31 Mar The Church of Christ: Mystery and Miracle

Mystery is a central theme in the book of Ephesians. However, our culture has minimized the value of mystery. In our present intellectual atmosphere, precise and accurate knowledge is readily available. Science produces increasingly spectacular results. The social sciences seek to quantify (often successfully) aspects of human existence that were once unsearchable. The Internet makes information readily available. As a culture, we know more than we have ever known before, and we emphasize discovery, exploration, and mastery of the unknown. As a result, mystery is an unfamiliar and uncomfortable concept. In modern contexts, mystery is a temporary phenomenon – something undiscovered now, but discoverable in the future. A mystery is the unknown, but not the unknowable. The prospect that we might not understand something is unsettling to our arrogant confidence in human knowledge. However, the divine mystery of God’s plan in Christ is a mystery that cannot be fathomed, cannot be fully understood, no matter how much we may explore it. In Ephesians 3:1-13, Paul describes one facet of the “mystery” that occupies much of this book.

In verse 3, Paul describes the mystery as “made known to me by revelation.” In verses 4 and 5, he claims that it is “the mystery of Christ,” which was unknown in previous times but has now been made known “by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets.” Finally, in verse 6, he defines this mystery, stating, “This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.”

This is the mystery: God’s people have been expanded to include not only the Jews, but the Gentiles as well. We rarely think about this distinction today; to us, the Jews are only one of many ethnic groups in today’s pluralistic world. However, before Christ, Jews were set apart. They were God’s people and God’s people exclusively. Only through the covenant community of Israel could people come to know the Living God. With Christ, this community is expanded to include not only Jews, but Gentiles as well. Africans, Arabs, Anglo-Saxons, Slavs, Turks, Asians – all are now free to be included in the community of God’s people.

I imagine that, for most of us, this means almost nothing. Little, if any, of our identity is found in being a Gentile. Jew and Gentile are simply not categories that we often consider. Christianity is such a major part of our culture that it seems natural – it seems as if Christianity is a religion of the West. However, let us think about this: during the time the Gospel was being preached, my Germanic ancestors were likely worshiping trees, rivers, or the moon in continental Europe. For those of Asian descent, their predecessors probably practiced ancestor worship. Ancient Africans were involved in various tribal religions, as were the ancient natives of the Americas. For the majority of Grace Church (in fact, for every member of Grace Church who is not of Jewish descent), our ancestors were incredibly distant from the One True God. It is a miracle that we Gentiles, who were once far off, have been brought near to God by His revelation of the mystery of Christ.

It is Christ who unites us with God and, therefore, with His people in all times and all places. In the South, we often have an extremely narrow view of Christianity and, therefore, an extremely narrow view of God’s people. American exceptionalism has a spiritual as well as a political side; we seem to think that we Americans are God’s chosen people. However, I think it is essential that we consider the massive diversity of Christ’s church – before there were any American Christians, there were Jewish Palestinians, North Africans, Indians, Slavs, and countless other people groups who worshiped Christ in a variety of diverse and legitimate ways. We play a role in this community, yes, but it is a small role when we consider the breadth and depth of God’s people. Whether Catholic, Protestant, or Orthodox, male or female, white, black, or anything in between, Christ has been faithful to His church for two millennia. It is an unfathomable mystery that these seemingly incongruous and disparate groups have been reconciled across racial, social, historical, geographical, and cultural boundaries to be made into one people – the people of God.

As we reflect on Passion Week, I invite you to consider the very truth that draws us together with these diverse believers throughout the ages and across the world – the death and resurrection of Christ. In Him, “there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Let us consider the sufferings of our Lord, which paid for our sins as well as the sins of the whole world. Let us celebrate His resurrection, which frees us from sin and death and gives us hope for the future. In doing so, let us be united with His Church, the institution that has existed across geographic and temporal bounds, and let us wonder at the mystery of Christ, which has been revealed for our salvation and for His glory.

-Alexander Batson, Anderson Campus