Not The Messiah They Wanted

Ephesians 3:4 (NKJV) "By which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ."

Paul describes the mystery of Christ. Jesus came, and He was a mystery to those who saw Him in the first century. He comes to us today from the pages of the written Word, and we still do not quite know what to make of Him, Who He is, what He means to us.

Remember, when Paul uses the word "mystery", he does not mean something unexplainable or something with no real answer. In the New Testament, a mystery is a secret. It is something God knew from the beginning of time. He kept it concealed, and at the right moment, He began to pull back the curtain and reveal it. There is an answer. There always was. God knew it, Paul knew it, and now the Holy Spirit is sharing it with us.

If you were there in the first century, you would be looking for a savior to save you from Roman or political oppression. Even in the Gospel accounts, you see the people trying to proclaim Jesus as the Messiah, but they mean for Him to dethrone Rome and take the throne of David, just as the Old Testament prophesied. And yet Jesus, at that time, was not that kind of Messiah. Those prophecies are yet to be fulfilled. When Jesus came the first time, He was fulfilling many Old Testament prophecies. When Jesus comes again, He will fulfill the rest of those prophecies. This is part of the reason they rejected Jesus. He didn't fit everything they expected from their Messiah.

Jesus was not a Messiah who was seeking to break off Roman political oppression. He would break off oppression, though. He would break off sin's oppression. Jesus was not a Messiah coming to establish a physical kingdom (like He one day will do). He came to set up a spiritual kingdom in the hearts of men and women. This is the mystery Paul alludes to here.

He comes to our hearts today, and the question remains the same. Do you receive Him as He actually is, or do you keep looking for the version you wanted? The version that fixes your problems, removes your difficulties, and makes your life go more smoothly. People have been walking away from the real Jesus for two thousand years because He refuses to be the Messiah they wanted.

But for those of us who receive Jesus as He is - the Savior Who breaks the power of sin, Who takes the punishment we deserved and absorbs it Himself, Who offers us a righteousness we could never earn - for us, the "mystery" becomes the most precious secret we have ever been let in on.

This is where real life begins. The grace of God is not something you add to your life. It is not one more item on the list. When this "mystery" hits you, it reorders everything. Paul's whole life was reshaped. He went from persecuting the church to being imprisoned for it. That is not a small shift. And it will do the same thing to you. Once hidden, now revealed. Concealed for ages, and now brought into the light through the gospel.

So here is the question you need to consider: Have you experienced this gospel? Has it been applied to your own soul through the Person and work of Jesus Christ? Everything else flows from this one question. Has it hit you personally? Has it reordered your life?

Reflection Question: Are you receiving Jesus as He truly is, the Savior from sin, or still waiting on a savior who simply smooths out your circumstances?

Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for pulling back the curtain on the mystery of Christ, the Savior who breaks the power of sin. Forgive me for the times I have wanted a Jesus who only fixes my problems. I receive Him as He truly is, and I ask that His grace would reorder my entire life. In Jesus' Name, amen.
 
Check out: "Staying Positive in a Negative World": https://www.joshfranklin.org/media/d6xvd3t/11-staying-positive-in-a-negative-world-eph-3-1-13