The Mystery of Christ: What is it?

Posted by Seth Fuller on Oct 27, 2010 in Christology, Salvation

In Ephesians 1:1-10, the “mystery of Christ” is articulated by Paul. We learn in verse 1 that Paul is an apostle, meaning that Christ actually chose Paul in person to be a messenger of the Word and have authority over the churches. In using that God-given authority, Paul writes to “the saint” and the “faithful” in Christ Jesus to exhort and instruct them in important things. So one of the very first things we have to do in order to understand this text about the mystery of Christ is to recognize that everything that Paul is saying is strictly to the “faithful in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 1:1), not to just church goers or falsely self-professing Christians.

Now we get to verses 3-10, which are really teaching and exhorting believers in Ephesus about the mystery of Christ and how it applies to them—and of course also to us. In explaining the mystery of Christ, Paul gives the definition before he states what he’s actually talking about, which doesn’t come later until verses 9-10. This isn’t unusual, since Paul often writes long sentences with lots of clauses before he gets to the actual point of what he’s saying.

In verse three, Paul opens with a more broad teaching that believers have been blessed in Christ with every spiritual blessing. The key term here is Christ. All the spiritual blessings that come with our salvation are because of Christ and His redemptive work. And we learn further in verse three in more detail about how this redemptive work is carried out.

The language in verse 3 is very Trinitarian, meaning that the relationship of the Trinity is clearly illustrated–particularly the relationship between the Father and Son in this verse. Notice where it says “Blessed be God and Father . . .who has blessed us in Christ” We have been blessed BY God the Father IN Christ. Remember what Jesus said in John 10:29? “My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.” The Father gives the sheep to Christ, and Christ blesses the sheep as the Shepherd. In other words, the process of our spiritual blessings begins with the Father and is carried out by the Son, and through this process the people of God are blessed “with every spiritual blessing.” God transfers the exact plans to His Son, and the Son carries out the plans perfectly.

So then, we have God who has blessed us through Christ with every spiritual blessing. What are these spiritual blessings? Are they ambiguous and unknown? If we look at the context of the passage, we can see that Paul is writing about how believers fit into the scheme of this mystery of Christ. If we glance ahead in the passage it becomes clear that Paul is talking about the supernatural actions of God that result in our redeemed life as believers. In verse 4 we are chosen to be holy and blameless. In verse 5 we are predestined for adoption. And in verse 7 we are redeemed and forgiven. These are all inward changes within the believer.

The context of this passage, then, points to inward changes to a sinner chosen by God to be holy. So these spiritual blessings refer to any blessing or gift that enables us to be God’s instrument for His glory. Later on in Ephesians 2:10 Paul expresses the same idea when he writes, “we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

So the spiritual blessings referred to that we have in Christ are inward changes that enable us to glorify God as his instruments.

If we move on to verse 4 we can find out the basis for these spiritual blessings. Obviously we don’t deserve these spiritual blessings, so why are they given to us? Notice the phrase “even as.” This connects the end of verse 3 with what follows in verse 4. We don’t use the phrase “even as” like it’s used here, if at all, so as the Greek suggests, it’s better understood to mean “agreeable to fact that…” So we could read the verse “blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, which is agreeable to the fact that he chose us in Him before the foundation of the world. Then it’s easy to see that the spiritual blessings that we have received are based on or agreeable to God’s choosing of us before the foundation of the world. So we are recipients of these blessings because we were chosen to receive them!

In verse 4, Paul goes on to explain that God chose us before the foundation of the world so that we should be holy and blameless before God. So the whole reason for our being chosen is so that Christ can give us every spiritual blessing which enables us to be instruments of God, so that we can be holy and blameless.

Long sentence I know, but this is a very, important concept to grasp. We were not chosen by God to merely escape His judgment against our sin. That’s only part of the picture. Our being chosen was all planned before the foundation of the world. Furthermore, we were chosen to be holy and blameless before him, for His glory.

And we are holy and blameless in the fact that we are set apart to be morally without blemish. That is the meaning behind the Greek here. So God not only chose us, but he chose us before the foundation of the world, setting us apart for Himself to be without blemish. It’s all about God.

This gets even better. In verse 5, we see that we are predestined for adoption through Jesus Christ. What does this mean? It means that God has decided beforehand to bring us to Himself as his own children. We know from the context that God made this decision before the foundation of the world. The adoption aspect here is really wonderful when it is fleshed out. Looking at other similar places in the Bible, we see that this is a supernatural process by the grace of God. Romans 8:15-17 expresses our adoption very well: “For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”

So from Ephesians 1:5 we see that our adoption by God occurs when we come to Christ. There is a deep supernatural bond that occurs between us and God that is brought about through Christ’s redemption and the work of the Spirit. Think of it as the making of a paternal bond between an orphan and a foster parent. In this relationship there can develop a truly deep bond. With God, however, the bond developed with Him is infinitely deeper. He truly changes us and makes us His child from within—in our soul. Paul echoes this in 2 Cor 5:17 when he writes “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” It is a spiritual transformation that permanently seals us to Him in Christ.

Skipping down to verse 6, Paul makes sort of a summary statement about how our relationship with Christ relates to this mystery. Christ has redeemed us. Redeemed of course means a payment of a ransom, which in the work of Christ is the payment for our sins, which Paul phrases as the forgiveness of our trespasses (Ephesians 1:7). Then Paul explains how our redemption was possible, which is through the riches (meaning abundance and wealth) of the grace of God, which he lavished upon us. The NASB uses the word “lavished” here which I think is really wonderful. The Greek here indicates sort of an abundant overflow. It’s easy to see then how incalculable our redemption in Christ really is.

And God lavished us with this grace in all wisdom and insight. Wisdom and insight (or understanding) being used much more supernaturally here. It refers to the wisdom and understanding of God in the carrying out of his incomprehensible sovereign plan through Christ to be Savior of the whole world. In this particular context the aspect of God’s plan mentioned here is the mystery of Christ which God had kept hidden. Paul mentions this hidden wisdom of God a number of times, particularly in 1 Cor 2:6-9, Col 2:1-3, and Eph 3:5-6.

Paul then goes on to explain that this mysterious will of God that has been now revealed to us is set in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, in heaven and earth. This is very significant, especially when we look at the phrase “plan for the fullness of time.” I think that the usage of “plan” by the ESV does not seem to fit best; rather “administration” (NASB) or “dispensation” (KJV) best represents the Greek, and is indicative of Christ’s role as steward or administrator over all created things. “Fullness” here simply means completeness, and coupled with time (kairos, not chronos), it could be read “completeness of the appointed time.” Chronos can denote any time (like the time of day). Kairos refers to an exact time. The fact that Paul uses both pleroma and kairos together is a strong emphatic statement of the precise execution of Christ’s plan at the exact time.

And what is the purpose of this mystery? Paul says it is to unite all things in Christ, which refers to Christ’s reconciliation of all things to Himself through His work on the cross (Col. 1:20). Romans 8:20-23 speaks of creation’s groaning for this reconciliation. That is the mystery of Christ!

So to conclude, here are a few things to take away:

1. As Christians we are not weak, but we have been given every spiritual blessing. (Eph. 1:3)
2. Our salvation can never be uprooted, since it was the decision of God founded before the foundation of the world. (Eph. 1:4)
3. The whole plan of God’s salvation through Christ is for His glory. He has graciously allowed us to be a part of that. (Eph. 1:5)
4. We are true spiritual adopted children of God in a real supernatural sense. (Eph. 1:5)
5. God’s plan is exact and precise. It does not waver or change. (Eph. 1:10)
6. Tension while living on this earth is normal. Not wanting to live in this fallen world is normal. We long for reconciliation. (Eph. 1:10)