Embrace the Mystery

 

1 Corinthians 3:1, “Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ?”

Here Paul had an expectation that the church was not meeting. It was to live by the Spirit. Only when we are first born again and hearing for the first time about Christ, as mere infants, not yet given solid food, are we to live out of the world and not out of the Spirit. Paul asks this church, “Are you not acting like mere humans?” (1 Corinthians 3:3)

The mystery of this gospel is Christ in us as we receive Him and He is in the Father. God is in us, not just among us! We have the Holy Spirit residing inside and are no longer mere humans. We have a human body but are to live out of our spirits as we agree with the Holy Spirit.

Paul writes in Colossians 1:25-27, “I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness— the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people. To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

The prophets proclaimed throughout all history, of this coming time of this secret mystery. God incarnate becoming man, stepping out of heaven to heal us and restore our land. His broken and bruised body given on a cross, paying the price so that we would no longer be lost. Fulfilling the law for us and giving us His Spirit, while creating an open heaven so that from that realm we would finally hear it.

God not only among us but in us is the great mystery of the gospel! God living among us and through us! It is the stake in the ground that we are supposed to center our living out the gospel around.

There are so many expectations out there for Christians, it is hard to find the ones to plant your feet in. But Paul makes two of them clear, receiving our salvation and new life by faith and walking this out by the Spirit as we have been born into the Kingdom realm.

We are to live by faith and not by the law. We are to receive the promises of God that came through Abraham and not live by the Law given through Moses. The Law was only to show us the way to faith, as we cannot live it out in our own strength. We are to believe and receive what God has for us – the abundance of the promises.

Paul asks these incredible confronting questions that are meant to confront our fleshly way of living. In Galatians 3:5 he writes, I ask you again, does God give you the Holy Spirit and work miracles among you because you obey the law? Of course not! It is because you believe in the message you heard about Christ and saw.

Coming back to living by the Spirit, Paul asks the church in this same confrontation of not living by faith, why they were not living by the Spirit and istead living out of their own strength. His response to this, “How foolish can you be? Galatians 3:3a, He writes, “After starting your new lives in the Spirit [by receiving the Holy Spirit by faith in Christ], why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort?” (Galatians 3:3)

To live out of our human nature is to deny the truth. It is like a bird that is given wings to fly but since it was born on the ground, feels an obligation to live walking around. It never tries to flap its wings, never learning to soar and sing. Life is hard for this bird and it may think itself noble because of this, but it was created for so much more and living amiss. Perhaps it never experiences joy because it never experiences the truth of who it is. It denies God and what He has for it when it lives without flying like this.

We are no longer human. “You are of Christ, and Christ is of God.” We are no longer bound by our flesh. We have not only been given freedom, but have been empowered from the inside out. We are given spiritual judgements, spiritual wisdom, spiritual discernment, and spiritual understanding for spiritual realities. We received the Spirit of God to live out of Spiritual realities.

We need to live out of this new reality. We need to learn to fly and then to soar, asking God for more and more. We need to stand up in into the promises given, remembering only through Him we are truly living. We are not to shrink back and think it all odd, we need to remember we have a powerful God. Pray in the Spirit and learn to prophesy, while bringing healing to the one sitting on the side.

Embrace all He has and don’t hold back, why live as though we are in lack? We have been given more than enough, we are the answer through Him when life gets tough. So why do we take such a back seat, when what we have will set others free? He frees every captive and breaks every chain. He sees the hurting and heals their pain.

So why do we pull back and hold our tongue? With pleasing others first, we always stay in faith young. We need to plunge the depth of His grace, and really seek to know His face. See every line in His face and tears that He’s cried, for all those who are so stuck in the lies.

Paul writes, “But we have the mind of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 2:16).

Why does Paul focus on having the mind of Christ? What does having His mind tell us about how we are created to live as a new creation? What does it look like to take our wings and soar in this God given, Holy Spirit filled, life by the Spirit? What does it look like to be wise stewards of what we have been given?

Ever gave anyone a piece of your mind? Usually to do with what you are thinking and want to put in some sort of order. Wisdom comes from the mind. In the same way, having the mind of Christ should put things in order for us. It is a different way of thinking. Not like worldly wisdom but His thoughts are not our thoughts and His ways are not our ways. It is to see things from the abundance of His goodness and have limitless compassion for others.

This mystery shines forth as people see God and His kingdom through us.

Arise and shine, come out of the dark,

For I have an adventure for you to embark

My glory has risen upon thee for such a time as this

For many to come into My righteousness

While gross darkness makes it hard for the lost to see

I am a banner of light all around thee

As gross darkness weighs heavy upon the earth

Through you a bright light is shining, promising new birth.

Thine heart shall fear and be enlarged as you see, I am the Light of the World giving infinite mercy.

You share my mind as you share my heart Let it break for the lost as you push back the dark

Our walk in the Spirit comes not from trying to obtain the power even to do the things we are called into this very hour. Rather, He paid the price with His very life, to buy our freedom and take us to a new height. We are not slaves to the law, trying to make it right, but loved by the Father and already set right. We are adopted and loved as His very own; we are sons of God and with Him have a home. The Spirit was sent to confirm this fact, we are now children and heirs and we do not lack. To walk in the Spirit is to share His mind, and faith expressing itself in love is what we will find.

Lord, help us to embrace this mystery, of who in You we are called to be. Help us to live into it all, teach us to live in the fullness of your call. Pour out on us a fresh understanding, so that in your love we will be standing.