"It is in Him, and through the shedding of His blood, that we have our deliverance–the forgiveness of our offences–so abundant was God's grace, the grace which He, the possessor of all wisdom and understanding, lavished upon us, when He made known to us the mystery of His will. And this is in harmony with God's merciful purpose for the government of the world when the times are ripe for it-- the purpose which He has cherished in His own mind of restoring the whole creation to find its one Head in Christ; yes, things in Heaven and things on earth, to find their one Head in Him. And you..."
Mystery=
Musterion=
Denotes, not the mysterious (as with the English word) but that which, being outside the range of unassisted natural apprehension, can be made known only by Divine revelation, and is made known in a manner and at a time appointed by God, and to those only who are illumined by His Spirit.
"The mystery which hath been hid from all ages and generations..."
Source, Guide, Goal of ta panta
amen.. "but has now been revealed.." to those who have (been given) ears! (But when I think of that an image comes to mind of someone with ears of corn in their ears. :laughing7: )
The Hebrew word is 'riddle' or 'dark saying' 02420 חידה chiydah khee-daw'
Jesus said that all the scriptures speak of him. The sayings concerning him are hidden in prophetic riddle... mystery. The answer to the riddle was not known until the cross.
A classic double entendre riddle is found in Ge 2:21:
Ge 2:21 ¶ And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;
All the Hebrew words have multiple meanings, such that this can be read as:
"And God caused the man to die and he died, and he married a certain limping side, and delivered mankind".
Solving the riddle:
God cause Christ 'the man' to die.
He really did die.
The church is his bride.
He delivered mankind.
Those parts are easy. But what is the 'limping side'?
Let scripture speak for scripture:
The seed of the woman had a bruised heel.... he limped.
Jacob had a withered thigh.... he limped.
These are prophetic riddles of Gethsemane where Christ, in the flesh did not want to die, and pleads for the cup to be removed. But he 'disables the will of his flesh.. he makes his 'flesh' side limp as he obeys in the spirit, determined to face the cross.
The mystery, hidden from the beginning is found in every verse of every chapter of every book of the OT. We have not been given permission to look at it by the Nicolaitans, but the NT authors teach us how to read it.