Ephesians 5:32, a simple verse from the Scriptures, shows us that there is a great mystery in the universe—Christ and the church. In the Bible a number of mysteries are mentioned, but only this mystery, the mystery of Christ and the church, is a great mystery. First Timothy 3:16 says, “Confessedly, great is the mystery of godliness: He who was manifested in the flesh.” This mystery refers to Christ, on the one hand, and to the church, on the other. Therefore, we can clearly and definitely say that Christ and the church are a great mystery. Although the Bible says that the mystery of God is Christ and that the mystery of Christ is the church, only when Christ and the church are mentioned together does the Bible say that this is a great mystery. We can say that if there were only Christ and not the church, the mystery would not be complete, and if there were only the church and not Christ, the mystery would not be possible. Therefore, this mystery must be constituted with both Christ and the church.
First let us see what a mystery is. According to common understanding, a mystery is something hidden and generally unknown to people. The meaning of the mystery mentioned in the Bible, however, goes beyond this. Strictly speaking, in the Bible a mystery not only refers to things that are incomprehensible and unknown to men but also to things that are hidden in God’s heart.
For example, the universe with all the things created by God is very evident and therefore not a mystery. However, the purpose of God’s creation of the universe is a mystery. All the people in the world have seen the God-created universe, but from the ancient days to the present time, very few have been able to fathom the purpose of God’s creation. This is because the purpose for the creation of the universe was hidden in God’s heart. It is nearly impossible for man to touch God’s purpose, God’s plan, which is hidden in His heart. Hence, it is a mystery. This is the principle concerning mysteries mentioned in the Bible.
Not only the purpose of God’s creation is a mystery to the world, but even the church and the saints are a mystery to the world. Today people see that there are Christians and there is the church, but very few know why there are Christians and why there is the church. The unbelievers do not know this, and even many of those who serve and work for the Lord do not necessarily understand this, because this is also a mystery.
The church is something hidden in God’s heart. Unless God reveals the mystery hidden in His heart concerning the church, we, like others, cannot know what the church is all about. We may preach the gospel fervently and serve the Lord diligently, but it is quite possible that we do not have any idea concerning what God intends to have in the universe. Hence, we all need to see a vision. The central vision God wants us to see in this age is the vision concerning Christ and the church.
Today many people pursue to understand the Bible. We know, however, that a person cannot understand the Bible unless he knows Christ. Likewise, a person cannot understand the Bible unless he knows the church. Strictly speaking, we should not pursue to understand and know the Bible; rather, we should pursue to know Christ and His church. The purpose of our knowing the Bible is that through it we may know Christ and the church. God gave us the Bible not merely for us to understand some truths in letter. God’s purpose in giving us the Bible is that through His Word we may know the mystery which has been revealed—Christ and the church. Therefore, unless we have seen the vision of this mystery and thereby know Christ and the church, we cannot understand the Bible.
Hence, I would like to insert a few words here. Because we are touching Christ and the church, the subject of our fellowship, the center of our pursuit, and the content of our conversation are not just some biblical truths. What we treasure, pursue, and fellowship about is nothing other than Christ and the church. Christ and the church are too great! From the Word of God we can see that in Christ all the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily (Col. 2:9). God puts everything that He is and has into Christ in order that Christ may come into us to be our everything. Hence, Ephesians 3 says that when Christ dwells in us and is touched and experienced by us, the result is that we will be filled unto all the fullness of God (vv. 17-19). Therefore, not only Christ is full, but the church is full. What we are endeavoring to pursue is to know Christ and the church.