The Great mystery of godliness

The Word of God often speaks of mysteries - those things which make absolutely no sense to those who lack the revelation of the Spirit.

As we try and grasp the meaning of godliness, it is surely worth our time to look at what the Scriptures call the mystery of godliness.

1 Timothy 3:16 says "And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: 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."

First we see that among believers, there should not be any dispute as to the greatness of this mystery and then we are provided with the mystery itself.
Many things are with controversy in the church and we must examine carefully to see whether anyone detracts from the mystery of godliness, since if they cannot appreciate it, they must have no possession of it.

Here we have a list that God was a) manifest in the flesh, b) justified in the Spirit c) seen of angels d) preached unto the Gentiles e) believed on in the world & f) received up into glory.
To begin with, we must accept these things as true in order to realise a eusebeian correct attitude and response towards God. We know from 1 John that anything that does not confess that Jesus came in the flesh is of the antichrist (4:3) and so has no part in the mystery we speak of here. We also must be justified in the Spirit as He was and behold his glory as the angels did. It also marks the beginning of a new era with those outside the Jewish nation being able to move into a special relationship with God and man being restored in the created world through faith in Him.

Finally, He was received up into glory, ascended on high. If we again correlate with 1 John, we see in the opening verses of chapter three that "we are the sons of God and it does not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is. And every man that has this hope in him, purifies himself, even as he is pure"(3:2-3). This is a huge clue to our pursuit of holiness and godliness - it is the glorified Godhead in Christ that transforms us into new beings.

Without this revelation of God, we would be merely sufferers of religious hardship, unable to attain the perfect standard of the LORD manifested in Christ.