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THE MYSTERY OF GOD
hat is God really trying to accomplish here on earth? This is a question that religious men and women have ponderedsince the dawn of creation. Paul tells us that the mystery of God was hidden throughout all the ages and generationsfrom the time of creation until the appearance of the Messiah. After his first coming, however, the heavenly Father revealedthis mystery to His saints (Col. 1:26). Yet how well do those who profess to have accepted Yeshua the Messiah (Jesus Christ)really understand God's mysterious plan?Most Christian denominations believe that they have a good grasp of the mystery of God the Father. They think He is savingthose who, of their own free will, accept the sacrifice of His son Yeshua. Conversely, they believe that God will condemn andeternally punish those who do not accept that sacrifice (either because of conscious rejection or ignorance).Under that basic premise, most of Christianity has implicitly decided that God is going to end up saving just a minority of humanity, since even the most optimistic assessment can only conclude that most people throughout history have NOTaccepted the saving sacrifice of Yeshua. Yet does this understanding agree with what God says He will do in His Word? Inthis article we will examine what the Bible truly teaches about this misunderstood mystery of God that even now so few reallycomprehend.In order to lay out the mystery of God, we must first understand some things about God that the Father reveals of Himself.God tells us quite a bit about Himself and His abilities in the Bible.
God the Father – Omnipresent, Omniscient and Omnipotent
These three impressive sounding words describe God's presence, knowledge, and power, which are concepts found often in theScriptures. We will examine each in turn:
OMNIPRESENCE
The term "omnipresent" refers to the ability to be present everywhere at the same time. The Scriptures tell us that God theFather, through His Holy Spirit, maintains a presence in all of His creation:
PSALM 139:7
Where shall I go from your Spirit?
Or
where shall I flee from your presence?
8
If Iascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
9 If I take the wingsof the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, 10 even there your hand shall lead me, andyour right hand shall hold me. 11 If I say, "Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me benight," 12 even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light withyou. (
 ESV 
)JEREMIAH 23:23 "Am I only a God nearby," declares the LORD, "and not a God far away? 24
Can anyonehide in secret places so that I cannot see him?
" declares the LORD. "
Do not I fill heaven andearth?
" declares the LORD. (
 NIV 
)PROVERBS 5:21 For
a man's ways are in full view of the LORD
, and He examines all his paths. (
 NIV 
)PROVERBS 15:3
The eyes of the LORD are in every place
, keeping watch on the evil and the good. (
 ESV 
)
OMNISCIENCE
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To be "omniscient" means that one has total and complete knowledge of all things. What does the Bible tell us about God theFather's knowledge?
ISAIAH 46:9 Remember the former things, those of long ago; I am God, and there is no other; I am God, andthere is none like me. 10
I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what isstill to come
. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please. (
 NIV 
)ISAIAH 48:3
I foretold the former things long ago, my mouth announced them and I made themknown
; then suddenly I acted, and they came to pass. (
 NIV 
)ISAIAH 42:9 Behold, the former things have come to pass, and
new things I now declare; before theyspring forth I tell you of them
." (
 ESV 
)PSALM 139:1 For the director of music. Of David. A psalm. O LORD, You have searched me and You knowme. 2
You know when I sit and when I rise; You perceive my thoughts from afar
. 3
Youdiscern my going out and my lying down; You are familiar with all my ways
. 4
Before a word ison my tongue You know it completely, O LORD
. 5 You hem me in — behind and before; You havelaid Your hand upon me. 6 Such
knowledge
is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. (
 NIV 
)LUKE 12:6 "Are not five sparrows sold for two small coins? Yet
not one of them has escaped the noticeof God
. 7
Even the hairs of your head have all been counted
. Do not be afraid. You are worthmore than many sparrows." (
 NAB
)MATTHEW 24:30 "Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earthwill mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.31 And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His electfrom the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. . . . 36
But of that day and hour no oneknows
, not even the angels of heaven,
but My Father only
." (
 NKJV 
)
These Scriptures show that God knows all things, and that He often foretells the future to us through His prophets. But we aretold even more here; God does not just make known future events, but He actively works to carry out His plan. It's not simplya case of the heavenly Father being able to see the future. God specifically tells us that He takes action to make prophesiedevents occur.
OMNIPOTENCE
The term "omnipotence" means having power over all things. Let's see what the Scriptures tell us about God the Father's power:
ISAIAH 44:24 Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, and the one who formed you from the womb, "
I, theLORD, am the maker of all things
, stretching out the heavens by Myself and spreading out the earth allalone," (
 NASU 
)JEREMIAH 10:12 But
God made the earth by His power
; He founded the world by His wisdom andstretched out the heavens by His understanding. (
 NIV 
)JEREMIAH 27:5 "
With My great power
and outstretched arm
I made the earth
and its people and theanimals that are on it, and I give it to anyone I please." (
 NIV 
)JEREMIAH 32:17 Ah Lord GOD!
It is You who made the heavens and the earth by Your great power
and by Your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for You. (
 NRSV 
)JEREMIAH 51:15 "
He made the earth by His power
; He founded the world by His wisdom and stretchedout the heavens by His understanding." (
 NIV 
)ISAIAH 40:25 "Who will you compare Me to, or who is My equal?" asks the Holy One. 26 Look up and see:Who created these? He brings out the starry host by number; He calls all of them by name. Because of His
great power and strength
, not one of them is missing. (
CSB
)JOB 36:22 See,
God is beyond reach in His power
; who governs like Him? (
 JPS Tanakh
)
God's power is so great that He created the entire vast universe using it. The power of God is also manifested in His ability to
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design a plan and ensure that it is carried out to achieve His will and purpose:
ISAIAH 14:24 The LORD of hosts has sworn:
As I have designed, so shall it be
; and
as I have planned,so shall it come to pass
: (
 NRSV 
)ISAIAH 14:27
The LORD of hosts has planned; who can thwart Him?
His hand is stretched out; whocan turn it back? (
 NAB
)ISAIAH 43:13 "Even from eternity I am He, and there is none who can deliver out of My hand;
I act and whocan reverse it?
" (
 NASU 
)ISAIAH 46:10 I foretell the end from the beginning, and from the start, things that had not occurred. I say:
My plan shall be fulfilled; I will do all I have purposed
. (
 JPS Tanakh
)II CHRONICLES 20:6 [
King Jehoshaphat
] said: "O LORD, God of our fathers, are You not the God who is inheaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations.
Power and might are in Your hand, and noone can withstand You
." (
 NIV 
)
God's power is such that whatever He has decided to do, that is what will be done. God tells us that He has designed a planthat will be implemented because
no one
(not man nor angel) has the power to thwart or withstand His purpose.If God truly is all powerful, and if He has a definite plan for mankind, then nothing happens outside the scope of that plan.Logically this means that He is the author of 
everything
that happens, both good and bad. Numerous Scriptures confirm thisto be the case:
ISAIAH 45:7 I
form the light
, and
create darkness
: I
make peace
, and
create evil
: I the LORD do allthese things. (
 RWB
)ECCLESIASTES 7:13 Consider what God has done: Who can straighten what He has made crooked?14 When times are
good
, be happy; but when times are
bad
, consider:
God has made the one as wellas the other
. Therefore, a man cannot discover anything about his future. (
 NIV 
)DEUTERONOMY 32:39 "See now that I, I am He, and there is no God besides Me; it is I who
put to death
and
give life
. I have
wounded
and it is I who
heal
, and there is no one who can deliver from My hand."(
 NASU 
)I SAMUEL 2:6 The LORD both
kills
and
gives life
; He
brings down to the grave
and
raises up
. (
 NET 
)JOB 5:18 For He
wounds
, but He also
binds up
; He
injures
, but His hands also
heal
. (
 NIV 
)HOSEA 6:1 "Come, let us return to the LORD. He has
torn us to pieces
but He will
heal us
; He has
injuredus
but He will
bind up our wounds
." (
 NIV 
)
Because He is all powerful, God is the source of everything that happens, both good and bad. The Scriptures show that He isthe One who wounds and kills, in addition to being the One who heals and makes alive. As the Almighty Creator and SupremePower in the entire universe should, God the Father takes complete responsibility for all things in this world, evil as well asgood.Yet very few believe God when He claims to be the source of evil. They refuse to accept the very words of God recorded inthe Bible and instead prefer to believe in a different God, one of their own devising. The God of most Christians isn't thesource of the evil in the world. Instead, they believe God simply allows His creation to choose evil because He has given themthe free will to do so.Many cite the first half of Habakkuk 1:13 in support of their contention that God, far from being the creator of evil, cannot evenso much as look upon it:
HABAKKUK 1:13
Your eyes are too pure to look on evil
; you cannot tolerate wrong. . . . (
 NIV 
)
"There! The Bible says it, so I believe it!" proclaim those who hold this view. But if this is really the point the prophet is
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