not revealed to man until the coming of Jesus. Neither was it revealed to Satan. If the gospel event had been revealed to Satan, then he surely would not have moved the people against Jesus to have Him crucified. The fact that Jesus was crucified is evidence that Satan had no idea that the cross was indeed the plan of God to make Jesus the atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world. 

The mystery (also known as the mystery of Christ) was the eternal plan of redemption that God has now revealed through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross. It was not revealed in times before the coming of Jesus. It has been revealed in these times in order that men might understand God’s plan that all men be reconciled to Him through Jesus (See First Corinthians 2 vs 10 - 13). The mystery of Christ (God) is God’s plan of grace that was revealed on the cross for the salvation of all men. It was unknown until its revelation to the apostles by the Holy Spirit. 

The humanity and divinity of Jesus Christ in other to accomplish His mission on earth reveals the heart of the gospel “the mystery of godliness” (the secret of how we become godly). Jesus incarnation (manifested in the flesh—Jesus was a man) is the basis of our being right with God. His resurrection showed that the Holy Spirit’s power was in Him. We can’t please God on our own; we must depend on Christ. As a man, Jesus lived a perfect life, and so He is a perfect example of how to live. As God, Jesus gives us the power to do what is right. It is possible to live a godly life through following Christ. 

God’s “hidden wisdom” was His offer of salvation to all people. Originally unknown to humanity, this plan became crystal clear when Jesus rose from the dead. His resurrection proved that He had power over sin and death and could offer us this power as well. God’s plan, however, is still hidden to unbelievers because they either refuse to accept it, choose to ignore it, or simply haven’t heard about it. 

All Christians ought to open their mouths for Jesus. It is the obligation of those who have been washed with the blood of the Lamb to proclaim to all an answer for their problem of sin and death. The fact that one has been saved out of his spiritual death in sin by the grace of God obligates him to proclaim the mystery of Christ to others. With the knowledge of the grace of God comes the responsibility of sharing God’s grace. 

Prayer: Abba Father, You have revealed Your eternal plan for our redemption through Jesus Christ Your Son who came as a propitiation for our sins. Endue me with the revelational knowledge; my eyes of understanding being enlightened, to know the reason and hope of Your calling, and the riches of the glory of Your inheritance in the saints, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!