Ephesians 3:9
9 And [kai] to make [photizo] all [pas] men see [photizo] what [tis] is the
fellowship [koinonia] of the mystery, [musterion] which [ho] from [apo] the beginning of the world [aion] hath been hid [apokrupto]
in [en] God, [theos] who [ho] created [ktizo] all things [pas] by [dia] Jesus [Iesous] Christ: [Christos]KJV-Interlinear
9 and
to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has
been hidden in God, who created all things; NASB
What is the mystery that
God has kept secret since the beginning of the world?
It is not of salvation,
for way back in the Garden, God promised a Messiah who would crush the head of
the serpent. It was not of the spiritual
life, for even the sacrifices of Cain and Abel portrayed the principles of salvation
and the spiritual life.
The Levitical offerings
that were documented by Moses, the offerings that were made by Job hundreds of
years prior to Moses, even prior to Abraham, all speak of the grace of God and
of Gods plan. The magi knew of the
promised Messiah and they traveled a long way to see Jesus shortly after his
birth. Many gentiles came to find the
Savior, and many gentiles are mentioned in the Old Testament, with full
knowledge of the Savior and of the spiritual life. Even Alexander the Great, when he was
marching on Jerusalem, was met by the priests of that time and was shown the
text of Daniel, prophesying his conquests.
So these secrets of God
are not in reference to basic doctrines of salvation, of confession, of the
spiritual life, of the last days, of the end of history, of the Kingdom to
come, of the resurrection, of prophecy in general, and so forth. For all of these concepts and truths were
freely made available to any and all who were interested.
There is only one thing
that has been kept secret and that was the revealing of the Church Age and the
many doctrines that apply only to this dispensation, which revealing did not
occur until Jesus revealed it, and until Paul amplified it.
The word for fellowship
or administration, ‘koinonia,’ means the administration pertaining to an era of
time, a dispensation. It refers to the
specific administration, of a specific era, and not to the general management activity
that applies across all time periods of history.
This Church Age is unique
in that we have the completed canon of scripture. We have no revelations made to us by God or
by angels. We have the indwelling of all
three members of the trinity, we have royal titles that never occurred in the past,
we have so many things with which God has blessed us, that so many in past
ages, did not have available to them.
And in all of these things and more (see the detailed blessings list
online in the special studies library), we have a more completed picture
painted for us as to exactly what God intends for all believers, as well as details
of the more difficult times that are still ahead in the future.
These secrets, were held
back by God. They were included in His divine
plan from eternity past. God did not
generate new plans once Christ made it to the Cross, but held back certain
details of His divine plan until the time that they should be revealed. And that revelation is in regard to our
dispensation, the Church Age.
From the Old Testament
point of view, the Messiah was going to come, pay the price for sin, rid the
world of evil and then establish His kingdom on earth. And this was all going to happen in one fluid
sequence of events that would be witnessed by those who were on the earth at
the time of His arrival. This is why He
was constantly asked, even by the apostles, ‘Is the Kingdom now?’
They completely messed up
the activity of the Cross, the resurrection, the ascension, Christs second
return, and how it all was going to fit together. Obviously if He ascends into heaven He has to
return a second time, in order to be here again.
Since that generation was
completely mixed up on the Cross and Christs purpose, then it should not be unreasonable
to understand that they were confused on other aspects of Gods plan.
On several occasions,
Jesus told the apostles that he must be killed, be buried, be resurrected and
then go away for a while, and then return.
They never figured it out until after the Cross. Paul had to clarify things even decades later
because people were expecting Christ to return at any moment, and thus we have
the ‘great’ apostasy at the end of the age principle, revealed to us.
And now, for the very
first time in all of history, we not only have an inserted dispensation into
history, but we have the completed canon of scripture through which God has
revealed His entire plan for each one of us and for all of humanity and for all
creatures, and for all of creation. We
have a completed picture, sufficient for us to understand the course of our
individual lives and the course of human history.
No one has any excuse for
not knowing, because the information is there for the learning and the knowing.
Unfortunately too many
folks do not know the doctrines of our age, because they do not learn, and they
do not learn because they do not want to take the time to learn, to be taught,
or to study as required by God. Thus
they simply know nothing, or they apply Old Testament doctrines that pertain to
that era, to our era, and that leads to confusion and false interpretations of
life and of history.
God created all things. God invented all things. God controls all things. And most certainly God controls and manages
history in accordance with a plan that He designed a very long time ago. Satan, angels, and man control nothing, even
though they think that they do.
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