According to the New Testament, there are many mysteries. In this message we shall consider, in an introductory way, seven of these mysteries: God, the universe, man, Christ, the Spirit, the church, and the future. These seven mysteries cover the whole Bible.
The greatest mystery is the mystery of God, who is the source, the origin, of the universe. The Bible begins with the words, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen. 1:1). As the origin of the universe, God is altogether a mystery. Concerning the mystery of God, the Bible seems to contradict itself. (Actually, there are no contradictions in the Bible.) On the one hand, the Bible says that no one has ever seen God, but on the other hand, it says that Moses saw God. Thus, whether or not man has seen God is a mystery. Colossians 1:15 speaks of the visible image of the invisible God. Is God visible or invisible? He is mysteriously visible and invisible. Whether He is visible or invisible, He is mysterious.
Not only does the Bible reveal that there is God; human history also indicates that there is God. The book of Daniel was written about two thousand five hundred years ago. According to Daniel chapter two, King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream of a huge image with a golden head, silver shoulders and breast, bronze abdomen and thighs, iron legs, and ten toes of iron mixed with clay. The golden head signifies Babylon with its king, Nebuchadnezzar. The shoulders and arms signify Medo-Persia, two nations combined to make one power. The bronze abdomen and thighs denote Alexander the Great, and the iron legs signify the Roman Empire, which, as every student of history knows, was divided into the eastern and western empires. After Alexander the Great had subjugated the land of Palestine, he obtained a copy of the book of Daniel from the scribes. He came to know that a part of this prophecy referred to him. Only God has the wisdom to create such a picture as that found in Daniel 2. This image signifies the history of mankind, a history that was written long before the events took place. This is a proof that God is managing the universe and that He is able to foretell future events. Many of the things prophesied in the Bible have already been fulfilled.
As everyone knows, today’s world situation is focused on the Middle East, particularly on the nation of Israel, which has less than three million people. Six hundred years before Christ, Nebuchadnezzar took over the city of Jerusalem, and it was not returned to the Jews for more than twenty-five hundred years. Then in 1948 the nation of Israel was re-formed, and nineteen years later, in 1967, Jerusalem was returned to the Jews. All this happened as the fulfillment of prophecy. Both the re-formation of Israel and the return of Jerusalem were definitely prophesied in the Bible. This also is a proof that God administrates the universe. God is both the source of the universe and its manager. Not until we recognize the existence of God do we have a way to account for the origin of the universe. But when we recognize that the source of the universe is God, we know that He created it. When some atheists are lying on their deathbed, they will have doubts about their atheistic beliefs. We have the full assurance that there is a God. If there were no God, how could the universe have come into being?
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