The Mystery
God’s secret plan has now been revealed to us; it is a plan
centered on Christ, designed long ago according to his good pleasure. And this is his plan: At the right time He
will bring everything together under the authority of Christ—everything in
heaven and on earth (Ephesians 1:9-10)
What is this mystery?
What is this secret plan that’s been hidden over a long time?
That the Gentiles should be received into the Church of God
The Jesus Mystery: Jesus acted mysteriously when
He gave instructions through parables (Matthew 13:9-11) Hearing is not listening. To those who listen, more
understanding will be given. They will have an abundance of knowledge. But for
those who are hearing but not listening, even what little understanding they
have, will be taken away from them. That is why He used parables. Please see Isaiah 43:8—“Bring out the blind people
who have eyes and the deaf who have ears”;
And Jeremiah
5:21--“Now hear this, O foolish people and without heart; who have eyes but
don’t see ; who have ears but don’t hear”.
Matthew
13:13-16 Jesus quoted the prophets and explained to His
disciples “That’s why I speak to them in parables, because 'they look but don't
see, and they listen but don't hear or understand.' With them the prophecy of
Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says: 'You will listen and listen but never
understand. You will look and look but never comprehend, for this people's
heart has become dull, and their ears are hard of hearing. They have shut their
eyes so that they might not see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and
understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.' How blessed are
your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear!”
There is another mystery revealed in Romans
11:25. ‘‘I want you to understand this mystery so
that you will not feel proud and start bragging. Some of the Jews have hard hearts,
but this will last only until the complete number of Gentiles comes to Christ”.
The gentiles are compared wild olive branches grafted to the natural tree and
are enjoying all the provisions of the cultivated olive tree. “After all,” asks
Paul of the Romans “ if you were cut off
from what is naturally a wild olive tree, and contrary to nature were grafted
into a cultivated olive tree, how much easier it will be for these natural
branches to be grafted back into their own olive tree!” (Romans 11:24). God made this possible because of His mercy, not out of any
other considerations. Verse 26: And so all Israel Zion
Ephesians 1:10 In the
dispensation of the fullness of times:
Dispensation signifies, "The plan which the master of a family, or his steward, has established for the management of the family;" it signifies, also, a plan for the management of any sort of business: and here it means the dispensation of the Gospel, that plan by which God has provided salvation for a lost world; and according to which He intends to gather all believers, both Jews and Gentiles, into one Church under Jesus Christ, their head and governor.
Dispensation signifies, "The plan which the master of a family, or his steward, has established for the management of the family;" it signifies, also, a plan for the management of any sort of business: and here it means the dispensation of the Gospel, that plan by which God has provided salvation for a lost world; and according to which He intends to gather all believers, both Jews and Gentiles, into one Church under Jesus Christ, their head and governor.
See Matthew 24:45 where the word and the office are particularly
explained. All should live in the same expectation of the coming of Christ,
which a servant has with respect to the return of his master, who, in departing
for a season, left the management of his affairs to a servant; and of which
management He is to give an exact account of his master's return.
Colossians 1:26-27 For ages and ages this message was kept a secret from
everyone, but now it has been explained to God's people. God did this because he wanted the Gentiles
to understand his wonderful and glorious mystery. And the mystery is that
Christ lives in you, and He is your hope of sharing in God's glory.
“Fullness of times”-- By this phrase we are
to understand either the Gospel dispensation, which is the consummation of
all preceding dispensations, and the last that shall be afforded to man; or
that advanced state of the world which God saw to be the most proper
for the full manifestation of those benevolent purposes which He had formed in
Himself relative to the salvation of the world by Jesus Christ.
‘’That He might gather together in
one’’--To
bring different sums together, and fractions of sums, reduce them under
one denomination; to recapitulate the
principal matters contained in a discourse—the
gathering together of both Jews and Gentiles, who have believed in Christ,
into one Church and flock.
“All things which are in heaven,
and which are on earth”.
The angelical hosts; Saints who died before Christ's advent, and who will not be made perfect till the
resurrection, when the full power and efficacy of Christ shall be seen in
raising the bodies of believers and uniting them with their holy souls, to
reign in his presence forever. Believers of all nations, joined together at last in one assembly to
worship God throughout eternity--all mankind, without discrimination of
peoples. All who are saved of all nations, saved without precondition, by the
grace of the Lord forming one Church out of both Jews and Gentile.
See Ephesians 2:14-17: For Christ himself has made peace between Jews
and gentiles by making them all one people. He has
broken down the wall of hostility that used to separate us. By his death, He
ended the whole system of Jewish law that excluded the Gentiles. His purpose
was to make peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new
person from the two groups. Together as
one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of His death, and our
hostility toward each other was put to death.
He has brought this Good News of peace to the non-Jews who were far away
from Him, and to us Jews who were near. Now all of us, both Jews and Gentiles,
may come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has
done for us.
In conclusion, we must
not be ignorant of this mystery explained in Romans 11:26. A Mystery is anything
hidden or covered, or not fully revealed. In the New Testament it
signifies any matter or doctrine that has not been fully known
to men: or, something that has not been heard
of, or which is so deep, profound, and difficult of
comprehension, that it cannot be apprehended without special direction and
instruction: here it signifies the doctrine of the future restoration of
the Jews, not fully known in itself, and not at all known as to
the time in which it will take place. It also means the Christian
faith, not known till the advent of Christ and the doctrine that Israel
Romans 11:25--31 For I do not want
you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, lest you should be wise within
yourselves; that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness
of the nations has comes in. And so all Israel shall be saved; as it is written,
"There shall come out of Zion
for the free gifts and calling of God are without repentance. For
as you also then disbelieved God, but now have been shown mercy through their
disbelief, even so, these also have not believed now, so that through your mercy
they may also obtain mercy.
Romans 16:25--27
Now to
him that is of power to establish you according to my gospel, and the preaching
of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept
secret since the world began, but now is made manifest, and by the scriptures
of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made
known to all nations for the obedience of faith, to God only wise be glory
through Jesus Christ for ever. Amen.
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