And unquestionably great is the mystery of godliness, bible study
By: Julio Cesar Clavijo Sierra
God was manifested in the flesh, great is the mystery of godliness (1 Timothy 3:16)
Large verse is the mystery of godliness:
“And without question, great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached to the Gentiles, believed in the world, received up in glory”
Great is the mystery of mercy (God was manifested in the flesh), note also that this makes much more sense when we turn to the previous text, that is to say to verse 15 of the first letter to Timothy that says:
The apostle Paul alludes to the Church of the living God, and affirms that this church is the pillar and bulwark of truth, in other words it is the church that sustains and defends the faith that was delivered once and for all to the saints (Jude 1:3).
That True Church is the one that accepted, and even today must accept that which in verse 16 says that she does not question, that which for her is indisputable, and that at the same time is something great. Great is the mystery of mercy! God was manifested in the flesh.
GREAT IS THE MYSTERY OF PIETY
What is that indisputable and at the same time great? It is the Mystery of Mercy (God was manifested in the flesh).
Great is the mystery of mercy. It is called Mystery because it is hidden from the world, but known and fully understood by the Lord’s Church. That is the biblical definition of the word mystery, and that is why the primitive church, that church that received the unadulterated gospel, accepted it by unanimous confession, that is, they did not question it, and for that reason that church became a column (support) and bulwark (defense) of the true faith.
Great is the mystery of mercy, it is indisputable (God was manifested in the flesh)
In the expression “great is the mystery of piety”, many people believe that when the Bible uses the term mystery, it means something that must be believed even if it is not understood, without asking absolutely anything, because an answer will never be valid for its proper comprehension (Such is the case of the trinitarians with their incomprehensible dogma of the trinity, which, according to their own words, not even those who believe it can understand it).
This is not true, rather the Word says that “there is a God in heaven, who reveals mysteries” (Daniel.2:28). Great is the mystery of mercy and to the true church of the Lord, God has revealed his mysteries, and therefore, every believer in the true church has the obligation to grow in knowledge of them to share them with his brothers in faith. , as well as with all those who have not known Christ. All the mysteries of the Lord have been clearly revealed to his church through his Holy Spirit.
Great is the mystery of godliness: All these mysteries are hidden from those who are of the world but not from the church.
At this point, it is very convenient to resort to the following biblical portion: “But we speak the wisdom of God in mystery, the hidden wisdom, which God predestined before the centuries for our glory, which none of the rulers of this world knew; because if they had known her, they would never have crucified the Lord of Glory.
Great is the mystery of godliness, but God revealed to his church
Before as it is written: things that eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered the heart of man, are what God has prepared for those who love him. But God revealed them to us by the Spirit; because the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For who of men knows the things of a man, except the spirit of man that is in him? In the same way, no one knew the things of God, except the Spirit of God.
And we have not received the spirit of the world, but the spirit that comes from God, so that we may know what God has given us, which we also speak not with words taught by human wisdom, but with those that the spirit teaches by accommodating the spiritual. to the spiritual” (1 Corinthians 2:7-13). The meaning of “great is the mystery of godliness” has been revealed to the church.
The church truly knows the meaning of “Great is the Mystery of Mercy,” for God has revealed it to her.
To reveal means to remove the veil, to make understand what was unknown. When we were far from God we did not understand it, but now that we are of God, we have understood the meaning of the Mystery of Mercy through the work of the Holy Spirit.
The church understands what it means that great is the mystery of godliness
We emphasize that the true Church does understand and know the Mystery of Mercy, since it has been fully revealed to it so that it has no doubts. The church understands that “great is the mystery of godliness” and knows its meaning.
What we are holding is not the same as what a Trinitarian says, for example, when he affirms that God “revealed” to him the mystery of the “Holy Trinity” but that he still cannot understand it. This is another of the great contradictions of the unbiblical dogma of the trinity, because it makes those who profess that dogma believe that they have received it by revelation from God, but no matter how much they want it, they will not be able to understand it; in other words it was revealed to them but it was not revealed to them. What a contradiction!
The True Christian Church does enjoy the privilege of understanding the Mystery of Mercy.
GREAT IS THE MYSTERY OF GODLINESS (1Timothy 3:16)
Of Mercy, Biblical meaning
It is called Mercy, because through this mystery God demonstrated his great love and great mercy towards humanity.
“piety. (From lat. piĕtas,-ātis).. f. Virtue that inspires, for the love of God, tender devotion to holy things, and, for the love of neighbor, acts of love and compassion.1
Through the Mystery of Mercy, God was moved by all that virtue that emanated from Himself and that was reflected in a profound act of love and compassion for sinful man.
Through the Mystery of Mercy, God has been able to rescue man from sin and death, God has been able to provide his salvation to everyone who believes in the gospel of salvation, and God has shown and still shows his immense love to men. and his mercy towards them.
GOD WAS MANIFESTED IN FLESH, THE BIBLE SAYS THAT GREAT IS THE MYSTERY OF PIETY
Great is the mystery of mercy, but in what does this mystery of mercy consist?
But what does the Mystery of Mercy consist of? The Bible explains it clearly and bluntly, it is that God manifested himself in the flesh. God, the Eternal God manifested himself, not in Spirit, but in flesh as one of us.
It is not that God has become a man as many teach, the text does not say that, what the text says is that God manifested himself, showed himself, made himself known as a man. God never ceased to be God, but He did manifest Himself in the flesh. God put on a veil, a suit, a tabernacle of flesh and that is how God manifested himself in the flesh.
But why did God manifest himself in the flesh? What was the purpose that God had in manifesting himself in the flesh? What moved him to do that?
In the epistle to the Romans chapter 5 verses from 12 to 21 a comparison is made between Adam and Christ. That biblical portion calls Adam “the first Adam”, and Christ calls him “the second Adam”. This text shows us how the first Adam made the world a disorder because of his disobedience, but it also shows us how the second Adam (that is, Christ) has re-established the relationship with God of all men who have believed in him.
THE FIRST ADAM WAS THE SON OF GOD
Scripture calls Adam “son of God.” The first man who inhabited the planet earth is certainly called the son of God in the Holy Scriptures.
“The son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God” (Luke 1:38).
When God created Adam, he created him in a state of innocence and absolute purity, he created him in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:27). God’s purpose was for Adam to abundantly procreate a line of people who would worship God and become children of God just as Adam was.
God gave Adam the command to multiply and fill the earth (Genesis 1:28). Adam would beget many other children of God, so they would have the same nature that he had, which is why they would do the will of the Lord.
God’s purpose was for humanity to fill the earth with glory. God’s life would be within man and man would manifest God’s nature in the world. God would then be “all in all.” Adam as the son of God had the purpose of ruling humanity under his direction and acting as king under the power of God (Genesis 1:28).
But unfortunately Adam sinned, and with that sin he transferred the dominion of the world to Satan. Man was deceived by the devil, and therefore has been enslaved and deceived by the enemy of our souls. That is why the Scripture affirms that the whole world is under the power of the evil one (1. John 5:19). But it was not only that misfortune that happened, something worse happened! Man turned away from God to live in sin!
We have already seen that the purpose of Adam as a son of God was that from him he could obtain an offspring of human beings who were sons of God. But the descendants of Adam did not become children of God, because sin caused a division between God and men.
In order for man to recover that high condition that he originally had, a pure man was needed who enjoyed the same condition of holiness that the first man had. A human being was needed to prove the condition of being a son of God to start again.
“Imagine God’s desire to choose one of us to use one of us as the new Adam. He would require a man who had not committed sin; of a man who was pure. But here a problem immediately arises because humanity is born in sin. Adam caused all people to be made sinners (Romans 5:19). There was not a single human being that God could choose to start over, since we are all sinners.”2.
THE SECOND ADAM WAS ALSO THE SON OF GOD
There was not one, not even a single human being who could be constituted as a son of God. Humanity then had a big problem, because that way only a great condemnation awaited it….