Great is the mystery of godliness

And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels….(1 Timothy 3:16, KJV)

Paul, speaking to Timothy his spiritual son exclaims, “great is the mystery of godliness”. He had been graciously given a heavenly download of the mysteries of the Son of God and of our faith and he was also perplexed at the wonders of the basis of our faith. He goes further to enlist the things which constitute this mystery. He begins by saying “ God was manifest in the flesh”.

The word “manifest” in the Greek means “to be or become clearly revealed to the mind, the senses, or judgment”. So the verse means God became clearly revealed or visible to the mind or the physical senses of human beings especially the eyes. In other words, the God who is invisible became visible. And He tells us how God became visible: God was manifest in the flesh. The flesh here does not merely mean body. It means God, the invisible and Almighty God, became a human being. This is the same truth revealed by John in John 1:14 :”the Word became flesh”. God became a human being with a human body, soul and spirit, and lived amongst us with a personality, way of talking , thinking, feeling, acting etc which were a complete revelation of the Person of God Himself!

This is the mystery of all mysteries and the miracle beyond every conceivable miracle we can even think of. Now get ready for the next part of this revelation, and I can only hope it does not offend your thinking…God’s will is to make you, the believer in Christ, a full and complete manifestation of His invisible being. Jesus, the Man, is no longer here to reveal God in the flesh. However, His Body is here, that is you and me. God wants you to be a manifestation of Christ to the world, just as He Jesus was the manifestation of the Father. He wants your emotions, thoughts, desires, actions, and words to be fully YOU yet not really YOU but Christ living. It means it will be you living. It will not be as if you are a robot God is controlling with a remote from heaven saying, “go left, or turn right”. You will be living your life as “normally” as you do, thinking, feeling, desiring, etc. However, in that life, it will not be you living, but Christ will be the One expressing Himself in you as you. Hallelujah! This is the mystery of the Gospel. This is the beauty of Christianity. It is the astonishing revelation of Gal. 2:20 and Col. 1:26-27. If you take hold of this mystery, then you are positioning yourself with the next wave of the Spirit in the Church.

Your life as a Christian is a mystery. You are God’s masterpiece. You were created for the glory of God. This is not a preacher’s rhetoric. It is the Father’s will and plan. I have been sharing different facets of this mystery since the year began. I pray that the Lord will open your understanding to catch this truth and begin enjoying the practical realities of living in oneness of Christ.

MEDITATE

What is the meaning of “manifest” as defined above? What does God need to be manifested?

APPLY THE WORD

The mystery in Christianity is God in the flesh. Jesus is a mystery, and so are you! The reason why Jesus left the earth, but He left you and me here and now so that there will be no Jesus void on the earth! You are not ordinary. Our very life, which is Christ, is a mystery and a wonder to behold. The only problem I have, which is what you also probably have, is our spiritual immaturity. The days are coming, however, that the sons of God will be manifested, and creation is eagerly waiting to see you being the full manifestation of the Christ, the Son of the Living God you were created to be!