Of all the mysteries in God’s New Testament economy, the first of them is the mystery of God. The second half of Colossians 2:2 says, "The mystery of God, Christ." We can see that Jesus Christ is a mystery; He is not simple at all. I do not believe that we have exhausted all that the Bible speaks concerning Him. I believe that we have only covered a part. There are still many things which we do not understand. In spite of that, when we come together to fellowship and to talk about them, we will gradually be brought into understanding them.
Concerning God’s mystery, Christ, I have listed six points. First, Christ is the mysterious Word of God. Second, the Word became flesh. Third, He passed through human living. Fourth, He was crucified. Fifth, He resurrected. Sixth, He ascended. All these items that Christ has passed through are the mystery of God. Christ is the Word of God, and the Word is God Himself. As the Word becoming flesh, God became flesh and stayed with us. His living was God’s living. When men saw Him, they saw God. Then He died in the flesh and resurrected. He lived in His death. He was the grain of wheat that fell into the ground and died to produce many grains (John 12:24). He died and He lived. He lives through His dying, for He is life and He is God. Finally, He ascended. Concerning Christ, we have these six points: the Word of God, His becoming flesh, His passing through human living, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension. Christ in these mysterious aspects is the mystery of God.
Now let us follow the outline to consider the various aspects of the mysterious Christ of God point by point. First, He is the mysterious Word of God in eternity past. John 1:1 says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." In eternity past, before time began, Christ was the Word of God. It was divine thought that became constituted as an expression, which in turn became the Word that can be comprehended by man. The Word here is logos in Greek. It means an expression constituted by a thought, which is understood by man. Although our God cannot be seen in the universe, He is the Word that can be understood by man. By this Word His mysterious being is explained and expressed.
Second, the invisible Word of God became the visible flesh, which is Jesus Christ. His whole person is the embodiment of the Word of God. This is why the first Epistle of John begins with the Word of life which was there from the beginning and which was with the Father. It is that which we have heard, which we have seen with our own eyes, which we beheld, and which we have touched with our own hands. By becoming the flesh, this Word has become tangible and touchable. He is the mysterious God who was conceived of His Spirit and begotten in the womb of a human virgin (Matt. 1:20b). Then from this virgin’s womb, He was born with humanity to be the mysterious God-man, in whom both divinity and humanity are mingled. Originally, He was the mysterious God in eternity. Through His Spirit, He was first begotten in the virgin’s womb. Then after conception, He was born with humanity as a God-man in whom divinity and humanity are mingled. What was conceived was God. What came out was the God-man. The baby Jesus that was in the manger was the mysterious God-man in whom both divinity and humanity are mingled as one. This Jesus is Jehovah the Savior. Men shall call His name Emmanuel, which means God with us (Matt. 1:23). He is Jehovah God as our Savior and is also God with us.
When Christ became flesh, He put on human flesh (Heb. 2:14a) and partook of all that man is. Through this He brought His mysterious divinity into humanity, that is, He brought God into man. In this way, the mysterious fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily in this mysterious God-man (Col. 2:9). What is in Christ, the mysterious God-man, is not only divinity but also all the fullness of the Godhead, which is the expression of the riches of all that God is.
(The Mysteries in God's New Testament Economy, Chapter 1, by Witness Lee)