God’s Spirit Helps Us Discern the Mystery of Life

Many of us enjoy a good mystery. Many mystery novels and movies feature a crime that has been committed, and the story unfolds around that event.

As the plot progresses, bits and pieces of information gradually come to light. Eventually, they all fit together, revealing who committed the crime and why.  

You’re left scrambling to piece things together. What exactly happened? What led to this moment? And how is it all going to end?

This is why life is a mystery to many.

We weren’t there at the beginning when life began and the purpose of our existence was made clear. Countless things occurred before we even came into the picture, and because of that, we don’t really understand what is going on all around us. 

People often ask themselves, “What is this life all about anyway?”

How it all began

Thankfully, God saw to it that a book was written about this mystery of life.

It’s called the Bible.

In the Bible—the very Word of God—life and the purpose of life are explained. God’s Word even reveals the reason the world is in the condition it is. Yet, incredibly, the Bible also makes it clear that most can’t put these facts together and understand this mystery!

God’s Word even reveals the reason the world is in the condition it is. Yet, the Bible also makes it clear that most can’t put these facts together and understand this mystery! Why?

Simply put, we lack a much-needed component—a spiritual component that gives us understanding.

Before you and I were born, before the physical universe was ever created, even before time began, God wanted a family. He desired to share not just His glory, but eternity (Malachi 2:15; Titus 1:2; Hebrews 2:10).

God first created spirit beings, referred to as angels, with free will. They were there when God brought the physical universe into existence (Job 38:4-7).

For an unspecified amount of time, there was peace and harmony in the universe. The earth was being prepared for the creation of mankind, God’s future children.

A crime committed

But sometime after the universe was created, a high-ranking angel named Lucifer became dissatisfied with his role and wanted more. He even desired to overthrow God! He ultimately convinced a third of the angels to follow him in this rebellion against their Creator (Isaiah 14:12-14; Revelation 12:3-4).

Lucifer and his angels were quickly defeated, and they were cast to the earth (Luke 10:18). Lucifer became known as Satan, which means “adversary,” and the angels that followed him are now known as demons.

Satan now focuses his efforts on thwarting God’s plan.

Because he is separated from God, Satan’s primary goal is to separate mankind from God and prevent us from becoming His children!

Satan hates humans because we have the potential to become like God, a potential he never had and will never have. He wants nothing less than eternal death for all of us (John 8:44).

The plot thickens

Yet, in spite of Satan’s rebellion, God continued forward with His plan.

It appears that Satan wreaked havoc on the earth during his rebellion. God had to restore the earth so it could support life (Genesis 1:2).

When God created Adam and Eve, He walked with them and taught them right from wrong. Part of that was the instruction to avoid one particular tree, because taking of that tree would ultimately result in their death.

And for a while, all was well.

But Satan was allowed to interact with Adam and Eve.

The majority of humanity has been separated from God, deceived by Satan’s lies and held captive under his influence. Just as he did with the angels, he misled and lied to Adam and Eve, even telling them they did not need God and could decide right and wrong for themselves (Genesis 3:4-5).

He persuaded Adam and Eve to eat the forbidden fruit, causing them to be separated from God and leading to their death. 

Since that time, the majority of humanity has been separated from God, deceived by Satan’s lies and held captive under his influence.

This is where we are presently and why most don’t understand what is really going on in our world or our purpose for living.

Mankind is being held captive by Satan, the god of this age (2 Corinthians 4:4), who desires to keep humanity separated from God and bring about its destruction.

For now, God is allowing Satan to continue his deception.

This is why the world is in such disarray—why evil prevails and why suffering and death are so widespread.

Naturally, we ask, “Why does God allow this?”

The mystery around us can be made clear only with God’s Spirit

God tells us that His ways and thoughts are far above ours (Isaiah 55:8-9). Through our misguided confidence in our human reasoning, we believe that we are more intelligent than we really are. It is this trust in our own mental ability that leads many to think that they cannot be deceived.

The Bible compares mankind’s inability to fully understand the purpose of life to a veil and a blindness that prevents us from seeing the truth (2 Corinthians 4:3-4; Ephesians 4:18).

The essential component humans lack in understanding the deep things of God is His Holy Spirit. Only with the help of God’s Spirit can we truly grasp the mystery of life and the purpose of our existence.

The human spirit alone is incapable of fully understanding deep spiritual truths. That requires God’s Holy Spirit. Notice what the apostle Paul said about this: “But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory . . .

“For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God . . .

“These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:7, 11, 13-14).

We can understand physical things because of the human spirit in us. But the human spirit alone is incapable of fully understanding deep spiritual truths. That requires God’s Holy Spirit.

Limited by our human spirit and human reasoning, we cannot grasp our real future. But notice how Paul tells us where that understanding of our incredible potential comes from: “But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God” (verse 10, emphasis added).

It is only through God’s Spirit that we can truly understand the purpose of our existence and the incredible future that awaits us.

The world’s problems are spiritual in nature, and only those who have God’s Spirit within them can truly understand why God is allowing Satan to temporarily wreak havoc on the earth. Most important, God’s Spirit helps us grasp the vision of the glorious future that awaits humanity. 

Pentecost and the mystery of life

During His final Passover on earth, Jesus told His disciples that there were many things He wanted to share with them, but they were not yet able to comprehend them. He assured them that once they received the gift of God’s Holy Spirit, they would then be able to understand (John 16:12-13).

The disciples received God’s Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, just weeks later. It not only gave them spiritual understanding, but also transformed their lives as they came to more fully grasp their purpose for living.

God continues to use His Spirit to impart spiritual understanding to those in His Church (Ephesians 3:9-10, 18-19).

God commands His people to observe the Day of Pentecost each year to commemorate the outpouring of His Spirit and the founding of His Church. 

In 2025 Pentecost falls on Sunday, June 1.

Life doesn’t have to be a mystery to you

Would you like to understand your future? With the indwelling of God’s Spirit, you can understand.

Yet there are requirements for receiving God’s Spirit. Notice what Peter said in his Pentecost sermon in A.D. 31: “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call” (Acts 2:38-39).

The world we live in is presently in bondage to Satan. But God is going to send His Son to rescue mankind and put Satan and his demons in a place where they can no longer influence us.

When Satan is removed, then God will make His Spirit readily available to all of mankind. At this time, all people will have the chance to learn their purpose (Ezekiel 36:26-28).

Meanwhile, until that time, the Father is personally calling some and removing the veil from their eyes (John 6:44; 1 Peter 2:9).

Those who respond to that calling, who repent and are baptized, will receive God’s Spirit. With His Spirit living in them, they gain not only the power to transform their lives, but also the understanding of the profound mystery of their purpose—and of the future that awaits not just them, but all humanity.

Yes, life remains a great mystery for most people today. But the time is coming when all people will understand their true potential.

Date Posted: May 26, 2025