For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen. – Romans 11:36
Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers, Ian Fleming, John Grisham, and Dean Koontz are all storytellers who deal in mysteries. Many will read along the author’s narrative, trying to sort out the mystery as the story unfolds. Others, however, cannot resist turning to the back pages of the book to see how it ends. In some respects, the Bible contains a mystery in which many smaller mysteries are found.
For example, God works in mysterious ways (Romans 11:25-32). God’s love is a mystery. His choice of Israel as a covenant nation to bear His Name is a mystery. Many of the prophetic revelations concerning the end times remain a mystery. The Greek word for “mystery” is not a riddle that needs solving but comes from mueo, which means closed or shut. It speaks of a truth that is not discoverable apart from being revealed by God. Jesus did say there is a time coming when nothing will remain hidden, when all will be revealed (Luke 8:17). Theologian Charles Spurgeon wrote, “God is inscrutable; man is shallow. God is deep. Dive as we may we shall never fathom the mysterious plan, or exhaust the boundless wisdom of the all-comprehending mind of the Lord. We stand by the fathomless sea of divine wisdom and exclaim with holy awe, ‘O divine depth.’” Give glory to Him today – the infinite, unsearchable, incomparable, invincible, mysterious, omniscient, merciful, and loving God whom you know, and in whom is life eternal.
Many in America have turned their backs on God. Jesus described this sort, saying, “’You will indeed hear but never understand and you will indeed see but never perceive.’ For the people’s heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them” (Matthew 13:14-15). There is still time. God’s mysterious abounding grace is still available. Pray for repentance and reconciliation for people across the country, “So that as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 5:21).
Today’s Verse: Romans 11:36
For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.
All Scripture quotations and audio are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Recommended for further reading: Jeremiah 5:21-31
“Hear this, O foolish and senseless people,
who have eyes, but see not,
who have ears, but hear not.
22 Do you not fear me? declares the Lord.
Do you not tremble before me?
I placed the sand as the boundary for the sea,
a perpetual barrier that it cannot pass;
though the waves toss, they cannot prevail;
though they roar, they cannot pass over it.
23 But this people has a stubborn and rebellious heart;
they have turned aside and gone away.
24 They do not say in their hearts,
‘Let us fear the Lord our God,
who gives the rain in its season,
the autumn rain and the spring rain,
and keeps for us
the weeks appointed for the harvest.’
25 Your iniquities have turned these away,
and your sins have kept good from you.
26 For wicked men are found among my people;
they lurk like fowlers lying in wait.
They set a trap;
they catch men.
27 Like a cage full of birds,
their houses are full of deceit;
therefore they have become great and rich;
28 they have grown fat and sleek.
They know no bounds in deeds of evil;
they judge not with justice
the cause of the fatherless, to make it prosper,
and they do not defend the rights of the needy.
29 Shall I not punish them for these things?
declares the Lord,
and shall I not avenge myself
on a nation such as this?”
30 An appalling and horrible thing
has happened in the land:
31 the prophets prophesy falsely,
and the priests rule at their direction;
my people love to have it so,
but what will you do when the end comes?
All Scripture quotations and audio are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
