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“I was chosen to explain to everyone this mysterious plan that God, the Creator of all things, had kept secret from the beginning.”
Ephesians 3:9 New Living translation
“God spoke: ‘Let us make human beings in our image, make them reflecting our nature So they can be responsible for the fish in the sea, the birds in the air, the cattle, And, yes, Earth itself, and every animal that moves on the face of Earth.’
God created human beings; he created them godlike, Reflecting God’s nature. He created them male and female.”
Genesis 1:26-27 The Message
God then used the rib that he had taken from the Man to make Woman and presented her to the Man.
The Man said, “Finally! Bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh! Name her Woman for she was made from Man.”
Therefore a man leaves his father and mother and embraces his wife. They become one flesh.
Genesis 2:22-24 The Message
These three scripture references provide the initial understanding of the mystery of God.
In the first installment of “The Mystery of God is Found in His Presence,” three key elements were outlined.
- Man—the species comprised of male and female—is different from all of God’s other creations.
- Man—the species—spends time with God.
- The bond between males and females serves as a continual reminder of the bond between God and Man—the species.
God created humanity to have a close personal relationship with him. However, sin got in the way, and the carefully devised plan of the Godhead used Jesus as the spotless lamb of God to restore the lost relationship.
God the Father has always intended to use the marital relationship of the male and female as an example of a close personal relationship with his creation.
The honor of marriage is not extended to eternity.
However, that example is only of earthly value.
One day, Jesus answered a hypothetical question about marriage from religious leaders.
“Jesus answered, “You’re off base on two counts: You don’t know your Bibles, and you don’t know how God works.
At the resurrection we’re beyond marriage. As with the angels, all our ecstasies and intimacies then will be with God.”
Matthew 22:29-30 The Message
Jesus said you are off base on two counts: you don’t know your Bibles (implying they did not study them, which is a lesson for another day), and they don’t know how God works (indicating a lack of relationship).
This is significant because it speaks to the importance of developing a close personal relationship with the Godhead while on Earth.
(Addressing a preconception: The Message uses the words ecstasies and intimacies in Matthew 22:30. This wording does NOT imply a sexual connotation, but rather a close relationship with the Godhead.)
It means you are to think of your relationship with God every time you see a husband and wife, whether in an enduring or tense moment.
This is important to understand because no relationship is always rosy. Just as marriage has high and low moments, so will your relationship with God.
When Jesus was in the garden on the evening of his passion, three times, he asked God if another way was possible. I can only imagine how tense the moment must have been.
The Mystery of God
To begin, humanity will never understand God. The Apostle Paul addresses this in his letter to the Christ-followers in Rome.
“Have you ever come on anything quite like this extravagant generosity of God, this deep, deep wisdom? It’s way over our heads. We’ll never figure it out.
Is there anyone around who can explain God? Anyone smart enough to tell him what to do?
Anyone who has done him such a huge favor that God has to ask his advice?
Everything comes from him; Everything happens through him; Everything ends up in him. Always glory! Always praise! Yes. Yes. Yes.”
Romans 11:33-36 The Message
However, an intimacy with God penetrates deep within your soul. The more time spent with him, the deeper this understanding goes.
My wife and I have been together for 25 years. We “know” what the other is thinking before we express the thought.
How can that be?
It can be because we have spent and continue to spend time together. We walk and talk, laugh and cry, pray and believe together.
We have done it so long that we “know” each other.
This is another level of the husband-and-wife example.
It serves as a reminder of my relationship with God.
I am at a place in my walk and relationship with God that causes me to “know” things before I see them.
For example, I will “know” that someone is coming to see me before they ask me to go by. I will “know” how to repair something I do not know about repairing.
This “knowing” has happened so often that I have confidence it is the Lord when it happens.
How can this be?
It can be because I have spent a lifetime walking, talking, laughing, crying, praying, and believing in God.
So, what is the mystery of God?
The mystery of God is spending time with him and learning about him as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
It takes a lifetime to develop, which is why so few Christ-followers find it.
But I believe you can, and you will.
A close personal relationship with the Godhead provides you a living hope. It is a living anticipation full of expectation of something good happening.
A close personal relationship with the Godhead is a journey. I invite you to follow along. As I learn, I will pass it along so you, too, can learn. I hope that as you learn, you can pass it along so that I (and others) might learn.
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