Read Colossians 1:26, 27. Paul twice talks about “the mystery.” What mystery?
In another place, Paul refers to “the mystery of God,” which is God’s eternal purpose “ordained before the ages for our glory” (1 Cor. 2:7, NKJV) and revealed through the plan of salvation. Peter speaks of this truth as something that the prophets anticipated and that “angels desire to look into” (1 Pet. 1:10–12). It was devised “before the foundation of the world” (1 Pet. 1:20) and “kept secret since the world began” (Rom. 16:25). However, through Christ’s life, death, and resurrection, this mystery has been unveiled (2 Cor. 3:14).
How do the following references to the mystery of God illuminate various aspects of the plan of salvation?
Ultimately, “all things” in heaven and on earth will be brought together into complete oneness in Christ. This was the focus of Christ’s prayer in John 17. Exactly how this would come about was a mystery that has now been revealed through the gospel.
Why God would love us so much that He would give Jesus, heaven’s priceless treasure, for our salvation, will be our study throughout eternity. But we know this: Christ “died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again” (2 Cor. 5:15, NKJV). As a result, all who believe in Christ, both Jews and Gentiles, share equally in the promises of God through the gospel and have been brought together into one body, the church.
“Christ in you” (Col. 1:27) refers to Christ’s dwelling in the heart by faith (Eph. 3:17; compare Gal. 2:20). This spiritual union with Christ enables believers even now to “sit together in heavenly places” (Eph. 2:6) and taste “the powers of the world to come” (Heb. 6:5). Through Christ’s presence in our lives, He is already beginning to unite us with heaven. It is the gospel working in the hearts of believers that “has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light” (Col. 1:12, NKJV).
Supplemental EGW Notes
The great plan of redemption results in fully bringing back the world into God’s favor. All that was lost by sin is restored. Not only man but the earth is redeemed, to be the eternal abode of the obedient. For six thousand years, Satan has struggled to maintain possession of the earth. Now God’s original purpose in its creation is accomplished. “The saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever” (Daniel 7:18).
“From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the Lord’s name is to be praised” (Psalm 113:3). . . . “All his commandments are sure. They stand fast for ever and ever” (Psalm 111:7, 8). The sacred statutes which Satan has hated and sought to destroy, will be honored throughout a sinless universe.
Through Christ’s redeeming work the government of God stands justified. The Omnipotent One is made known as the God of love. Satan’s charges are refuted, and his character unveiled. Rebellion can never again arise. Sin can never again enter the universe. Through eternal ages all are secure from apostasy. By love’s self-sacrifice, the inhabitants of earth and heaven are bound to their Creator in bonds of indissoluble union.
The work of redemption will be complete. In the place where sin abounded, God’s grace much more abounds. The earth itself, the very field that Satan claims as his, is to be not only ransomed but exalted. Our little world, under the curse of sin the one dark blot in His glorious creation, will be honored above all other worlds in the universe of God. Here, where the Son of God tabernacled in humanity; where the King of glory lived and suffered and died—here, when He shall make all things new, the tabernacle of God shall be with men, “and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God” (Revelation 21:3). And through endless ages as the redeemed walk in the light of the Lord, they will praise Him for His unspeakable gift—Immanuel, “God with us.”—God’s Amazing Grace, p. 370.
Of special value to God’s church on earth today—the keepers of His vineyard—are the messages of counsel and admonition given through the prophets who have made plain His eternal purpose in behalf of mankind. In the teachings of the prophets His love for the lost race and His plan for their salvation are clearly revealed.—Prophets and Kings, p. 22.
The above quotations are taken from Ellen G. White Notes for the Sabbath School Lessons, published by Pacific Press Publishing Association. Used by permission.