1 Timóteo 3

1 Timóteo 3

Meyer - 1 Timothy 3:16 It is more than likely that this is a fragment of one of the earliest hymns of the Church. In her hymns, and maintenance of the ordinances, she thus becomes the pillar and ground of the truth. The words “mystery of godliness” are probably a general heading which is further unfolded and expanded in the six following sentences, which may have been sung antiphonally:— “God was manifest in the flesh, Justified in the Spirit. Seen of angels, Preached unto the Gentiles. Believed on in the world, Received up into glory.” The Extremes of Manifestation. — The Eternal Word was manifested in the flesh. But it was not simply a physical manifestation; we cannot forget the descent of the Holy Spirit at his baptism, or the authentication of his words which the Spirit gave in signs and wonders, and convinced hearts, and converted lives. The Extremes of Created Intelligence. — Angels worship Him; and Gentiles, sunk in heathen darkness, hear the story of his wondrous love. Jesus is the centre of all worlds: from heaven’s bright spaces they come to Him on the one hand; from earth’s dark sins they come on the other. In Him meet angels and men. The Extremes of Space. — Glory is above: “He was received up into glory.” The world is but a speck, a mote in the beam of eternity. How great the space between the two! But the feet of our Emmanuel have trodden its low pavement, and He has now taken to Himself his former glory. Like Jacob’s ladder, He links earth with the throne of God. QUESTION - What is the mystery of godliness? GOTQUESTIONS.ORG ANSWER - The phrase the mystery of godliness, found in 1 Timothy 3:16, is part of an introduction to an ancient hymn. In the English Standard Version, the verse reads this way: “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.” Other translations speak of “the mystery from which true godliness springs” (NIV) and “the great mystery of our faith” (NLT). The words that follow in 1 Timothy 3:16 explain the mystery of godliness: God became flesh and lived among us (cf. John 1:1, 14). The Greek word musterion (“mystery”), when used in the New Testament, refers to the things of God that were once hidden but were later revealed through Christ and the coming of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:4). A mystery is that which can only be known through the revelation of God (Romans 16:25–26; Colossians 1:26–27). It is something that in times past had been hidden but is now revealed to God’s people. Jesus spoke of “the mystery of the kingdom of God” (Mark 4:11, NAS) that He was at that time revealing to His disciples. The apostle Paul used the word mystery 21 times in his epistles: the mystery of God (Colossians 2:2), the mystery of faith (1 Timothy 3:9), the mystery of iniquity (2 Thessalonians 2:7), etc. In each case, the “mystery” involved a declaration of spiritual truth, revealed by God through divine inspiration. The New English Translation of 1 Timothy 3:16 speaks of the mystery of godliness as an “amazing revelation” concerning our faith. The Greek word translated “godliness” in most English translations means “a proper response to the things of God, which produces obedience and righteous living.” As He walked this earth, Jesus was the embodiment of pure godliness, which led Him to lay down His life for unworthy sinners (John 10:18). His life was dedicated to the glory of the Father, and He always did what pleased Him (John 8:29). Christians pursue godliness when we follow the example of Jesus in dedicating every decision to the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31). Godliness is not a suggestion; it is a command (1 Peter 1:15–16; Hebrews 12:14). The mystery of godliness is the heart of the Christian faith. The mystery of godliness is the heart of the Christian faith. The hymn that Paul records in 1 Timothy 3:16 contains a summation of Jesus’ ministry. The godliness of God’s Son is now to be reflected in us. Christianity is not a system of rules and actions that must be performed to appease a deity. At the heart of Christianity is the mystery of godliness—the fact that God took on human flesh to live among the people He created (Philippians 2:5–11). As a Son, Jesus remained completely obedient to His Father in heaven and then offered Himself as a perfect sacrifice in our place (John 10:18; Hebrews 4:15; 2 Corinthians 5:21). God then raised Him from the dead, thereby conquering death for all who trust in Him (Matthew 28:6; 1 Corinthians 15:3–7, 13–14, 55). Because Jesus took our place, sinful humans may be declared righteous before God and be “born again” (John 3:3). The new birth is spiritual and results in a change of heart that produces true godliness (2 Corinthians 5:17; 1 John 3:8–10). How a life is transformed is the mystery of godliness and is comprehended only through the revelation of God in Christ. “Beyond all question, the mystery from which true godliness springs is great” (1 Timothy 3:16). Robert Hawker - Poor Man's Evening Portion - —1 Timothy 3:16. My soul! sit down this memorable evening, and in commemorating the great event of Christ’s nativity, listen to what the Holy Ghost here speaks, by his servant the apostle, concerning the mystery of godliness! Here are so many wonders branched out into so many chapters; they hang like a rich and full cluster upon the vine. Gather them one by one, mark their beauties, and taste their sweetness. The first is, “God manifest in the flesh:” here is a meditation for thee to live upon, and to feast upon for ever. Thy God, thy Jesus, thy Holy One, the Son of God, was made flesh! Go on to the second: he was “justified in the Spirit:” a matter that would never have taken place, had he not fully, by his righteousness and death, satisfied his Father’s law, and brought in an everlasting righteousness for his people. Take down the third blessed character: He was “seen of angels.” Yes! they worshipped him also: for angels, principalities, and powers, were made subject unto him. Look, my soul, at thy Lord, under the fourth description which the Holy Ghost hath here given of him: He was “preached unto the Gentiles:” and this was as great a mystery to the Jewish Church as any: that God should “grant to the Gentiles also, through Christ, repentance unto life.” And how dear this part of Jesus’s character should be to thee, my soul, who wast by nature a poor Gentile, an alien to the commonwealth of Israel, having no hope, and without God in the world, thou needest not to be told. Mark another, and the fifth, particularity of thy Jesus; he is said to be “believed on in the world;” and how should this have been done, even in a single instance, but for the sovereignty of God’s grace? Surely this is no less a mystery also. Remark, my soul, how great, how very great in thy case. Lastly, the account closeth: “Jesus was received up into glory;” and there, my soul, do thou follow him, by faith, until the Lord come to take thee home with him in absolute enjoyment, that “where he is, there thou mayest be also.” Amen. 1 Timothy 3:16a And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: - - Octavius Winslow The doctrine of the Incarnation presents a gospel mystery, if possible, more astonishing than that of the Trinity. We can more easily understand that there should be three people in a unity of subsistence, than that God should be manifested in the flesh. The analogy of the one meets us everywhere; turn we the eye within ourselves, or turn we it without upon the broad expanse of God's creation-from every point of observation, a trinity of existence bursts upon our view. But, of the other, in vain we search for anything approaching to resemblance. It was a thing so unheard of and so strange, so marvelous and so unique-that there was nothing in the sublime or the rude, in the bold or the tender, of nature's varied works, to prepare the mind for, or awaken the expectation of, a phenomenon so strange, so stupendous, and so mysterious. Not that the possibility of such an event astonishes us. With Jehovah all things are possible. "Is anything too hard for me?" is a question that would seem to rebuke the first rising of such an emotion - A God allowed, all other wonders cease. But we marvel at the fact itself. Its stupendousness amazes us-its condescension humbles us-its glory dazzles us-its tenderness subdues us-its love overpowers us. That the uncreated Son of God should become the created Son of man-that the Eternal Word should be made flesh and dwell with men-that He should assume a new title, entwining in the awful letters that compose His divine name, others denoting His inferior nature as man, so revealing Himself as Jehovah-Jesus! Oh wonder, surpassing thought! Before this, how are all others infinitely outshone; their luster fading away and disappearing, as stars before the advancing light? The mystical union of Christ and His church is also declared to be one of the mysteries of the gospel. "This is a great mystery;" says the apostle, "but I speak concerning Christ and His church." That Christ and His people should be one-one as the head and the body-the vine and the branch-the foundation and the house-is indeed a wondrous truth. We cannot understand how it is; and yet so many, palpable, and gracious are the blessings flowing from it, we dare not reject it. All that a believer is, as a living soul, he is from a vital union with Christ. As the body without the soul is dead, so is a sinner morally dead without union to Jesus. Not only His life, but his fruitfulness is derived from this source. All the "beauties of holiness" that adorn his character, spring from the vital principle which his engrafting into Christ produces. He is skillful to fight, strong to overcome, patient to endure, meek to suffer, and wise to walk, as he lives on Christ for the grace of sanctification. "Without me you can do nothing." Is it not indeed a mystery that I should so be one with Christ, that all that He is becomes mine, and all that I am becomes His. His glory mine, my humiliation His; His righteousness mine, my guilt His; His joy mine, my sorrow His. Mine His riches, His my poverty; mine His life, His my death; mine His heaven, His my hell? The daily walk of faith is a continuous development of the wonders of this wondrous truth. That in traveling to Him empty, I should return from Him full. That in going to him weak, I should come away from Him strong. That in bending my steps to Him, in all darkness, perplexity, and grief, I should retrace them all light, and joy, and gladness. Why marvel at this mystery of the life of faith? My oneness with Jesus explains it. 1 Timothy 3:16 …God was manifest in the flesh - Octavius Winslow Viewed as a medium of the most costly blessings to the church of God, how precious a mystery does the incarnation of our Lord appear! The union of the Divine and the human in Immanuel, is the reunion of God through the second Adam with fallen man. The first Adam severed us from the Divine nature-the second Adam reunites us. The incarnation is the grand link between these two extremes of being. It forms the verdant spot, the oasis, in the desert of a ruined universe, on which God and the sinner can meet together. Here are blended in marvelous union the gloomy clouds of human woe, and the bright beams of Divine glory-God and man united! And will you, O theist, rob me of this truth, because of its mystery? Will you yourself reject it, because reason cannot grasp it? Then might I rob you of your God (whom you ignorantly worship), because of His incomprehensibleness, not one attribute of whom can you understand or explain. No! It is a truth too precious to part with so easily. God in my nature-my God-my Brother-my Friend-my Counselor-my Guide-my Redeemer-my Pattern-my all! God in my nature, my wisdom, my righteousness, my sanctification, my redemption! But for this heaven-descending communication, of which the patriarch's ladder was the symbol and the type, how could a holy God advance towards me, or I draw near to Him? But He takes my nature that He may descend to me, and He gives me His nature that I may ascend to Him. He stoops, because I could not rise! Oh mystery of grace, wisdom, and love! Shall I doubt it? I go to the manger of Bethlehem, and gaze upon the infant Savior. My faith is staggered, and I exclaim, "Is this the Son of God?" Retiring, I track that infant's steps along its future path. I mark the wisdom that He displayed, and I behold the wonders that He wrought. I mark the revelations that He disclosed, the doctrines that He propounded, the precepts that He taught, the magnanimity that He displayed. I follow Him to Gethsemane, to the judgment-hall, and then to Calvary, and I witness the closing scene of wonder. I return to Bethlehem, and with the evidences which my hesitating faith has thus collected, I exclaim, with the awe-struck and believing centurion, "Truly this is the Son of God!" All the mystery of His lowly incarnation vanishes, and my adoring soul embraces the incarnate God within its arms. We marvel not that, hovering over the spot where this great mystery of godliness transpired, the celestial choir, in the stillness of the night, awoke such strains of music along the plains of Bethlehem as were never heard before. They left the realms of glory to escort the Lord of glory in His advent to our earth. How gladly they trooped around Him, thronging His wondrous way, their benevolent bosoms dilating in sympathy with the grand object of His mission. And this was the angel's message to the astonished shepherds: "Fear not: for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day, in the city of David, a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on Earth peace, good will toward men." Shall angels rejoice in the incarnation of the Son of God, and our hearts be cold and unmoved? Forbid it love, forbid it gratitude, forbid it, O my soul! 1 Timothy 3:16 The Man On The Cross By Dave Branon In today’s anything-goes world, it should be no surprise that there’s a group called Atheists for Jesus. They claim to believe in Jesus’ moral teachings but not what He said about God. They are not alone. Others who may not consider themselves atheists fail to see that it’s impossible to accept Jesus’ words without also accepting His divinity. Stand at the foot of the cross, and your only possible conclusion is that Jesus is divine. Listen to Him forgive those who sought to destroy Him, and you realize that only God can forgive with such grace. Overhear Him speak hope to the dying criminal at His side, “Today you will be with Me in Paradise” (Lk. 23:43). Catch His words above the wails of the mourners as He does what no human can—He commits His spirit to God the Father, in effect releasing Himself to death (Lk. 23:46; Jn. 10:17-18). This was no mortal hanging below a sign with the mocking words that underestimated His identity (Lk. 23:38). This was God Incarnate, doing the work He alone could do—by becoming Immanuel, God with us (Mt. 1:23). Eternal with the Father, One, Is Jesus Christ, His own dear Son; In Him God's fullness we can see, For Jesus Christ is deity. —DJD Jesus is God spelled out in language we can understand.