The Mystery Hidden By God
Now that we see God’s Story so clearly – His equal love for His people and all nations (A = B) – we might wonder: How could anyone have missed this? Yet the Apostle Paul calls it a “mystery made known by revelation”:
Ephesians 3:2-6
2 Surely you have heard about the administration of God’s grace that was given to me for you, 3 that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly. 4 In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, 5 which was not made known to people in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets. 6 This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.
Paul is revealing the truth that A = B, something hidden from generations of Old Testament readers. But how could this be? Why couldn’t Israel see what seems so obvious to us now?
Look at how Paul emphasizes this again:
Romans 16:25-27
25 Now to him who is able to establish you in accordance with my gospel, the message I proclaim about Jesus Christ, in keeping with the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past, 26 but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all the Gentiles might come to the obedience that comes from faith— 27 to the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ! Amen.
Paul keeps coming back to this theme:
Colossians 1:25-26
25 I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness— 26 the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people.
What exactly is this mystery?
Colossians 1:27 – To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
Paul reveals two stunning aspects of this mystery:
- Gentiles can receive forgiveness for their sins and know God’s glorious riches
- The Spirit of Christ now lives in all believers – both Jews and Gentiles
The church frequently discusses the second part – it’s the Top Line of the promise. After all, what an upgrade: God was once with His people, now He lives in them! But that first part? The part about the Gentiles? That was explosive news to Paul’s Jewish audience. Why?
Colossians 1:25 – I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness—
Notice Paul’s words: “in its fullness.” The truth was always there in the Old Testament. We can see it clearly now, but Israel couldn’t. Paul is essentially saying, “Let me give you the rest of the story – the part that was always there but you couldn’t see.”
But why couldn’t they see it? The answer is astonishing:
Ephesians 3:8-9
8 Although I am less than the least of all the Lord’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the boundless riches of Christ, 9 and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things.
God Himself had hidden it from them! But why would God do such a thing? To understand this, we need to lay two crucial foundations…
Foundation #1 – God knows our future disobedience
Imagine being able to see exactly how someone will disappoint you – not just guessing but knowing with absolute certainty. That’s what we see in this haunting passage:
Deuteronomy 31:16-17
16 And the Lord said to Moses: “You are going to rest with your ancestors, and these people will soon prostitute themselves to the foreign gods of the land they are entering. They will forsake me and break the covenant I made with them. 17 And in that day I will become angry with them and forsake them; I will hide my face from them, and they will be destroyed. Many disasters and calamities will come on them, and in that day they will ask, ‘Have not these disasters come on us because our God is not with us?’
This isn’t a frustrated God making threats. This isn’t even an educated guess about what might happen. This is God, who knows all things – including every future choice we will make – telling Moses exactly what will unfold.
How is this possible? Because God’s knowledge isn’t limited by time like ours is. He knows our future disobedience with the same certainty that we know our past mistakes.
This knowledge will prove crucial to understanding why God would deliberately hide part of His plan from His own people…
Foundation #2 – God must protect his reputation among the nations
Picture this scene: Israel is camped below Mount Sinai while Moses is up on the mountain receiving the Ten Commandments. After three weeks without Moses, the people assume he’s dead. Feeling lost and desperate to experience God’s presence like Moses did, they do what seems logical to them – they create an idol, but with a twist. Since they can’t make an image of Yahweh (He forbade that), they craft a golden calf with an invisible Yahweh riding on its back – a common way gods were depicted in those days. Problem is, they’ve just broken God’s first commandment.
Exodus 32:7-11
7 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go down, because your people, whom you brought up out of Egypt, have become corrupt. 8 They have been quick to turn away from what I commanded them and have made themselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf. They have bowed down to it and sacrificed to it and have said, ‘These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.’ 9 “I have seen these people,” the Lord said to Moses, “and they are a stiff-necked people. 10 Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation.” 11 But Moses sought the favor of the Lord his God. “Lord,” he said, “why should your anger burn against your people, whom you brought out of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand?
What happens next should be required reading in law schools everywhere. Moses becomes Israel’s defense attorney – against God as both prosecutor AND judge! How do you win such an impossible case?
Like any good lawyer, Moses listens carefully to every word. Did you catch God’s offer in verse 10? “I will make you into a great nation.” Moses realizes God is suggesting He could fulfill the Top Line of the promise through Moses alone (he’s an Israelite, after all) and destroy everyone else.
But Moses makes a brilliant move – he focuses on the Bottom Line. “What will the nations think of a God who destroys His own people?” he argues. Who would want to follow such a God? Moses effectively argues that destroying Israel would ruin God’s reputation among the nations.
God’s response? He changes His mind to protect His reputation:
Ezekiel 20:13-14 13 “‘Yet the people of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness. They did not follow my decrees but rejected my laws—by which the person who obeys them will live—and they utterly desecrated my Sabbaths. So, I said I would pour out my wrath on them and destroy them in the wilderness. 14 But for the sake of my name I did what would keep it from being profaned in the eyes of the nations in whose sight I had brought them out.