Without God there is no explanation for the universe. Where did the heavens come from? Where did the earth come from? How did man get here? The answer to all such questions is God.
The mystery of the universe is God. The mystery of God, the Scripture tells us, is Christ (Col. 2:2). The mystery of Christ, we are further told, is the church (Eph. 3:4, 6). Actually these are simply three stages of one mystery. God is to be found in Christ. Christ is to be found in the church. The church, then, is the mystery of Christ, who in turn is the mystery of God, who Himself is the mystery of the universe.
The Apostle Paul, of all the New Testament writers, speaks most clearly about this mystery. His words are bold yet honest. He speaks from experience. Notice how the Scriptures we have listed above deal with experience rather than doctrine. “It pleased God...to reveal His Son in me....Christ lives in me....Christ is formed in you....Christ in you, the hope of glory...Christ our life...Christ shall be magnified in my body....For to me to live is Christ....Christ may make His home in your hearts...that you may be filled unto all the fullness of God....He that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.”
All these words are clear, yet when you consider them carefully, you will realize that they convey a mystery. Are you really one spirit with the Lord Jesus, for example? Can you declare, as Paul did, “To me to live is Christ”? How could even Paul say this? He was Saul of Tarsus. For him to make such a statement there must have been some fact, some experience, backing his word. Furthermore, how could Christ be magnified, that is, expressed and enlarged, in your body? How could your inner being become a home for Christ? We are speaking of a mystery.
When Christ came, He told people He was God (John 5:17-18; 10:30, 33). God had always been a mystery. Now a little Nazarene stood before His fellow men and said He was God. No wonder the Jews could not believe. Was He truly God? He surely was! He was the reality of God, God expressed and embodied.
After entering into death, resurrection, and ascension, He descended to reach His believers and make them one with Himself. That is why one of His believers could declare, “To me to live is Christ.” One day a man from Nazareth had declared that He was God. Now here was a man by the name of Saul of Tarsus, declaring that to him to live was Christ.
It is no wonder that the Jews told Christ that He was blaspheming to say that He was God. We too have been accused of blaspheming for saying that to us to live is Christ. In ancient times it was the religious Jews who condemned the Lord Jesus for blasphemy. In our day it is also the religious ones who condemn us. In both cases it is because they do not see the mystery.
You may be told that you are a saint like Theresa, or that you are an angel. People will not protest if they hear that. But if you say, “To me to live is Christ,” they will object that you are going too far, that you are saying something blasphemous, or that you are asking to be worshipped.
It is no blasphemy to say that we are one spirit with the Lord Jesus. It is a fact! It is a shame if for us to live is a “saint,” or for us to live is an angel. God wants us to live Christ! He has enough “holy” people and enough angels.
He has enough Texans and enough Chinese! He wants His chosen people, wherever they are from, to live Christ, not their culture or their virtues.
Home | First | Prev | Next