The Mystery of the Gospel (Part 1)

Sunday Evening Evangelistic Message #134

TEXT: Ephesians 3:1-13

When I was a child, I remember trying to read the Bible on my own. I found that after reading a few verses, I could not get much further. It was hard to understand, especially for someone who did not read much in the first place. In fact, I recall only reading one book completely through in my childhood. At that time, the Bible was like a mystery to me. Many people who tried to read the Bible before they came to know Jesus Christ as Savior have also testified to similar experiences.

A mystery is something that is hidden from plain view. Proverbs 25:2 tells us, "It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter." Proverbs 1:6 also speaks of "the words of the wise, and their dark sayings." One of the popular pastimes of the Oriental Middle East was the asking and answering of riddles. Perhaps, because much of what we know about the world today was not common knowledge back then, it was fun for people to make up riddles and challenge others to guess the answers.

As we see in our passage today, the Bible speaks of the "mystery of the Gospel." Not only here in Ephesians 3, but in Ephesians 6 and Romans 16, the Bible calls the Gospel message a "mystery." What is mysterious about the Gospel? That is what we are going to look at today.

+ Plus, listen to Bart Millard sings "Leaning on the Everlasting Arms" and The Five Blind Boys of Mississippi singing "Jesus is a Rock"