Stewards of the Mysteries of God

Main Text

1 Corinthians 4:1 ESV

1 This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.

What is a Mystery?

According to Merriam Webster’s Dictionary the term Mystery can be defined as...

something not understood or beyond understanding : ENIGMA The mystery of his disappearance has never been solved.

a piece of fiction dealing usually with the solution of a mysterious crimeReading mysteries was her favorite pastime.

the secret or specialized practices or ritual peculiar to an occupation or a body of people the mysteries of the tailor's craft

obsolete : a private secret

The Ekklesia in Acts

This mystery occurs 23 times in the book of Acts, which narrates the growth and expansion of the early Church.

Acts 9:31 (ESV) - So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied.

Acts 11:26 (ESV) - and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with the church and taught a great many people. And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians.

Acts 12:5 (ESV) - So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church.

Acts 14:27 (ESV) - And when they arrived and gathered the church together, they declared all that God had done with them, and how he had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles.

Acts 15:4 (ESV) - When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they declared all that God had done with them.

Acts 15:22 (ESV) - Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They sent Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, leading men among the brothers,

Acts 20:28 (ESV) - Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.

The Ekklesia and the Apostle Paul.

The Apostle Paul uses the word frequently in his letters to refer to local assemblies of Christians in a particular place a house church, or in a metaphorical sense, to an eschatological group whose head is Christ.

Paul uses ekklēsia four times in his two letters to the Thessalonians; each time, the term denotes a local gathering of believers.

It is significant that Paul uses the word ekklēsia, which refers to a “gathering” or assembly of people, is used specifically to refer to the community of Jesus’ followers.

The related term synagōgē was used mostly in reference to Jewish gatherings

Colossians 1:15–26 (ESV)

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.

16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.

17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.

19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,

20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds,

22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him,

23 if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.

24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church,

25 of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known,

26 the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints.