The Great Mystery, Revealed - 4/8/07
Last Lord's Day in the evening service we discussed Jesus in the second chapter of the book of Hebrews.
Also, we examined His becoming a little lower than the angels as He lived here on the earth. Everything we read about our Lord is a fulfillment of something planned long, long ago. At one time it was a mystery,
but was revealed. Scientists study our universe to try to unravel the mystery of how things happen and the answers they find can even be difficult for the "layman" to understand. The mystery revealed in the Word was intended to be and can be understood by all. What's so special about that mystery?
1) God Had A Plan
a. A plan to put into action and to reveal. Deuternomy 30: 11 - 14, 29:29
1. Not all operational plans are revealed to all i.e. military
b. God revealed Himself in the person of Jesus Christ. - Hebrews 1: 1 - 2
1. Not comprehensible for many 1 Corinthians 1: 18, hard for many to fathom Acts 26:8
a. the image didn't fit
2. But, that was always the plan in spite of the resistance of the "wise"
3. A total self-disclosure of God in Christ that, too many, didn't fit their image of God
a. had been a mystery
1. mysterion - a genuinely Greek religious term, that transformed into a general term for secret
2. Used for God's revelation
a. Mark 4: 11; Romans 16: 25 - 26; 1 Corinthians 2: 7 - 10; Ephesians 1: 9 - 10; Ephesians 3: 3 - 6
b. examine each passage closely - all summed up in Christ
c. insight of prophets and angels? - 1 Peter 1: 9 - 12
2) The Plan Brought Light
a. John 1 - discuss
b. man has always been inclined towards self wisdom
c. Paul stressed that God is God and man is man - 1 Corinthians 1: 18 - 2:5
d. How did this happen? - 1 Corinthians 2: 10 - 13
e. Inspired men revealed Truth
1. as Jesus told His disciples - Matthew 10: 17 - 20; Luke 21: 13 -15; John 14: 26; 16: 12 -13
2. as happened in Jerusalem - Acts 2
3. as continued to happen - Acts 5: 31 - 32
4.as happened with power - Hebrews 2: 3 -4
3) The Plan Is For Man's Redemption From Sin
a. Jesus came into the world to carry out God's eternal plan to redeem man. Man was lost, without hope,
because of sin.
b. were burnt offerings sufficient? Hebrews 10: 4
c. a Supreme sacrifice was needed - 10: 5 - 7
d. on the day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit came upon the apostles justa as Jesus had promised Acts 1: 8
e. the message preached on Pentecost involved the basic elements of faith, repentance, and baptism
f. faith to change the sinner's thinking, repentance to change the actions and baptism to change
the sinner's state Acts 2 : 38
4) The Plan Was Designed By God Before The Dawn Of Creation
a. Ephesians 3: 11 - designed before the dawn of creation
b. It was not an afterthought of Jehovah
c. the Word is an unfolding of this divine plan to bring into the world a Savior who would offer himself
as a sacrifice through which all men should have the privilege of the restoration of fellowship
with God.
Conclusion - On a personal basis I know exactly one card "trick". It's very long and complex, but at the end people are almost always amazed at the outcome. Then, people will usually say, "how did you do that?" Since I have no plans for a career in magic the "secret" is revealed. When the full magic of the trick is explained then all the things that occured during the course of the trick make sense.
God's plan of salvation revealed over time was not some plan to "trick" anyone, but in the same sense when one fully understands the full revelation of His Master Plan then all the events leading up to it's fruition are now fully understood.
We must always Obey the Plan!