The mystery of Christ, which from the ages was hidden in God, who created all things, and which was not made known to men in other generations, has been revealed to the apostles and prophets in their spirit by revelation in the New Testament age. The church, something particular hidden in God as a mystery, has been revealed to the apostles and prophets. As we shall see in a following message, this revelation was first by Christ in the Gospels and then by the Holy Spirit in the Epistles.
In Ephesians 3:3 Paul says, “By revelation the mystery was made known to me.” God’s hidden purpose is the mystery, and the unveiling of this mystery is revelation. To carry out this revelation is the apostle’s ministry for the producing of the church.
In Ephesians 3:5b Paul says that this mystery “has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in spirit.” The mystery that was hidden from the Old Testament saints has been revealed in the New Testament to all believers through the apostles and prophets. Ephesians 3:5b tells us that this revelation is “in spirit.” The word “spirit” here refers to the human spirit of the apostles and prophets, a spirit regenerated and indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God. It may be considered the mingled spirit, the human spirit mingled with God’s Spirit. Such a mingled spirit is the means by which the New Testament revelation concerning Christ and the church is unveiled to the apostles and prophets. We need the same spirit to see such a revelation.
When our spirit is mingled with the divine Spirit, our spirit becomes the organ in which the mystery of Christ is revealed.
The revelation received by the apostles and prophets in spirit is not a revelation mainly of secondary matters in the Bible. It is the revelation concerning Christ and the church.
To see and to understand such a mystery our human mentality is altogether inadequate. This is why the Apostle Paul prayed that God would give us a spirit of wisdom and revelation (Eph. 1:17) that we may understand the church, which is the mystery of Christ.
In Romans 16:25 and 26 Paul speaks of “the revelation of the mystery, which has been kept in silence in times eternal, but now has been manifested, and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the command of the eternal God, has been made known to all the nations unto obedience of faith.” This mystery, which has been kept in silence in the times of the ages but has been revealed in the New Testament age, is mainly of two aspects. The one is the mystery of God, which is Christ, who is in the believers as their life and their everything that they may become the members of His Body; the other is the mystery of Christ, which is the church as His Body to express His fullness (Eph. 1:22-23). Therefore, Christ and the church are the great mystery (Eph. 5:32). The book of Romans first tells us how the believers have been baptized into Christ (6:3), how Christ has been wrought into the believers (8:10), and how the believers have put on Christ (13:14). Then Romans reveals how the believers are built together in one Body (12:4-5) to express Christ in local churches that have come into existence in many cities in a practical way, with all the saints loving one another and fellowshipping with one another among all the churches to express the Body of Christ for the fulfillment of God’s mystery. The eternal God, through the apostles and prophets, has made known this mystery to all the nations unto obedience of faith.
Home | First | Prev | Next