From Secret Cults to the Mystery of Christ

“How that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I have briefly written already, by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ).” (Ephesians 3 :3-4 NKJV)

Understanding the Mystery of Christ

By the first century A.D., the pagan world grew tired of the Greco-Roman gods and goddesses. They were powerful but impersonal deities who were highly immoral, cruel, adulterous, deceitful, war-mongers, greedy, and liars. As historical accounts suggest, it was not that the Greeks became so depraved that they abandoned their gods, but rather that the gods became so depraved that they were abandoned by the people. Any thoughtful person with a moral compass found them repugnant. Out of this dissatisfaction grew what were known as the mystery religions, which focused entirely on a singular god or goddess.

Mystery Cults

Mystery religions nourished the soul by offering an intimate relationship with the divine and fostering a fraternal spirit among their practitioners. Those who belonged to these religions found a sense of security in a world they believed was ruled by fate and hoped for life beyond the grave. These cults believed that their god or goddess imparted hidden knowledge that was the exclusive property of the cult. Secrets were only known by the initiates, and those who broke their pledges of silence would be killed. The Greek word musterion refers to something kept secret and revealed only to a select few.

Embracing the Revelation of the Mystery of Christ

Jesus, Paul, and John taught that the gospel contains information that God had previously hidden from humankind but has now revealed to Christians. In Matthew 13, Jesus tells His apostles that He taught the public in parables whose meaning would only be understood by His disciples. In Revelation 17, John sees a harlot riding on a beast named “Mystery, Babylon the Great,” which an angel eventually interprets. However, Paul employs the concept of mystery more than anyone else, helping Gentile Christians understand how God has operated throughout the ages by revealing the profound meaning of a specific mystery.