Ephesians 1:8-9

I love a good mystery. This is true ever since I was a boy, when I devoured every one of the Hardy Boys mystery stories. (And when I ran out of the Hardy Boys, I read most of the Nancy Drew books, even though these were supposed to be for girls.) These days, when I have a chance to do some fun reading, I’ll inevitably turn to a mystery thriller by someone like Robert Ludlum or Lee Child.

The fun part of the mystery story is the secret, the unknown truth that will be revealed at the end, the “who done it” and why. Now, I confess that I love to try and figure out the mystery myself, analyzing the clues before I get to the end of the story. I get peculiar pleasure when I can solve the mystery all by myself.

But this won’t work when it comes to the mystery of God in Ephesians 1:8-9 which makes it clear that we know God’s mystery, not because of our clever deductions, but because God has made it known to us. In fact, this verse adds that God enjoys revealing his own mystery to us. No guessing games here. Rather, we grasp the mystery of God only because of his revelation.

God doesn’t tell us yet what the mystery is. We have to wait until He tells us that His mystery is revealed in Christ. We are reminded of our dependence on divine revelation if we want to know the deep things of God. Yes, we can figure out quite a bit about God by using our minds and by considering the natural world. But this effort only takes us so far. If we want to know God, if we want to know his plans for the world and for our lives, if we want to know our purpose for living, then we need God to reveal himself and his mystery to us.

The beauty is that God reveals His mystery to us in a human way through Christ. The Son of God came on earth because God wanted to show the mystery of His love to us.

How much of your knowledge of God is built on what God has revealed to you in Christ and in Scripture? The whole point of revelation is that we can know God, and experience His love and understanding by the example of His Son, Jesus Christ.

Pray earnestly that you take God’s revelation seriously, to base your thinking, your faith, and your example upon Christ and the Scriptures. When you begin to think you can figure God out on your own, pray that you may be brought back to a right understanding of just how much you depend on Him.

Mark Roberts