The Great Mystery Of Godliness

 The great mystery of godliness is when “God was manifest in the flesh.” It speaks of the birth of Jesus, Who is literally God (Jn 12:45). He “was made flesh, and dwelt among us” (Jn 1:14). Since Paul reminds us that the church of the living God, is “the pillar and ground of the truth” (v. 15), it is important that we don’t think of Jesus in a worldly sense, but what the Bible says about Him – Who He is (Mt 1:21), and why He came to this world (Lk 19:10)! The phrase “without controversy” means that there is absolutely no doubt about or even any room for contention.

 This is foundational, because the church was built by Jesus (Mt 16:18), Himself “being the chief corner stone” (Eph 2:20). This “great mystery” that “God was manifest in the flesh” is now revealed when Jesus was born in Bethlehem (Mic 5:2). A mystery is something that only God can reveal! Jesus already existed (Jn 8:58), even before He was miraculously conceived “of the Holy Ghost” (Mt 1:20), in Mary through the virgin birth! He actually existed with the Father and the Holy Spirit “before the foundation of the world” (Jn 17:24).

 Our finite human minds (1 Jn 3:20), cannot comprehend the infinite, immutable, and infallible God (Ps 90:2). He is also transcendent or beyond our understanding (Isa 57:15). Because He is above His creation and the only thing we can know about Him is what He chooses to reveal to us. When we celebrate Christmas, we remember that Christ was “found in fashion as a man” (Php 2:8), “yet without sin” (Heb 4:15). He died for our sins “that He might redeem us from all iniquity” (Titus 2:14). Christmas means hope from “the God of hope” (Rom 15:13). It is the hope of every saved person “as an anchor of the soul” (Heb 6:19)! God bless you!

-Pastor Melito Barrera