The great mystery of godliness

A mystery is defined as a secret or something that’s unexplainable or difficult to understand. In a biblical sense, a mystery is a previously hidden truth but now divinely revealed. First Timothy 3:16 says “Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.”

In our text, the mystery of the kingdom of God is made known to mankind by the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Manifested in the flesh. The incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ is referenced here. Christ was the God-man; very God of very God, and yet very man of very man. God is spirit, therefore He must become man to suffer and die on the Cross in order to save man from his sins. 

God became man in the Person of Jesus Christ who was sin for us. The Bible says. “For our sake he [God] made him [Jesus] to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21). One of the great reasons for God having become man was that He would reconcile sinful man with the righteous God.

Justified in the Spirit. The Lord Jesus fully satisfied all the requirements for sinful man to be declared righteous before God. Hence, the sin question was settled once for all through Christ’s atoning sacrifice on the Cross. The Scripture says, “he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.” (Hebrews 9:26). 

The death of Christ found its end in His glorious resurrection from the dead. The resurrection signifies that Jesus triumphantly conquered sin, death, hell, and the grave. And now He lives enthroned at His father’s right hand in heaven. 

Justified in the Spirit or “made alive by the Spirit” means Christ’s resurrection was through the limitless power of the Holy Spirit. This is substantiated in Romans 1:4 where it says [Jesus] “was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Seen by angels. Angels are God’s messengers and their place is around the throne of God (Rev. 5:11). During Jesus’ agony in the Garden of Gethsemane in prayer to His Father, “there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him.” (Luke 22:39-43). 

On another occasion, at Jesus’ ascension to heaven, when His disciples stood by, the Scripture says, “And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” (Acts 1:10,11).

Proclaimed among the nations. Ever since the day of Pentecost, the Lord Jesus has been preached to every tribe and nation. And this will continue as long as life lasts. Christians are to declare God’s “Glory among the nations, his marvelous works among the peoples! For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; he is to be feared above all gods. For all the god’s of the peoples are worthless idols.” (Psalm 96:3-5).

We who truly love God must always be eager to proclaim his goodness and greatness among the nations. Psalm 96:10 exhorts us to “Say among the nations, “The LORD reigns! Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved; he will judge the people with equity.” 

               “Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice, let the sea roar, and all that fills it; let the field exult, and everything in it! Then shall the trees of the forest sing for joy before the LORD.” (Psalm 96:11-13).  

And then, the Lord comes. “For he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness, and the peoples in his faithfulness.” (Psalm 96:13). Our God is the God of righteousness and truth, and He will judge the world accordingly.

Believed on in the world. This testifies to the power of the gospel that people from around the world have repented of their sins and received Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. Romans 1:16 says “For I am not ashamed of  the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” 

Taken up in glory. This is in direct reference to Jesus’s ascension to heaven after His death on the Cross for the sins of mankind. As Jesus gave commands to His apostles to evangelize, the Bible says, “he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” (Acts 1:9-11). This is another promise of Christ’s second advent.