9 He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He set forth in Him,
Having Made Known to Us
God gives us the wisdom and understanding for the purpose of understanding God’s plan for the ages, and His plan for our lives. God has revealed His plan for our lives Psalm 16:11 You will make known to me the way of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever. God teaches us the way to live our life, so that we have eternal life. Psalm 25:4 Make me know Your ways, Lord; Teach me Your paths. Just as He guided all of those Old Testament believers that we read about, He guides us. Psalm 103:7 He made known His ways to Moses, His deeds to the sons of Israel, and in Ezekiel 20:11 11 I gave them My statutes and informed them of My ordinances, which, if a person follows them, then he will live by them. And, of course David spoke of God guiding him through his life as a Shepherd guides his sheep. Psalm 23 The Lord is my shepherd, I will not be in need. 2 He lets me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. 3 He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness For the sake of His name. He will guide us, and teach us how to live our lives if we will let Him.
God delights in revealing His Plan. In Daniel, He gave a dream to Nebuchadnezzar the king, that Daniel interpreted. Dan 2:28 28 However, there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will take place in the latter days. Later in Daniel, when he sees the vision of the 4 beasts in chapter 7, after He sees the vision of Christ, he is given the interpretation of the vision 16 I approached one of those who were standing by and began requesting of him the exact meaning of all this. So he told me and made known to me the interpretation of these things: And then, none other than Gabriel explains the vision of the ram and the goat in Daniel 8:19 19 And he said, “Behold, I am going to inform you of what will occur at the final period of the indignation, because it pertains to the appointed time of the end. So God made known His mysteries, and what He was going to in the Old Testament, and in the New Testament God reveals still more mysteries.
The Mystery of His Will
The concept of Mysterion, translated mystery in the New Testament is a little different than the way that we typically use the word today. We think a mystery is something that is hidden from us, that we don’t know yet. But mysterion means something that has formerly been hidden, that is now revealed to us.
The mystery of His will first, and most importantly includes believing in Jesus Christ for Salvation. The mystery of the Gospel has several parts:
he mystery, once hidden and now revealed to the holy apostles and prophets, is the union of believing Jews and Gentiles (on the basis of Christ’s redemption) in one body, the church. We read about this in Ephesians 2:11-16 11 Therefore remember that previously you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called “Uncircumcision” by the so-called “Circumcision” which is performed in the flesh by human hands— 12 remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the people of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of the promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who previously were far away have been brought near [p]by the blood of Christ. 14 For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, So God broke down the barrier that separated Jews and Gentiles, and extended the great promise of salvation to gentiles as well, and gave us hope of salvation in Jesus.
A second part of this revealed mystery, is that Salvation would be accomplished through faith in Jesus Christ’s atoning death for our sins, and resurrection to the new life that we all are looking forward to. Rom 16:25-27 25 Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret for long ages past, 26 but now has been disclosed, and through the Scriptures of the prophets, in accordance with the commandment of the eternal God, has been made known to all the nations, leading to obedience of faith; 27 to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, be the glory forever. Amen.
Another part of the mystery, is that God would make us witnesses of His Grace. We the church are witnesses of what God has done in our lives, so that we boldly proclaim the Gospel. And not only is our witness of God’s grace to our brothers and sisters in Christ around us, and to all those unbelievers who see it, but we are also a witness to the angels, and others in the Spiritual realm? Eph 3:10 that the multifaceted wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places.
And, finally, the mystery of the church is that, shockingly I’m sure to all those in the spiritual realm, that God would live inside us poor sinners who have been saved by grace, we have the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Christ within us: Col 1:26 26 that is, the mystery which had been hidden from the past ages and generations, but now has been revealed to His saints, 27 to whom God willed to make known what the wealth of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles is, the mystery that is Christ in you, the hope of glory. So, the mystery of the gospel includes that we received the Holy Spirit when we were saved, and that we have reason for the hope that we have in Jesus, since through the Holy Spirit in us, we have received the down-payment of the inheritance that we are going to receive.
So God has made known his mystery not just to Paul or a few select believers but to all believers. And all of this revelation to those who believe in Jesus for salvation makes sense, since Jesus seeks to reveal the will of the Father to us. John 15:15 15 No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, because all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.
According to his good pleasure which he purposed in him.
So, literally, it was God’s pleasure to share with us, as friends of His son Jesus, who have put faith in Him for salvation, to share this mystery of the Church with us.
So, we know that we can trust Him to become our strength when we are weak, and to give us hope when we feel bereft, and joy when we feel sorrow. He is our ever-present help in times of trouble. We say with the Psalmist I will raise my eyes to the mountains; From where will my help come? 2 My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth (Psalm 121:1-2).
We have our hope in Him, and we can trust Him who guarded this mystery for us through the ages, to be able to keep us, until we are re-united with Him. Psalm 27:1, 4-6 5 For on the day of trouble He will conceal me in His tabernacle; He will hide me in the secret place of His tent; He will lift me up on a rock. 6 And now my head will be lifted up above my enemies around me, And I will offer sacrifices in His tent with shouts of joy; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord
God displays His grace in us to the world, to other believers, and even to the angelic, spiritual realm for the purpose that He is glorified. God has made known to believers the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure which he purposed or resolved in Christ. God made known the secret plan of his will which was according to his good pleasure which he purposed or set beforehand in Christ. God got His will done, just as He planned it, through the obedient submission of Christ coming to earth as a little baby, living a perfect life, and then providing the sacrifice by which salvation could be accomplished.