Solving a Mystery

God wanted to make known to them the glorious riches of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Colossians 1:27 (NET1)

According to Genesis, God looked upon his fresh creation and declared that it was good. One of the great mysteries in the Bible is how and why evil first appeared. Why did Satan rebel against God? Well, you can relax if you think I am about to get in way over my head, because I am not about to try to solve that mystery. But if we accept that evil was present at the time of the creation recorded in the Bible, at least at the time when human beings were formed out of the dust of the ground, we still have a mystery to solve. It's called the "mystery of lawlessness", to which Paul later referred in his second letter to the Thessalonians. In that passage Paul was explaining how things would wind down at the end of the age, but the hidden workings of evil have been in operation since the garden of Eden. What is it about evil that is so attractive? Why did Adam and Eve exchange their wonderful relationship of trust with God for the seductive power of "being like God, knowing good and evil"? Why do we today have such a horrible time resisting the power of sin in our own lives? It's a mystery.

The Bible word for mystery means something hidden that cannot be understood apart from revelation. Our human minds are quite wonderful and capable of many things, such as sending a manned spacecraft to the moon and back; but God has placed certain limitations upon us. There are certain things we cannot know without God's help. In fact it could be argued that God has been the One behind every great discovery, having guided men and women on their paths of scientific inquiry. Jesus made it clear that God cannot be known apart from revelation; although, he has put clear indicators of who he is in his marvelous creation.

At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent, and revealed them to little children. Matthew 11:25 (NET1)

The mystery of lawlessness perhaps will never be completely understood, but we can clearly see its pernicious effect on God's creation. The world he made to be a wonderful place in which his creatures would live has become a cesspool of selfishness, violence, deception and pain. Adam's sin not only ruined his own life, but it unhinged the entire creation and marred all of humanity. Now each of us come into this world possessing a sin nature inherited from Adam that is preprogrammed to participate eagerly in the mystery of lawlessness and the downward spiral of humanity.

We understand that God is sovereign over his creation, but, though he knew beforehand what would happen to his creation, and even though through his wisdom and power he would provide for a rescue operation, God was truly heartbroken over what had become of what started off so well.

But the Lord saw that the wickedness of humankind had become great on the earth. Every inclination of the thoughts of their minds was only evil all the time. 6 The Lord regretted that he had made humankind on the earth, and he was highly offended. 7 So the Lord said, “I will wipe humankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth — everything from humankind to animals, including creatures that move on the ground and birds of the air, for I regret that I have made them.” Genesis 6:5-7 (NET1)

In examining the mystery of lawlessness, the first observation I make is that evil is overwhelmingly attractive in some mysterious way, so much so that even some of God's angels succumbed. Likewise, God's freshly created humans fell for the seductive power of evil without any apparent attempt at resistance. The second point I want to make is that Satan uses the powerful force of evil to undermine and ruin everything God has created. That is his apparent mission in life, if what he experiences can be called a life. The third point is that God is greatly pained when his wonderful creation is ruined. Fourthly, God is not averse to starting over.

If you think about it, God hit the restart button more than once. That should make us feel a great deal better. Restarting is not necessarily a sign of failure, but can be an evidence of great determination. If what we have created failed because of our own sinfulness and lack of wisdom, it is one thing; but when we fail because of the deliberate sabotage and malevolence of others, it is quite something else. God restarted when he brought the flood upon the earth, using the family of Noah as the new foundation for humanity. He started over when he selected Abraham out of all the people of the earth to be the father of a new group of people through whom he would bring a Savior. God began afresh when he sent his Son to be the Second Adam through whom he launched an entirely new breed of people who are born from heaven through the power of God's Word and Spirit. And God one day will create a new heaven and a new earth which will be filled with the glory of the Lord!

But backing up a bit, it should come as no surprise to us that every great endeavor is sabotaged by Satan. Every life, every marriage, every family, every church, every nation, every good thing has a diabolic strategy set in place against it. Satan uses everything at his disposal to ruin everything good. This is the mystery of lawlessness at work. But there is another stronger mystery in operation - the mystery of Christ in you, the hope of glory, mentioned in our opening verse. The only thing that is stronger than the power of lawlessness is the power of the indwelling Spirit of God in the life of the believer, for greater is he that is within us than he that is in the world! (1 John 4:4)

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the life-giving Spirit in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death. Romans 8:1-2 (NET1)

No matter how tight a stranglehold sin has had in your life, God's power of life is stronger. God's law of life, the mystery of the indwelling Christ, will ultimately triumph over all of the power of evil! We are fast approaching that glorious day when every vestige of evil will be triumphantly removed from the creation, but right now we have the privilege and responsibility of trusting God to experience Christ's victory over it from our own lives. We must take a stand of faith that the finished work of Christ and the Spirit within is stronger than the sin nature within us.

Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its desires, 13 and do not present your members to sin as instruments to be used for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who are alive from the dead and your members to God as instruments to be used for righteousness. 14 For sin will have no mastery over you, because you are not under law but under grace. Romans 6:12-14 (NET1) 

The kingdom of God expands one person at a time as people make the decision to submit their lives to the King. The King takes up residence in believers' hearts and his life within is the answer to all our ills. Christ in you solves the mystery of lawlessness. God is a great mystery writer, isn't he?