The Mystery of Godliness – kenbarnes.us
Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh,
vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory. (1 Timothy 3:16 ESV)
There is a mystery of godliness. Sometimes, the Bible may seem almost unintelligible and may meant to be that way. You cannot understand parts of the Bible and still believe them to be true. And you can understand parts of the Bible but not think they are true.
Some time ago, I was working in my front yard wearing earbuds to listen to Bible teaching. When I would go to the backyard to retrieve something, I would lose my wireless connection at a certain point. I had no idea how high-frequency radio signals transmit and receive data from a technical standpoint. All I needed to know was that I had lost my connection and the teaching if I had gone past a certain point. It is somewhat similar with God. He gives us all the information, coupled with faith to believe him.
The section of v. 16 above, “He was manifested in the flesh, and vindicated by the Spirit,” is interpreted by most commentators to mean that Jesus was God and man was vindicated by the Holy Spirit when he raised him from the dead. In his glorified body, people recognized him, they could touch him (Thomas putting his finger into Jesus’ hand and side), Jesus could eat food, yet he could appear in a room without going through an open door. What kind of body can do this? You cannot explain his resurrected body with our natural laws. It is a mystery. If you can’t accept the supernatural, you can’t believe in Jesus.
The Bible teaches that Christ was totally God and totally man. How does that work mathematically? The truth of the matter is that it doesn’t. But God is not limited by our natural laws. Humility reveals that the creature can never totally understand the creator, and the finite mind can never fully grasp God’s infinite knowledge. Therefore, the mystery of godliness, knowing that on this side of glory, our understanding is always limited can be an asset to our faith rather than a detriment.
Image used by permission from Microsoft.
Ken Barnes, the author of “The Chicken Farm and Other Sacred Places” YWAM Publishing and Broken Vessels through Kindle Direct Publishing.
Ken’s Website— https://kenbarnes.us/
Ken blogs at https://kenbarnes.us/blog/
Email- [email protected]
