By John Krug
It is amazing how many people will stretch and strain their wisdom and intellect to solve some puzzles and problems of a trivial nature. I admit that I am also guilty of this pastime especially if I think that I may be able to outwit some other person's thought process. Through my E-mail I recently inherited a list of items which are without category, and can only be described as trivial statements requiring some thought. Let me relate a few and you'll see what I mean. "Maine is the only state whose name is just one syllable." Admit it! You immediately started to think about states; especially those with short names like Idaho, Utah, Iowa, Ohio. Sure enough, Maine is the only one. If your using the standard "qwerty" typewriter (obsolete) or computer keyboard, here are some thought items: "'Stewardesses' is the longest word typed with only the left hand and ‘lollypop' is the longest word typed with the right hand." I'll have you know that I checked that one out as I plunked those words on the page. I bet you checked it out as well. I'll give you still another one. "'Typewriter' is the longest word that can be made using the letters only on one row of the keyboard (not counting the quotation marks)." How about that one; did you think that through and find it true? Still another is this sentence that uses every letter of the alphabet: "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog." If you're like me you had to mentally muse from A to Z and check it out. Another phrase of a different nature is: "There are no words in the English language that rhyme with ‘month',' orange', ‘silver' or ‘purple'." Didn't you immediately try to prove it wrong? Finally, "There are more chickens than people in the world." I'm not sure how you go about proving or disproving that, but the ramifications of that make one think a great deal about the dietary habits of the world.
What point am I trying to make with all this? I think as humans we like to have out minds challenged, even with useless trivial items. However, when it gets to some of the issues of eternal value we may tend to become quickly disinterested. One item that I think is of great theological importance and deserves our thoughtful consideration is the sixth mystery in our series:
6. The ‘mystery of God, even Christ' (Colossians 2:2,3,9; I Corinthians 2:7,8) This mystery involved Christ as the fullness of the Godhead in bodily form.
My first question concerning your reading of the above is: Does this statement stimulate your spiritual thinking processes or is your response simply a who cares attitude? I don't mean to be critical; because some spiritual issues tend to be somewhat weighty and boring; however, stick with me and we will try to emphasize the importance and explain the meanings in the verses cited above. In answer to the who cares attitude, this mystery is one where we of the evangelical Christian community take strong issue with some of the notable cults and world religions. Because of that, it deserves some careful analysis and thought.
First let's read through the mystery as stated in the verses and determine the basic meaning. Colossians 2:2,3 "…that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love, and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God's mystery, that is, Christ Himself, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." Colossians 2:9 "For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form," I Corinthians 2:7 "…but we speak God's wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom, which God predestined before the ages to our glory; the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory;"
The first thing we note is that the passage is talking to those who would really want to know the truth of this mystery; those who are His true children, who know Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and are taught by the indwelling Holy Spirit. 1 Corinthians 2:10 "For to us God revealed them (things about God's wisdom) through His Spirit…" 2:15 "But he who is spiritual appraises all things…." 2:16 "For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he should instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ." Hence a person with true spiritual wisdom and intellect will be able to understand this important mystery concerning Jesus Christ.
The second thing we note is that the passages in Colossians 2:2,3 and 1 Corinthians 2:7 use the word "mystery" without a clear explanation of the meaning. However, Colossians 2:9 clearly brings forth the definition: the fact that Jesus Christ is both God and man - Deity in human form. When Jesus came to earth as a human being He never became less than God. It states in a short emphatic word that He was "Deity". In as simple terms as possible this means that Jesus Christ was, is and will always be God, Himself. This further means that Jesus existed throughout eternity past as the eternal Son, the second person of the Trinity. What Jesus did when He left heaven and came to earth as man is described in Philippians 2:6-8 "…who, although He (Jesus) existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men, and being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross." Jesus Christ in what is described here as the "incarnation" (God becoming man), laid His glory aside and took on human flesh but never laid aside His Deity. He was not a man into whom God came; He was eternal God who became man.
With the exception of true Christianity, all of the world religions will deny that Jesus Christ is God. They may possibly say that He was "a god" similar to many gods that exist in the pagan religions. They may also admit that He was a good teacher or prophet and may even agree that He came down from heaven, but the term of deity associated with Jesus Christ is foreign to their thinking. The cults that ply your doorsteps on many occasions will also try to discount the Deity of Christ. I use the meetings with these people to challenge them with Colossians 2:9 and other verses that defend the Deity of Christ. To date I have never received any thing from them that adequately refutes my challenge; however, I do receive many attempts to discuss a subject of their choosing. I don't want to give up on them. I would at least like to get them to think seriously about the issue, question the validity of their teaching and investigate further truths from the Bible. There is hope that the Lord might "snatch them out of the fire" (Jude 23)
Next let's think about why Jesus coming as Deity is called a mystery. Remember that a mystery in the Bible is a secret that God has allowed to be hidden in the past that is now revealed.
The first question is: What was hidden in the past? The question is not that Jesus Christ was hidden in the past. He was the fulfillment of the promised Messiah. What the ancients failed to fully comprehend was that this Messiah was going to be God in the flesh. With the exception of a few astute scholars and prophets, the people of old were looking for a monarch the likes of King David who would be a political ruler rather than a spiritual deliverer. One of the prophets that spoke of the true nature of the Messiah was Isaiah. It appears that the Lord through Isaiah revealed that the Messiah was more than a mere man; but the people for the most part ignored the revelation. Isaiah 48:12 "Listen to Me, O Jacob, even Israel whom I called; I am He, I am the first, I am also the last. Surely My hand founded the earth,…. 16. Come near to Me, listen to this: For the first I have not spoken in secret, From the time it took place, I was there. And now the Lord God has sent Me, and His Spirit. 17 Thus says the Lord God, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the Lord your God, who teaches you to profit, Who leads you in the way you should go." Note that Lord God, Redeemer and Spirit are all given the status of Deity; a certain testimony of the doctrine of the Trinity in the Old Testament.
The second question is: Why was it hidden? I think that the general disregard for passages like the previous Isaiah quote gives us the answer. Even the scholars failed to grasp the concept of the Messiah being God, Himself in the flesh. Even more foreign would be the idea of a Messiah who would die for the sins of mankind. When the Messiah, Jesus was present in the flesh on earth He grieved over the blindness of the people in recognizing that He was the Son of God. Luke 13:34,35a "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, just as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not have it! Behold, your house is left to you desolate…." Jesus was the next prophet to be killed as it stated in the above 1 Corinthians 2:7 passage when it relates that the Lord of glory was crucified by the people to whom the Messiah came.
The third question is: why is it now revealed? This mystery can now be revealed because Jesus Christ as God in the flesh finished the work He came to do when He died on the cross for the sins of the world and then was resurrected in victory over sin and the grave. 1 Corinthians 15:3b,4 "…Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures." Because this amazing redemptive act could have only been performed by God Himself, we can now with full understanding look all the way back to the fall of man in the garden of Eden and see that God was preparing the ultimate sacrifice of His own eternal Son to reconcile fallen man to Himself. Romans 5:8 "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."
What then does this mean to the reader who has failed to recognize that Jesus was indeed Deity Himself who came to die for your sins? I would encourage you to place your faith in Jesus Christ and His matchless act of grace on your behalf.
What does this mean to we who have accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord? We need to recognize the great treasure we have. Our personal Redeemer is our God! He is forever in us and we are forever with Him. Ephesians 2:4-7 "But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus, in order that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus."
All scripture from the New American Standard Bible, Lockman Foundation.
