The Mystery of it All
How we have brought the greatness of our God and the mystery of His being and the perfection of His plan, and placed it upon a flannel graph, devoid of its sacred mystery, and full of man’s simple, dirty hands. Pretending to understand and comprehend it all, we continue our journey bound by earthly cords that tether our hearts to this wretched place of hedonistic horror, and with this we are satisfied? The mystery of Christ and His incarnation seldom finds an extended place of meditation in our carnal minds since that place provides an habitation for the things that we desire and the never ending scourge of thoughts about other people. This mystery, the Risen Lord Christ and all that pertains to Him, will not be fully known until the day of translation into His eternal world, but still like the shipmates of Odysseus we have stopped our ears to the eternal siren that continually calls all true believers to seek Him and His Majestic Face. And far from shipwreck, we have been summoned to a glorious mystery that can make the sailor whole.
What will we think when we set foot in the expanse that is the dwelling place of Almighty God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? Will we think we have come to the wrong place because it is beyond what we ever expected or desired to know? Will all our stories and word pictures seem embarrassingly deficient before His very throne, and will even the most demonstrative worshiper on earth now seem timid and restrained in comparison to what should have been? The reality of the Risen Christ and all His universal glory has been hidden by our mindless doctrinal conjectures and our three dimensional prisons. The glory and majesty of Jesus lights all of heaven this very moment, and although we cannot see Him He still beckons us to seek His mystery.
This mystery is not something that has not been told to us by God’s own Word, on the contrary, this mystery dwells within those very Words with layers of revelation waiting for the hungry hearts that will diligently seek Him. The entire written gift is a mystery, from the first Word of Genesis to the last of Revelation with only its Author to reveal it to those who seek its treasure. The depths that can never be fully plumbed still provide food and hunger alike for those who ask and knock. The authenticity of this mystery, the experiential reality of what these written Words reveal, are the hope we look for and seek today. One day death will open the door and usher us into the very revelation of this eternal mystery and we who have been received by His blood will enter the everlasting plan which was cemented before creation was spoken.
This mystery is our very life and it should propel us to unsearchable heights of grateful worship, each step of discipleship unveiling a fresh revelation of Him which we missed in the Scriptures before and sends us running to see what else we missed within the honeycomb. And then we realize that there is no end to Him, only His beginning on the day of our salvation. There is no paradox or incompatibility between sound doctrine and the essence of the mystery detectable in every truth. This is not new truth as an island, detached from the foundation that has been laid, no, this is the unfolding of the greater truth that each truth holds within itself. And connecting them all, every Word and every facet of this infinite truth, is Him, The Word.
He, the Eternal Word, the Risen Christ, He is all and He is all in all and He has made all and sustains all. And in a glorious mystery we are in Him and He is in us. How glibly and antiseptic do those theological words roll off our earthly tongues and yet the mystery of the truth they convey unmasks us as retired graduates and not seeking students, speaking words of passion without passion. Is it any wonder that the world can dismiss our claims when we share such unspeakable truths as if we were sharing a history lesson or repeating some second hand story that we ourselves were not privy to? Christ lives in every believer. There is enough truthful mystery in that statement to keep us prayerfully seeking a fresh and deeper revelation of what that means every day until Christ returns.
The energy produced by the sun occurs at its core as hydrogen is basically turned into helium. But it takes that energy 100,000 years to reach the surface and be released to the solar system. But we can only see what is on the surface. Is it the same with our spiritual lives? Are we content to bask in the light of the surface, or are we relentless to know more? Is Christ our life or only our future? Are we so consumed with Him that we are a peculiar people in the midst of a crooked and perverse world and we cannot help but shine as lights in this darkness, constantly trimming our wicks and filling our lamps with more of Him? Jesus is no dry, doctrinal tenant, He is the Hope of the World, living mysteriously inside us and desiring to reach other future believers.
If it is only a story it is a whopper and the greatest piece of fiction ever contrived by the imagination of man, but if it true then it is the mystery that must capture us all forever. All of us that have been touched by this awesome mystery, this redemption found only in the Lord Jesus Christ, we stand as testimonies that this mystery is true and can be found by listening to God’s Spirit. Like the Apostle Paul on the road to Damascus our journey has been altered and we have been changed forever. We can offer some degree of explanation, but only the Spirit can make it real to other listening ears. When I heard for the first time that Jesus was coming back it sounded like some fairy tale to an amateur astronomer like me, but then why was my heart substantiating that truth? I didn’t want to believe it and yet I could not reject it.
And then the mystery became a reality and I was saved. And even though I then had embraced the mystery of the gospel message, the aroma of the mystery still remained. God was still drawing me toward Himself even though I was already His. I could know the mystery of the gospel and yet experience more and more of that same mystery. And in fact, the more mystery becomes truth in my heart and life the more I am changed from glory to glory. I feel so sorry for those who follow a lifeless and pragmatic gospel and never experience the wonder of seeking to know Him more. I am sad for those who use Christ to improve this life and miss the glories of knowing Him in the Spirit.
Do not be content with knowing Biblical facts, seek the mysterious nectar of each Word that leads to more of Him. He is infinite and inexhaustible, and He says to “learn of Me”. Have the Words in ink become Words written on your heart? Does the Lord Christ only live in you or does He live through you as well? Do you know about Jesus or do you know Him personally as you drink fully from the bottomless well that is knowing Him? If you have camped out on doctrinal truths but the fire of the mystery of it all has gone out I exhort you to ask God to stoke the fire again. Jesus has risen from the dead and He is alive today! Excitement and brokenness meet together as we ponder what we know and what we know we do not know yet. Search His Word and seek Him in prayer and allow Him to bring you by His Spirit back into a journey of faith that will again change you, just like He did on the very first day.
That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of Glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him…
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