During my time in Europe, I kept pondering and typing notes on a particular phrase Paul used in Col. 4:3, where he referred to "the mystery of Christ." I hope you'll consider these thoughts I got while meditating on that verse and a related one, 1 Tim. 3:16.
In Col. 4:3, Paul asked the Colossians to pray for him so that he could proclaim the mystery of Christ. When he wrote Colossians, he was already in prison for preaching Christ, yet he wanted God to enable him to continue preaching! It’s so instructive to note that even the great apostle Paul didn’t trust in his own abilities or strength to do what God had called him to do. He asked for prayer so God would empower him. And rather than asking people to pray for him to escape persecution and trials, he asked them to pray he’d be able to do more of what had caused them in the first place – boldly proclaim the gospel!
That being said, it’s Paul’s use of the short phrase ‘the mystery of Christ’ I want to draw attention to here. As I was reading the Bible one morning recently, this phrase caught my attention. I found myself asking why Paul would use such an expression. What did he mean by it? Were there other places in the scriptures where the same phrase was used?
From the context, it’s clear that the mystery of Christ is actually just another way of saying the gospel. We could correctly say the mystery of Christ is the gospel, and the gospel is the mystery of Christ. But what exactly does that mean? Some deeper reflection is in order.
Biblical scholars will tell you that the word mystery (Greek moosterion), when used in the New Testament, doesn’t refer to something which can’t be known. It’s not like one of the “mysteries of the universe” scientists might talk about or some secret mystery of a long-lost civilization we’ll never understand. Mystery in the NT just refers to something which has been veiled or hidden but can now be revealed. That’s important, because the mystery of Christ, after all, isn’t something God wants hidden or kept secret. Calling it a mystery just means it used to be hidden but is now meant to be revealed to everyone.
For millennia, God’s plan to save mankind through a Messiah/Savior was hidden. Only a few facts had been revealed to only a small group of people. For example, God told Eve her seed would crush the serpent’s head (Gen. 3:15). He told Abraham that through his seed all the families on earth would be blessed (Gen. 12:1-3; 22:18). He promised David that through his line Israel’s King and High Priest would come to build God’s house, defeat her enemies and bring God’s people into their inheritance (2 Sam. 7:9-16; Ps. 110). This was all that was known of the messianic mystery.
The prophet Isaiah added more details. He saw that Messiah would be empowered by God’s Spirit and would not only restore Israel but have a world-wide mission to bring all nations into right relationship with God (Is. 42:1-7; 49:6). He described the Messiah as God’s Special Servant (Is. 42; 49; 50), and added that His amazing work would somehow be accomplished through great suffering (Is. 52:12 – 53:13). This latter concept of redemptive suffering was the biggest mystery of the whole messianic promise. For the Jews especially, who expected their Messiah to be more of an earthly military-political leader, it was incomprehensible – a mystery their minds couldn’t fathom. Even Jesus’ closest disciples never “got” this until after He rose from the dead and personally explained it to them.
That’s why it’s important to note that Isaiah also spoke of Messiah’s coming as a great light that would one day shine in the darkness in the area of Galilee (Is. 9:1, 2). This coming great light is a reference to revelation, the unveiling of God’s truth, the revealing of His mystery. In hindsight we can see how appropriate it was that Jesus began His earthly ministry in Galilee, for that is where the mystery began to be unveiled.
When a godly old man named Simeon took the baby Jesus into his arms in the Jewish Temple, he also said Jesus would be a light of revelation to the Gentiles (Lu. 2:32). Once again, this speaks of the unveiling of God’s mystery, expressing how Jesus would bring understanding of God’s truth, God’s plan, to all people. He would enable them to know God, and lead them unfailingly to Him.
After Christ’s ascension, the apostle Paul told the Ephesians he’d been given special understanding of the mystery of Christ (Eph. 3:1-12). The most revolutionary truth he saw was that the Gentiles were to be included in God’s plan, his family, and His future world. Before this, only the Jews were considered God’s people, and they never imagined other peoples would also be included. Though this mystery was unveiled partially to Isaiah as mentioned above, Paul saw it more clearly and concretely than any other servant of God.
Another key passage Paul wrote that mentions the mystery of Christ is 1 Timothy 3:16. In most versions, the verse says the mystery of godliness is great, then goes on to describe that mystery as the story of the Incarnation. The mystery of godliness, says Paul, is that Christ appeared in a body, lived, died, and was raised up into the heavenly realms. God coming to earth in human flesh is the mystery of Christ. Here Paul is reiterating what he said in Col. 4:3. The mystery of Christ is the gospel, the story of God becoming man and what that means for us, and the gospel is the mystery of Christ.
We’re so accustomed to this thought, we may take it for granted and miss the glory and amazement of it. God actually came personally to dwell among us? The Eternal Logos became human flesh? As Kari Jobe sings in “Revelation Song,” this truly is, “such a marvelous mystery”! It never entered the mind of any human being, and was simply never understood before Jesus appeared on earth. Sure, in Greek mythology there were “gods” who supposedly took on human form at times, but those stories had the character of mere fables or legends. The Greek “gods” never came to serve human beings, and it’s doubtful anyone really accepted the stories as factual.
Likewise, Hindus believe in many gods, many “incarnations” and reincarnations, but their stories too are legendary and fantastic in character, not historically verifiable or believable to any but the most devout. The story of Christ, on the other hand, occurred during a time when historical records were kept, it was written down by eye-witnesses, and was attested to by many “convincing proofs” (a reference to Christ’s miracles, Acts 1:3). Not only is this so, but Jesus behaved in a way far different from those other so-called gods. His character was demonstrably more noble, humble, and loving than anything the mythologies of the world ever produced. Humbling Himself to die on a cross for the sins of the world, then rising from the dead and presenting Himself alive to hundreds of people (1 Cor. 15:3-8), these are aspects of His story that are completely unique and unheard of. This makes His coming in human flesh the greatest, most significant event of all eternity. The “unveiling” of this mystery brings life and immortality to light (2 Tim. 1:9, 10), so it’s absolutely crucial we understand it and share it with others.
Notice that while the mystery of Christ is obviously the story of the Incarnation, that story is also called the mystery of godliness in 1 Tim. 3:16. Whenever we find two things being equated in the Bible, it’s usually something we should pay attention to. I saw this years ago when comparing versions of Hebrews 2:16. The KJV says Jesus didn’t “take on” the nature of angels, but rather, “took on” the seed of Abraham, whereas other versions say Jesus didn’t “help” angels but “helped” the seed of Abraham. That shocked me! Which was it – He didn’t take on their nature, or He didn’t help them?
My curiosity led me to deeper investigation and the discovery that the Greek word could be translated either way; as “take on the nature of” or “help.” How strange, that one word could have such divergent meanings, yet Greek lexicons and commentaries assured me it was true! What I found out brought me a greater understanding of salvation, as I saw more clearly how God came to help us, and He did it by taking on the very nature of man. He helped us by becoming one of us! One of my favorite ways to express this is the following sentence I love to repeat: “The Son of God became the Son of man, so that sons of men could become sons of God!”
Likewise then, when we see that the mystery of Christ is also called the mystery of godliness, it should cause us to sit up and take notice. What’s the connection here? The Greek word translated godliness is eusebeia, a combination of two words meaning “right worship.” It is also translated as piety or devotion, and has to do with both what we believe and how we live as people who know God. One version of the Bible (Weymouth NT) translates eusebeia as “our religion.” Other versions translate it as “our faith,” (NLT), “the secret of our godly worship,” (International Standard Version), “the mystery of righteousness,” (Aramaic Bible in Plain English) and “the mystery (or secret) of piety” (Young’s, Darby.)
These different translations are very powerful and clear evidence of the crucial and unbreakable link that exists between godliness (right living) and Christ’s Incarnation (God’s coming to earth as a human being.) The mystery or “secret” of godliness then, is the way by which weak human beings can be made truly pious or devout and worship God in the right way. That mystery or secret is all wrapped up in Christ. The “secret” is that we cannot do it by our own strength, religiosity, or discipline. Only Christ was ever able to live a truly godly life, a life of devotion and true worship. Only He perfectly fulfilled God’s law and purpose for human beings and could then die in our place, a holy Substitute to pay our debt and take away all barriers to fellowship with God.
No one who is “disconnected” from God’s life and power could ever be a truly godly person. Sin is the barrier that keeps us apart from God and keeps us from being the people He made us to be. Jesus is the only Solution to our universal problem. He made righteous living and right worship of God possible through His atoning death on the cross, and through His very life and presence within us by the Holy Spirit. This is the “secret” or mystery of godliness! It’s God’s way of transforming ungodly people, restoring them to relationship with Him, and restoring His image in us. Christ’s atoning death makes us legally acceptable before God by “expunging” our sinful record. But His living presence in us makes godly living experientially possible as well, as He transforms us from the inside out, day by day. The mystery of Christ is God’s way of making us right with Himself!
What’s especially precious is that, in unveiling the mystery of Christ, God also reveals Himself to us. We can only truly understand God through the Incarnation. The Bible says, “No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father's side, has made him known” (John 1:18). God cannot really be known apart from Christ, because so much about Him is only revealed through His coming to earth in human flesh. Anyone who thinks they know God but denies the Incarnation is deceived and doesn’t really know Him at all (2 Jn. 9). God’s triune nature or Trinity, the humility and love displayed through Christ’s life on earth and His death on the cross, His desire to dwell with man, His loving service to man, these are aspects of God’s nature that can only be known through the revelation of Christ.
So then, the mystery of Christ is the mystery of God’s nature; who He is and what He’s like. It’s also the mystery or secret of what He has done for us, making it possible to be brought back into union with Him and become partakers of God’s very nature (2 Pet. 1:4). For millennia, people walked about in darkness, only wishing they knew these secrets. They searched for understanding in many ways, through many religions and many philosophies, but could never find what their hearts longed for until God revealed it in His time. It was, after all, His plan, His “secret.” It was unknowable until Jesus came to earth and was born in that stable, so many years ago, then lived out His earthly life and ministry. We can only know God and become like Him through this mystery, through the Word become flesh, Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed One (Jn. 17:3).
How wonderful that the mystery has now been revealed, the glorious mystery of Christ, and we have been privileged to know and experience it! It’s greater than a cure for cancer, for it is the cure for the universal disease of sin and all its consequences. It is greater than the discovery of the fountain of youth, for it is the way to eternal life with God. It is greater than any scientific discovery or achievement of the human race.
And yet, so many still don’t take it seriously and so many still don’t know about it. It’s hardly ever mentioned in the news media, and most universities ignore it. A majority of intellectuals and pundits think it absurd or unimportant, something for the ignorant or undiscerning.
That’s why, my fellow believers, it’s so important for us to understand just how powerful and important this mystery really is. We need to appreciate the great privilege we have been given to know it, and the great responsibility we have to be able to share it with the world!