Grace and Truth
Bible Ministries

The resurrection, ascension and session of TLJC is the basis of the disclosure of the Mystery Doctrine of the Church Age

In our study last time we went from our study of the doctrine of resurrection to the associated doctrines of the ascension and session.

When se stopped last time we were discussing the fact that TLJC had offered the once and for all efficacious sacrifice and the fact that the resurrection, ascension and session demonstrate the efficacy of Christ's Sacrifice on the Cross.

Heb 10:12; "But this One (Jesus Christ in contrast to the Old Testament sacrifices), when He had offered one unique sacrifice as a substitute for our sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God."

The work of Jesus Christ on the cross is efficacious. He received the imputation of our sins and God the Father judged them in him thereby resolving the issue of all sin forever.

To indicate the efficacy of His sacrifice our Lord is now seated the right hand of God.

In physical death, our Lord's work was completed. This is why, just before His death He said, "TETELESTAI," which means, "It is finished in the past with the result that it stands finished forever." John 19:30;

So the resurrection, ascension, and session are the verification of the efficacy of our Lord's saving work on the cross. This efficacious saving work occurred while our Lord was physically alive. He did not die for our sins in physical death; He died as a substitute for us in a substitutionary spiritual death, where each and every sin of the human race was imputed to Christ and judged.

This means that Christ died twice on the cross. He died a substitutionary spiritual death for the sins of the world, which provided for salvation, then he died a unique physical death and the separation of His soul and spirit, from his body and He now is seated at the right hand of the Father in Heaven.

Because of this God has provided more power than had ever been previously given to believers. This new age, known as the Church Age has a new body of Doctrine known as the "Mystery Doctrine" of the church that reveals this new availability of God's power.

The word "mystery" refers to the doctrine of the Church Age; it is called the mystery because it was never revealed in Old Testament times.

Paul states in Rom 16:25-26; Col 1:25-26; and Eph 3:3-6; that this mystery is now revealed so there is no excuse for believers to be uninformed.

Ignorance and arrogance become the worst enemies of believers, and causes them to make a wrong assessment of life, resulting in their establishing wrong priorities. Bible doctrine must be the believer's highest priority so the believer can properly assess their situation, focus on the right priorities and deploy God's power.

This mystery doctrine was first prophesied by our Lord himself during his life on this earth at the beginning of the Hypostatic Union. John 14:20; Acts 1:5-8;

During the church age, the primary function of the gift of pastor-teacher in the local assembly is to communicate this mystery doctrine. 1Cor 4:1; "Let a person regard us (pastor-teachers) as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God."

1Cor 2:7; "But we communicate God's wisdom in a mystery, the hidden assets which God predestined before the ages for the purpose of our glory."

In this passage, Paul describes the doctrine is invisible and hidden, and that it manufactures invisible heroes. But no one ever becomes an invisible hero with wrong priorities.

1Tim 3:9; "With a pure conscience, keep holding the mystery, even the Church Age doctrine."

In this passage Paul is instructing Timothy as a pastor to keep on holding to the mystery doctrine of the church age. So it is the pastor's job to hold on to the mystery, to inculcate it to repeat it and to teach it to the believers in the local assembly that God has assigned to him.

The English word mystery is a transliteration of The Greek word "musterion". Paul took this noun from its use in reference to the secrets of the ancient mystery cults, and used it in a technical, theological language to indicate that the Church Age doctrine was a body of information that had not been disclosed by God and as a result it was totally unknown in the Old Testament.

It is generally found in the plural, referring to the secret doctrines of the Greek fraternities and their worship of demons throughout ancient Greece during the seventh through fourth centuries BC. Only those who were initiated into the fraternity knew the mystery doctrine or the secrets of the cults.

The mystery cults of the ancient world were all demonic. They were based in the worship of the Greek, Egyptian, and Roman pantheon. Every Hellenistic fraternity had secret doctrines and cultic rites where the destinies of the gods were portrayed, and those initiated were supposed to share the fate of these gods.

A vocabulary was developed in the Attic Greek to describe this. The Greek word "mueo" means to be initiated into the mysteries of the fraternity. This initiation was comprised of the inculcation and teaching of the secrets and doctrines of the fraternity and were never to be revealed to outsiders. To be initiated meant to learn so as to pass the test that demonstrated proficiency in the knowledge of what the fraternity stood for.

The Attic Greek word "muste" referred to those who were initiated. The Attic Greek word "mustikos" was used for the secret rites of the doctrines that had to be learned. The entire body of doctrine that was to be learned was called "mustikos".

It is the Koine Greek word "musterioin" that is derived from the Attic Greek word "mustikos" that is used in the New Testament. The Konie Greek word "Musterioin" referred to the content of the doctrine, the actual principles and points that had to be learned.

Under the ministry of God the Holy Spirit, the apostle Paul took this noun away from the Greek fraternities and used it in the Word of God thereby giving it a Biblical definition that stands in the Word of God forever. This means that it must now become a part of our vocabulary and we must understand it.

While most of the Attic Greek words remained in the realm of the Greek cults. "Musterion" became a Biblical word that is used twenty seven times in the New Testament. Twice by TLJC, twenty one times by Paul and four times by the John.

Jesus Christ used the noun for the first time when He first presented Church Age doctrine to the disciples during the beginning of the Hypostatic Union in Matt 13:11; Luke 8:10 and Mark 4:10-11;

A parable is a story about some common event designed to teach something. The disciples were trying to understand why our Lord taught in the form of parables. Our Lord answered in Matt 13:11, "To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them (unbelievers) it has not been given."

The believers would be taught and therefore understand the doctrine being taught in the parable; the unbelievers could only understand the events of the story.

This means that Church Age doctrine has not been given to unbelievers. Paul clearly states this in 1Cor 2:14; Mystery means something that can only be understood by those who are in the fraternity in this case, every believer in Jesus Christ in the Church Age.

Jesus was explaining why He was teaching Jewish prophecy in parables. The Jewish unbeliever could understand the narrative but not the doctrine. Therefore, the doctrine was a mystery and the Jewish unbeliever could not understand it.

In Paul's teaching, mystery refers to the power that God would deploy in the Church Age that was totally unknown to the Old Testament writers, but is now revealed to Church Age believers, Col 1:26-27; Rom 16:25-26.

Mystery designates the complete blackout of Church Age doctrine to the Old Testament writers before our Lord came in his unglorified humanity.

This means that the Church Age and all of its unique doctrines are classified as the mystery. The mechanics of salvation is not a mystery. The mystery begins with the Church Age believer after salvation; it is the information that defines just what the Christian way of life is.

This includes the following doctrines that were unknown to the Old Testament writers of Scripture:

The baptism of the Holy Spirit with its eight results.

The new spiritual species of the royal family of God.

The unique protocol plan of God with its precisely correct procedure.

The equal privilege and equal opportunity of every Church Age believer to execute the protocol plan of God.

The believer's portfolio of invisible assets.

The unique royal commissions of the royal priesthood and the royal ambassadorship.

The indwelling of each member of the Trinity in the body of every Church Age believer.

The 100% availability of divine power (the omnipotence of the Father, Son, and Spirit).

And the dispensation of invisible heroes where there is the opportunity for personal, national, international, and angelic impact.

Believers who advance in God's plan glorify God in at least two ways:

Believers become mature believers by passing two categories of suffering for blessing in the form of providential preventative suffering and momentum testing. The mature believer has the first three categories of invisible impact: personal, national, and international.

The invisible hero is a mature believer who passes evidence testing. Besides having the three categories of invisible impact as a mature believer the invisible hero also has angelic impact in the invisible war as a witness for the prosecution in the rebuttal phase of Satan's appeal trial.

Rom 16:25-26; "Now to Him who is able to stabilize you on the basis of my gospel and the preaching about Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which was kept secret from long ages past (Old Testament), but now revealed even by the Scriptures of the (New Testament) prophets according to the commandment of the eternal God. It has now been made known to all nations resulting in obedience to doctrine."

 

© Copyright 2007, Michael Lemmon Bible Ministries. World Rights Reserved.  This document was created on 4/25/2010