The Church is the Hidden Mystery in God’s Eternal Economy Revealed to us in Spirit

The church is the hidden mystery in God’s eternal economy, which was not revealed in the Old Testament times but has been manifested to us today; Christ and the church is the great mystery, which consummates in the New Jerusalem as the bride of the Lamb.

May we be those who are unveiled to see the great mystery, Christ and the church, and may we live our Christian life and serve the Lord in spirit in the church according to this governing vision.

When Christ came, He was a mystery; He was the mystery of God. God is hidden, invisible, and behind the scenes, but Christ came to manifest God, express God, and make God known.

If you want to see what God is like, what He wants, and how He behaves and works, look at the Lord Jesus, for in this One the fullness of the Godhead was pleased to dwell.

The incarnation of Christ is a mystery; it was a mystery for God to not just come upon man as the Spirit and move man to do things for God but even more, for God to enter into man.

The incarnation of Christ began the age of mystery; today God is no longer moving mainly outwardly to do things for man, bless man, and help man but rather, He moves inwardly, within man, and He moves and works with man and through man.

This is what we experience today in the age of the church, which is the age of grace, the age of faith, and the age of the mystery; we experience the precious, mysterious, and wonderful indwelling of Christ, and we are becoming the church as the mystery of Christ.

God is a mystery, and Christ is the mystery of God. Christ is a mystery, and the mystery of Christ is the church. So the church is the mystery of Christ; it is a mystery of a mystery.

It is not easy to know what the church is; we need to be in our mingled spirit, having an unveiled face and an exercised spirit in order for us to know and apprehend the mystery of Christ, the church.

May the Lord unveil us to see the mystery of the church. What the Lord is doing today is building up His church to be His bride for Him to return.

We believers in Christ are in the church life learning to enjoy the Lord, growing in life, being perfected in our function, and being built up together so that we may become the bride of Christ for Him to return, close this age, and bring in the age of the kingdom.

May we receive the Lord’s mercy to be the overcomers today who compose the bride of Christ to bring Him back.

The Church is the Hidden Mystery in God’s Eternal Economy Revealed to us in Spirit

The mystery of the church is the ultimate mystery in the universe, for the church is the hidden mystery in God’s eternal economy (Eph. 3:9-11).

The church is a mystery so hidden deep in God that none of His seekers in the Old Testament saw it or knew about it, and even the angels did not know about it. Eph. 4:5 says that this mystery of Christ, which is the church, was not made known in other generations to the sons of men. Wow!

The prophets saw many things concerning the future of Israel, and they even saw something of Christ, the Messiah, and they prophesied concerning Christ. However, not even the prophets saw the hidden mystery in God’s eternal economy, which is the church.

John the Baptist saw a little more than the prophets. He spoke concerning Christ as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29).

He said that Christ will be the One who would baptise people in the Holy Spirit (Matt. 3:11) and He will be the Bridegroom who would have the bride (John 3:29).

But even John the Baptist did not see a clear vision concerning the church as the hidden mystery in God’s eternal economy.

In the ages before the New Testament, the mystery of the church was hidden from men.

However, this hidden mystery in God’s eternal economy has been revealed to the apostles and the believers in the New Testament age in spirit (Eph. 3:5; Col. 1:26).

Today we as believers in Christ have Christ as the mystery of God dwelling in us (v. 27). Christ dwells in us, and this is a mystery, for He as the Spirit is joined with our spirit, dwelling in our spirit, and living in us. Amazing!

The mysterious Christ as the mystery of God is in us to produce a mysterious Body, the church as the hidden mystery in God’s eternal economy.

The church is not merely a building where Christians go to worship. The church is not merely a gathering of believers in Christ who read the Bible and want to worship God together.

The church is something hidden deep in God’s heart, something that He desired to obtain from eternity, and He will gain it in time.

The church is the hidden mystery in God’s eternal economy. The mystery of the universe is God, the mystery of God is Christ, and the mystery of Christ is the church (Gen. 1:1; Rev. 4:11; Col. 2:2; Eph. 3:4). Wow! How mysterious the church is!

The church is the mystery of a mystery of a mystery. In Eph. 3:4 the church has this particular title, the mystery of Christ.

We need to see this mystery today. We need to exercise our spirit and come to the Lord in His word, reading and praying over His word, so that we may be unveiled to see the mystery of the church.

How thankful we are to the Lord that we live in the age of the New Testament, even at the end of this age of mystery, for we today can see the hidden mystery in God’s eternal economy – the church!

This mystery was hidden from generations but it is now revealed to us in spirit! Today we as believers in Christ have the position and privilege to receive that which was not revealed to God’s people in the Old Testament age.

May we exercise our spirit and contact the Lord day by day, and may we come to the Lord in His word with an unveiled face to behold Him and be infused with His heart’s desire concerning the church.

His focus is the church: He wants to gain the church as the bride of Christ so that He can return. We are here for this: we’re here for the church to be built up.

It’s good to open to the Lord and be before Him concerning this, even prayerfully consider the matter of the church as revealed in the New Testament, so that the Lord may bring us into the reality of the church today and we may know the hidden mystery in God’s eternal economy.

Lord Jesus, unveil us to see the church as the hidden mystery in God’s eternal economy! Wow, the church is the hidden mystery which was not revealed to those before the New Testament age! Amen, Lord, thank You that we can see the vision of the church today in our spirit! Praise the Lord for our regenerated spirit, the means by which we can see the mystery of the church. Save us, dear Lord, from not having a high appreciation of the church, the hidden mystery in God’s economy. Continue to unveil us today and every day so that we may see the church the way You see it! Hallelujah, we saints in the New Testament age have the position and privilege to receive that which was not revealed to God’s people in the Old Testament age! Oh Lord, what a privilege it is for us to see the church, be in the church, and live in the reality of the church today! We give ourselves to You today to live in the church life and be produced as the overcomers who compose the bride of Christ to bring Him back!

The Ultimate Mystery in the Universe is the Mystery of the Church Consummating in the New Jerusalem as God’s Eternal and Full Expression in Humanity

The ultimate mystery in the universe is the mystery of the church; this is the last mystery.

The Bible is truly a wonderful book full of many wonderful things, but there are some mysteries hidden deep in the Bible, which are revealed mainly in the New Testament.

The Bible opens with God doing a work of creation and further creation (Gen. 1), and it continues with God choosing a nation for Himself to be His corporate expression and representation on earth.

Then, in Zech. 12:1 we see that God treasures the spirit He formed in man as much as He treasures the heavens and the earth, for it is in this spirit that He can come to reveal Himself and impart Himself into man.

In the New Testament, we see that the God who created all things came to be a man; He came to be in the midst of men through His incarnation (John 1:1, 14).

Jesus Christ came as the embodiment of God, and He desired to be enlarged and expanded; His enlargement and expansion is the church as the Body of Christ, the fullness of the One who fills all and in all.

Today the church is the Body of Christ, the continuation of Christ and the enlargement of Christ.

This is what God desired to obtain from eternity and this is what He is gaining in this age today.

However, the church is the hidden mystery in God’s eternal economy; even more, the church is the ultimate mystery in the universe.

The church shines brightly to be the golden lampstand, holding God forth and expressing God on the earth.

The church as the golden lampstand, has God as its substance, Christ as its form, and the Spirit shining for its expression; the Triune God is mingled with man to shine forth through man.

The Lord today is building His church (Matt. 16:18), and He will gain the New Jerusalem, the bride of the Lamb, to be an eternal golden lampstand shining forth with God in Christ as the light for God’s corporate expression in the universe.

At the end of the book of Revelation, we see the city of New Jerusalem, a great city on a great mountain. This great city is the beloved bride of Christ, the consummation of the church in this age (Rev. 21:2).

When Christ returns, He will marry the church as His bride (19:7), and the Spirit and the bride will be one entity expressing God for eternity!

The New Jerusalem is the ultimate manifestation of the bride of Christ, which is the church today, and is the final fulfilment of that which is typified by Eve in Genesis 2.

In the New Jerusalem, God obtains an eternal and full expression in the man whom He created; this is the ultimate mystery in the universe – the mystery of the church (Eph. 5:32).

Today we are in the process and procedure of becoming the New Jerusalem. The New Jerusalem is not a physical city; the holy city is a person, a corporate person, the bride of Christ, the bride of the redeeming God.

Our spirit needs to be strong and full of wisdom and revelation so that we may know the mystery of the church (Eph. 1:17). We need to pray that the Lord would strengthen our spirit and make our spirit strong, even to make our spirit full of wisdom and revelation.

When we ask the Lord for this, He will strengthen us into our inner man, He will give us a spirit of wisdom and revelation, and we will see and be in the hidden mystery, even the ultimate mystery, the mystery of the church.

We will then live a life for the fulfilment of the eternal economy of God, which is the church in this age, consummating in the New Jerusalem.

One day the Spirit and the bride – Christ and the consummated church – will speak in oneness, Come (Rev. 22:17).

God and man will become an eternal couple for eternity! Hallelujah! This is the story of the universe, the ultimate manifestation of the universe.

The Bible reveals to us the story of the universe, from the creation of the universe to the fulfilment of the ultimate mystery in the universe, the mystery of the church.

May we be enlightened by the Lord to see this ultimate mystery, the hidden mystery in God’s eternal economy, and may we live a life for the fulfilment of God’s purpose today so that we may be part of the bride of Christ, the overcomers He needs today!

Lord Jesus, make our spirit strong. Give us a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of Christ as the mystery of God and the church as the mystery of Christ. Amen, Lord, unveil us to see the hidden mystery in God’s eternal economy – the mystery of the church. Grant us a clear revelation of Your heart’s desire to obtain the church consummating in the New Jerusalem. May our spirit be strong and full of wisdom and revelation so that we may know the mystery of the church. Oh, how great and deep is the mystery of Christ and the mystery of the church! Amen, Lord, we exercise our spirit today. We praise You that we can see the mystery of the church. Hallelujah, the church is being built up today to become the New Jerusalem! Praise the Lord, in the New Jerusalem, God obtains an eternal and full expression in the man whom he created! Wow, what a mystery! Hallelujah for this ultimate mystery in the universe – the mystery of the church!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by brother Ron Kangas in the message for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1983, vol. 1, “The Five Great Mysteries in the Bible,” pp. 197-199, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Experiencing, Enjoying, and Expressing Christ (2) (2024 December Training), week 21 (msg. 9), The Mystery of the Church.
• Similar articles on this topic:
  – The arrangement of the eternal plan of God’s household administration, a portion from, The Divine Dispensing for the Divine Economy, Chapter 1, by Witness Lee.
  – My Sweet Experience of Growing up in the Church Life, via, Living to Him.
  – The real gospel – concerning the economy of the mystery of God, a portion from, The Furtherance of the New Way for the Lord’s Recovery, Chapter 2, by Witness Lee.
  – 7 Wonderful Aspects of the Church in Ephesians, via, Bibles for America blog.
  – The Recovery of the Eternal Economy of God, via, New Zealand Training Centre.
  – Ephesians (Program #64) – God’s Economy—Christ with the Church, via, Bible study radio.
  – God’s Economy, Different Teaching, and the Central Line of the Bible, via, Shepherding Words.
  – God is manifested in the Church and in New Jerusalem, via, New Jerusalem blog.
  – The eternal purpose of God as revealed in Ephesians 1, article by Ron Kangas in, Affirmation and Critique.
  – What is God’s Economy in the Bible? More via, Holding to Truth in Love.
  – What is the Church? More via, the Hearing of Faith.
  – God’s economy and Paul’s ministry: summarized and demonstrated (1) via, Conversant faith.
  – The Entire Speaking of God in the New Testament concerning God’s New Testament Economy from the Incarnation of God to the Consummation of the New Jerusalem, video via, LSM Youtube channel.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – Is the Church to Christ, and thereby / God in Christ may be / Glorified thru His redeemed ones / To eternity. / Thus the Church and Christ together, / God’s great mystery, / Is the mingling of the Godhead / With humanity. (Hymns #819 stanzas 8-9)
  – God the Lord has spoken, and His mystery shown, / Christ and His expression has His counsel willed: / Christ with all God’s fulness as the glorious Head, / And the Church His Body, with His riches filled. / God the Lord has spoken, and from heaven shown / That the triune God would blend with creature-man: / Father in the Son, the Son the Spirit is, / Dwelling in the Body to fulfill His plan. (Hymns #800 stanzas 4-5)
  – The Church the lampstand is to Christ, / Christ is the lamp with God as light; / The light divine from Christ doth shine, / The Church upholds its glory bright… / The local churches here on earth / The lampstands in this age should be; / The glorious new Jerusalem / The lampstand in eternity. (Hymns #822 stanzas 1 and 9)