Stewardship of the mystery

Written by David Paine, an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ

Subject: Stewardship of the Mystery

OPEN LETTER TO THE CHURCH

Dearly beloved, the assembly of called out saints, permitted of God to hear and participate in the unsearchable riches of Christ and to bring to light the stewardship of that very mystery that has remained a carefully kept secret in God, the one Creator of all things, so that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God would be made clear to the rulers and authorities in heavenly places:  greetings!  The stewardship of the mystery has always been and still is one of the unfulfilled purposes of God for the Church in Christ Jesus our Lord.

STEWARDSHIP OF THE MYSTERY

Stewardship:  OIKONOMI’A - a word in the tongues of men (Greek) that means “the administration of a household or estate.”  Mystery:  MUSTARI’OU - another word (Greek) that means “a shut mouth, secret or mystery imposed by initiation into religious rites.”  Thus being "born-again" and "called-out" is the “permit” and only the church has the right to hear, to know and to speak of this most wonderful and mysterious stewardship. The stewardship of the mystery has such far reaching and broad application in the church’s primary function that it’s impossible to be correctly involved without the specific knowledge of this mystery.  The Israelites were so dumb-founded in the wilderness that when God gave them bread from heaven they could only say MANNA ("what is it?"); when, in fact, it was God’s provision to sustain and enable them to come into the promised land.  Ignorance of the stewardship of the mystery keeps the church ever wandering and never possessing all the promises that are available only in Christ.

CHRIST IN YOU THE HOPE OF GLORY

We may pray all night, fast for days on end, cry out in the name of Him who is seated at the right hand of God and find others who will try to agree with us for the sake of answered prayers and all that we may have done is receive the blessings reserved for our sojourn in the wilderness.  But if we dare hope for the absolute fulfillment of all the promises of God, we must understand and practice the stewardship of this mystery.  What is it? “Christ in you the hope of Glory.”  We may indeed know the ascended Christ but until we know and see him in each other, the corporate glory of being conformed to His image (“when we see him we shall be like him”) remains unfulfilled in the church.  Alas, the opaque veil of our own flesh cannot hide the glory of the transforming life of Christ where the liberating Spirit of the Lord is.  Then the veil (at worst, “a glass darkly”) is taken away.  Those who find themselves participating in that most blessed of all environments are changed from glory to glory.  Most Christians are trying to get God to send something new, exciting and powerful down from heaven when the always new, the most exciting and thrilling that heaven has to offer has already come down and dwells in those who have been born again. That holy presence of Jesus and our ability to see Him in each other is the transforming power for bringing forth His glorious bride.  The mystery of  “hidden treasure” in earthen pots (flesh) has been widely ignored and the glory of the stewardship has gone unseen…

Ah, but a new day…

                                                                        to be continued…