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Answer
Near the conclusion of Paul’s epistle to the Colossians, he earnestly requests that his audience pray for him and Timothy as they continue their ministry of preaching and teaching in different cities: “And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains“ «withal praying also for us, that God would open unto us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds: », (Colossians 4:3). The term “mystery” (musterion) typically denotes something previously unrevealed.
Earlier in the letter, Paul referred to the Word of God (ton logon tou theou) as the mystery that had been concealed from past ages and generations but has now been disclosed (Colossians 1:25-26). Paul further explains that this mystery was not only revealed to the Jews but also to the Gentiles. This mystery, Paul explains, is “Christ in you—the hope of glory” «to whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: », (Colossians 1:27). Continuing in the same vein, Paul later describes God’s mystery as Christ Himself «that their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ; », (Colossians 2:2). Throughout his letter to the Colossians, Paul reveals the mystery as Christ and His connection to believers in a manner not previously communicated. The revelation of the Christ’s identity and His relationship to the ChurIt had not been revealed in any detail in the Hebrew Scriptures (the Old Testament), though there were, of course, many prophecies anticipating His earthly ministry. From the various theophanies (appearances of God in physical form) in the Hebrew Scriptures, it is evident that the one called Yahweh would later come to earth as a man—Jesus.
Recall Jesus’ claim in John 8:56–58 that He had preceded Abraham. This Yahweh—the preincarnate Christ—had always existed, but at the right time in God’s plan, this Messiah came to earth, born of a virgin. The mystery that is Christ, who had been previously unrevealed, was now clearly manifested in the sight of all. Further, this One not only existed, but He came to earth to express His love through His sacrifice (see John 3:16;Philippians 2:1-11), to have a brotherly kind of relationship “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.”, (Romans 8:29), and to be intimately known by those who have believed in Him “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.”, (John 17:3).
As Ephesians is a similar letter written by Paul around the same time, it is helpful to consider Paul’s use of the word mystery in that context as well. He mentions “the mystery” in Ephesians 1:9, 3:3, and 3:9, but he doesn’t offer any definition in those verses. However, in Ephesians 3:4 Paul refers to the “mystery of Christ,” which he identifies in Ephesians 3:6: “This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.” In Colossians
4:3 Paul adds that the mystery of Christ was a cause of his own imprisonment (cf: Ephesians 6:19-20).
While Paul uses the term mystery on several occasions in his other letters, the reference isn’t always to the mystery of Christ and His relationship with people, as it appears to be in Colossians and Ephesians. Paul recognizes that he is stewarding the mysteries (plural) of God «Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God. », (1 Corinthians 4:1). In Romans 11:25, the mystery is that there would be a partial hardening of Israel. In 1 Corinthians 15:51, the resurrection—and the rapture, more specifically—is referred to as a mystery. There is even a mystery of lawlessness «For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. », (2 Thessalonians 2:7). While Paul stewards and communicates several of God’s mysteries, he speaks of none in such detail and repetition as he does the mystery of Christ «withal praying also for us, that God would open unto us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds: », (Colossians 4:3). What a joy to know that Jesus loves us and that His grace toward us was part of God’s plan from the very beginning.
