The Secret Ingredient to Coke. The Mystery Solved.

Last week I was reminded of a great mystery, the secret formula of Coca-Cola. I was with my two grandsons in Atlanta, the home of the famous drink. My grandsons, Shepherd, age 8 and Leighton, age 6, Mimi, who is ageless, and I went to the World of Coca-Cola Museum. It was much more than I thought it would be. It featured aspects of the soft-drink industry that I am sure my grandsons might not have thought about, like the bottling process, the history of the product and the secret formula embedded in its very history.

The museum includes a vault where the formula is kept, an interactive area with green bottles, questions about the taste of Coke, the problem of imposters and fakes, and a 4-D Movie that builds on the "secret" theme. The guys enjoyed the bumpy ride the movie gave them and all the hype, but they weren't much interested in getting a photo with the Coca-Cola polar bear. He is big. Scary to a couple of little boys? I don't know.

It was a well spent day (actually a half-day). And afterwards we went back to the hotel so they could swim. That evening we went to an Atlanta Braves baseball game. It was late when we crawled into bed. I heard nothing about the secret coke.

Well, the next morning, it was a surprise to me, when they both simultaneously announced to me, "We know the secret Ingredient" as we were waiting for the hotel elevator. I responded, "What are you talking about?" They said, "Coke. We know the secret Ingredient." I asked, "What is it? Most of my responses to these two guys is usually "What" because they asked me at least 100 times a day, “Do you know what?" And I ask, “What?" So this was a variant on my typical "What?" I actually was able to ask, "What is it?" In near unison, they said, “A big, dead rabbit." What? I asked them again. They repeated, “A big, dead rabbit.”

It was out of the clear blue. They had somehow discussed this among themselves and agreed on a solution to the great mystery surrounding Coke. Was I ever surprised! How did these two sleuths come up with that solution? I asked, "How do you know that?" By that time the elevator doors  

popped open, there was a nice gentlemen waiting on us to enter. Three seconds into the elevator my two guys asked him, "Do you know the secret ingredient?" I had to inform the man that we had been to the Coke Museum the previous day and that these two fellas had figured out the secret formula to Coke! They quickly told him. I think he was just as dumbfounded as I was. It is no longer a secret! When you know something, it's hard to keep a secret. How is it that the folks at Coca-Cola have kept it a secret for over a hundred and twenty-five years? Oh, I guess it has something to do with profit and who it might benefit.
 

Sorry, Coke, your secret is out of the bag (NOT).

Scripture speaks of the mystery of God but, unlike Coke goes to great lengths to tell the story in ways we might understand God’s love for us. The underlying principle is simple enough, but revelation of it was complicated as it was lived out in the lives of the many characters in scripture. They were, like us, filled with a human element.

Scripture:

Luke 24.44-48 – Christ opened their minds to understand the mystery in scripture.

Ephesians 1.9 – Christ unveiled the mystery of God’s plan.

Ephesians 3. 4-5 – The mystery of God’s grace and His Messiah was revealed to His apostles and prophets.

1 Corinthians 2.13 – God reveals spiritual things to spiritual people.

Colossians 1.26 – God’s Word remained a mystery for generations but it has now revealed His saints.

Colossians 1.19-20 – God in His fullness dwelled in Christ to reconcile us to Himself.

John 20.31 – What Jesus did is written down so you might believe He is the Messiah, the Son of God.

John 3.16 – God’s Son came into the world, not to condemn it, but to show us God’s love for man, and that by believing in Him, man would be saved.

Romans 15.7-9 – Jesus came to man to confirm God’s promises and God’s truth to us.

Ephesians 2.8 – By our faith we are saved by God’s grace.