God concealed His plan for the church throughout the Old Testament. Prophets prophesied about it, while they wondered of what and of whom they were speaking. Even the Gospel writers did not grasp the meaning of the mystery. The New Testament calls God's plans "mysteries." The Companion Bible says: The English word "mystery" is a transliteration of the Greek word musterion, which means a sacred secret…something concealed that can be revealed.
The New Testament calls God's plans "mysteries." The Companion Bible says: The English word "mystery" is a transliteration of the Greek word musterion, which means a sacred secret…something concealed that can be revealed.
Some of the mysteries the New Testament speaks about are: the mystery of Israel (Rom. 11:25-26); the mystery of iniquity (2 Thess. 2:7); and the mystery of the church (numerous references).
God concealed His plan for the church throughout the Old Testament. Prophets prophesied about it, while they wondered of what and of whom they were speaking. Even the Gospel writers did not grasp the meaning of the mystery.
Paul's Revelation
It was not until a man named Paul came along that God revealed what He had concealed…the mystery of the church. The Holy Spirit through Paul refers to it as: "...the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began" (Rom. 16:25); "...the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God..." (Eph. 3:9).
What a hiding place! It seemed to me there was a door in the midst of God marked "Top Secret." When I saw the following passage I saw where the mystery led: "Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought: But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory" (1 Cor. 2:6-7).
When did He ordain the plan? Before the world! For what purpose? Unto our glory! Hallelujah! Consider how strong this verse is in The Amplified Bible: "But rather what we are setting forth is a wisdom of God once hidden [from the human understanding] and now revealed to us by God; [that wisdom] which God devised and decreed before the ages for our glorification [that is, to lift us into the glory of His presence]" (1 Cor. 2:7 AMP).
To lift us into the glory of His Presence! Hallelujah! Now let's go on with the passage from the King James Version. We'll pick it up again at verse seven. "But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory" (1 Cor. 2:7-8).
Oh Glory!
The Father of Glory (Eph. 1:17) sent the Lord of Glory to lift up the man who had been crowned with the Glory, but had fallen from the Glory, back into the Glory of His Presence. Do you see why I came to call the Bible "The Story of the Glory"?
If Satan had seen the plan, he never would have lifted God's spotless Lamb to the altar of the Cross—where His innocent Blood could be shed to cleanse man to once again stand in the Glory of God's Presence.
The crux of the mystery is stated succinctly in Colossians: "Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Col. 1:26-27).
Imagine Satan's dismay when the first man was born again! When he saw that the Anointed One came to take up abode inside the man, and to become his hope of glory, I can picture the devil replacing his "What-are-ya-gonna-do-now?" chant with a cry of, "Curses! Foiled again!" and falling backwards.
All Things Are New
Since Jesus arose, when a person believes in his heart that Jesus died on the Cross and that God raised Him from the dead, and confesses with His mouth the Lord Jesus, he is saved. He is born from above. He is born again.
At our new birth, the process of glorification begins and progresses according to the plan as we look into God's Word for His glory and yield ourselves to the Holy Spirit. "But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord" (2 Cor. 3:18).
Again, The Amplified Bible makes it so clear: "And all of us, as with unveiled face, [because we] continued to behold [in the Word of God] as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are constantly being transfigured into His very own image in ever increasing splendor and from one degree of glory to another..." (2 Cor. 3:18 AMP).
In the last hours before He appears to receive the church, it will change in ever increasing splendor and from one degree of glory to another, until there is only one more capstone of glory to be added to the Temple. That will be the glorious rapture of the glorious church (Eph. 5:27).
Glory! That is what you and I are saved to. Salvation is not just what we are saved from—the devil and sin. Salvation is what we are saved to—God and His Glory!
The church is destined to stand before God's face forever, in the Presence of His Glory (Eph. 1:4, 3:21). It is the last of the last days. God's glory is to be manifested in greater degree in His church. Very soon now we will walk the streets with our faces shining, and men and women will come to us to accept the Lord Jesus Christ they see within us.
The Blood of Jesus has everything to do with it. For it is His Blood that cleanses us, and covers us, and enables us to stand in His glory.
Excerpt permission granted by Harrison House Publishers
Billye Brim is blessed to work with others across the Body of Christ. She strongly believes in walking out what Scripture teaches that we are one Body, with one Head, one Spirit, one Lord.
First Corinthians 10:32 is foundational in Billye Brim's ministry. The "good works that He has ordained that she should walk in" involve activity among the Jews, the Nations, and the Church-all to the Glory of God.
