Marvelous Mystery Series

Mystery Unraveled

Ephesians Series

CCCAG, March 6, 2022

Scripture: Ephesians 3:1-13

I’ve always been a bit fascinated by magic.

Now I’m not talking about Harry Potter, casting spells, or witchcraft. I’m talking about illusion, magic tricks, Penn and Teller or David Copperfield type of magic. Where a person is able to fool the senses and do what seems to be the impossible.

I guess it triggers the part of my brain that needs to solve mysteries

I’m the kind of person that needs the answer to the puzzle.

It didn’t matter if it was something that really didn’t matter.

I’ve always been that way.

I remember a time in 5th grade I got sent to the office by my teacher because I wouldn’t let a subject drop and I insisted that she tell me the answer to the question.

It started with her seeing me stick my gum to the underside of my desk, and she was scolding me for it.

So, I asked the question- How come our gum sticks to the bottom of our desks.

She answered- “Because it’s sticky”

I asked, “What makes it sticky?”

She said, “It’s just the way it’s made”

I asked, “But why? What makes it sticky”

Now getting a bit flustered- Because of the ingredients it’s made out of”

Me- “Which ingredient is the sticky ingredient, and why is it sticky?”

She said, “That’s not the point, the point is I don’t want you to put your gum under the desk because it’s very hard to get it off”

Me- “But why is it sticky? Don’t you know the answer?”

Teacher- “Why don’t you go ask the principle in the office?”

I know what you are all thinking-

Yes, my being a nerd started at an early age.

But the thing is, looking back on it, God was putting something in me that would serve me well later in life.

It served me in the military

It really served me as a paramedic- asking the why question and not just treating what was in front of me.

It’s serving me really well as an RN.

And most importantly, it’s served me well as a bible teacher- asking the question, “Why?”

Do you know that God wants you to ask HIM that question?

You know-

It’s one of the things that makes the Christian religion unique- our God actively encourages us to reason with HIM, and allow truth to be made known to us.

God has always been that way. However, he has sometimes hidden certain truths from us until we can handle it.

Sometimes we are not at a maturity level to handle a big truth, and revealing that truth would be disastrous to us.

I like to use the comparison of handing a loaded pistol to a two year old and expecting them to remember the 4 rules of firearm safety. It’s probably not going to end well for anyone.

Similarly, God hides certain things from us until we have the maturity to handle those kinds of truth.

He does that as individuals

He does that with church’s, cultures, and even nations.

And, He has done that throughout biblical history.

Let me show you this- it will completely blow your mind.

Abraham is the father of the three great monotheistic religions on earth- Islam, Judaism, and Christianity.

Yet, he didn’t know what you know today.

Moses, the greatest lawgiver who has ever lived. Every single person on earth lives under some form of the 10 commandments today. If anyone should know the secrets of God, it’s Moses.

But, he didn’t have even 10% of the competed picture that is available to you today.

King David or King Solomon, as mighty and wise as they were, only knew God as Adonai, or El Shaddai.

The greatest evangelist that ever lived was John the Baptist- he told the entire world of his time that Jesus was hear, yet Jesus said that you and I are greater than he was.

Why are we greater? Because we have the whole picture.

Old Testament people only had a small fraction of the whole puzzle, and the main picture it created always had holes in it. Particularly when it came to how God wanted to interact with all of us.

They thought it was all about religious ceremony.

Do this, do that, make sure you avoid that, and God will be happy.

God has never wanted that for His people- He wants to be Abba- Father.

Jesus didn’t teach us to pray- “Our distant, uninterested all mighty diety, hallowed be your name”

He said, pray Our Father….

That intimacy is what Paul is teaching the Ephesian church. He wants to be the God of the question, the God of your doubts, the God of your fears, and the God of every mystery or unanswered question you may ever have.