WHAT IS "THE MYSTERY"?
In Paul's letters, "mystery" does not mean something mysterious or puzzling. It means something that was hidden in God's heart from eternity, concealed throughout the ages, and has now been unveiled in Christ and made known to His people. It is God's secret — now told.
LAYER 1: CHRIST IN YOU
The individual indwelling. God's life in a human vessel. The hope of glory residing in ordinary people.
Colossians 1:27
LAYER 2: JEW AND GENTILE ONE BODY
The dividing wall abolished. Two peoples made into one new man. An utterly new entity that never existed before.
Ephesians 3:6
LAYER 3: CHRIST AND THE CHURCH
The great mystery. Head and body. Bridegroom and bride. Two becoming one flesh — not just metaphor but spiritual reality.
Ephesians 5:32
LAYER 4: GOD'S WISDOM DISPLAYED
Through the ekklesia, the manifold wisdom of God is made known to principalities and powers. The church is the demonstration to the cosmos.
Ephesians 3:10
LAYER 5: ALL THINGS SUMMED UP IN CHRIST
The final layer. Everything in heaven and on earth gathered together under one head — Christ. The mystery is ultimately about the supremacy and centrality of one Person.
Ephesians 1:9–10
"To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery."
EPHESIANS 3:8–9