The Mystery hidden for long ages past but now revealed(En)
“25 Now to him that is of power to stablish 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, 26 But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith: 27 To God only wise, be glory through Jesus Christ for ever. Amen.”
📖Romans 16:25-27 KJV
“25 Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God; 26 Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: 27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:”
📖Colossians 1:25-27 KJV
🟢Today, I would like to focus on the word "mystery" (translated as "ougi" in Japanese) in the Bible and examine in detail the transition from the "Old Testament" to the "New Testament". As Paul explained above, the true meaning of God's message has been hidden as the mystery in the Old Testament.
“8 Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: 9 Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls. 10 Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: 11 Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. 12 Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.”
📖1 Peter 1:8-12 KJV
🟢When the apostle Peter said that "Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched," he meant that the prophets inquired through their prophecies and words. What this means is that the explanation as the answer is not found in their words in the Old Testament prophetic books. When they testified of the coming Suffering and Glory of Christ, the Spirit working in them showed them, but they did not understand it themselves. In other words, the Christ in the Old Testament scriptures were hidden.
“1 For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.”
📖Hebrews 10:1 KJV
🟢The meaning of "shadow" indicates darkness. It refers to the absence of light and therefore the inability to see things. This shows the message of the "Old Covenant" in the Old Testament Bible, which was from the receiving of the Ten Commandments by Moses in Exodus to the book of Malachi. So where is the complete message?
“39 Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.”
📖John 5:39 KJV
🟢Jesus said, "The Bible (Old Testament) testify of me”. Jesus is the "New Covenant," and he is the message that is described as the "Mystery”. Jesus was once hidden as a "shadow," and the hidden essence, the hidden truth is Jesus. The "Old Testament" is unraveled by looking at Jesus, who is the reason, the truth, the meaning, and the point of the Old Testament Bible. And through Jesus, the "New Testament" is brought forth.
“27 And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; 28 For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.”
📖Matthew 26:27-28 KJV
“20 Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.”
📖Luke 22:20 KJV
🟢We must read the Bible with paying attention to "time”. The "new covenant" that Jesus mentioned at the Last Supper above was still "in the future" for the disciples at that time.
These words that we hear today at the church communion are "what Jesus has already done and completed," and therefore we celebrate the communion to commemorate (remember) what Jesus has already done.
“10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people: 11 And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. 12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. 13 In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.”
📖Hebrews 8:10-13 KJV
(Verses 10-12 are quoted from the Old Testament, book of Jeremiah 31:33-34.)
“21 No man also seweth a piece of new cloth on an old garment: else the new piece that filled it up taketh away from the old, and the rent is made worse. 22 And no man putteth new wine into old bottles: else the new wine doth burst the bottles, and the wine is spilled, and the bottles will be marred: but new wine must be put into new bottles.”
📖Mark 2:21-22 KJV
(The same description is found in Matthew 9:16-17 and Luke 5:36-38.)
The "New Covenant" of the New Testament Bible, to be precise, begins in Acts chapter 2. Jesus' sacrifice on the cross = the redemption of sins was done, and His resurrection followed, and then completed when the believers received the Holy Spirit in Acts 2. The word "old" in Jesus' parable above, "Do not mix the old with the new," refers to the former = "what used to be”.
🟢We sometimes study the Bible and tend to try to apply it to our lives without discerning which passages were written according to the Old Covenant and which were written according to the New Covenant.
Now the "law written on our hearts (Hebrews 8:10; Jeremiah 31:33)" by the Holy Spirit is only in Jesus, and only in receiving Him who has fulfilled the law.
If we live according to the New Testament (Matthew 26:28), which "is shed for the remission of sins," we no longer need rules, regulations, customs, self-effort, or attempts to make ourselves feel clean and right.
“2 This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? 3 Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?”
📖Galatians 3:2-3 KJV
We have been made righteous, holy, and children of God by Jesus. In other words, when we believed and were saved, we started the Christian life with being considered spiritually perfect from the beginning.
We are somewhat confused when we see our own inadequacies and hear God telling us to be righteous and clean. If we do not find Jesus as our mediator, we suffer in this contradiction.
Reading the Bible is not an obligation or a rule. But there is Jesus, the key to unlock the mystery, the truth, and God's message.
By reading the Bible not like instruction books or manuals, but reading as the book of Jesus and God's message, we can know the magnitude of the grace that has forgiven us and brought us into God's family, and we can live the joy God has given us as it is intended.
That is the blessing = life... That is life lived to the fullest as God designed it to be lived. Amen.
“16 This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; 17 And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. 18 Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.”
📖Hebrews 10:16-18 KJV
“6 Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.”
📖2 Corinthians 3:6 KJV
(From the tract distributed on Aug 8th, 2021)
