The Bible is a library of books about God. He creates the world which immediately turns against Him. But instead of casting sinners away, He seeks them out and offers them pardon, all the while warning them of judgment for those who continue in rebellion.
But how can a just God also be merciful? How can a perfectly holy Deity interact with sinful man? And how can sins even be forgiven? It’s a mystery, a mystery none of the world religions even pretends to answer. But what has been hidden, even from the prophets, now is revealed through Jesus in the gospel.
We will see that while there are many questions to answer, and many mysteries which have been hidden, they all are answered and resolved in the ONE mystery, which is the revelation of God in Christ: Both Jew and Gentile are now one in Him.
This is the idea of this unique New Testament book. Paul is not correcting errant doctrine, or dealing with division in the church. He is explaining to all churches for all times in all places how Jesus Christ not only is the central figure of human history, but also the only Person who can bridge the moral canyon between repentant sinners and a holy God and span the ethnic/cultural chasm between Jew and Gentile.
Let’s think through how Paul explains this amazing mystery, how it has been revealed, and how it applies to us.