The divine mystery is first the mystery of God (God is a mystery) and second the mystery of Christ (Christ is a mystery – Christ is the mystery of God).
The present day in which we live is an age of mystery; everything related to God and Christ and the purpose of God is a mystery, and if we want to know God, we need to know Christ, and if we want to know Christ, we need to know His word and also the church, which is the mystery of Christ.
We human beings are mysterious, and even more, we believers in Christ are even more mysterious, for we have not only the human life received by being born from our parents, but we also have the divine life received by our being born again.
In the dispensations from Adam to Christ, everything was unveiled, and there was no mystery; however, today we are in the age of mystery, for God is a mystery, Christ is the mystery of God, and the church is the mystery of Christ; even more, the great mystery is Christ and the church.
By mystery we mean that something is hidden, concealed, yet nonetheless very real; there is a spiritual reality hidden behind the seen things, a spiritual universe behind the physical one, and God, Christ, the church, and all the things related to God’s economy are all a mystery.
In the dispensation from the incarnation of Christ to the millennial kingdom – that is, in the church age, in the age of grace – everything is a mystery.
We think we understand everything and we can rationalize why this or that happens, but actually, it is all a mystery.
We may choose to go somewhere and do something, but it is God who directs our steps.
We may think that it is because of our seeking of God that we have come into the church life, but it is actually God that has brought us here, He is mysteriously keeping us here enjoying the Lord with the saints, and we grow in the divine life, not in an outward, seen, or visible way, but in a mysterious, hidden way.
Our life with the Lord is a mystery; we love and worship Someone whom we have never seen, and we exult with joy abundant and full of glory when we spend time with someone we can’t touch with our hands, can’t hear with our ears, can’t see with our eyes, can’t feel with our emotions, and can’t comprehend with our mind.
Yet, by God’s mercy, we have been regenerated, we have a spirit in the center of our being, and by means of exercising our spirit, we can apprehend something of the mystery of God – Christ, and we can become the mystery of Christ – the church.
When others see us and hear us speaking about the Lord, and when they see our way of living before Him, they marvel at this mystery, that somehow some human beings live one with God, live with God, and Christ is expressed in a common person who lives among them. What a mystery!
The Mystery of the Universe is God and the Mystery of God is Christ
Let’s talk about God. We live on earth, and we have discovered so much (and yet so little) of the universe in which we live.
There are billions and billions of planets, stars, meteors, and heavenly bodies, and there are many, many galaxies out there.
The universe itself is marvelous, and the more you study it, the more you realize that, wow, it is so amazing!
Yet if we would have the universe without God, it would be so empty; it is like having a container without any content.
The entire universe with all its components is like a giant container, and God is the content.
Actually, the universe exists because of God, and the universe with all that is in it is beautiful because of Him.
The atheists may say that this is superstitious and non-sensical, and they may request that we show them God.
But God is the answer to all our questions and to all the mysteries in the universe. The heavens and the earth exist because of God, and all the plants, animals, and human beings on earth exist because of God.
There is a universe because of God, and the mystery of the universe is God Himself; this is not superstition.
We were made in the image of God and we have a spirit; the spirit is the deepest part of our being, and by means of our spirit we can see God, receive God, contact God, and enjoy God.
By means of our spirit we can know that the mystery of the universe is God, and we can know the mystery of God’s creation and the mystery of our human life.
We were born in sin; we all were fallen sinners, fallen people (Rom. 1), but God is rich in mercy and revealed Himself to us, and He stepped out of eternity into time to come to us, redeem us, bring us back to Himself, reconcile us to Himself, and dispense His life into us. God has an eternal purpose; He Himself is a mystery, and His eternal purpose is a mystery.
This is the purpose of the ages (Eph. 3:11), a mystery hidden throughout the ages until the time of the apostles, who saw this purpose and wrote concerning the mystery hidden in God.
So what is the mystery of God? Where can we see God and find God, and how can we know God?
The Jews and the Muslims all believe in God, and they believe in one God, thinking their God is the true God; the Jews believe in the Old Testament, while the Muslims believe in the Koran, which is an imitation of the Old Testament.
But neither the Jews nor the Muslims know God because they don’t know the mystery of God, the expression of God, the embodiment of God, which is Christ.
The mystery of God is Christ (Col. 2:2), and for us to know the mystery of God, Christ, we need to have our hearts comforted, being knit together in love and unto all the riches of the full assurance of understanding.
If God is a mystery and if Christ is the mystery of God, then Christ is a “double mystery”, for He is the mystery of a mystery.
How much we need a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of Christ (Eph. 1:17) so that we may see God, know God, enjoy God, and contact God in Christ, by Christ, through Christ, and as Christ!
May we realize that God is a mystery, Christ is the mystery of God, and God is embodied in Christ to be expressed through Him; now we can know God and contact God in Christ and through Christ.
Lord, grant us a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of Christ, the mystery of God. May we realize that the mystery of the universe is God, and the mystery of God is Christ, who is the embodiment of God to express Him. Amen, Lord, we exercise our spirit to contact You in spirit and receive You in spirit; thank You for being revealed to us as Christ, the One who embodies You and expresses You to the uttermost. Unveil us, Lord, to see Christ as the mystery of God and to know this mystery, enter into this mystery, and even become the mystery of Christ, the church. Amen, Lord, may we see the purpose of the ages which was hidden in God – may we see the economy of God, the eternal purpose of God revealed in Your word, the Bible!
Being Unveiled to see Christ as the Mystery of God, the Embodiment of God, the Expression of God
God is a mystery; He is the mystery of the universe. Christ is a mystery; He is the mystery of God. If we want to know God, who is a mystery, we need to know Christ.
The divine mystery is first the mystery of God and second the mystery of Christ. If we would read, study, and pray over the books of Colossians and Ephesians in the New Testament, we will see something of the mystery of God, Christ.
It is one thing to have and read the Old Testament, where we see how God did this and that for His people Israel, and how He gave the law, the ordinances, the sacrifices, and the priestly service.
It is another thing, however, for us to know God Himself and realize that God is a mystery, and Christ is the mystery of God.
The New Testament tells us not only about God – it tells us that God was embodied in Christ, and in Christ, all the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily (Col. 2:9).
So all that God is and has is now embodied in Christ in full, and Christ is the embodiment of God, the expression of God, to be the mystery of God.
If we want to know God, we need to know Christ. What a mystery is this, that the infinite God could be incarnated in a finite man, a little man called Jesus Christ!
This is something that only the Bible tells us in the New Testament.
The Jews may have God in name, and they may have Jehovah speaking this and doing that for them thousands of years ago; however, they do not have Christ as the mystery of God, so they do not have a practical way for them to contact God, receive God, and enjoy God.
The New Testament, however, reveals God in reality, for it clearly says that Christ is the mystery of God, and all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Him bodily.
Christ is the mystery, the answer, the definition, the embodiment, and the reality of God.
Christ is nothing less than God; He is God Himself as the Word who was in the beginning with God and was God (John 1:1-2), and He became flesh, being incarnated to be a man (v. 14).
The disciples beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and reality.
So if we want to know God, we need to realize that God is embodied in Christ, and Christ is God incarnated to be a man; Christ is the mystery of God to define God, express God, embody God, explain God, and make God real to man.
We could say that Christ is not only God, but God-plus, that is, this little man who came from a despised region called Galilee is the mystery of God, and He embodied God. This is such a mystery.
How can the infinite God become a man, and how can a man embody God to express God, define God, and explain God? This is a mystery.
But if we are to know God, we can only do this in Christ and with Christ; apart from Christ, we cannot know God and contact God.
Outside Christ and without Christ we can never see God. Christ is God; in this whole universe God is in Christ, and where Christ is, there is God, for apart from Christ, we can never find God.
This truly is mysterious, but it can be apprehended, enjoyed, and understood by means of our spirit, for God is Spirit, and for us to know God, contact God, and enjoy God, we need to use not primarily our mind but our spirit.
In spirit and by means of our spirit we can see Christ as the mystery of God, we can enjoy Christ as the embodiment of God, and we can contact and receive Christ as the definition and explanation of God. Hallelujah!
Thank You Lord Jesus for coming to be the mystery of God, the embodiment of God. You are such a wonderful One because in You all the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily. We come to You, Lord Jesus, by means of our spirit; we want to know God, contact God, and receive God, so we exercise our spirit to contact You, dear Lord Jesus Christ, the mystery of God! Hallelujah, God is a mystery! Amen, Christ is the mystery of God! Yes, Lord, we open to You and we touch You in spirit as the mystery of God! Amen, Christ is God! Christ is God incarnated to be a man, the mystery of God. Wow, in a little man all the fullness of the Godhead was pleased to dwell! Amen, Lord, we love You and we come to You to know You and enjoy You!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by Ron Kangas for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1977, vol. 2, “The Two Great Mysteries in God’s Economy,” ch. 1, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Christian Life, the Church Life, the Consummation of the Age, and the Coming of the Lord (2020 fall ITERO), week 1, The Consummation of the Age – the Age of Mystery.
- Hymns on this topic:
– Christ is the mystery of God; / God is invisible, unshown, / His image man hath never seen, / But Christ the Son hath made Him known. / Christ is the very Word of God, / He is God’s explanation true; / God’s full embodiment is He / And God’s own image brings to view. (Hymns #818)
– The fulness of the Godhead dwells / In Him, His very element; / God’s full embodiment is He- / A vessel, God the resident. / The Father God He manifests; / God’s glorious features He displays; / In Him consummately are seen / The Father’s heart and all His ways. (Hymns #494)
– He’s th’ embodiment of God, / In Him all God’s fulness dwells; / His unique supremacy / And His Godhead none excels. / All God’s purpose is for Him, / That He might be all in all; / All the things in heav’n and earth / With Himself are made withal. (Hymns #495)
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