This week’s devotions are based on Week 1 of the Series Ephesians: Becoming Who You Are (CLICK HERE)
Ephesians 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8 that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, 9 he[d] made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10 to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.
Are you one that likes a good mystery novel? Or a movie that keeps you in suspense? It has been a long time since I read a mystery book, but I remember in grade school reading almost every Encyclopedia Brown and Hardy Boys books I could get my hands on. Both were intriguing as suspicious activity and events led to gathering clues to try and solve the mystery. It was always fun to try to guess the outcome of the mystery or to try and solve it before the book ended, or to see if you were right by the end of the book.
If the author would leave the mystery unsolved, it would be a very unsatisfying read or movie. We find satisfaction in having the mystery revealed and solved.
The Apostle Paul shares that one of the blessings of being chosen by God is he makes known to us the mystery of his will.
Have you ever wondered why parts of Christianity and the Bible’s teaching confuse people? Perhaps this gives an answer. To some extent it is a mystery. You are not going to solve the mystery on your own, you need God to reveal it to you.
Here’s a couple examples.
Mystery 1: I am a spiritual being and desire a connection with the divine. Who is that divine? People can seek God in nature and know him in part. People can try to logically explain God until things become illogical. People can try to scientifically reason God or reason against God because not all of God is observable. People can just give up on the pursuit of knowing the true God and “solve” the mystery for themselves and create God as they want him to be. But until we are connected to Christ through the Word of Truth does the mystery of God and his will begin to unfold. When the Spirit of God works understanding in our hearts, only then do we begin to see God as he really is and be content with the things we don’t fully understand. The wisdom of God sounds like foolishness, but it all makes sense when God reveals himself to his chosen ones.
Mystery 2: When I do wrong things, I feel guilty and want to “get right with God.” The mystery seems easily solvable by putting together a string of good effort and good works and meeting a self-imposed standard that we feel is better than most, or at least good enough to get God’s attention. We can try to solve this mystery by comparing ourselves to others and feeling like we are good with God because we are better than most. The problem with these proposed answers to this mystery, is it leaves a gap that leaves the mystery unsolved. There will always be the question, “Did I really do enough.” This mystery is solved when God reveals to us his incredible love that sent Jesus to solve the problem of sin. Look above at the verse again. “In him (Christ), we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins in accordance with the riches of God’s grace which he lavished on us.” Finally the mystery becomes all too clear. It is solved in the grace of God, not the works of man.
The wonderful thing is that God chose you to reveal these amazing truths to. He wants you to know his will. It’s like he leans in from heaven through the pages of Scripture and whispers in your ear, “Hey I have a secret for you…I want you to understand both the mystery of my will and the profound eternal impact it has on you.”
This revelation to us is also a manifest gift of grace, just like being chosen is.
Apply: What impact does knowing the mystery of God’s will have for you in your life today? That is, what importance do you find in knowing the true God and knowing his plan to save you through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus?
Prayer: Lord God, thank you for the gift of grace that revealed to us the mystery of your person and your will so we could have certainty and not confusion in our relationship with you. AMEN.