I became a minister…to make the word of God fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. To them, God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. (Colossians 1:25-27, ESV)
Ben Hogan’s “secret!” Was there one? If so, what was it? Who knows? Who gets to decide? Do we have those who knew him, played golf with him, corresponded with him, still around to tell us?
If you’ve been around this game for a while, you’ve heard of Ben Hogan’s “secret.” If you’ve paid attention, you know there are more than a few competing theories about his alleged “secret” to the golf swing.
Some have argued that Hogan’s secret was “digging it out of the dirt (i.e., practice).” Johnny Miller is on record that it was the way Hogan finished at the top of his swing. One popular instructor claims Hogan’s trail elbow stays connected to his torso. Another has argued that Hogan’s secret was changing to a neutral grip. Yet another has asserted that it was his rediscovery of “pronation and supination.” The “secret” is, well, clouded in mystery.
Of course, we are right to want to know. Who wouldn’t? After all, who wouldn’t desire to hit it like Hogan? The stories about his swing, shots under competitive pressure, work ethic, and mercurial personality border on “legendary.” When it comes to Hogan, it’s hard to discern between fact and fiction.
Debating the topic of Hogan’s secret is one thing, but discovering what Paul meant by “mystery” places us on a completely different playing field. The concept of mystery is used twenty-seven times in the New Testament. Therefore, deciding what it means depends on the immediate context in which Paul is writing.
When Paul talks about mystery in Colossians, he connects it to “making the word of God fully known.” Hence, the mystery elaborates on “the word of God.” He is also talking about something “revealed”—a revealed secret, if you please. How can it simultaneously be a “secret” and “revealed?”
Minimally speaking, part of the answer to this “secret/revealed” dilemma is found in the fact that the mystery was hidden in ages past, but now it is revealed with the arrival of the person of Jesus Christ. It wasn’t merely the calendar that changed with Jesus’ arrival two thousand years ago; now, the secret was out. This is the one secret we are supposed to tell others about.
In other words, “the mystery” entirely hidden from Gentiles in ages past and only partially revealed in Israel’s history, prophecies, and ceremonies is now on full display with Jesus’s arrival.
Paul is writing to Gentiles. We Gentiles frequently forget that we were not the original heirs of God’s covenant promises (see Romans 9:1-5). As Gentiles, we were, according to Ephesians, “…separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise….” In short, Gentiles were on the outside looking in.”
In both Colossians and Ephesians, the reference to the “mystery hidden for ages” is that the Gentiles are now co-heirs with believing Jews precisely because of our union with Jesus. Consequently, we are now grafted into the people of God. All this is because of Jesus Christ, “in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Col.2:3).
Remember, Abraham’s children are those who place their faith in Christ Jesus, Jew or Gentile (see Romans 4). Or, as Paul explains it elsewhere, we are, because of Christ Jesus, “adopted” into the family of our Father.
This Jesus, who was crucified, buried, and raised, is now, post-resurrection and ascension, the one who lives in our hearts by his Holy Spirit—the Spirit of Christ. Christ is, indeed, “the hope of glory.”
Prayer: Jesus, open our minds and hearts to understand and cherish Jesus who, because of his death and resurrection, provides reconciliation and adoption.