is not a mere metaphor or a religious slogan. it is a divinely revealed mystery—concealed in god’s heart from before the foundation of the world and only unveiled through the spirit after the resurrection of christ. this is not a secondary matter or a theological curiosity it is the very heart of god’s eternal purpose and your participation in it determines your inheritance your identity and your reward.
The Mystery Hidden in God
Scripture is unambiguous: the Body of Christ, along with the rewards prepared for it, was hidden from all previous ages. No prophet foresaw it. No sage could deduce it. God Himself kept this wisdom veiled, “ordained before the world unto our glory” (1 Cor 2:7). The Old Testament saints looked forward to a kingdom, but the reality of a new creation—Christ in you, the hope of glory—was locked away in God’s counsel until the appointed time.
“And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables.” (Mark 4:11)
“For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.” (Rom 11:25)
“But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory.” (1 Cor 2:7)
“Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself.” (Eph 1:9)
“To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Col 1:27)
This is not an academic point. If you treat the Body of Christ as an afterthought, or reduce it to a mere collection of individuals, you are despising the very thing God kept hidden for ages and only now reveals to His heirs. You are forfeiting the riches of your inheritance and the assurance that comes from knowing your place in God’s eternal plan.
The New Creation: Not of This World
Believers are not simply forgiven sinners or improved versions of their old selves. We are a new creation—something that never existed before, brought forth by resurrection life. This new creation is the Body of Christ, and its existence was a mystery until Christ rose from the dead and poured out His Spirit.
Everything pertaining to this Body—its identity, its unity, its destiny—was hidden in God and is now revealed only to those who are “inside,” those who have received the Spirit. The world cannot see it. The natural mind cannot grasp it. But to us, God has made it known.
The Spirit of Adoption: Our Witness and Seal
You have not received a spirit of bondage leading to fear. You have received the Spirit of adoption, by whom you cry, “Abba, Father.” This is not a feeling or a fleeting experience; it is the Spirit Himself bearing witness with your spirit that you are a child of God (Rom 8:15-16). This is the mark of sonship, the confirmation that you are not an orphan or a servant, but a joint heir with Christ.
“Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.” (Eph 1:2)
Grace and peace are not mere greetings—they are the environment of the new creation. They are the evidence that you have been brought into the fellowship of the Son, united with Him and with all who are His.
The Bema Seat: Reward for Building the Body
The Bema seat judgment is not a threat hanging over the believer’s head. It is a celebration of what Christ has accomplished in and through His Body. The rewards given there are not for individual heroics or fleshly striving, but for participation in the building up of the Body of Christ. This, too, was a mystery—hidden from the world, reserved for the sons of God, and only now revealed.
If you ignore or distort this truth, you rob yourself of the very rewards God has ordained for your glory. You trade the riches of Christ for the poverty of human effort. You turn the Bema seat from a place of celebration into a tribunal of fear—a complete inversion of God’s intent.
What Is Lost If This Mystery Is Neglected?
If you treat the Body of Christ as a secondary issue, or if you attempt to define your Christian life apart from this revealed mystery, you lose everything that matters. You lose the assurance of sonship, the reality of your new creation identity, the unity and peace that come only from God, and the promise of reward at the Bema seat. Worse, you undermine the very foundation of justification and inheritance, reducing the finished work of Christ to a mere starting point for your own efforts.
This is not a negotiable doctrine. It is the dividing line between those who walk in the light of God’s revelation and those who remain in the shadows of human religion. The mystery has been revealed. The Body of Christ is the masterpiece of God’s wisdom, and your place in it is the measure of your inheritance.
Do not settle for less. Stand in the full light of what God has accomplished in Christ. Receive the Spirit of adoption. Know yourself as a joint heir. Build up the Body, and look forward to the reward that awaits you—not as a servant, but as a son.
Read the book: Christ As Righteousness, Sanctification, and Reward
