A brief History of my favorite Mystery, the church of God, that's us!!!

FELLOWSHIP of the MYSTERY.
My 7-20-14 sermon notes from another awesome Pastor Brian message.
"mystery" - the Greek definition paraphrased by me:  no longer a closely held secret; a secret now revealed into the light and made known.
"mystery" - the English definition paraphrased by me: a secret closely held in darkness, unrevealed and unknown.
Ephesians 3:1-15 speaks of the Mystery Revealed and the Purpose of the Mystery.
Pastor Brian painted the colorful, manifold, multi-colored, multi-national, multi-racial, radical new society which IS this mystery: us, the Church of Jews and Gentiles reconciled by Jesus Himself. The history of the world is one of division and conflict. The mystery of God, is the marvelous human community gathered by faith in Christ. Even the angels see the gathering like Joseph's coat of many colors and marvel at the diversity in the mystery of the church. The key is the church, us, we all have the same citizenship. We are citizens of heaven and headed there. Oh how I love Jesus and our new society in Him. How inclusive. How unifying. How impartial. How unconditional. How Godly!  I can't help but hope and pray that all will see His reconciling powers of love, forgiveness, mercy and eternal life available to all who will simply believe. I love the history of this mystery. So grateful to be grafted in, woven into this glorious, brilliantly colorful and inclusive church of God.

"To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ; to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places, according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness, and access with confidence through faith in Him." Ephesians 3:8-11