“A person should think of us in this way: as servants of Christ and managers of the mysteries of God.” (1 Corinthians‬ ‭4:1‬ CSB)

The Bible speaks of the “mysteries of God.” But what does that mean? To put it simply, the mystery of God is His plan for all of history to culminate with setting up His eternal kingdom for us. In short, you could say, the “mystery of God” is the gospel.

And it’s a mystery because, for ages, it was hidden and not fully understood (Eph. 3:5). But God, through the sending of His Son, revealed this glorious plan to save His people through the life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, the Messiah.

Furthermore, what’s incredible is God has made us, His people, “managers” of this mystery. He has called us, commanded us to manage His glorious gospel. So, the real question we ponder is this: What does it look like for us to “manage” the mystery of God?

Preach it with undying conviction.

In order to manage the gospel with biblical fidelity, we must do so with conviction. The truths of the gospel—of Christ’s righteous life, atoning death, and victorious resurrection—must grip our hearts and never let go.

It is when we lose the conviction that our preaching falls flat. I don’t know about you, but I don’t go to church every Sunday to hear a conviction-less sermon. The gospel, to be preached faithfully, must be preached with conviction, with passion, with authority.

The day we preach the gospel without conviction is the day we should repent. The gospel should be our firmest conviction—unshakeable, unbreakable.

Share it with loving, truthful compassion.

We must have compassion on those with whom we share the gospel. If we don’t have compassion, why share the gospel? This compassion must be founded upon truth and love, or else it’s a faulty compassion.

Jesus had compassion on those whom He preached to, so we should as well. We do a disservice to the gospel when we share it with no truth, no love, no compassion. We must earnestly love those with whom we’re sharing it. Our compassion for the lost must be evident in our words, in our actions.

Stand firm in the message, with no compromise.

In our day when the culture is vehemently biting back, we must stand firm all the more in the truths of the mysteries of God—the gospel. We must not compromise the message in order to appease society. 

The message we are called to herald is a message that is offensive to the world. This truth, however, should not hinder us from proclaiming it without fear, without anxiety, without compromise.

Friends, our Lord has called us to be “managers of the mysteries of God.” He didn’t have to, but He chose to do so. What a privilege, what an honor. Let us not take it lightly that we are managers of His mysteries.