The Mystery of the Gospel

Book excerpt: Paul tells those at Corinth, he "speaks the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the world unto our glory. Which none of the princes knew; for had they know it, they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory." To those at Rome he says, it is "the mystery which was kept secret since the world began; but is now, made manifest by the scriptures of the prophets." Struct blind on the road to Damascus, Saul returns from the desert, as the new man Paul. He tells the believers at Colossae: "Whereof, I am made a minister according to the dispensation of God, which is given to me for you, to fufil the word of God; even the mystery which has been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints." The mystery, which Paul reveals wihin his letters, is the key to understanding every story, every parable, and the intent of God's every intervention into the lives of men. Those letters entice believers to search for the "mystery of his will;" no longer hidden, they now reveal the "mystery of godliness." I`Corinthians 2:7-8; Romans 16:25-26: Colossians 1:25-26; Ephesians 1:9; I Timothy 3:16