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What is Truth? Divine Mysteries

What is Truth? Divine Mysteries

What is Truth? Divine Mysteries.

“What is truth?” (John 18:38).

TRUTH: (Hebrew, “emet;” Greek, “aletheia”) Truth is the only absolute in the world. If everything else in the world falls apart, only Truth will remain standing. The building blocks of all creation; the framework upon which we build our faith; the true Reality that has established the world’s reality; that which can never be truly altered or changed; that which is universally trustworthy as facts of life; the foundation of what is truly real in our experience; the plumblines from which to measure our lives; that which is common knowledge in God’s mind; that which lines up with God’s perspectives; established facts from God as opposed to a person’s changeable opinions or preferences; that which is solid and certain as opposed to a lie, deceit, an illusion or superstition; the tangible fundamentals issued forth from the intangible mind of God. Truth is always true even when discounted or disbelieved. Since the Almighty God is the ultimate source of all truth, then it follows that the Father God is Truth, the Lord Jesus is Truth, and the Holy Spirit is Truth.

One word of truth outweighs the world.” (Alexandre Solzhenitsyn, Russian author, early 20th century);

“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).

MYSTERY: (Greek, “mysterion”); God’s eternal truths waiting to be revealed; a sacred secret hidden in the heart of God until the appointed time of revelation; a heavenly truth that can only be known by divine disclosure; spiritual insights into God’s way of thinking and planning; long-hidden truths revealed by God that are beyond human intellect and reason; divine knowledge that can only be understood through the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth; God’s thoughts and plans revealed to believers that are hidden from those who would treat God’s precious truths with scorn, contempt or blasphemy; God’s secret truths that are hidden from those who are blinded by their own human wisdom and closed to divine truths. The early church leaders believed that the “pearls” that were not supposed to be thrown to the dog or pigs represented the precious and holy mysteries of the Christian faith (Matthew 7:6). Much of Christendom believe that the sacraments of the Church are “holy mysteries” in which believers are privileged to experience the eternal truths at a personal level.

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. Humble and innocent believers who are nonetheless entrusted with managing God’s eternal truths.

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 divine 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).

The eternal truths and holy mysteries that believers are instructed to carefully manage include:

  • The mysterious truth of the marital union and union with Christ: Yes, I truly believe that we are all living members of Christ’s body, and as I relate this to marriage, it is indeed an enormous mystery. I may not understand all of this, but I can tell you this… the marriage of two-becoming-one is meant to be a vivid picture, a clear illustration of the union between Christ and the Church, the oneness that exists between Messiah and His universal household of faith.” (Ephesians 5:30-32).
  • The mysterious truth of the general resurrection: “Behold! I tell you a mystery: we will not all sleep, but we will all be transformed – in an instant, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the shofar trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed, beyond the reach of death, never to die again.” (1 Cor. 15:51).
  • The mysterious truth of the facts of the faith: “Deacons must be reverent… holding onto the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience. Without question, great is the mystery of faithful godliness: “God was revealed in the flesh, Proved right by the Spirit, Beheld by the angels, Proclaimed among the nations, Believed on in the world, Taken up in glory.” (1 Timothy 3:9, 16).
  • The mysterious truth of the glorified Christ: “When I saw Him, I fell at His feet as if I were dead. But He laid His right hand on me and said, ‘Fear not! Don’t be afraid! I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One. I died, but look – I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and the grave.’” (Revelation 1: 17-18).
  • The mysterious truth of the gospel including Jews and Gentiles: “If you read what I have written, you will be able to understand my insight into this mystery concerning the Messiah. In past generations, it was not made known to mankind, as the Spirit is now revealing it to God’s holy apostles and prophets; This mystery is that through the Gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together with the Jews in God’s promise in the Messiah Jesus.” (Ephesians 3:4-6).
  • The mysterious truth of the heavenly storehouse of riches in Jesus Messiah: “My purpose is that they may be encouraged, that they may be joined together in love, and that they may have all the riches derived from being assured of understanding and fully knowing God’s mystery, which is – The Messiah! It is in Him that all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden.” (Colossians 2:2-3).
  • The mysterious truths of the Kingdom of God: “Then the disciples went up to Jesus and asked, ‘Why do you talk to them in parables?’ In answer, He said ‘Because to you is granted to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not granted.’” (Matthew 13:11).
  • The mysterious truth of the wisdom of God: “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).
  • The mysterious truth of a believer’s union within Christ: “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 saints. 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.”  (Colossians 1:26-27, NIV).
  • The mysterious truth of the gospel of salvation given to the Gentiles: “Now to God, who can strengthen you, according to my gospel of Good News, in harmony with the revelation of the mystery which is the proclamation of Jesus the Messiah, kept hidden in silence for ages of ages, but manifested now through prophetic writings, in keeping with the command of God the Eternal, and communicated to all the Gentiles to promote in them trust-grounded obedience – to the only wise God, through Jesus the Messiah, be the glory forever and ever! Amen.” (Romans 16:25-27).
  • The mysterious truth of Jesus becoming the Lord of the universe, uniting all things everywhere under His authority: “In all God’s wisdom and insight He has made known His mystery, which by His own will He designed beforehand in connection with the Messiah and will put into effect when the time is ripe – His long-range plan to unite all things in Him, to bring together everything in heaven and on earth under the authority of the Messiah.” (Ephesians 1:9-10).
  • The mysterious truth of God’s plan of salvation revealed at the end of times: “Then the angel I saw standing on the sea and on the land lifted his right hand toward heaven and swore by the One who lives forever and ever, Who created heaven and what is in it, earth and what is in it, and the sea and what is in it – ‘There will be no more delay; on the contrary, in the days of the sound from the seventh angel when he sounds his shofar trumpet, the mystery of God will be brought to completion, the Good News as He proclaimed it to His servants the prophets.’” (Revelation 10:6-7).
  • The mysterious truth of the holy sacrament of the Eucharist: “My flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me, and I live in him. Just as the living Father sent me, and I live through the Father, so also whoever eats me will live through me. This is the bread that has come down from heaven- it is not like the bread the fathers ate; they’re dead, but whoever eats this bread will live forever! On hearing it, many of His disciples said, ‘This is a difficult word – who can understand it?” (John 6:55-60).
  • The mysterious truths about heavenly realities: “What is born from the flesh is flesh, and what is born from the Spirit is spirit. Stop being amazed at my telling you that you must be born again from above! The wind blows where it wants to, and you hear its sound, but you don’t know where it comes from or where it’s going. That’s how it is with everyone who has been born from the Spirit… If you people don’t believe me when I tell you about the things of the world, how will you believe me when I tell you about heavenly things?” (John 3:6-12).

A Closing Reminder of What’s Truly Important: “Even if I understand all the deepest mysteries, and possess all the knowledge in the world, and even if I have enough faith to remove mountains, if I don’t have love, I am nothing at all.” (1 Corinthians 13:2).