The appreciation of God`s mystery
My humble question to all who
claimed to believe in Jesus Christ is, are we truly appreciative of the mystery
of God's will which was hidden from men of other ages but has now been revealed
to His saints? The hidden wisdom which
God ordained before the ages for our glory, which none of the rulers of this
age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of
glory" (1 Corinthians 2:8)!
I believe that we need to show more
of our appreciation of this mystery by being Obedient to the faith, and fulfilling
the purpose for which it was intended. In rendering his benediction the apostle
Paul said; “Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and
the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which
was kept secret since the world began, but now has been made manifest, and by
the prophetic scriptures has been made known to all nations, according to the
commandment of the everlasting God, for obedience to the faith – to God, alone
wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen.
Because of the apostle Paul’s deep
understanding of this mystery he wrote; “For this reason, I bow my knees to the
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth
is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be
strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may
dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in
love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and
length and depth and height – to know the love of Christ which passes
knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”
“Now to Him who is able to do
exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power
that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all
ages, world without end. Amen” (Ephesians 3:14-21).
One cannot do anything to reimburse
God for the amazing grace He has lavished upon us, we can only show our
appreciation, and express our gratitude to Him by His mercies, to present our
bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to Him, which is our reasonable act
of worship.
But how can sinful mortal man
presents himself holy and acceptable to God? The only way this can be
accomplished is by fulfilling our role as priests of the New Covenant. Because
as priests our duty is to be holy to our God, because we offer the offerings of
the Lord made by fire, and the bread of our God; therefore it is imperative
that we be holy.
We are to be as obedient children
not conforming ourselves to the former lusts, as in our ignorance; but as He
who called us is holy; we also are to be holy in all our conduct, because it is
written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”
We should appreciate the fact that,
we were not redeemed with corruptible things like silver or gold from our
aimless conduct received by tradition from our fathers, but with the precious
blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. He indeed was
foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last
times for us who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and
gave Him glory, so that our faith and hope are in God.
Believers must understand and learn
to appreciate this mystery. To the Jews it is a stumbling stone, to the
Gentiles it is foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks,
Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God
is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. Therefore it
is also contained in the Scripture, "Behold, I lay in Zion a chief
cornerstone, elect, precious, and he who believes on Him will by no means be
put to shame."
Therefore, to you who believe, He is
precious; but to those who are disobedient, "The stone which the builders
rejected has become the chief cornerstone, and "A stone of stumbling and a
rock of offense." They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which
they also were appointed.
Most people can rattle by heart the
scriptures found in John 3:16 which reads; “For God so loved the world that He
gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but
have everlasting life.” But do we truly know what exactly must we believe
concerning Jesus Christ in order not to perish, and have everlasting life?
Jesus said quite emphatically; “Most
assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life. I am the
bread of life.” If we truly believe this statement, how are we to express this
belief?
Again Jesus said categorically, “I
am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread,
he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I
shall give for the life of the world." (John 6: 47, 48, 51).
Therefore, the secret mystery which
was hidden from men of other ages, but has now been revealed to the saints is
how Jesus Christ would give up Himself as the living bread from heaven, so that
one can eat of it and not die.
The sad thing is that, most people
are stumbling at the stumbling stone, the rock of offence, because they are
disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed. Jesus said quite
emphatically; “Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which
endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God
the Father has set His seal on Him" (John 6:27).
So what is that food which the Son
of Man has given us, which endures to Everlasting life? The question is, are we
feeding on it? This is what Jesus said; “As the living Father sent Me, and I
live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. This
is the bread which came down from heaven --- not as your fathers ate the manna,
and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever" (John 6:57-58)
So are we truly appreciative of this
mystery? Are we fulfilling the purpose for which it was intended? Remember,
“God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the
world through Him might be saved. "He who believes in Him is not condemned;
but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed
in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that
the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light,
because their deeds were evil.
The Lord's work of salvation
involves much more than His death and resurrection. It includes also the giving
of His flesh to eat, and His blood to drink, which is the mystery of the ages,
as exclaimed by the Jews who said' “How can this Man give us His flesh to
eat?" This also includes Jesus Himself who is our High Priest, seated at
the right hand of the Father to make intercessions of our behalf.
Failure to comprehend and properly
apply this mystery is the root cause of problems to many believers and so we
have been admonished saying; "Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks
this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood
of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and
drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and
drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. For this reason
many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep" (1 Corinthians
11:27-30).
Truly, these times of ignorance God
has overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent:
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With brotherly love
Lucius Joseph
