Romans 16
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 kept secret since the world began 26 but now made manifest, and by the prophetic Scriptures made known to all nations, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, for obedience to the faith— 27 to God, alone wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen.
The chance that a secret will remain a secret seems to be in an inverse proportion to the number of people that know it. Not only do most people seem to be congenitally unable to keep a secret, the world that we live in seems to be conspiring to allow others to see our secrets in ways we never dreamed. Those folks whose emails have been opened up to the world thought that no one would ever be a part of their silly little world of gossip and nastiness and now they find themselves involved in an international incident that some think may be the way of future wars. An insipid movie that was put together to make a few bucks by cashing in on the American inability to refrain from being entertained for a while suddenly becomes a huge international issue. “The Interview” may have been and remained a secret after it was released if the trailers are anything to go by, but now the ‘secret is out” and many are clamoring for the release of the movie just to tick the North Koreans (who deny any involvement) off. But I digress….
Paul and the Apostles knew a secret. The early church knew a secret.
The fallen, crushed, evacuees from Eden hoped in Christ. Their offspring and the prophets hoped in Christ. Moses and those who followed him hoped in Christ. As one of the old Professors at the Seminary said, “nevertheless, the mystery of eternity could with right be designated as something secret because the Savior had not yet appeared, because complete understanding of prophecy was lacking, because the report concerning Christ was limited to a small area and hidden to the world at large. The preaching of the Gospel is in this present era until the end of the world the greatest and most important work on earth”
Wow. The preaching of the Gospel is in this present era until the end of the world the greatest and most important work on earth”. Why is it that I feel like the best way to keep a secret is to be in the church? I am entering my usual state of Christmas funk that I need to get cleared up by the Christmas message itself …. that’s my project for the next three days. I have the greatest job on earth and need to be reminded.
