Everybody loves a mystery, and the Bible speaks of many

The last I knew, the most popular genre of fiction in America was still the good, old-fashioned “who done it” — the mystery novel. Oh, sure, there are a ton of variations on the classic mystery, such things as “we know who did it, but how did they do it,” or “I know he did it, but why don’t the other characters know?”

Even for devout believers, there are many places in the Bible which make reference to “mysteries,” and which require careful reading and study to get the point God is trying to make.

This is not because God wants us to be puzzled as to what He wants for our lives. There are mysteries in the Bible which we sometimes struggle to understand because God’s ways are above our ways, God’s thoughts are above our thoughts, and we simply cannot grasp the Infinite with our finite limitations (see Isaiah 55:8,9).

Many such mysteries, or puzzling teachings, are found in the writings of the Apostle Paul. In Ephesians 3:1-13, he speaks of one specific mystery we need to understand: “This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus (verse 6).

In modern terminology, Paul was saying that distinctions of “good” and “bad” as they relate to one culture or one ethnic group over another are gone in Christ. This means that followers of Jesus who were Jewish and those who were non-Jewish (i.e., Gentile) both were to be accepted in the early churches as followers of God.

In our churches, believers still struggle with distinctions regarding race, color, ethnic origin, culture, and economic class. Even when we seek God’s help to accept those who are unlike us, we still struggle. But this ought not to be.

Just as the Apostle Paul prayed for the believers in Ephesus to see and understand these things, we must pray for each other today. We sometimes get so caught up in our patterns or habits of everyday life and/or everyday worship that we lose sight of God’s “big picture”: The most important commandments we have ever been give, or ever will be given, are these — we are to love God totally and love others.

May God grant all of us the grace He gave Paul so that we might pray, live, and work in a way that we will be living expressions of love for God and love for others.