Making The Mystery Relevant

“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.”

                 

                                                                        Colossians 1:27

Some days are harder to write than others.  This is one of those days.  What marks its difficulty is the transparent nature of its content.  Ugly content.  Transparency isn’t especially easy when one’s humanness is laid bear and the review is less than stellar. It is a testimony, my testimony. 

Our last post I talked about the Biblical definition of a mystery.  We defined it as something hidden that was now revealed.  I discussed, ok ranted, about how there is no exclusivity regarding Biblical mysteries.  If it is revealed to one than it is meant for all.  When God reveals something, His intention is for all the come to know it.  This is important.  Today we are going to talk about the nature of this mystery. 

What exactly and specifically was the mystery Paul was referring to?  Looking at today’s text, you are probably thinking “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”  You would be correct, partially.  As I write this, I find myself wondering what you are experiencing when you read today’s scripture.  If you are a Gentile, what are you feeling?  Really feeling? Do you see this as a mystery?  Growing up in a largely Christian culture this might not seem as dramatic as it would to Paul.  To him, this was a great mystery.  You see, Paul was Jewish.

What would make this mysterious to a Jewish scholar, let alone a Jewish man, was their conviction that the adoptions as sons, the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law and the promises belonged to Israel and to Israel alone (Romans 9:4).  They also believed that the “Christ” also belonged to the race of Israel and most Jews took for granted that his purpose in coming was to restore glory and privilege to Israel.  They firmly believed that the Gentiles “were separate from Christ, excluded form citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.” (Eph 2:12)

Paul saw the inclusion of the Gentiles in the plan of God’s redemption as a mystery.  It was something that his mind had never conceived.  Not only was the notion inconceivable to him but he was also commissioned by God to actually proclaim this mystery to the Gentiles.  He must have been dazed and amazed about the extraordinary thing that God was doing.  He wrote this to the church at Ephesus. 

“But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.  For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations.  His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of two, thus making peace.”    Ephesians 2:13-15

God was uniting both Jew and Gentile and as a result they were co-heirs of the promise.  Scandalous to any Jew at the time.  Impossible to accept according to their traditions.  An unimaginable outcome.  Has anything really changed? 

The scriptures from Ephesians 2:13-15 above are a testimony of my marriage.  My husband is Jewish.  I am a Gentile.  When I came to Christ, I spent a great deal of time attempting to convince him that he needed to know Jesus in order to be saved.  I sited and quoted prophecy in the Old Testament scriptures that I thought should convince him. However in spite of my genuine and brilliant attempts his heart was hard to the Gospel. I was very purposeful in my witness but I confess arrogant in my presentation.  I spoke down to him in many respects.  Something I am not proud of.  Then one day, God got a hold of my attitude and brought me to the spiritual woodshed of sorts.  I knew the way since we have been there before.  He used scripture and this is what He showed me.

“Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden.”          Romans 9:18

“If some of the branches (Israel) have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, do not boast over those branches.  If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you.  You will say then, ‘Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in’. Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith.  Do not be arrogant, but be afraid.  For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either.” 

                                                               Rom 11:17-21

“I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in.”    Romans 11:25

Whoa!  A hardening in part so that I could come in?  Oh my.  Do you sense my heart pounding?  Perhaps the reason my husband’s heart was so hard was so that I could know God.  Perhaps his stubbornness had nothing to do with him but me.  Through his stubbornness, God was reaching me. I couldn’t wrap my mind around this. 

I also realized that the fact that I even know Christ is because of God.  That just as my husbands heart was hard, mine could have been also.  It was only because of God’s tender mercy that I even knew Him.  I have much to owe to the Jewish people since theirs are the covenants and the promises.  I may have been grafted in but they are the real deal.  I physically remember having lost my breath for a moment.  In all my arrogance, I actually thought I had brought something to this salvation thing.  This isn’t pre-destination, this is me thinking that it was by my own doing rather than God’s drawing.  He is the author and perfecter of my faith, not me.

This was my defining moment.  I was at a crossroads with the Lord.  I knew God was calling me to radical repentance.  I got down on my knees before my husband and asked his forgiveness for my self-righteous attitude.   I then put all my Jesus stuff away (which was just creating a smoldering hostility in our marriage anyway) and waited for further instructions from the Lord.  They came very specifically and very quickly.

“Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible.  To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews….I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some.”    1 Cor 9:19-20;22b

God was commissioning me to become like a Jew, of sorts.  I celebrated the Jewish holidays, studied the first five books of the Old Testament line by line, learned how to use Old Testament scriptures to lead a Jewish person to Christ, attended any conference that taught how to reach the Jews, taught my kids about their Jewish heritage and countless other things.  I embraced all things Jewish.  The result was I grew to love, no adore, the Jewish people and their culture and I appreciate their part in my salvation.  My self-righteous attitude melted and I became an appreciator of everything they have preserved for us.  I now humbly embrace the Jewish heritage that is part of my life rather than judge it.

The result.  After nine very long years, my husband’s heart was no longer hard but soft and he came to accept Yeshua as his Messiah.  God’s glorious mystery revealed. Right in my own home.

“For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations.  His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of two, thus making peace.”   

                                                     

                                                               Ephesians 2:14-15