Bible Study-15
Lesson Point – Can mankind totally understand the many Mysteries of God?
Question-1. Is there a formula to understand the scriptures; if so why are there still mysteries out there when we have the bible to help us know the wishes of God?
Matthew 13:10-13, and the disciples came and said to Him [Jesus], “Why do You speak to them [the crowds] in parables?” 11 Jesus answered them, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. 12 For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him. 13 Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. [Those who have the Holy Spirit of God have some understanding; others don’t.]
Comment – Mysteries are in many cases those truths that have been hidden from the past ages and are being revealed thru Christ in the Gospels or doctrines taught by the Apostles in the NT. If you lack the Holy Spirit; you lack understanding of these mysteries from scripture. Those who diligently seek the Lord find him; along with understanding. It is a gracious & precious gift given to the ELECT; those who are spiritually blind have no understanding.
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Question-2. Was there a reason Jesus waited to explain the parables?
Mark 4:10-23, As soon as He was alone, His followers, along with the twelve, began asking Him about the parables. 11 And He was saying to them, “To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God, but those who are outside get everything in parables, 12 so that while seeing, they may see and not perceive, and while hearing, they may hear and not understand, otherwise they might return and be forgiven.”
Mystery is explained; 13 And He [Jesus] said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How will you understand all the parables? 14 The sower [Preacher] sows the word. 15 These are the ones who are beside the road where the word is sown; and when they hear, then immediately Satan comes and takes away the word which has been sown in them. 16 In a similar way these are the ones on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy; 17 and they have no firm root in themselves, but are only temporary; then, when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately they fall away. 18 And others are the ones on whom seed was sown among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word, 19 but the worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. 20 And those are the ones on whom seed was sown on the good soil; and they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.” 21 And He was saying to them, “A lamp is not brought to be put under a basket, is it, or under a bed? Is it not brought to be put on the lampstand? 22 For nothing is hidden, except to be revealed; nor has anything been secret, but that it would come to light. 23 If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” [Without the Holy Spirit conviction from within; you don’t understand even though the words are heard. Once you understand; you share and teach the Word to others so they hear and understand the message of the Gospel.]
Comment – People without the conviction of the Holy Spirit have no firm root in the vine, which is Jesus and they will fall away. The mystery of the parable is only revealed to the ones who have put their trust in Jesus; who is Emmanuel or ‘God with us’.
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Question-3. Was there mention of God blessing or calling to himself anyone other than the ‘Sons of Israel’ when God spoke those forty years to Moses; presenting His commandments?
Romans 11:11-27, I [the Apostle Paul] say then, they did not stumble so as to fall, did they? May it never be! But by their [Jewish] transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make them [Jews] jealous. 12 Now if their transgression is riches for the world and their failure is riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their fulfillment be! 13 But I am speaking to you who are Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle of Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, 14 if somehow I might move to jealousy my fellow countrymen and save some of them. 15 For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? 16 If the first piece of dough is holy, the lump is also; and if the root is holy, the branches are too.
17 But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive, were grafted in among them and became partaker with them of the rich root of the olive tree, 18 do not be arrogant toward the branches; but if you are arrogant, remember that it is not you who supports the root, but the root supports you. 19 You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” 20 Quite right, they were broken off for their unbelief, but you stand by your faith. Do not be conceited, but fear; 21 for if God did not spare the natural branches, He will not spare you, either. 22 Behold then the kindness and severity of God; to those who fell, severity, but to you, God’s kindness, if you continue in His kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off. 23 And they also, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. 24 For if you were cut off from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these who are the natural branches be grafted into their own olive tree? 25 For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery—so that you will not be wise in your own estimation—that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; 26 and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, “The Deliverer will come from Zion, He will remove ungodliness from Jacob.” 27 “This is My covenant with them [Jews], When I take away their sins.”
Comment – People [All people; even sinners] are loved by God. Through Christ Jesus All can be reconciled to God through the atonement of the shed blood given by Jesus. You can only be grafted [Adopted] when you repent and put your TRUST in Jesus. Since the Jews of Moses day drifted away from God, He grafted the Gentile branch to the Vine [Jesus is the Vine]. The mystery today [maybe 1947] is that God has started to bring the Jewish Nation back to the Vine.
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Question-4. Was there a time mentioned when the Old Testament became ‘old’ and the New Testament actually became the ‘newer’ Guideline?
The Apostle Paul wrote to the Galatians; the following. [Galatians 3:15-29]
The Law and God’s Promise [NLT]
15 Dear brothers and sisters, here’s an example from everyday life. Just as no one can set aside or amend an irrevocable agreement, so it is in this case. 16 God gave the promises to Abraham and his child. And notice that the Scripture doesn’t say “to his children,” as if it meant many descendants. Rather, it says “to his child”—and that, of course, means Christ. 17 This is what I am trying to say: The agreement God made with Abraham could not be canceled 430 years later when God gave the law to Moses. God would be breaking his promise. 18 For if the inheritance could be received by keeping the law, then it would not be the result of accepting God’s promise. But God graciously gave it to Abraham as a promise.
19 Why, then, was the law given? It was given alongside the promise to show people their sins. But the law was designed to last only until the coming of the child who was promised. God gave his law through angels to Moses, who was the mediator between God and the people. 20 Now a mediator is helpful if more than one party must reach an agreement. But God, who is one, did not use a mediator when he gave his promise to Abraham.
21 Is there a conflict, then, between God’s law and God’s promises? Absolutely not! If the law could give us new life, we could be made right with God by obeying it. 22 But the Scriptures declare that we are all prisoners of sin, so we receive God’s promise of freedom only by believing in Jesus Christ.
[IF the LAW was good there would have been no need for Jesus.]
God’s Children through Faith
23 Before the way of faith in Christ was available to us, we were placed under guard by the law. We were kept in protective custody, so to speak, until the way of faith was revealed.
24 Let me put it another way. The law was our guardian until Christ came; it protected us until we could be made right with God through faith. 25 And now that the way of faith has come, we no longer need the law as our guardian. [The LAW was temporary until CHRIST.]
26 For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes. 28 There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you. [The ‘old’ Mosaic is obsolete; just as Hebrews 8:13 reads. Nothing in the O.T. can SAVE a person. QUESTION – Are those who teach or preach from the teachings of Moses, modern day Pharisees? When you pick up your Bible and open it; it starts with the old; 37 books later you get to the NEWER part of our bible where God’s Grace, Faith, and Trust in Christ are taught; it is the way to salvation. All 66 books are lessons from God.]
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Question-5. What has God planned for his creation; mankind?
1 Cor. 2:7-12. we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory; 8 the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it they would not have crucified the Lord of glory; 9 but just as it is written, “Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, And which have not entered the heart of man, All that God has prepared for those who love Him.” 10 For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. 11 For who among men knows the thoughts of a man; except the spirit of the man, which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God
Comment – People’, God made the Plan before creation. If scripture says what it means then the big picture has been prepared or scripted; the individual scenes are yet to be played out. Are you ready?
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A few more mysteries mentioned in scripture
1 Cor. 15:50-52, Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.51 Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep [die], but we will all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed [From mortal to immortal; what we call the Rapture]
Also a similar passage at 1 Thessalian’s 4:16 mentioning the last trumpet and being ‘caught up’.
Question: Is this last trumpet the last or 7th trumpet of Rev. 11:15
IF it is, then there is no pre-tribulation Rapture as some think; another mystery.
Ephesians 3:2-6, by revelation there was made known to me [Paul] the mystery, as I wrote before in brief. 4 By referring to this, when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, 5 which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit; 6 to be specific, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel [Prior to Jesus and the Gospel the verse of Jer. 31:31 was where a newer covenant is mentioned for the future.]
Ephesians 1:3-9, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love 5 He predestined us to adoption as sons through Christ Jesus to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. 7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace 8 which He lavished on us. In all wisdom and insight 9 He made known to us the mystery of His will [This is a precious promise from God to we who are adopted; the spiritually ‘Born Again’.]
A mystery could also be called a hidden truth or a secret
Question-6. Why or how was it that God the creator [who is immortal] become a mortal? Two questions; why and how.
Comment – Why God did it was because He loves mankind and made a way for forgiveness and an escape from Hell. How is the mystery; God is omnipotent and can do whatever imaginable. God is also triune [Father-Son-Holy Spirit]; He can do multiple miracles such as have God-the Holy Spirit minister too many-many people at the same moment. God has designed the Plan of all plans, which in itself is the mystery of mysteries. Only blood cleanses sin; and only the blood of God cleanses the sins of mankind eternally. The goat or sheep slain once a year was a temporary cleansing. [One day God will tell us how it was done when we are invited to the heavenly symposium.]
Question-7. Why do some of our friends or family reject Jesus and end up in hell?
Comment 1 – Good question; is it God making choices OR is it choices mankind makes; maybe the road they choose to take? If God had created all of us as a puppet and pulled each string; we might all have the same fate or outcome. There would be no choices to make but that is not the way we were created. Eve, God’s creation and first wife & mother, could have been an example. She made the choice to disobey God’s directive or instruction. So do I, on occasions, how about you? Comment 2 – God makes many choices of his own; why did God choose Mary to be Jesus mother? Why did David, the youngest of the brothers become King?
QUESTION – Are you and I chosen from God or is it only a result of our choice in the matter? [A mystery that has split churches. People who attend the same church differ in their belief on this matter so don’t let it be a stumbling block. Calvinism is a term used.]
We can choose to trust the Gospel of Jesus and with our own mouth confess him as our Savior and Lord or we can reject the idea and make no choice. There will be no mystery on judgement day if a person is cast into the lake of FIRE. The only ‘fire insurance’ a mortal can have is to ‘with our own mouth confess Jesus’ and then put our ‘trust’ in HIM. [Matthew 10:32-33. Read it.]
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I can’t wait to be in eternity with Jesus someday; to see all that has been planned for you and me. Maybe in ten-thousand years from now those of us who have put our ‘trust’ in HIM will be in the heavenly auditorium hearing the King-of-Kings lecturing on one of those mysteries. Maybe a talk on how science and scripture are in tune; similar to some great song that has been sung. Maybe we will understand how the immortal God became a mortal infant. Maybe one of those mysteries will be a heavenly choir with Elvis singing a solo of ‘How Great thou Art’. None of us know what all that God has in store for those of us who love and trust HIM…
DG