Mystery Revealed

Ephesians 1:7-11
7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,
8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight
9 making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ
10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

Imagine yourself as an Old Testament believer. What do you know about God's plan so far? You know that God created all things, including you, and placed Adam and Eve into the Garden. You know that your ancient ancestor, Adam, sinned and brought separation between you and God. And you know that God promised to send Someone who would be able to solve the problem of that separation. How God is going to do that is really beyond your knowledge and imagination. The prophets give numerous clues about the coming Savior, and those details, when put together really make up quite a bit of information. But ultimately, how the salvation of man is going to become reality is beyond anything you can conjur up in your mind.

None of us would have suspected that God Himself would come to earth and pay the price for our sin. Yet that is exactly what happens in the person of Jesus Christ. Now, in these verses of Ephesians 1, Paul tells us that a tremendous mystery has been solved for us. God has revealed the inner workings of His salvation plan with us through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. We are now a part of the mystery! Not only has Jesus' blood freed us from our slavery to sin, that blood has also brought us into fellowship with our creating, saving God. As God lavishes His grace upon us, we are redeemed from our slavery to sin and forgiven for those sins. The mystery is revealed and while it is still an absolutely fantastic story, which we would never have conceived by ourselves, it is utterly and completely true.

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