’...the mystery having been hidden from the ages and from the generations, but now it was manifested to His holy ones...to whom God wanted to make known what [is] the riches of the glory of this mystery in the nations, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.’
-Something new and wonderful, something glorious has now been revealed for all to see, a marvelous mystery that was hidden for ages. Christ in you, the hope of glory. Who? Two who’s (and a what) actually. We’re talking about Jesus Christ. Messiah. Savior. Lord. Almighty God, Creator and sovereign King of the universe. And you. You and I, any and all who trust in and follow Him in every nation, not just the Jewish nation. We’re talking about this Christ actually IN you, living inside you, in the hearts and lives of people from every nation and people on planet earth. The mystery was twofold actually, first that God Himself planned to make Himself permanently at home in the hearts of finite (and fallen) human beings, and second that He would do so among every nation, that He would gather and assemble to and for Himself (for His Son) a new assembly, a throng of worshippers from every tribe and tongue. This was the new covenant, the new arrangement, not simply with the nation of Israel, but now among all nations, the ultimate blessing issuing forth from the seed of Abraham. And for those thus indwelt, there is a new and living hope, one made sure and steadfast by the death and resurrection of Christ and by the constant indwelling presence of His Spirit. Day in and day out, each moment of every day, the Spirit of Christ assures and reassures the hearts of His people that they are forgiven and fully right in God’s eyes (not thru their own efforts to obtain or maintain it but rather thru the finished work of Christ), definitely destined for glory, a confident expectation that this journey on which they have embarked, with all its peaks and valleys, is the guaranteed path to paradise, and one day soon they will be in glory, forever in the presence of Breathtaking Goodness. It is a bonafide living hope, neither false nor dead. Life is no longer ever hopeless for those who are in Christ.
-This was indeed a mystery, a new revelation to God's first chosen people, not to mention the rest of the world, because prior to Pentecost God's home was either in heaven, somewhere away up there out of sight and definitely nowhere close to people, or else within the holy of holies, the inner sanctum of the sacred temple/tabernacle, off limits to all but a few, accessible at first only by Moses and then once a year by the one person who had been specifically set apart as high priest and specially prepared to enter within the veil. This idea that the infinite and infinitely holy almighty God would now actually deign to make His home in a heart of flesh, to squeeze Himself into my finite fallen mess would be way out of left field for anyone who had even the slightest notion of Who is the great I AM, completely unexpected. And truly glorious.
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