This mystery was in God from eternity, and according to this mystery God created man. After four thousand years, many things had happened among mankind, but this mystery was still in God and had not yet entered into man. It was when God Himself was incarnated and entered into man that He became the mystery in man. The first person who had this mystery was Jesus Christ, who was the grain of wheat. The mystery in God became the mystery in the man Jesus. Initially, this mystery was in only one man. Then this man passed through death, and His death planted this grain of wheat into the earth, which then grew and bore much fruit (John 12:24).
As one of the many grains, Peter also passed through death and bore much fruit. By this process of repeated multiplication, the grain of wheat came to East Asia in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and in the twentieth century, we also became part of this increase. The mystery of God was first in Himself, and then two thousand years ago, four thousand years after Adam was created, this mystery entered into man. However, this mystery did not stop there but continued to spread and multiply. After Christ’s death and resurrection, the mystery that entered into that man was reproduced, multiplied, and duplicated. Therefore, this mystery has also become the mystery in you and me. This is what Colossians 1:27 means in saying, “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
This hope was originally only in God, and later it became our hope, the hope in the man Jesus. Today when the man Jesus enters into us, He becomes the hope in us. May we not only hear this, but may we also “see the video” that the mystery in God one day became the mystery in Jesus Christ, who is in us today and has become our hope of glory.
We all added together are the church. Therefore, the mystery in all of us is the mystery in the church. In God there is a mystery, in Christ there is a mystery, in every one of us there is a mystery, and in the whole church there is also a mystery. All these are not many mysteries but one mystery. The mystery in us is in the church, the mystery in the church is in Christ, and the mystery in Christ is in God. This is called the “mystery...which throughout the ages has been hidden in God, who created all things.”
Paul said that this mystery was hidden in God who created all things. He mentioned the creation because this mystery is an answer to God’s creation. The reason for God’s creation is this mystery. This mystery is the explanation of God’s creation, and even more, this mystery is an answer to all the ages. What was the reason for all the ages? Why was there an Adam, Abel, Enosh, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Samuel, David, Solomon, and all the prophets? Why was Israel afterward captured to Babylon, and why was there a recovery? The reason was a mystery. When Saul of Tarsus met the Lord on the way to Damascus, the Lord asked him a little question, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?” (Acts 9:4). Paul was captured, and from that day onward the Lord “played a video” to Paul. Soon afterward Paul also “played the video” in every place. First he enlightened those around the Mediterranean Sea concerning the mystery that throughout the ages had been hidden in God, who created all things. Then all of us who read the New Testament today have also been enlightened, and now we all see the mystery.
Today in the twentieth century, many people like to study human life to explore the mystery of human life. Hardly do they realize that Christ in us is the greatest mystery. This mystery is very much related to the Spirit. Today’s Christianity reads and expounds the Scriptures, but it does not speak much about the Spirit. The Southern Baptist Church, the denomination with the greatest number of Christians in the United States, discourages its preachers from speaking about the Spirit. Those preachers talk about the Bible, but they consider that since the Spirit is too mysterious, to talk about the Spirit simply leads to trouble. However, the Bible speaks about the Spirit. Particularly in Paul’s Epistles the Spirit cannot be ignored in any respect. This is part of Paul’s view of the New Testament.
God is a mystery, Christ is a mystery, Christians are a mystery, and the church is a mystery. If in the church we are not mysterious, we are finished and the church is also finished. Without the mystery there is no God, no Christ, no Christians, and no church. Once the mystery is gone, the so-called church becomes a denomination, and we Christians are merely religionists. This mystery is the central reason why we are not religionists. We are not religionists; rather, we are very mysterious. God, Christ, Christians, and the church are not many mysteries but one mystery. This mystery is nothing less than the Spirit. This Spirit is God, and this Spirit is also Christ. Therefore, Christians and the church today are also a matter of the Spirit.