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The Hidden Mystery
The New Testament describes some of the actions of God as a mystery hidden from the world, both heaven and earth. The question is what is the mystery and why He had to hide it and who was it hidden from? As we discuss what we know so far, I want to remind you that it is still a mystery. And, I am not a theologian.

Who: Principalities And Powers
These are ruling bodies in the spiritual realm, both good and evil. Romans 8: 38 says that not even these could separate us from the love of God. Therefore, God must have been defending us against a whole host of good and bad people.

1. Forces of Good. He demonstrated the wisdom of His plans to them through the church. so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and authorities in heavenly places. (Ephesians 3: 10)
   Heavenly Watchers. We are a spectacle to those in heaven. God has us on display. All for the love of God! The thought is simply too awesome!
   For, I think, God has exhibited us apostles last of all, as men condemned to death; because we have become a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men.
   To this present hour we are both hungry and thirsty, and are poorly clothed, and are roughly treated and are homeless. (1 Corinthians 4: 9, 11).
   Angels. They are also learning about Christ and the plan of salvation.
   As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful searches and inquiries; seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which have now been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels desire to look. (1 Peter 1: 10-12)
   These good forces had a part in the plan.
   - Judgment. They can pass judgment. They sentenced Nebuchadnezzar to living seven years as an animal because of his pride.
     This sentence is by decree of the angelic watchers. And the decision is a command of the holy ones; in order that the living may know that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind ... (Daniel 4: 17)
   - Gave The Ceremonial Laws.
     This [Moses] is the one who was in the congregation in the wilderness together with the angel who was speaking to him on Mount Sinai, and who was with our fathers; and he received living oracles to pass on to you.
     you who received the law as ordained by angels, and did not keep it.. (Acts 7 :38, 53)
     Why the law then? It was added because of transgressions, having been ordained through angels by the agency of a mediator; until the seed would come to whom the promise had been made. (Galatians 3: 19)
2. Forces of Evil. For we do not struggle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6: 12)
3. Christ Triumphed. Christ beat all these heavenly forces and became their head. He will abolish these evil powers after He has eliminated death. (1 Corinthians 15: 24-26)
   Triumph! and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority.
   When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him. (Colossians 2: 10, 15)

What: The Contents Of The Mystery?
From various passages in the New Testament we learn that the mystery involves at least these things:

- Christ. The role of Christ.
  Even the mystery which has been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
  That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ; (Colossians 1: 26-27; 2: 2)
  God made a covenant to save us from sin, but the plan kept failing. There was nothing wrong with the covenant, but there was something wrong with the people and their high priests that a law could not fix. So God renewed the covenant with the same terms, but instituted a better method of helping the people. Christ was the answer. He would be the substitute for the people so that the law can be satisfied. Then, He would guarantee that the people would keep the law.
  - Priests. The priests were unreliable, corrupt and mortal. Christ was perfect and immortal.
    For the Law appoints men as high priests who are weak, but the word of the oath, which came after the Law, appoints a Son, made perfect forever. (Hebrews 7: 28)
  - People. The people were sinners who were not faithful. Christ was the only sinless and faithful Jew.
  Mystery: Man Gives Birth. God used Christ to satisfy the penalty of the law. But the people were still sinning. So God allowed Christ to help us to stop sinning by being born through Him. In Him we inherit the methods that He used to remain faithful to God. He was filled with the Holy Spirit.
  How then can man be justified with God? Or how can he be clean that is born of a woman? (Job 25: 4)
  The answer is, one cannot be justified unless one is born of a Man. A miraculous birth. A spiritual birth.
  - Communion ("Born of the Blood"). This is the symbol of our curse for sin. We cannibalize the body of Christ by "eating His flesh" and "drinking His blood".
  - Baptism ("Born of Water"). This is the symbol of our death to sin and our cleansing. We have paid the wages of sin and can rise to new life.
  - Holy Spirit ("Born of the Spirit"). This is how the change is really done.
  A physical birth is the same process as a spiritual birth. After a child is born in blood and water, they take their first breath (spirit).
- Israel. The temporary rejection of Israel. (Romans 11: 25, 30-31)
  He made the covenant with several people and their children. Each time He renewed the covenant, He gave them His laws. As He made the covenant with a righteous person and their children, He made provision for the rest of the world to join the righteous group. He also made provision for the children of the righteous nation to choose to accept the God of their parents. No one is automatically saved because of their birth. They are saved by choosing to join the faith (the new covenant). The symbol by which they joined the faith is one that symbolized death to sin. So Israel was not rejected. They just had to choose to join the new covenant people through the new covenant symbol.
  - Adam and Eve. God made a covenant with this perfect pair, but they sinned. So He made a covenant to save them from their sins through one of their sons.
    And I will put enmity between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He will bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise Him on the heel. (Genesis 3: 15)
  - Noah. God made a covenant with this righteous man before he had children, and his children were saved. God rejected the rest of the world.
  - Abraham and Israel. God made a covenant with this righteous man before he had children and the covenant extended to the son of the promise. The covenant included the birth of a son who was born by the miracle of God. The covenant would pass on to this son.
  - Christ. God made a covenant with the only righteous son of Israel who was born through a miracle of God. The covenant would pass on to His children who were also born by a miracle of God.
  After demonstrating several generations of failures, God proved that only the children born through a miracle of God would remain faithful. This is the mystery and the solution. We must be born of the Spirit of God.
  So also Christ did not glorify Himself so as to become a high priest, but He who said to Him, "YOU ARE MY SON, TODAY I HAVE BEGOTTEN YOU". (Hebrews 5: 5)

  Rejected | Cain | World | Gentiles | The Wicked
  --- | --- | --- | --- | ---
  Corruptible Seed of the Chosen |  | Adam | Noah | Abraham | Israel | David
  | Eve | Christ | (Born Again) | A New Creation
  Incorruptible Seed |  | God | (Only begotten Son) | The Righteous

  So God gave birth to Christ and Christ gives birth to us. For the first time the lineage is from a perfect source. All those born through Adam were imperfect and could never keep the covenant. Adam broke the covenant when he was perfect. Those who were chosen still broke the covenant. So it is not the concept of "original sin" that causes us to sin. We are easily corrupted because we do not know the word of God.
  Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which lives and abides for ever. (1 Peter 1: 23)
  Christ was born of the seed of woman and the incorruptible seed of God.
- The Gentiles And The Rejected. The acceptance of the Gentiles as part of Israel.
  For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery - so that you will not be wise in your own estimation - that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, "The deliverer will come from Zion He will remove ungodliness from Jacob". "This is My covenant with them, when I take away their sins"
  For God has shut up all in disobedience so that He may show mercy to all. (Romans 11: 25-27, 32)
  When God chose a righteous person who would make a covenant with Him and his family, He rejected the rest of the world who wanted to remain in rebellion. This rejection can even extend to those who reject the covenant. This is what happened to Israel. But God provides a way for all the rejected to be accepted. They can join the covenant people.
- Equal Treatment. He "shut up Israel and the Gentiles in disobedience" so that both could be saved.
  For just as you once were disobedient to God, but now have been shown mercy because of their disobedience, so these also now have been disobedient, that because of the mercy shown to you they also may now be shown mercy. (Romans 11: 30-31)
  When Israel rejected God, there was no faithful person with whom He could renew the covenant, except Christ. So the whole world was rejected, shut up in disobedience. He renewed the covenant with Christ alone. So now God can show mercy on all who accept Christ. We no longer have to be born of any human tribe to be automatically part of the covenant. God goes back to the other method by which outsiders can join the covenant people. They can choose to do so. Gentiles can choose to join the covenant people by going through baptism or washing in the mikvah.
- Crucifixion. If Satan had understood what it means, He would not have murdered Christ. His death freed us from Satan's ownership.
  but we speak God's wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. (1 Corinthians 2: 7-8)
  It was during this time that heaven judged Satan.
  Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. (John 12: 31)
  He will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment. Concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged. (John 16: 8, 11)
- Scope. It was hidden for a long time from heaven and earth. (1 Corinthians 2: 7).
- Faith is the Result. It leads to obedience by faith for all nations.
  Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret for long ages past, but now is manifested, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God, has been made known to all the nations, leading to obedience of faith. (Romans 16: 25-26)
- Scriptures. It was in the scriptures, the Old Testament. (Romans 16: 25-26)
- Sons of God. We were predestined to be sons of God. (1 Corinthians 2: 7-9). No wonder it was hidden! Can you image God telling those sinless, perfect creatures that one day a rotten sinner would be above them? Fortunately, their concept of power and prestige is not the same as ours. However, they must have wondered how the image of God could be written in us again.

Why: The Mystery?
These are some of the possible reasons why it was kept a secret.

- Success. So that the plan would not fail and God could demonstrate the failure of other methods.
- Sabotage. So that He could reduce the effect of sabotage through the corruption of the message.
- Death of Christ. Christ had to die. The question is, who would do it. Satan urged the people to kill Him. If Satan had known that this unrighteous death would free us from his grasp, then Satan would have done everything that he could to protect Jesus. But Satan had to act out of his own jealous heart. He had to demonstrate his evil intentions.

Corruption Of The Message
I researched what was known in the past by looking at some of the claims to similarity in the Judeo-Christian faiths with the heathen belief. I made no assumption about their accuracy. The information was written by someone who obviously hates Christianity and who was determined to prove that Christianity is a myth based on borrowed legends derived from heathen religious symbols.
We know that parts of this plan were known before the world was created. (Revelation 13: 8) Therefore, their presence in heathen mythology is not a surprise.
Satan took these symbols and reproduced them in many cultures so that he could "muddy the waters" and leave us guessing which of these mythological figures, true or false, is the real Messiah. Fortunately, only Christ survives to influence the majority of the world. All others are mere memories.
We can look at the Bible stories to see what was not kept secret and to find the origin of many symbols.

- A Child. Eve was promised a child who would save her. (Genesis 3: 15)
- Sacrifice. God killed the first animals and clothed Adam and Eve with their skins. He rejected the offering of Cain because it was not an animal sacrifice. (Genesis 4: 3-7)
- Life of Christ. Almost every aspect of His life was mentioned in prophecy. Crucifixion, resurrection after three days, miracles, vinegar, darkness and many other details.

  List of "Saviors"
  Savior | Location | Virgin Mother | Death
  --- | --- | --- | ---
  Jesus | Israel | Mary | Crucified
  Quexalcoatl | Mexico | Chimalman and Echvan the Holy Ghost | Crucified, resurrected
  Krishna | Hindu | -
  Saki and Yasoda (Krishna) | Hindu | Maia and Nara-an the Holy Ghost | Arrow on a tree
  Zunis (Zulis) | - | Celestine | Crucified
  Yu | - | Shing-Mon | -
  Hesus | Druids | Mayence | Crucified
  Thammuz | Syria | - | Crucified
  Wittoba | Telingonesic | - | Crucified
  Iao or Jao | Nepal | - | Crucified
  Quirinus | Rome | Virgin | Crucified, resurrected
  Prometheus (Aeschylus) | Caucasus | -
  Mithra | Persia | -
  Atys | Phrygia | -
  Indra | Tibet | Virgin | Crucified
  Alcestos | Euripides | - | Crucified
  Bali, Bel | Orissa | - | Crucified
  Crite | Chaldea | - | Crucified
  Chris | Chaldea | - | Resurrected
  Thulis | Egypt | - | Crucified
  Osiris | Egypt | - | Resurrected
  Bacchus | Egypt | Semele | -
  Bacchus | Greece | Minerva | -
  Adonis | Greece | - | Resurrected
  Horus | Greece | - | Resurrected
  Hercules | Greece | Prudence (Alcmene) | -
  Alcides | Greece | Alcmene | -
  Crucified means any kind of impalement on a tree

- Virgin Birth. The virgin birth was an Old testament prophecy. The table on the right demonstrates that many nations have a similar story that includes some of these items such as, a virgin birth, holy spirit as the father, crucifixion, resurrection, trinity and other details from the life of Christ.
- Other Nations. Prophets were regularly sent by God to other nations to warn them. Therefore, they were not totally abandoned. God worked among them. Melchizedek was not an Hebrew but he was a priest of God and he taught Abraham the tithing system.
- Noah. Since the flood destroyed all records, similar stories must at least be available to all nations from that time. We find similar flood stories and stories about creation from different parts of the world. This does not mean that one people stole stories from another people. It simply means that at one time they all had access to one oral tradition which changed as the people separated and time intervened.
  We believe that Moses wrote down the most accurate account of these stories.

Satan: No Original Thought
We know that Satan copies everything from God, not just to corrupt the message of God, but to have the Glory of God. He is trying to get the throne of God, but his little brain cannot conceive of any glory that is greater than what he had experienced in heaven. Therefore you will find that he either copies or corrupts information from heaven such as the following:

- Green Tree. He corrupted Israel by making them copy heathen worship under green trees. The throne of God is symbolized by a green rainbow and two trees on either side of the throne.
- High Mountain. Satan wants to set up his throne on a high mountain, just like God. The final battle will be for this mountain of God. The battle of Har-Mageddon.

Righteousness By Faith
Righteousness by faith appears to be the mystery. If you examine all heathen faiths you may find that Satan copied the characteristics of the savior so that the history of the world will be littered with false saviors from which the world could choose. However, they all have one common characteristic, that is righteousness by works.
So how was faith hidden from the good people of heaven? Is their righteousness also of works? No, everything is based on love. Faith is a mysterious concept to them because they have evidence of God and constant access to Him. They simply thought that if we got to know and love God that we would obey. So the angels introduced or supported a plan based on education in the law.
... for if a law had been given which was able to impart life, then righteousness would have indeed been based on law. (Galatians 3: 21)
It is that simple for them because they love God so deeply. But our hearts are hard and desperately wicked and cannot be understood by good people.
With their life based on evidence of God, the element of faith was not easily recognized. But it took faith on their part to trust God and not go on the side of Satan.
So ultimately, love requires trust when times are hard. Hard times were foreign to them. So faith was a mystery to them. But most humans have no direct evidence of God, only constant hardships and disappointment and temptation. It takes real trust and patience to wait for God. The angels will never experience faith at this level.
Satan.
On the other hand Satan simply wants to get rid of the law. It appears that God tricked Satan into believing that the Gentiles could not be saved unless they came to literal Israel and joined themselves to literal Israel. Satan did not know that faith would join the two branches of the true Israel. Therefore, he spent all his time trying to corrupt the Hebrews until God seemed to reject them and they rejected God.
However, the false mutual rejection was a part of His plan to include the Gentiles. How? This is where I must speculate that the principalities and powers in heaven must have thought that the children of earth could accept God the same way that they did. By knowing the law through love, teaching, example, habit and practice. Well, God tried their experiment with Israel and it failed. Our hearts naturally have no love for God. We needed a surgeon first, not a teacher. After the surgery then we can be taught.
Christ.
Christ was the only success story.
He did it by becoming one of us. He could represent us on all levels. Therefore, the good powers in heaven could no longer promote a simple solution to the problem of sin. Their beloved God was in jeopardy. Therefore, the righteous powers in heaven used His plans. And this plan settled some important issues.

- If Israel, who has been taught to do right and had been in the physical presence of God still failed, how can the Gentiles be condemned? That is not fair.
- If the human race is under condemnation because someone sinned before they were born, then how can that be fair?

This plan involved the following.

- The Life of One. Since one person caused this tragedy, God allowed one man to fix it. (1 Corinthians 15: 21-22; Romans 5: 15)
- All Disobedient. He showed that obedience could not be taught. Therefore, knowledge of the law cannot save.
  There have been three great periods of knowledge of God during human history.

  Before the Flood | Jews | Jesus
  --- | --- | ---
  Personal Knowledge | Law on Stone | Law in the Heart

  There have been three great periods during human history.
  - Before the Flood. Almost everyone had direct knowledge of God for the first 1656 years. The average age was over 700, so everyone had access to Adam or one of his children. The angels who guarded the Garden of Eden were probably still there for them to see. But this first hand knowledge of God did not lead to salvation. They ignored the law giver. Only eight were saved.
  - Israel. Next God took a sample of humans and personally taught them His laws. In the end there was only one obedient Jew and that was Christ. But over eleven followed Him. Others killed the law giver.
  - After Christ. Now God has sent the Holy Spirit and at the Second Coming billions will be saved. They obey the law giver.
- New Creature, New Mind. Man cannot be saved by example and education, He has to recreate us. He will transform our bodies and our minds. In this recreation, He will allow us to retain enough knowledge that we will know our former selves and be known by others. (1 Corinthians 13: 12). This transformation is taking place now. Our minds can be transformed by the Holy Spirit. Our bodies will be transformed at the Second Coming. This new creature with a new mind will then love God and love the laws of God.
- Faith. Simply believing God activates the plan. The Holy Spirit does the rest by transforming our minds and hearts. God transforms the body at the Second Coming.
- Sons of God. We will become children of God.

Partial Birth Adoption
This plan of God causes us to be born again through Him so that we can become the sons of God. But because we are not physically born from Him, He adopts us as His sons also. So in two ways, by spiritual birth and physical adoption we are His children.

Study to show yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2: 15 | Time: 30 minutes Print: 6 pages
Copyright Updated : May 2007 Credits: The Bible and the Holy Spirit. www.actualfreedom.com.au - sixteen crucified saviors Author: Laverna Patterson. Editor: Patterson (January 2008) All images were created by Laverna Patterson and are the property of teachinghearts.