Author's Note: All previous volumes of this series are here. The first 56 volumes are compiled into the book "Bible Study For Those Who Don't Read The Bible." "Part Two," featuring volumes 57-113, was published in December 2022.
Thanks for joining a study on what the Bible says about mystery. I think this is a fascinating topic because the very nature of faith is mysterious. The most famous verse on faith addresses that mystery:
“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1).
“Not seen” alludes to its mystery. Believers in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, our triune God, accept this mystery. We do not seek to explain how one God can be three; it simply is. We, lowly humans, recognize that God and His ways are often unexplainable, and we incorporate that truth into our belief system.
We accept that we can’t see God, but we know He is there. We accept that Jesus was resurrected and that He sent His Holy Spirit. Believers believe because we know that God is the Almighty King and Creator of the Universe. How God came to be is a mystery. How Jesus is Lord, the Son of God who became man, suffered, and died for our sins, is confounding and miraculous.
Therefore, “the conviction of things not seen” is a powerful conviction. Although we can’t see Him or even try to solve the mystery that is God, the Son and Holy Spirit, the Word of God records a fundamental “truth” proclaimed by Jesus:
“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).
Now, let’s embrace all these joyful mysteries and review passages that lead to understanding. We begin in the Old Testament (Hebrew Bible) with the Book of Daniel.
The prophet Daniel was called to save his life and those of his fellow “exiles from Judah” because King Nebuchadnezzar had troubling dreams that none of the king's wise men could interpret. So he ordered the killing of all the wise men in Babylon.
That is a brief background on the Hebrew Bible’s first use of the word translated as “mystery,” and Daniel is the only chapter that acknowledges the concept. Read this fascinating story in Daniel Chapter 2, when, in the end, the king becomes a believer in the God of Israel. Daniel the prophet explained that God alone reveals mysteries:
“He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with him” (Daniel 2:22). (Is the “light of Christ” foreshadowed?) And Daniel told the king:
“There is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries” (Daniel 2:28).
After Daniel successfully interpreted King Nebuchadnezzar's dream:
“The king said to Daniel, ‘Surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, for you were able to reveal this mystery’” (Daniel 2:47).
Our God, who reveals mysteries, leads us to the New Testament, where the word "mystery" is recorded at least 27 times, depending on the translation.
The New Testament's takeaway lesson on mystery is that God uses it to reveal His redemptive plan for humankind through Jesus Christ. St. Paul frequently used the word mystery throughout his Epistles. At the beginning of Ephesians, Paul recorded:
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 1:3). Then, a few verses later, he wrote:
“In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace, which He lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of His will, according to His purpose, which He set forth in Christ..” (Ephesians 1:7-9).
Let's repeat that, “the mystery of His [God’s] will for His purpose was set forth in Christ.” The mystery is Christ Himself and God’s plan of salvation to save us from the consequences of our sin. Paul’s passage below ends with an inspiring phrase:
“.. the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, 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). (See Vol. 161 about the glory of Christ.)
In 1 Timothy, Paul wrote the timeline for the mystery of Christ's earthly ministry:
“Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory” (1 Timothy 3:16).
Now, consider that since Christ was “taken up in glory,” did God leave any evidence of Jesus’s resurrection, widely believed to be the greatest event in human history? To that point, there was a profound statement from my interview with historian and Shroud of Turin expert Dr. Cheryl White in Vol. 307.
I asked her, “How do you characterize the role that mystery plays in relation to the Shroud of Turin?”
Dr. White answered: “Mystery is something that has not been revealed YET. Unlike any other historical artifact, the Shroud seems to pull us further away from definitive answers and more into the realm of mystery. Objects of the material world always give up their mysteries, but the Shroud resists and continues to generate more mystery with every answered question.”
Note that the Shroud of Turin is often called the “world’s greatest mystery”: an ancient burial cloth with an image of a crucified man with all the wounds that Pope John Paul II called “a mirror of the gospel.” As loyal readers know, I lead a ministry dedicated to education about the Shroud.
On that cloth, we can see the marks on a man who endured unimaginable torture. But how that image was formed has eluded science. As Dr. White said, “the Shroud resists and continues to generate more mystery.”
Please contemplate what Daniel said to the King, “God in heaven who reveals mysteries.”
The fact that the Shroud of Turin still exists is also a mystery. There is an abundance of mysteries on and within this burial cloth that science can’t explain, and new technologies are uncovering more of them. But only God knows when and what He will reveal as He has done in the past. As written in Revelation 10:7, referring to the Final Days, “the mystery of God would be fulfilled,” which I believe also applies to His Son’s burial Shroud.
I conclude by repeating St. Paul’s words from 1 Timothy 3:16, adding another sentence:
“Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.” And for skeptics who don’t believe in His glorious resurrection, millions worldwide believe that God left the mysterious Shroud of Turin. Amen to that!
Myra Kahn Adams is a conservative political and religious writer. Her book "Bible Study For Those Who Don't Read The Bible" reprints the first 56 volumes of this popular study. "Part 2," reprints Vols. 57 –113. Order it here.
Myra is also the Executive Director of the National Shroud of Turin Exhibit. You can help support our new six-month exhibit in Orlando, Florida, opening on March 13, 2026. Contact: Myraadams01@gmail.com