Waverly Church of Christ

When you hear the word “mystery” what does your mind generally turn to? When I was a young teenager, I enjoyed reading a series of mysteries known as the “The Hardy Boys.” Young ladies could follow along with another series known as the “Nancy Drew” mysteries. Others which come to mind are works by Agatha Christie or Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. However, such mysteries as these are not what the apostle Paul had in mind. In the New Testament, the Greek word musterion means something which is beyond natural knowledge, but has been opened to us by divine revelation through the Holy Spirit. In Colossians 1:26 Paul expounds on this idea by identifying it as: “the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints.” Something that had previously been undreamed of is now wide open and revealed to the saints — an open secret. Let’s look more closely now at this open secret.