Read: Jude 1-16.
THE MYSTERY
When properly studied, all of Scripture is really about the same subject (only different facets of it). The seven epistles from James through Jude are often referred to as the General Epistles, (with many differing opinion on the authorship of Hebrews – whether it should be included in this category or not). Really, there is no surety as to the author of the Book of Hebrews, but because of its structure fits well with the “General Epistles.”
The Epistles really are to benefit the “new entity” – the new creation in Christ, the “new man” (2 Cor. 5:17; Eph. 2:13-15); who were to be the recipients of that which had been offered and rejected by Israel, the kingdom of the heavens.
The existence of this new entity – this “one new man,” completely separate from Israel and not under the Mosaic economy – necessitated God’s supplying additional revelation which would have to do specifically with the message surrounding the proffered kingdom in relation to this new man. It is only natural then, that the Epistles would have to do with the same thing – the heavenly sphere of the kingdom which had previously been offered to Israel in the gospel accounts, reoffered to the nation in the Book of Acts and now offered to the “new man in Christ” after it was taken from Israel (Matt. 21:43).
However, neither this additional revelation nor the “new creation in Christ” could be looked upon as completely new per se. Rather, this additional revelation could only be seen as having its roots in the Old Testament Scriptures. It is what is referred to in Scripture as “the mystery,” – that which opens numerous parts of the Old Testament Scriptures to one’s understanding. These are parts which had to do with the “new creation,” parts which would remain close without the additional revelation.
“The mystery” was revealed to Paul, “hid in God” from the beginning (the beginning of the ages), of necessity, formed an integral part of the Old Testament Scriptures; because there is nothing in the New Testament that does not have its roots one or more places in the Old. The New is simply the opening up and unveiling of that drawn from foundational material previously set forth in the Old, drawn mainly from the types (cf. Luke 24:25-27, 44; 1 Cor. 10:6, 11; Eph. 3:9-11; Col. 1:16-18, 25-27.
“The mystery” was revealed to Moses first, though still remaining a mystery. Then some fifteen centuries later, God took Paul aside (to Arabia, the same country to which He had previously taken Moses to reveal things surrounding the theocracy); and, in the person of His Son, God opened up and unveiled various things which He had previously revealed to Moses and other Old Testament prophets (cf. Luke 24:25-27).
I will therefore put you in remembrance …how that the Lord save people out of Egypt
afterwards destroyed them that believed not Jude 5
THE MYSTERY
When properly studied, all of Scripture is really about the same subject (only different facets of it). The seven epistles from James through Jude are often referred to as the General Epistles, (with many differing opinion on the authorship of Hebrews – whether it should be included in this category or not). Really, there is no surety as to the author of the Book of Hebrews, but because of its structure fits well with the “General Epistles.”
The Epistles really are to benefit the “new entity” – the new creation in Christ, the “new man” (2 Cor. 5:17; Eph. 2:13-15); who were to be the recipients of that which had been offered and rejected by Israel, the kingdom of the heavens.
The existence of this new entity – this “one new man,” completely separate from Israel and not under the Mosaic economy – necessitated God’s supplying additional revelation which would have to do specifically with the message surrounding the proffered kingdom in relation to this new man. It is only natural then, that the Epistles would have to do with the same thing – the heavenly sphere of the kingdom which had previously been offered to Israel in the gospel accounts, reoffered to the nation in the Book of Acts and now offered to the “new man in Christ” after it was taken from Israel (Matt. 21:43).
However, neither this additional revelation nor the “new creation in Christ” could be looked upon as completely new per se. Rather, this additional revelation could only be seen as having its roots in the Old Testament Scriptures. It is what is referred to in Scripture as “the mystery,” – that which opens numerous parts of the Old Testament Scriptures to one’s understanding. These are parts which had to do with the “new creation,” parts which would remain close without the additional revelation.
“The mystery” was revealed to Paul, “hid in God” from the beginning (the beginning of the ages), of necessity, formed an integral part of the Old Testament Scriptures; because there is nothing in the New Testament that does not have its roots one or more places in the Old. The New is simply the opening up and unveiling of that drawn from foundational material previously set forth in the Old, drawn mainly from the types (cf. Luke 24:25-27, 44; 1 Cor. 10:6, 11; Eph. 3:9-11; Col. 1:16-18, 25-27.
“The mystery” was revealed to Moses first, though still remaining a mystery. Then some fifteen centuries later, God took Paul aside (to Arabia, the same country to which He had previously taken Moses to reveal things surrounding the theocracy); and, in the person of His Son, God opened up and unveiled various things which He had previously revealed to Moses and other Old Testament prophets (cf. Luke 24:25-27).
I will therefore put you in remembrance …how that the Lord save people out of Egypt
afterwards destroyed them that believed not Jude 5
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