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Stewards of the Mystery of God’s Wisdom

Stewards of the Mystery of God’s Wisdom

Stewards of the Mystery of God’s Wisdom.

“A person should consider us in this way: as servants of Christ and as stewards of the mysteries of God. Think of us as Messiah’s official underlings and as those who are entrusted with the mysteries of God.” (1 Corinthians 4:1).

SERVANTS: (Greek, “hyperetas”); literally the under-rower, the lowly person pulling the oars on the lower deck of the ship; the underlings; the subordinates who have special orders. A servant of Christ is one who is content to decrease while Christ increases, who considers it a privilege to serve Jesus in a way that is hidden, humble, and full of trust in God’s purposes.

STEWARDS: (Greek, “oikonomos”); literally the manager of a household responsible to dispense what is needed; the custodian in a home given the responsibility to carefully distribute the necessities when needed; managers; caretakers; trustees, or those entrusted with important responsibilities from the owner of the house. In this context, to responsibly take care of the revelations of God and disperse the knowledge of God’s mysteries in a way that would honor the owner’s wishes; to carefully explain the revealed secrets of God’s in a responsible way; to guard the sanctity of what God has decided to reveal. A competent and faithful steward would be one who “holds the mystery of the Faith with a pure conscience.” (1 Timothy 3:9), since we are also called to be “stewards of God’s grace.” (Ephesians 3:2).  So if God has anything to do with it, these stewards of God’s mysteries must “speak the truth in love.” (Ephesians 4:15).

MYSTERY: (Greek, “mysterion”); a sacred secret hidden in the heart of God until the appointed time of revelation; a truth that can only be known by divine disclosure; spiritual insights into God’s way of thinking and planning; hidden truths revealed by God that are beyond human intellect and reason; divine knowledge that can only be understood through the Holy Spirit; God’s thoughts and plans revealed to believers and hidden to skeptical doubters and those who choose not to believe.

“It is of the mysterious wisdom of God that we talk, the wisdom that was hidden, that goes deep into the interiors of His purposes. This wisdom of God was once hidden from human understanding and now revealed to us by God. This is God’s secret wisdom hidden before now in a mystery which God predetermined before the ages for our glorification, to lift us into the glory of His Presence. This is the wisdom that God destined for our glory before time began.” (a weaving of 1 Corinthians 2:7 using several Bible translations).

ASPECTS OF GOD’S MYSTERIOUS WISDOM:

  1. God’s wisdom can not be reached by human wisdom, and is not the fruit of human effort;
  2. God’s wisdom does not depend on philosophical speculation, or verbal eloquence, or logical argument, or persuasive speech;
  3. God’s wisdom appears to be utterly foolish to the unbelieving world and highly improbable to the skeptical world;
  4. God’s wisdom includes the Cross, which is absurd to unbelievers: the Son of God in glory comes in the flesh, is a humble servant, poor and rejected, is weak and powerless, and submits to a sacrificial death. Nonsense!
  5. God’s wisdom inspired the unexpected plan of salvation, which makes very little sense to unbelievers;
  6. God’s wisdom is personified in Jesus Christ, who carries out God’s plan to perfection;
  7. Believers are those who have been given the mind of Christ, and thus can begin to understand God’s wisdom;
  8. God’s wisdom demonstrates the convincing power of the Holy Spirit;
  9. God’s wisdom is generally not fashionable or popular, and is often misunderstood;
  10. In His wisdom, God revealed Christ to be our wisdom;
  11. God’s wisdom devised His secret plan of salvation before time began, and only waited to reveal it at the appointed time with Jesus;
  12. God’s deep secrets can only be revealed to us through His Holy Spirit;
  13. God’s wisdom planned the scheme of salvation to center on simple faith, not on skill, status, achievement or intelligence. That doesn’t make sense to the prideful human heart that wants to earn it or claim it;
  14. God’s wisdom is drenched in irony, appearing to be weak and foolish but in reality is powerful and true;
  15. In His secret wisdom, God is transcendently humble;
  16. A key component of faith is learning to trust God’s wisdom, that He knows what He is doing, even though there is much mystery involved;
  17. God’s wisdom has no limits or boundaries: “Oh the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable His judgments, and His paths beyond tracing out! Who has the mind of the Lord? Or who has been His counselor?” (Romans 11:23).
  18. Christ Himself is God’s wisdom: “My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” (Colossians 2:2-3).
  19. In other words: “In Christ all the treasures of divine wisdom, of comprehensive insight into the ways and purposes of God, and all the riches of spiritual knowledge and enlightenment, are stored up and lie hidden.” (Colossians 2:3, Amplified Bible).
  20. High Praise for our Wise God: “Immortal, invisible, God only wise, In light inaccessible hid from our eyes, Most blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of Days, Almighty, victorious, thy great Name we praise.” (Walter Chalmers Smith).

“Though I am the least deserving of all God’s people, he graciously gave me the privilege of telling the Gentiles about the endless treasures available to them in Christ. I was chosen to explain to everyone this mysterious plan that God, the Creator of all things, had kept secret from the beginning. God’s purpose in all this was to use the Church to display His wisdom in its rich variety to all the unseen rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was His original plan, which He carried out through Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Ephesians 3:8-11).