I was recently reading an excellent book by M.R. DeHann, M.D., titled THE SECOND COMING OF JESUS. Dr. DeHaan wonderfully explains the mysteries mentioned in the New Testament:
There are many mysteries mentioned in the New Testament concerning this intervening age between the Lord's first coming and His second coming. That is the period of time during which the King is absent from the kingdom and His kingdom people, Israel, are in rejection also. Everything which happens during that absence is called a mystery...
The mystery of Israel's rejection (Romans 11:25).
The mystery of the body of Christ (Ephesians 3).
The mystery of the Bride of Christ, the Church (Ephesians 5:31-32).
The mystery of the Incarnation of the Son of God (1st Timothy 3:16).
The mystery of iniquity, the false king (2nd Thessalonians 2).
The mystery of Babylon, the false messiah's church (Revelation 17).
The mystery of the Rapture of the Church (1st Corinthians 15:51).
The mystery of the seven stars in Christ's hand (Revelation 1).
The mystery of the new birth (Colossians 1:27-28).
The last of these mysteries, the mystery of the new birth, is the first essential. All the other tremendous truths about God's program for Israel, the Rapture of the Church and the coming of the mystery man, the Antichrist, will remain mysteries to you until you have experienced the mysterious power of regeneration. Jesus said, "Ye must be born again," "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."
Until you have accepted the Lord Jesus as your personal Saviour you can never understand the Scriptures or know the mysteries, for mysteries in the Word are those things which only those who know Christ can understand. Jesus said that God had "hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes." You must first become a babe before you can understand God's plan and Word. That means you must be born into the family of God.
In John 3:16 we read:
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
God so loved that He gave. God offers you life, but you must receive that life, for in John 1:12 and 13 we read:
But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
My friend, have you been born again? That is the first question to settle before you can understand the mysteries of God. It is so simple. Only believe. Believe that Jesus died for you and receive Him by faith. God will open your eyes.
For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.
God does not place a premium upon ignorance of the Word of God and the plan of His dealings with men. The Lord has given us the revelation of His Word to instruct us and to inform us of His eternal plan regarding Israel, His nation, the Church, His bride and the nations of the Gentiles. The plan of God is a mystery to those who are unenlightened by the Holy Spirit but perfectly plain to those who have experienced the mysterious new birth. Paul says, "I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits." The things he speaks of have to do with a mystery and that mystery is God's dealings in this present age with His covenant people Israel.
The word "mystery" in Scripture comes from the Greek word mysterion. This Greek word comes from the root word muo, which means literally "to shut the mouth." To shut the mouth is to keep a secret. That is the basic meaning of the word "mystery" in the New Testament. It is the revelation of a secret which had not been known before and one which is known only by a certain few and is kept hidden from all others. The word was originally applied to the members of a secret religious order.
Only those who had been initiated into the order, knew the password and were familiar with the secret code, knew the mysteries of the order. To all others it was just "so much Greek." The things called "mysteries" in the New Testament by the Lord Jesus and the apostles are secrets to all except those who have been initiated into the family of God by the blood of Jesus Christ. They only know the password and they alone know the secret code by faith; to all others these great truths are hidden and misunderstood.
SOURCE: THE SECOND COMING OF JESUS, pg. 98-101; by M.R. DeHaan; 1944; ISBN: 0-8254-2483-6
All across the world unsaved people are butchering the Word of God in an attempt to explain the mysteries of God; but only a genuinely saved, born again believer can properly understand the Bible. For we read in 1st Corinthians 2:14-16...
"But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ."
Thankfully, God has given every Christian the mind of Christ. This is because every believers has the Holy Spirit, i.e., the Spirit of Christ dwelling within us... "But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his" (Romans 8:9). It is the Holy Spirit of Christ living within the body of each believer that seals, comforts, teaches, chastises, guides, and reveals the wondrous truths of the Bible to us. The only way to understand the Bible is in the presence of the Author.
The Basis Of Bible Prophecy Is The Sudden And Imminent Return Of Jesus Christ
