Secrets Revealed

Dec. 23

Read: 1 Cor. 2:6-16

Secrets Revealed

“But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory…But, as it is written,“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”— (v.7,9)

We can’t even begin to imagine what God has in store for those who love him… what God is cooking up for US - his people. It is a surprise that the Lord has been working on since “before the ages” for our “glory”. It is wild to think that we - the people of God today - get to live in this time and space! Consider this compared to all those who lived before Christ:

“Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but has now been disclosed…” (Rom. 16:25,26)

“When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit.” (Eph. 3:4,5)

“…this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.” (Eph. 3:9)

“…to make the word of God fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints.” (Col. 1:25,26)

God is revealing to his people his plan and work that he had once kept secret and hidden. Paul calls this a “secret and hidden wisdom from God”. (v.7) It is utterly different than the wisdom of this world. The problem is that - so often - we try to merge these two “wisdoms” together. This never turns out well. We try to “take matters in to our own hands” and force our play to bring about what we think is best. Sometimes we do this towards noble ends… other times towards things not so noble goals. The people of God need to be directed by the wisdom of Jesus Christ - which comes from the Father Above. God is revealing His plan and wisdom to us through his Spirit. Look at what the scriptures say:

“…these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God…Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God.” (v.10-12)

God wants us to know what he is up to in the ways that are best for us. God wants to bring us in to the secret plan that he had kept hidden for ages, but not brought to light in Jesus. God is not trying to keep us “in the dark”, but has gone to great lengths to enable us to receive and understand the wisdom he is sharing… what he is “FREELY GIVING TO US”. This does not mean we get to know everything! In fact, we simply cannot… but this also does not mean that we need to pretend that God keeps himself shrouded in mystery and leaves us guessing. Too often our limits in knowing are understood to be a lack of knowledge at all. God is welcoming us into what he is doing… he has revealed his Kingdom and plan to us… his children… “those who love him”. He has done this through his Spirit, through his written word, and through his people. Go back and look at those verses about the “mystery” of what God is doing. Do you notice how often this “shared secret” is being passed on by the people of God? Notice the way that Paul sees his ministry and sharing this secret with those around him! As a matter of fact, take Ephesians 3:9 as an example: “… so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.” The scriptures explicitly state that THROUGH THE CHURCH the “manifold wisdom of God” is being made known.

God has a secret he wants to share with you. He is making known his “manifold wisdom” through his people. We need one another… the people of God… along with His Spirit and written word to make sense of this world. There is no other “wisdom” that will do. We must open our eyes to see and ears to hear… drawing near to him. Imagine if your friend looks at you with a smile and asks, “do you want to know a secret?…Its a good one!” How wold you respond? You would lean in. You would be excited. You would expect them to say something. God has done the same for us today. It says so here in 1 Corinthians 2. The people of old longed to know what has been freely given and shown to us today. Why squander this blessing!? Why would we live our lives rooted in the wisdom of this world and taking matters into our own hands when we can lean into the great mysteries of God?

One of the greatest of mysteries is that God would come to us as a man… a baby… in a manger. The Christmas story is the beginning of the mystery being revealed. It is the moment that God began to pull the curtain back and reveal what had been hidden for ages. As we look back to Jesus in a manger… and look forward to his coming again… let us steep in the unimaginably good plan that God has for us in Christ Jesus. Merry Christmas. Love you guys! - JDP