What do you do with a Mystery?

What do you do with a Mystery?
Words of Faith 9-7-16
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2016
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL
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John 1
[15] John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.' " [16] From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. [17] For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. [18] No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father's side, has made him known.

What do you do with a mystery? Who is this Life-Light that has come into the darkness? John the Gospel writer was clear that He is quite beyond our understanding! Quite beyond our expectation! A mystery.
Folks at the time of Jesus didn’t miss the coming of the Messiah because they were not looking. The first century was not a “Who done it?” but a “Who is it?” mystery! People were looking very much for a Messiah who would be a military leader, or king. Some thought that John the Baptizer might be the Messiah probably because he never shied away from criticizing kings and religious leaders!
Was it John? Was John the Messiah of God? John’s ministry of preaching and baptizing started some time before Jesus’. Many were thinking it might be John. John had to correct that thought. It is possible that John had known or suspected all his life that his second cousin, Jesus, was the Christ. But if there was any doubt about John the Baptist being Messiah he dispelled that thought!
Jesus the Christ is above John. “The one who comes after me has surpassed me because He was before me.” Simple. John recognized the eternal nature of the Christ who existed outside of time before creation even began.
John also recognized the magnitude of the coming of the Christ. This arrival was much more than just that of a new military leader or King as some supposed. Through Moses the Law came, but through Jesus the Christ came grace and truth. Put them side by side and you have it all! The Law starts our covenant relationship with God and Grace and Truth (the Gospel) finishes it! The Law reveals our sin-problem and the Gospel solves that sin-problem.
But this One is higher even than Moses! (A dangerous thing to suggest in those days.) No one has ever seen God except God the One and Only who is at the Father’s side. Even Moses, who came closest to “seeing God” did not see God the way that the Christ did. This is because the Christ actually is God the One and Only who has come to make Him known. This is the mystery that defies every attempt at explanation. God is One, yet God is Father and Christ. Each functions differently yet are the same. Each is unique and yet they are One.
What do you do with a mystery? If it is an earthly mystery like a novel, you try to solve it. If it is a heavenly mystery, a mystery of God, you behold it. You stand in awe of it. You wonder at it. You are blessed by it. It is not a matter of what we do with such a mystery, it is a matter of what that mystery will do with us! Rather than us solving this mystery, it would seem it is intended to solve us.

O God, I am blessed by Your wonder. I am awed by the mystery of the Godhead. I walk today strengthened by the mystery of Your presence and work in the world, in the very cosmos. Do with me as You will. Guide me this day. In Jesus’ Name.

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© Jeffrey D. Hoy 2002, 2016
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy - Faith Fellowship Church (EFCA)
2820 Business Center Blvd.
Melbourne, Florida 32940 (321)-259-7200
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
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