People who want to control their path to God are not reckoning with the mystery of the gospel.
There are two kinds of religion, and they resemble two crossword puzzles. The first puzzle is challenging, but slowly, word by word, over the course of several days, the puzzler enters words in every available space. Finally she checks it against the answer key and with satisfaction finds she had only two mistakes.
The second puzzle is not only challenging, it is impossible. The puzzler meditates on each clue, wracks his mind for weeks, even months, refusing to quit, but he cannot supply even one word. He is completely stumped. In frustration he concludes something is wrong, that the wrong clues were given or that there are no answers, and this is just a cruel joke. He looks at the answer key, and to his astonishment discovers the most intricate, wonderful crossword puzzle ever written.
The first puzzle resembles the religions and worldviews developed by human reasoning and imagination. One or more people think long and hard about the meaning of life, the existence and nature of God, morality, and perplexing questions such as why evil exists in the world. They progressively develop a belief system that millions of people follow.
The second puzzle resembles the religion first of Judaism and then of Christianity. The key feature of this puzzle is mystery. No human being is able to answer the questions apart from God’s revelation. God reveals the answer key; mankind receives it and believes.
Unveiling the mystery of the gospel
Talking about his ministry, Paul spoke of proclaiming “the mystery of the gospel” (Ephesians 6:19). He also spoke of “the mystery of Christ” (Ephesians 3:4). In saying this, he did not mean that the gospel and Christ are currently subjects people can know nothing about; rather, they once had been mysteries, but now God has given the answer key.
Merriam Webster Dictionary gives two meanings for mystery:
- “something not understood or beyond understanding”
- “a religious truth that one can know only by revelation and cannot fully understand”
The mystery of Christ and the gospel is a mystery in the second sense. God has revealed the truth. Although we do not understand Christ and the gospel exhaustively, we understand much. We understand more than enough to believe and be saved.
God of mysteries
What does this teach us about God? We learn he is a God who hides and reveals truth.
Matthew 13:35 says the teachings of Jesus fulfilled “what was spoken by the prophet: ‘I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter what has been hidden since the foundation of the world.’”
Romans 16:25 says, “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.”
Colossians 1:26–27 talks of “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.”
Deuteronomy 29:29 says, “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.”
Proclaiming the mystery of God
As the last verse implies, this requires humility from mankind. God calls us not to solve a puzzle, but humbly to believe the answer key he proclaims. We can know nothing about God except what he graciously reveals.
1 Corinthians 1:21–25 says, “For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.”
Remarkably, once God revealed the answer key, even a child can understand it. In fact, Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it” (Mark 10:15).
Our way and God’s way
Our way: Fallen people assume they can figure out what God should be.
God’s way: He reveals only what he wants to reveal about himself. He entrusts this revelation of the gospel to preachers, whose responsibility is simply and faithfully to proclaim the message.
Life principle: Our responsibility is to believe and obey what God has revealed, not to design God and his gospel according to human reasoning. We need to recognize our dependence on God and abandon any beliefs that do not agree with the Bible, which is the repository of his revelation.
Jeremiah 9:23–24: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’” (ESV)