1 Timothy 3:16 Beyond all question, the mystery from which true godliness springs is great: He appeared in the flesh, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was preached among the nations, was believed on in the world, was taken up in glory.
We live in a day of censorship. Facebook posts get deleted if they are telling a story from an unapproved viewpoint. The algorithms just block the content.
But have you noticed that people are getting around the blocking by spelling the article titles with special characters, rather than with our normal twenty six letter alphabet. And the computers aren’t able to read this jumble of extra characters and understand what the title says. We are able to work through the decoding.
I remember as a kid working with codes. I think every boy of my era did that. Our parents had come out of WWII and Korea, and codes seem to capture the imaginations of a generation of young boys. We did primarily simple substitution codes, one letter being substituted for another. If you had the key, then it was easy to decipher.
While the author of our text is certainly not using a cipher, he is using a device to point to Jesus without mentioning His name. He does this to reinforce his message: Jesus is the true source of godliness. How can a person be the source of true godliness? That is the mystery.
Now this is not a mystery like Sherlock Holmes or Agatha Christie. Mysteries in the Scriptures are something that was hidden for a while, and then the meaning became known. The mystery of the Gospel tells how all humanity, Jews and non-Jews, all brought within a “Yes!” of salvation. All are brought close enough to God that a simple “Yes!” spoken in response to God’s invitation is enough to be fully transformed.
Paul’s reference to “the mystery” points to the grace and mercy of God that gets manifested in this world through the life, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus. And this is such a contrast between how the Jews had understood the role of the Law in their lives and the grace that was being offered in Jesus. How could the LORD do this? Mystery!
But this is exactly what Paul states. Godliness, their word for living God’s way in the world, comes from a relationship with Jesus, the one who appeared, was vindicated, seen, preached, believed, and taken up. Jesus is the central solution to our sin problem. Without Him, we have nothing!
Each of these elements attest to the validity of Jesus’ claims about this fulfillment of Old Testament writings. Jesus is the second Adam, being obedient even to the point of death, right where Adam had failed. Jesus established a new covenant with His own blood, in contrast to the one that had been sealed with the blood of animals.
And one final note: when we believe in Jesus’ person and work, we become part of this Scripture. We become part of the world that believes in Him. We join the throngs of those who have gone before us in the faith. And there will be those who join this new family who come after us, some of whom we have had a part in reaching, discipling, encouraging, and commissioning. We are part of the story. Mystery!
The Arnold Journey 