Mysteries of the Bible
By Alan Griffin
KidsnChrist
The Mystery of God is Jesus Christ
A mystery in the Bible is something that at one time was hidden from view. A lot of times it was hidden in plain sight. The Old Testament promised a Messiah and at the beginning of Jesus’s ministry, the Israelites were looking for a conquer. Someone who would free them from Roman rule. When Jesus came into His own, they dismissed Him as a troublemaker and felt He threatened their authority, so they had Him put to death. Instead, Christ came to save that which was lost. He came not as a conquering general, but the sacrificial Lamb of God. He came, “So that we may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that we may know the mystery God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” Colossians 2:2-3 NIV
It has always been God’s plan that all of mankind should be heirs or partakers in God’s kingdom. The Kingdom of Heaven was first offered to the lost sheep of Israel, and when they refused to listen, the Kingdom was set aside for a while and the Gospel of Jesus Christ was shared with the rest of mankind. We are now at the end of the church era and it will not be too many years from now that the news of the Kingdom will be preached just as John the Baptist did two thousand years ago. This mystery is given to those of us who believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. While Jesus walked this earth, He was God and man at the same time. “For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.” Colossians 2:9-10 NKJV
Everything you see and hear Jesus Christ created. He is the glue that holds the universe together. Right now, He is in control of the all. When He puts everything under His subjection, He will return the all and all back to God the Father. “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.” Colossians 1:15-17 NKJV Can you just imagine the Creator of all things coming to earth and taking on a mortal body to be sacrificed on a tree for us? He paid the ultimate price so that our sins will be forgiven. He gave up everything so that we might regain a personal relationship with Him. How sad it is for us to ignore the gift of salvation. How wonderful it was that He paid such a price and offers it to us for free.
Now Godliness is restored to mankind. “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God manifested in the flesh, Justified in the Spirit, Seen by angels, Preached among all peoples, Believed on in the world, Received up in glory.” Timothy 3:16 NKJV
The Mystery of the Church
The New Testament Church is the bride of Christ and one day there is going to be “the marriage supper of the Lamb.” There, somewhere up in the sky, will be a wedding ceremony where the bride (the church), and Jesus Christ (the Groom) will marry. The fact is marriage here on earth was based on the marriage between Jesus and the church. He gave us this ceremony as an example for us to follow, knowing that one day we will be “the bride of Christ.” The New Testament was written in ancient Greek. “Ecclesia” the church. It means “called out” a body of people called out by the power of God through the Holy Spirit to share with the wounded world the good news of Jesus Christ. “And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell.” Colossians 1:17-19 NKJV People that believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God believe, through faith, that Jesus Christ was born of a virgin, crucified as a living sacrifice so that our sins are forgiven, three days later was resurrected from the dead, and now sits at the right side of our Heavenly Father waiting for His enemies to become His footstool.
Many people confuse the building where people worship with the church. The church is made up of people who love the Lord and seek to serve Him. “For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.” 1 Corinthians 3:9 NASB and a person who is a member of God’s building is empowered by the Holy Spirit. Our body is the temple of God. “Having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone, in Whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.” Ephesians 2:21-22 It is the cornerstone that the builders did not allow, and we are the living stones joined to make a spiritual home. When our membership is completed the Body of Christ will be removed from this earth. “You also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” 1 Peter 2:5 NASB Everyone has their own service to God. We are a living, breathing organism whose members work towards God’s plan. We love everyone and always try to do what’s right. We never think about ourselves, and we are always putting the needs of others first. Each of us has a specific service that we perform for our Heavenly Father. This service is revealed to us through our relationship with Jesus Christ. “Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.” 1 Corinthians 12:12-14 NASB
The Mystery of Iniquity
Those who choose the life of lawlessness have been around for a long time. The common ground of today is to lie, cheat, and steal. The way of the world has rejected the way of God and this state of anarchy will continue to get worst until the time of the end. The power of the Holy Spirit of God defends us until the time of our departure. When the Church has left the earth, the Holy Spirit will pull back and all hell will break loose.” And now you know what is holding him back, that he (the Anti – Christ) may be revealed at the proper time. For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth destroy by the splendor of his coming. The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders serve the lie, and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.” 2 Thessalonians 2:6-10 NKJV
There will be a time when a man walks upon this earth that will be the Devil incarnate just like Jesus Christ was God incarnate. Satan’s Anti-Christ will work powers and wonders upon the people of this earth. Many will be given over to strong delusion and will follow the Anti-Christ to destruction. Even the elect will be fooled, and all the earth would be destroyed if Christ doesn’t return to stop it. “For this reason, God sends them a powerful delusion that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.” 2 Thessalonians 2:11-12 NKJV Those of us who will receive the truth that light has come into the world, and Jesus Christ is the Son of God, will be saved. Those who by their own will reject the truth and refuse to walk in the light will become more confused and, in the end, will reject Him. I urge you with all great hast that if you have not accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior get down on your knees and do so now. Please say this prayer with me. Dear heavenly Father, I admit I am a sinner and need your forgiveness; I believe that Jesus Christ died in my place paying the penalty for my sins. I am willing right now to turn from my sin and accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. I commit myself to you and ask you to send the Holy Spirit into my life, to fill me and take control, and to help me become the type of person You want me to be. Thank you, Father, for loving me, in Jesus Christ name I pray. Amen.
The Mystery of Christ Within You
Through the sacrificial death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Spirit of Christ was made available to all mankind. If you can say,” Jesus Christ is Lord”, then the Holy Spirit of God resides inside of your heart. He is there waiting to have a relationship with you just like a friend or family member. The only difference is He can’t be seen. The Bible tells us, “There are three Persons in the Godhead: The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one God, the same in substance, equal in power and glory. They are one nature, the same in Their attributes, in Their will, and in Their purpose.” Scofield Bible. He is inside of your heart because of the finished work of Jesus Christ and He is there to help us in our weakness and infirmities. When we simply no longer know how to pray, the Holy Spirit will cry out to God on our behalf. “And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.” Romans 8:10-11 NKJV
Each believer is a partaker of divine nature. “The mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints. To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Colossians 1:26-27 NKJV We read in Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” So, it is very important that we do not say in our heart, “Who will ascend heaven?” because we bring down Christ from above through our lack of faith. The instant we believe there is no condemnation to those of us who are in Christ Jesus. We are freed from all sinful nature and death because of the “Law of the Spirit.” The faith we receive through Bible study and prayer gives us God’s unmerited righteousness. Because of our faith in Christ, we stand before God just as if we had never sinned. We are no longer under the “law of sin” and “the law of death.” Our deliverance from sin has been paid for by the precious blood of Jesus Christ.
Our lifestyle determines the position of our hearts. Those of us who follow worldly lust such as “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye and the pride of life,” are against the mind of God. Those of us who are indwelt in the Holy Spirit search after things of the Spirit and are not subject to the “Laws of God.” Whosoever will come unto God, but everyone who comes to God must do it His way. That way is by faith through Bible study and prayer because without faith it is impossible to please God. Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life; No man comes unto the Father, but by Me.” John 14:6 NKJV
The Mystery of the Rapture of the True Church
The time of the dispensation of grace will soon be over. The opportunity to accept to receive salvation by grace through faith will come to an end when the true church is raptured up to heaven. After the church has left the Kingdom of Heaven will be offered as a way of salvation. This dispensation removes the opportunity to receive the free gift that Christ paid for our sins. The Kingdom of Heaven is spelled out in Matthews in the sermon on the mount. There will be echoed throughout the earth, “Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” During the tribulation period, millions will turn to Christ and millions more will die for their faith. “For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him.” Hebrews 2:2-3 NKJV
“Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed— in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.” 1 Corinthians 15:51-53 NKJV The very next thing on God’s timeline is the removal of the true church from the earth. There is not one prophecy that needs to be fulfilled before the second greatest event on earth occurs. Only our Heavenly Father knows the date and time when Jesus Christ will meet us in the air and snatch us away. We could be waiting for you to surrender your life to Christ. We may be just a few decisions away. We just don’t know for sure. We don’t have to wonder what is required to qualify us for the greatest journey in the history of the universe.
All of us who refuse to obey God’s word and surrender our hearts to God would be better off if we were born in the deepest, darkest jungle on earth, never hearing the gospel, because those of us who hear and refuse to submit to His will are condemned already. God is a righteous judge, and we will be judged by the light we have received and the opportunities we have had. “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.” John 3:18-19 NKJV When we hear and refuse to obey, we are rejecting God and calling Him a liar. “He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him – the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day.”
The Word of God is what brings the good news of salvation. It is what the Holy Spirit uses to convict us of our sins. The Bible and the power within it produce the new birth. Through God’s Holy Word we develop our service and ministry to others. Through daily Bible study and prayer, we grow in faith and we agree to the terms of our forgiveness. We boldly walk with confidence that we are servants of Jesus Christ and sons of God. Won’t you stop this moment and reflect on your life and see what you are missing without a personal relationship with God. Time is running out. The church age is coming to an end and the mystery of the rapture of the true church will soon take place!
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Alan Griffin started the Kindsnchrist ministries in November 1997. He has worked with inner city kids for 21 years. He found a need for specialized Biblical literature that would reach people fo all ages and has been writing since 2005. The ministry has expanded their websites to reach around the world. Kindsnchrist.com, millennialchristian.com, teensnchrist.com, seniorsnchrist.com, picture-verse.com, and soulworks-smallgroups.com. We had an outreach of over 13,000,000 people last year with 36,000,000 impressions. If you have any questions for Alan you can reach him at alan@kidsnchrist.com
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