...and
for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth
boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, (Ephesians
6:19, NKJV).
There
is an ineffable elegance and beauty to majestic and noble simplicity;
the perfect comprehension of a sphere; the unconditional love of a
child; the symphonic precision of a heart-stirring landscape.
These
are things that need no verbal elaboration for these are so obviously
“there”, that once perceived in and of themselves, like brilliant
music, they become part of us, almost like food, but nourishing a
different aspect of our being.
The
Gospel of Jesus Christ surpasses any and all such constructs, not
only in what is is, but in what it does, and it comes to us from the
heart and mind of God Himself, the Eternal Author of All That Is.
Yet
it is, and always will be, a mystery, in the sense that it can only
be perceived for what it is by those whose eyes and understanding
have been opened by the Spirit of God. To those who remain blinded in
their natural, rebellious state, it is foolishness or worse.
I
say this from personal experience, having transitioned, by the grace
of God, from ignorance to enlightenment, from death to life, and my
former view of the gospel was that it was a fairy tale for idiots.
Like
the two prior mysteries, sin and the spiritual origin of everything,
the mystery of the gospel has a profound impact on everything you can
think of, on everything that exists, or will exist.
It
is that which makes redemption possible, and without which all of
Creation would be inevitably and eternally destroyed.
We
are instructed from Scripture that Christ's substitutionary and
atoning death for sin was known from before the foundation of the
world. It was a plan formulated (if such an implied step-by-step
process can be applied to Omniscience) in the eternal Counsels of the
Godhead before there was ever anything other than the Triune God. And
it is an event woven inextricably into every moment and iota of space
and time from the first instant of Creation stretching onward into
eternity.
It
is a mystery that is informed by, and informs, all the other
mysteries, a kind of unapproachable light that gives substance and
illumination to all the rest:
The
mystery of the Kingdom of God and Heaven;
Of
the partial blindness of Israel;
Of
God Himself;
Of
the Rapture of the Church;
Of
God's will;
Of
Christ;
Of
the Sonship of Christ;
Of
the fellowship of faith;
Of
Christ and the church;
Of
Christ within us;
Of
faith itself;
Of
godliness;
and
even the mystery of lawlessness.
(Mt
13:11; Ro 11:25; 1Co 2:7; 15:51; Eph 1:9; 3:4,9; 5:32; Col 1:26,27;
2:2; 2Th 2:7; 1Ti 3:9,16).
It
is the gospel which makes all the other divine mysteries sensible in
the literal meaning of that word, and it is the gospel that is the
ultimate revelation of all the others.
Christ,
the Son of God, became a Man.
He
died for us.
He
rose to life again on the third day.
Through
faith in Him, because He lives, we will live also - forever in
fullness of joy.
A
billion more words could be written about this gospel, this “good
news”, but the essence of it is the epitome of elegance and
majestic simplicity: our King accomplished for us what we could never
accomplish for ourselves: escape from the unrelenting punishment of
sin.
He
took upon Himself that which would destroy us eternally, so by His
death, He conquered death.
This
death in view is not the cessation of consciousness that we might
want it to be, but the eternal separation of life from light and
goodness, from joy and love. The death that He took upon Himself on
our behalf was not only the dissolution of the bonds between the body
and our spiritual essence, but the dissolution of the bonds between
the spirit and her source: God.
By
definition, separation from God is that unthinkable state of being we
call eternal punishment in Hell, described by Christ Himself as
everlasting and searing fire, and intimate, personal and inescapable
torment.
Nothing
worse can possibly be conceived.
There
is nothing better than to be given the means of escape from that
destiny, and not merely escape, but the bestowal of all that is
diametrically the opposite of Hell: eternal life in Heaven.
This
is the mystery of mysteries: the gospel of Jesus Christ.
To
the blinded world it is the depths of foolishness. To those who
believe it is Life itself.
And
even these ramifications are part and parcel of the mystery.
The
“what” of the gospel is plainly revealed in the Bible.
Surprisingly, so is the “why” of it, originating from the very
character and essential nature of God.
God
is love.
God
is gracious.
Thus
he provides for us a just escape from His righteous judgment against
sin.
He
ordained that the wages of sin is death. He poured out upon His
beloved Son the death that we deserve, knowing that death could not
hold Him because He was without sin.
He
condemned us all in Adam, so He could pardon us all through faith in
Christ. Without the first, the second would be impossible.
Without
the Son, there would be no hope.
Without
the mystery of the gospel, it would be infinitely better never to
have been born, for once born in the flesh, the death sentence of
Hell, without the hope of the gospel, would be inevitable.
