Mystery Disclosed

“Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith”.  

Romans 16:25-26 ESV

Now what mystery is this? Why did God think it fitting to disclose it only after His Son was crucified?

Let’s read John 3:1-21.

God wished to “conceal” the clearest presentation of the Gospel in this remarkable night discourse. John 3:16, the most popular verse, is part of this dialogue. I used to focus on this and following verses and think that the primary purpose of Jesus’ earthly life was His death on the cross. It was my recent discovery that this dialogue consists of two parts. In the first part, Jesus just reveals the purpose of God’s plan, which is a union between man and God through a new birth. In the second part, He shows the means by which this will be accomplished. For, before the Holy Spirit can enter a person and dwell in them, they have to be cleansed from sin by the atoning blood of the Lamb.

Therefore, the message of the cross is just half of the Gospel. The preaching of Jesus’ cross at the expense of the preaching of His resurrection has resulted in people knowing how to experience forgiveness through Christ, but not knowing how they can live with Him after that (see My Testimony in Preface).

For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. 

2 Cor. 5:14-17 ESV

Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things?” 

Jn. 3:10

When Jesus reveals the mystery of a new birth to Nicodemus, He rebukes him that as a teacher of the Torah, he should have known it.

Ezek. 36:25-27

Joel 2:28, 29

Jer. 31:31-34

The testimony of these three prophets was enough for Nicodemus to understand what Jesus was talking about.

In 2 Corinthians 3:2-3, Paul quotes Ezekiel prophesying that a man’s rock-hard heart, “heart of stone”, will be replaced with a new one inclined towards good works and keeping God’s commandments.
It is also Peter who refers to Joel and says that his prophesy was fulfilled in the outpouring of the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:16-21).

Jeremiah is the first to prophesy about a new covenant. Quoting the prophet (Heb. 8:7-13), Paul describes the new covenant using the Greek term καινος, which stresses primarily the newness of quality, rather than νεος, which mainly points to newness in time. So what is the qualitative difference between the New and the Old Covenant, as Jeremiah and Paul see it? The New Covenant is based on the promise of a new birth where obedience to the law shifts from an external condition of blessing involving a man’s effort to the need of a man’s heart, part of his very nature. Paul uses the same term, καινος, in relation to new creation (2 Cor. 5:17) – other in nature, something that has not existed before.

Yet Nicodemus had an excuse in his ignorance – God Himself shrouded this truth in mystery until a certain time.

“But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. 8 None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory”. 

1 Cor. 2:7-8 ESV

This is an amazing passage that talks about how God purposefully concealed His plan from demonic authorities so that they could not disrupt its fulfillment. After all, these verses talk specifically about them, not the high priests and Pilate, all of whom, driven by fleshly passions, like Judas Iscariot, were mere blind puppets in Satan’s hands.

It is this wisdom of God’s plan that Jesus discloses in His discourse with Nicodemus, as we have already seen. Satan would give everything to listen in on precisely this night dialogue. But thankfully the enemy can only know about God’s plans as much as God lets him know. 

Remember how Jesus called Peter Satan only because he tried to keep Him from going to the cross? If the wisdom of God had been fully revealed to the devil, he would have done his best to keep Jesus from being crucified, which would mean that none of humans could experience a new birth.

“The mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory”. 

Col. 1:26-27

Every time Satan clashed with Jesus, he suffered a defeat and the Lord frustrated his works. That is why it was a great and unexpected joy for Satan to be able to kill Jesus and stop His earthly ministry. But if he only knew what would come out of it, he would never go for it. The point is not just that Christ’s sacrifice redeemed mankind, giving everyone a free choice to be delivered from the power of darkness. We have already mentioned above that the purpose of redemption was to unite a man with God, which would produce on this earth hundreds and thousands of God’s children filled with the Spirit of Christ, who would be doing what our Lord was doing - destroy Satan’s works.

But Satan has tried to conceal the truth that has been no mystery for him since Pentecost, for over 2,000 years, and make it a mystery for Christians. So Paul’s question that he put before the Corinthians who did not live in accordance with this truth is all the more relevant today for each of us:

“Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?” 

1 Cor. 3:16 ESV

“I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.”” 

Lk. 7:28 ESV

Unlike Moses, Elijah, Elisha and Samuel, John did not make a single miracle. So what is his greatness revealed in? The greatness of a prophet is determined by the greatness of the message he proclaims.
The Old Testament prophets foretold about the Messiah, “He is coming.”

But John proclaimed, “He is here”.

And the least of the children of the Kingdom has the greatest message, “He is in me!”


Translator:
V. G. Saviankova