No More Mystery
“In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to people in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s Holy apostles and prophets.” Ephesians 3:4-5
I love a good mystery. I became a fan of Sherlock Holmes at a young age and what little I read ( (I did not enjoy reading) would usually come from the pen of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s artful tales filled with intrigue, sometimes desperation, an overarching villain (Moriarty), and unsolvable mysteries. I would be captivated by the word play between the characters as they tried to find clues, notice details, and unravel people’s memories all in an attempt to find an answer to someone’s situation.
What always amazed me about Sherlock Holmes was that the answers were not magical as people often felt them to be. There were facts, sometimes obscure clues in plain sight; data points that took some time to reveal what could not otherwise be discerned through normal patterns of thinking. For those that have now watched some of the newer Sherlock movies, you see portrayed on screen the almost computer-like calculations that Sherlock’s brain goes through. But in the books the central idea was not superhuman ability, but careful attention to detail and deeper thinking that was open to alternatives others hadn’t considered because they didn’t fit their normal patterns.
The Apostle Paul was trying to convey this very kind of thinking to the Ephesians. By Chapter 3 of his letter to them, he is desperately trying to open their minds to the fantastic mystery that they too, as Gentiles (in other words not God’s special Jewish nation) were always meant to be part of the plan for redemption and salvation. God was no respecter of persons.
Jews had come to assume, and to communicate that to gain access to God meant to adopt Jewish customs and beliefs. The mystery made known through Jesus Christ was that it wasn’t about the customs and practices of the Jews that made them unique and holy, but Jesus Christ himself. His life, death and resurrection were the foundation of the relationship. He was the mystery revealed. He had stared them in the face, and He was for everyone.
When you hear of mysteries, you may be drawn to the magical notions of impossible realities that simply defy common sense. Our sense of wonder and awe is aroused. We want to believe we’re missing something and therefore revelation might give us something more to make sense of the situation. We do the same thing with our lives. We often think we’re missing something that would make our lives better and help us avoid all the pain.
The truth, as Sherlock Holmes nearly always found out, was something far more explainable and rooted in the human condition. Rarely, if ever was there anything mystical about the mysteries that Sherlock solved. And the same is likely true of our lives as well.
God doesn’t want His creation to live shrouded in mystery about who He is. He was so committed to us knowing Him that he sent us His only Son, Jesus Christ, to live on this earth. He breathed our air. He ate our food. He worked. He talked to people. He sweated. He probably got sore muscles. He became fully human to make himself fully known. Through that revelation, we now have the opportunity to know Him fully and embrace Him.
Paul goes on in Ephesians 3:6 to declare, “This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.” Later in verse 12 he says, “In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.”
Jesus Christ is the mystery that has been revealed. While some of us are looking for answers to the problems in our lives, we skip over the revelation already given to us because somehow Jesus hasn’t taken away all of our pain and made our lives a bed of roses. Some of us keep looking, and sometimes we even reject the church and what it offers because our lives haven’t gotten better. I can empathize with your pain and the frustrations of lives unfulfilled. My own life has been filled with situations that were not what I wanted or expected life was supposed to be.
What I’d like to explore with you, however, is the possibility of laying down your constant pursuit of “something more” that would explain it all and make it better, and get to the heart of a faith in the revelation of who Jesus Christ was, and is. God wants you and me to know Him, and to know the depth of His love for us. God wants to be in that tight relationship with us that doesn’t ebb and flow with our circumstances. God gave us His Son, Jesus Christ, to give us access, by faith, to eliminate doubt and fear, and make a way for a richer, fuller, and more complete life.
God-given revelation is a profound thing. As you pray for answers to your deepest questions, God wants you to know that His answer was already given through His Son Jesus Christ. Jesus died for you, and for me, and for all of His creation. There is both more, and nothing more, to be found out. I would like to invite you to explore this with me, and with our church this month as we dig into the idea of “God-given revelation.” We want to equip you to embrace life’s most difficult questions, even some “mysteries” you’ve been perplexed with, by engaging the revelation God has already given, His Son! Would you consider joining us each Sunday this month as we work through this 5th and final core-value of our church?
What is God-given revelation and how does it factor into our daily lives? How does it make a difference for you and me in our journey of faith? Should I be expecting more in some mystical sense, or can I trust what God has given me, and will keep giving me when I need it?
We meet this coming Sunday, and each Sunday this fall, in-person again! Join us in-person or online and learn more.