It is by revelation in our spirit that we can see God’s mystery concerning Christ and the church; only when we open to the Lord, are poor in spirit, and come to the Lord with an unveiled face can we see the great mystery of God’s economy – Christ as the mystery of God and the church as the mystery of Christ. Amen!
This week in our morning revival we come to the topic of, The Mystery of the Church, based mainly on the book of Ephesians.
When we speak of this word, mystery, it is easy to take it for granted; we do well, however, to check what is the meaning of this word, both from the English dictionary and from the Scriptures.
One definition of the word mystery is that it is something not understood, something beyond understanding. Another definition is that mystery is a religious truth that cannot be fully understood. This is the natural view of the word mystery.
However, based on the word of God, the word mystery has a deeper significance. The significance of a mystery is that a certain matter is hidden – although it exists, no one knows it, understands it, sees it, or realises it.
The Bible is a lengthy book telling us many things about God, the universe, history, prophecies, poetry, and all kinds of things, but there are many mysteries in the Bible. There is something in God, something that has been hidden throughout the generations, which is revealed only to those who are in spirit and are unveiled to see the mystery.
Today, in the church age we live in the age of mystery; we believe into One whom we have not seen, we love One whom we have not physically met, and we cooperate with One who cannot be sensed with our physical senses, yet who is real to us in our spirit.
How much we appreciate the Lord and how much we love God’s blessing on us, His loving care, that we may be children of God, believers in Christ, even God-men, those who live in the spiritual realm in this age of mystery!
As we live in the age of mystery, we also live in the age of faith; mystery and faith go side by side.
As we are growing in life in various ways, we will not only have some spiritual understanding of the vision of the mystery, but we also exercise our spirit of faith to apprehend the mystery of God, the mystery of Christ, the mystery of the church, and the mystery of God’s economy.
First, we experience and enjoy the mystery of the Triune God; parallel to that is the developing of our faith. We apprehend the mystery of God and everything that is of His economy by faith, and faith is in our spirit; it is by exercising our spirit that we can see the mystery of God.
Experience and Enjoy Christ as the Mystery of the Church, and See the Mystery of God’s Economy
Ephesians 3:3-11 is a portion revealing that we believers in Christ may experience and enjoy Christ as the mystery of the church, and by the exercise of our spirit, we can have a revelation of God’s economy. Amen!
On the one hand, we need to see Christ as the mystery of the church; this is in our spirit by revelation from the Lord. On the other hand, we need to experience and enjoy Christ as the mystery of the church.
This is by coming to the Lord in prayer and asking Him to do what He needs to do in us so that we may experience and enjoy Christ as the mystery of the church.
The mystery of God is not only so that we may see it and apprehend it; it is for us to enjoy and experience.
The mystery of God, Christ as the mystery of the church, the mystery of God’s economy, and Christ and the church as the great mystery, all these need to be seen not only in our spirit by revelation from God but also enjoyed and experienced.
We need to pray much over the word of God and open to the Lord to make the mysteries of God’s economy our reality in our experience today.
Christ as the mystery of the church was not made known to man in other generations; however, this mystery was revealed to the holy apostles and prophets in their spirit (Eph. 3:3-5).
The mystery of Christ is simply the mystery of God’s economy, which is the deepest mystery in the Bible and in the universe.
When people read the Bible, it is easy for them to see good teachings, a perfect man living and working in the Gospels, a Lamb of God who died for our sins, and good instructions and doctrines in the Epistles.
But there’s an underlying mystery in the entire Bible, from the beginning to the end: the mystery of God’s economy.
The mystery of God’s economy is for God to dispense Christ, the embodiment of God, as the Spirit into God’s chosen people to produce a Body as the increase of God’s embodiment in Christ, so that God may have a corporate expression.
This is what God desires from eternity to eternity, and this is what He is gaining today in the age of mystery. God’s hidden purpose is the mystery, and the unveiling of this mystery is revelation; the Bible speaks of the revelation of the mystery (Rom. 16:25; Eph. 3:3, 5).
The mystery of Christ, the church, was hidden in other generations; however, this mystery has been revealed in the New Testament.
Many in the Old Testament who sought after God, loved God, and prayerfully studied the word of God, yet did not see the mystery hidden in God.
The mystery of God’s economy was not revealed or made known to Adam, Abraham, Jacob, Moses, David, Isaiah, or any of the other prophets; God’s economy was revealed only to us in the New Testament.
God’s economy, which is to dispense Himself into man to produce a Body for His Son so that God would gain a corporate expression on the earth, is a mystery revealed only to us, the New Testament believers.
Only we can see that Christ, the Son of God, came as the embodiment of the Triune God, and that He went through a process in order to become a life-giving Spirit so that God could dispense Himself into a great number of human beings to produce a Body to gain an embodiment of Himself. Wow! What a mystery!
First, Christ came as the Son of God to embody God, and He expressed and represented God individually; then, through death and resurrection, He has been expanded, enlarged, and increased to become the Body of Christ.
Now all the believers in Christ are part of the enlarged corporate expression of the Triune God so that God would gain a corporate embodiment of Himself in the universe; this is the mystery of God’s economy.
This mystery is carried out by God’s dispensing of Himself into us, His chosen people, for Him to produce a Body for Himself to express Him. Wow!
May we be those who are unveiled today to see the mystery of the church, Christ, and see the mystery of God’s economy! May we be enlightened in our spirit and may we have our heart turned to the Lord so that we may see the great mystery of Christ and the church!
And may we pray that the Lord would grant us to experience and enjoy Christ as the mystery of the church today.
Lord Jesus, unveil us to see the mystery of God, the mystery of Christ, the mystery of the church, and the mystery of God’s economy. We open to You, Lord Jesus, and we exercise our spirit to be unveiled and see something of what is on Your heart! Grant us the experiences we need and do what You need to do in order for us to experience and enjoy Christ as the mystery of the church! Amen, Lord, grant us to see! Enlighten us to see the mystery! May we see that God’s hidden purpose is the mystery hidden in God from the generations. May we have an unveiling of the mystery of God. May we have the revelation of the mystery. Hallelujah, the mystery of Christ, the church, was hidden in other generations but has been revealed to us in the New Testament age! Praise the Lord, the mystery hidden in God throughout the ages has been revealed to us, the New Testament believers, in our spirit! Amen, Lord, dispense Yourself more into us so that You may gain the church as the Body of Christ, the corporate expression and enlargement of God in this universe!
The Mystery of Christ and the Mystery of God’s Economy are Revealed to us in our Spirit by Revelation
In the world today there are many mysteries, and many people are drawn to solving the different mysteries out there.
In the society today, there’s a mystery of lawlessness operating in the sons of disobedience, and this mystery of lawlessness will culminate in the man of lawlessness who will soon be revealed.
However, the Bible reveals that there’s another mystery related to God, Christ, the church, and God’s economy; this mystery cannot be seen or understood with our mind or intellect but only in spirit.
Ephesians 3:5 reveals that the mystery of Christ was revealed to the apostles and prophets in spirit. This spirit refers to our human spirit, which is regenerated and indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God.
When unbelievers read the Bible, they may sense there’s a mystery there, but they cannot see or apprehend this mystery.
The mystery of Christ and the mystery of God’s economy are revealed to us in our spirit by revelation. Only when we exercise our spirit in coming to the Word of God can we see the mystery of Christ.
Only when we are poor in spirit and have an unveiled face, having our heart turned to the Lord, can we see the mystery of God’s economy.
Our mingled spirit is the means by which the New Testament revelation concerning Christ and the church is revealed to us as New Testament believers.
We need to exercise our spirit. It is important for us to realise that the hidden mystery is revealed in our spirit, in our mingled spirit.
We may read the Bible a lot but we may only exercise our eyes to see and our mind to understand; there’s nothing wrong with this, but we need to go even further and exercise our spirit.
If we remain only in our mind, we will not be able to see God’s revelation. However, if we turn to our spirit, we will have the vision of God’s mystery.
Just as Paul exercised his spirit and saw the mystery of Christ and the mystery of God’s economy, so we need to exercise our spirit when we come to the Word of God so that we may see the mystery.
When we read Paul’s writings, we can perceive his understanding of the mystery of Christ, which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in spirit.
Like Paul, we need to be in our spirit today. We need to exercise our spirit. The revelation of God’s hidden mystery can be seen by us only when we are in our spirit.
This is why we need to pray that God would give us a spirit of wisdom and revelation (Eph. 1:17) in the full knowledge of Christ and the church.
For us to see Christ as the mystery of God, the church as the mystery of Christ, Christ and the church as the great mystery, and the mystery of God’s economy, we need to be in our spirit.
We need to exercise not only our eyes and our mind to read the Bible and understand it but even more, exercise our spirit to apprehend the Word.
We need to have our being open to the Lord, be poor in spirit, and pray that the Lord would reveal to our spirit what’s on His heart concerning the church.
We believers in Christ truly need to be persons in spirit, those who exercise their spirit all the time, for the Christian life is a life in the spirit, God’s economy is in spirit, and everything related to God and to our relationship with God is in the mingled spirit.
For us to truly see the revelation of the hidden mystery, we need divine revelation in our spirit, and for this we need to be strengthened into our inner man and allow Christ to make His home in our heart (Eph. 3:17).
It is good to bring this to the Lord in prayer and open to Him, telling Him,
Lord Jesus, we exercise our spirit to contact You as we come to Your word. We want to not only read the Bible to understand it with our mind but even more, use our spirit to touch You and receive revelation! Unveil us, Lord, to see a vision of the mystery of Christ! Unveil us to see the mystery of God’s economy. May the New Testament revelation concerning Christ and the church be revealed to us in our spirit today. Oh Lord, we don’t just want to use our mind when we come to Your word; we want to use our spirit and see something of You in Your word. Hallelujah, the revelation of God’s hidden mystery can be seen by us when we are in our spirit! Oh Lord, grant us a spirit of wisdom and revelation so that we may apprehend the mystery of Christ and the mystery of God’s economy! We open our being to You. We come to You poor in spirit, praying that You would reveal to our spirit what is on Your heart concerning the church!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by brother Ron Kangas in the message for this week, and portions from, The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 337, by Witness Lee, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Experiencing, Enjoying, and Expressing Christ (2) (2024 December Training), week 21 (msg. 9), The Mystery of the Church.
- Similar articles on this topic:
– God’s corporate move revealed in Acts through Revelation, a portion from, Life-Study of Job, Chapter 22, by Witness Lee.
– Being Overcomers with a Vision, Not Idealists with a Dream, via, Shepherding Words.
– The role of revelation in the fulfillment of the economy in God in Ephesians, article by John Pester, in Affirmation and Critique.
– My Sweet Experience of Growing up in the Church Life, via, Living to Him.
– What miracle! What mystery! A song via, Hymnal.net.
– What Is the Church according to the Bible? More via, Bibles for America blog.
– Christ living in us and we being in Him, a portion from, The Experience of Christ in Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians, Chapter 2, by Witness Lee.
– Ephesians (Program #64) – God’s Economy—Christ with the Church, via, Bible study radio.
– The real gospel – concerning the economy of the mystery of God, a portion from, The Furtherance of the New Way for the Lord’s Recovery, Chapter 2, by Witness Lee.
– The Mystery of God Revealed in Spirit to Those Who Love God, via, New Jerusalem blog.
– The Christ revealed in Colossians: the centrality and universality of God’s economy, article by David Yoon in, Affirmation and Critique.
– What is God’s Economy in the Bible? More via, Holding to Truth in Love.
– Christ dwelling in us subjectively, a portion from, Life-Study of Colossians, Chapter 50. - Hymns on this topic:
– God the Lord has spoken, God has been unveiled; / All His character and persons are expressed; / Unto Adam’s sons His mystery is revealed, / Fully illustrated and made manifest… / God the Lord has spoken, revelation giv’n / Of His vast creation and His lowly birth, / Of His great redemption and salvation full; / May His adoration ever fill the earth. (Hymns #800 stanzas 1 and 6)
– Myst’ry hid from ages now revealed to me, / ’Tis the Christ of God’s reality. / He embodies God, and He is life to me, / And the glory of my hope He’ll be. / Glory, glory, Christ is life in me! / Glory, glory, what a hope is He! / Now within my spirit He’s the mystery! / Then the glory He will be to me. (Hymns #948 stanza 1 and chorus)
– As Christ is God’s true mystery, / God to explain and God express; / So is the Church Christ’s mystery, / Christ to explain and manifest. (Hymns #821 stanza 3)
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