Paul, Apostle, Writer of Mysteries (Part 1)
By Gene Lawley
There is no way
we can come
anywhere near
speculating
rightly the
marvelous
experience Paul
must have had in
those three
years in
Arabia, alone
with the Lord
Jesus Christ.
Imagine how much
of an
emotional
upheaval it must
have been for
Paul, who
described
himself in
Philippians
3:5-6 as
“…circumcised
the eighth day,
of the stock
of Israel, of
the tribe of
Benjamin, a
Hebrew of the
Hebrews;
concerning the
law, a Pharisee;
concerning zeal,
persecuting the
church;
concerning the
righteousness
which is in the
law, blameless.“
Jesus was
about to teach
him all about
grace and reveal
the mysteries
of this new
era He had
hinted at during
His intermittent
moments with
the close-in
disciples, that
new era that
exploded into
reality in
that upper room
on the day of
Pentecost.
Astounding
changes in the
believer’s
day-to-day
relationship
with God that
Paul writes of
in the New
Testament as
mysteries. Paul,
considered
blameless under
the law, was
to write without
wavering, “I do
not set aside
the grace of
God, for if
righteousness
comes through
the law then
Christ died in
vain”
(Galatians
2:21).
The four major
mysteries he
writes of
effectively
removes
Christianity
from the
category of
“religion” and
firmly
establishes it
as a personal
relationship
with the God of
the universe.
The word
“mystery” is
used several
times in the New
Testament as a
descriptive term
in certain
instances, but
these four,
however, stand
apart as
doctrinal
and historical
revelations
pronouncing a
new manner of
God’s
relationship
with believers.
One other
instance that is
more than just
a label,
though, is
Paul’s mention
of the “mystery
of lawlessness”
in II
Thessalonians
2:7, but this is
mentioned in
connection with
the fourth
mystery on our
list and will be
included in that
analysis. The
four
mysteries we
will address
here are:
1) The
mystery of
Godliness;
2) The mystery
of Christ in
you;
3) The
mystery of the
Church;
4)
The mystery of
the Rapture.
The Mystery
of Godliness
All of the
mysteries are
supernatural to
the max, but on
this one
hangs all of the
others, for it
brings the
eternal God into
the time-frame
of mankind. It
involves the
virgin birth,
the identity of
Jesus as God in
the flesh, and
the reality of
His
resurrection.
Look at what
Paul writes:
“And without
controversy
great is the
mystery of
godliness: God
was manifested
in the flesh,
justified in the
Spirit, seen by
angels, preached
among the
Gentiles,
believed on in
the world,
received up in
glory” (I
Timothy 3:16).
No wonder he
calls this a
great mystery,
and so it is.
Here is how the
angel,
Gabriel,
explained it to
Mary, the
mother-to-be:
“Then Mary
said to the
angel, ‘How can
this be, since I
do not know a
man?’ And
the angel
answered and
said to her,
‘The Holy Spirit
will come upon
you, and the
power of the
Highest will
overshadow you;
therefore,
also, that Holy
One who is to be
born will be
called the Son
of God.’”
(Luke 1:34-35).
The account
Paul gives in
Philippians
2:6-11 tells us
how that looked
from
heaven’s
perspective:
“Who [Christ
Jesus], being in
the form of
God, did not
consider it
robbery to be
equal with God,
but made
Himself of no
reputation,
taking the form
of a
bondservant, and
coming in
the likeness of
men, and being
found in
appearance as a
man, He
humbled Himself
and became
obedient to the
point of death,
even the
death of the
cross. Therefore
God also has
highly exalted
Him and
given Him the
name which is
above every
name, that at
the name of
Jesus every knee
should bow, of
those in heaven,
and of those
on earth, and of
those under the
earth, and that
every tongue
should confess
that Jesus
Christ is Lord,
to the glory of
God the
Father.”
Here is a man
born not with
the sin of Adam
but conceived
from above,
who lived a
sinless life, so
testified by
Peter the
Apostle (I
Peter 2:22).
And so, “the
Word became
flesh and dwelt
among us.” (John
1:14).
The Mystery of
Christ in You
Something
happened at that
Feast of
Pentecost,
recorded in Acts
2, that was
revolutionary
and which marked
a totally new
era in the
believer’s
relationship
with God. Joel
wrote of it in
his prophecy, as
Peter
referenced in
his sermon on
that day (Acts
2:14-21), but
Jesus
perhaps defined
it more simply
when He told His
disciples, “And
I will pray
the Father, and
He will give you
another Helper,
that He may
abide with you
forever—the
Spirit of truth,
whom the world
cannot
receive, because
it neither sees
Him nor knows
Him; but you
know Him,
for He dwells
with you and
will be in you”
(John 14:16-17).
Jesus also
pointed toward
this mystery in
His demand of
Nicodemus, “You
must be born
again” (John
3:3).
The
drama actually
began earlier
than Pentecost,
for at the
moment Jesus
died on the
cross a
remarkable
incident
happened in
Jerusalem
that only
Matthew reports.
In the temple
the heavy
curtain, the
veil, that
separated the
holy of holies
from the rest of
the temple was
torn from
top to bottom,
exposing that
area to the open
world! (Matthew
27:51).
Why?
Jesus, the High
Priest from God,
had entered the
holy of
holies with His
own blood and
the foreshadow
of that physical
temple was
no longer
necessary—the
reality had
come! (God had
told Moses
the
foreshadowing
pattern: the
high priest was
to enter the
holy of holies,
once a year, not
without blood,
for his own sins
and the sins
of the people,
as reported in
Hebrews 9:7,
“But into the
second part
the high priest
went alone once
a year, not
without
blood, which he
offered for
himself and for
the people's
sins
committed in
ignorance.”
But that is
not the end of
the story. Paul
writes of
another
fascinating and
wonderful truth
that is part of
this scenario--
born again
believers are
now the temple
of God on
earth—His
residency in
this world: “Do
you not know
that you are the
temple of God
and that the
Spirit of God
dwells in you?”
(I Corinthians
3:16).
To realize the
full
significance of
this, let’s
review some
interesting
facts about the
nature of God,
His
righteousness
and His
holiness.
Remember the
warning God gave
Moses when He
called him up on
the mountain
and delivered to
him the law? God
told Moses, “You
shall set
bounds for the
people all
around, saying,
'Take heed to
yourselves
that you do not
go up to the
mountain or
touch its base.
Whoever
touches the
mountain shall
surely be put to
death. Not a
hand shall touch
him, but he
shall surely be
stoned or shot
with an
arrow; whether
man or beast, he
shall not
live….’” (Exodus
19:12-13).
The holiness
and
righteousness of
God will not
tolerate the
intimate
presence of
sinful mankind,
nor will He
permit that man,
unsanctified,
to inject
himself into
God’s holiness
or His plans.
The response is
not a
calculated
matter; it is
automatic and
without
restriction, as
it was with
Uzza, who
reached out to
steady the ark
of the covenant
on the cart,
and he dropped
dead immediately
(I Chronicles
13:9-10)!
This insight
gives new
meaning to “the
fear of God”!
Yet, contrast
this with
what has
happened with
the coming of
Christ, the
eternal High
Priest. A
beautiful
picture is
revealed,
surprisingly, in
the 3rd chapter
of Daniel.
Enemies of the
Hebrew captives
held as servants
in the
Babylonian
capital
conspired to
have them, the
three Hebrew
young
men—Shadrach,
Meshach, and
Abed-Nego—burned
alive in a fiery
furnace when
they refused to
bow down and
worship the
image of the
king,
Nebuchadnezzar.
The furnace
was heated seven
times hotter
than it normally
was, and the
three were
thrown, bound,
inside it. The
heat was so
severe that
the soldiers who
put the men into
the fire were
killed by the
intense
heat. When the
king looked into
the furnace, he
exclaimed, “Did
we not cast
three men bound
into the midst
of the fire?”
“True, O
king,” his
counselors
replied.
“Look!” he
answered, “I see
four men loose,
walking in the
midst of the
fire; and they
are not hurt,
and the form of
the fourth is
like the Son
of God" (Daniel
3:24-25).
Now, lay
this picture
alongside one of
a believer, who
now is the
Temple of God,
the holy of
holies, in whom
dwells the
Spirit of
Christ.
Where He is,
there is the
fiery, flaming
righteousness
and holiness of
God, yet
made perfectly
safe and serene
for the believer
because that
“fourth person”
is there, the
Son of God!
He is the
fourth person,
but who are the
other three with
Him in this
temple of God
which is the
believer? In I
Thessalonians
5:23 Paul
writes, “Now may
the God of peace
Himself sanctify
you completely;
and may your
whole spirit,
soul, and body
be preserved
blameless at
the coming of
our Lord Jesus
Christ.” Would
it be too much
of a stretch
to name those
three—spirit,
soul and body—as
the others of
the quartet
represented in
the modern-day
temple of the
living God?
Certainly those
are the makeup
of the human
being whom
Christ
redeemed. The
body is
identified
therein already;
the soul came
into being
when God created
man from the
dust of the
earth (the body)
and
“breathed into
him the breath
of life and man
became a living
soul”
(Genesis 2:7).
But that soul
died in Adam
when he ate of
the
forbidden fruit,
thus requiring
redemption. And
in I Corinthians
6:17 Paul
makes another
astounding
declaration:
“But he who is
joined to
the Lord is one
spirit with
Him.”
Further
indication that
these three
features of the
makeup of man
are the very
target of God’s
spiritual
transformation
of man is found
in Hebrews
4:12: “For the
word of God is
living and
powerful, and
sharper than
any two-edged
sword, piercing
even to the
division of
soul and spirit,
and of joints
and marrow, and
is a discerner
of the
thoughts and
intents of the
heart.”
And so it is
well named “the
mystery of
Christ in you,
the hope of
glory!”
(Colossians
1:26-27). “This
hope we have as
an anchor of the
soul, both sure
and steadfast,
and which enters
the Presence
behind the veil,
where the
forerunner has
entered for us,
even Jesus,
having become
High Priest
forever
according to the
order of
Melchizedek.”
(Hebrews
6:19-20).
(Part 2 will
continue with
the “mystery of
the church, the
body of
Christ”
(Ephesians 5:32)
and the “mystery
of the Rapture
of the
believers in
Christ” (I
Corinthians
15:51).
