"But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory (I Corinthians 2:7)
Scripture speaks about essentially two great mysteries and the apostle Paul alludes to them many times throughout the gospel. These two great mysteries center around salvation and sanctification. More specifically the mysteries spoken of are descriptive of how both of these great spiritual accomplishments were made possible through the death of Jesus Christ. We are told in the bible in John 14:20; Colossians 1:27; John 17:11 and John 17:21-23; that we are one with Christ and His Father. This then pertains to the great mystery. Paul tells us that after Christ was resurrected that the mystery became a reality and that all of the gospels prior to Christ pointed to the fulfillment of God's purpose through Christ. However, the understanding of the significance of Christ's death, burial and resurrection in relation to the salvation and sanctification of mankind was not made known to man until the Holy Spirit made it known to Paul and the other disciples after Christ's resurrection.
I will now use the illustration used by God's servant the late Watchmen Nee from his book "Ordinary Christianity" He uses the following example to illustrate the great mystery of Christ in Us and Us in Christ. "If one had a cup of tea and added sugar to that tea-the two would become one." That is to say, that we would have a sweetened tea. Once that we combined the two, (short of a chemical process perhaps of adding heat); we would find it impossible to separate them. When we drink the tea we would not be able to distinguish the difference (individually) between the tea and the sugar. The two (both the tea and the sugar), will have become one. From that point whenever you experienced the tea you would experience both elements (the tea and the sugar) which previously were one. We are told in scripture that as "believers" that we are one in Christ and God and as such are inseparable.
This admittedly inadequate description of the mystery of our being one in Christ Jesus-leading to salvation and sanctification, will hopefully help our minds to grasp the reality of this immutable fact. The fact being that Christ is in us through the Holy Spirit! What a glorious reality which has profound implications!
