Stewards Of The Mysteries Of God

In current usage a mystery is simply a hidden or inexplicable matter. There is, however, a further meaning, given in the Oxford English Dictionary as "religious truth divinely revealed, especially one beyond human reason." The concept is that of truth, formerly hidden, which has been, or is being revealed by God to men through the Holy Spirit. Vine points out that there is a contrast between the common meaning of a mystery as knowledge withheld, and its Scriptural use to mean truth revealed. The Lord Jesus Christ spoke of the mystery of the kingdom of God being known by those to whom it is given, but hidden in parables from others (Luke 8:10).

The term "mysteries of God" is used in 1 Corinthians 4:1 in a general sense and the apostles are described as being the stewards thereof; a steward being a person entrusted with the management of property belonging to another. The mysteries of God include what is described in Ephesians 6:19 as the mystery of the gospel-the good news of the divine plan of salvation through the revelation of God in the person of Christ-expressed in Colossians 2:2-3 as the mystery of God, even Christ in whom are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge hidden. Such a mystery was contained in God's eternal counsels and hidden in God (Ephesians 3:9 RVM), decreed before the ages (1 Corinthians 2:7), and veiled from human understanding (Romans 16:25, 1 Corinthians 2:7,8) until the divinely appointed time for its disclosure.

Whereas the concept of the mystery of God is eternal, its disclosure was historically announced in the person of Christ through whose death and resurrection man can be reconciled to God. Colossians 1:26 summarizes this in the words, "the mystery which hath been hid ..., but now hath it been manifested."

These mysteries are spiritually, and not naturally, perceived. 1 Corinthians 2:10 and Ephesians 3:4-5 indicate that the mystery of Christ was revealed to the apostles and prophets by the Spirit so that they had a far-reaching insight of the purposes of God to reconcile all men, regardless of race or culture, in one Body (Ephesians 5:32).

Just as there is perfect unity within the Church the Body of Christ, so the Lord's prayer of John 17 may be taken as sufficient evidence of the divine intention that there should be a corresponding unity among disciples on earth. The pattern of divine unity found then, and finds now, expression in churches of God to which were added those who had accepted Christ as Saviour and who had been baptized. The common doctrine of the churches-the apostles' teaching, which is the divine pattern for worship and for conduct is expounded in the epistles.

Of such mysteries, then, first the apostles, and now we, are the stewards. The mysteries are God's; they transcend human thought and yet they are entrusted to human stewardship. It should therefore be no surprise that it is essential for a steward to be faithful (1 Corinthians 4:2). Luke 12:42-48 contrasts the faithful and wise steward with him who "knew his Lord's will, and made not ready." The responsibility laid on a steward goes beyond the passive maintenance of what has been entrusted to him to the active application of all his ability to maximize the value of his charge, to God's glory and his reward. Those who would seek to serve God are enjoined and required to hold "the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience" (1 Timothy 3:9).

The faith embraces the whole of the will of God as expressed and expounded by Christ and taught by Him to the apostles before His ascension. This body of doctrine was passed on faithfully to others and is described in Acts 2:42 as the apostles' teaching. Towards the end of his life Paul was greatly concerned lest unfaithful stewards should make "shipwreck concerning the faith" and he takes great care to instruct Timothy to "guard that which is committed unto thee" (1 Timothy 6:20-21), to "hold the pattern of sound words" (2 Timothy 1:13-14), to commit "the things which thou hast heard from me ... to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also" (2 Timothy 2:2), and to "abide ... in the things which thou hast learned" (2 Timothy 3:14). Can we, as stewards, be other than active in seeking to understand the will of God and other than unswerving in our fidelity to it?

Contributed

unknown | Jul 1983
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