We're looking at one of the greatest
verses in all of God's Word, one of the greatest declarations
of who Jesus Christ is and what salvation or eternal life is. In 1 Timothy, Chapter 3, the
book of 1 Timothy chapter 3. I hope you'll turn there and
look it up with me. Verse 16 says, 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."
End of quote. Without controversy this says,
who Christ is and what He came to do, where He is now and who
are His people, This is without controversy, though the truth
is indeed controversial to man. There's a great difference of
opinions among men then and now about who Jesus Christ is. The great controversy over God
and the things of God. But the fact is, there is no
controversy with God. Once the truth is revealed, manifest,
there's no argument. This is absolute truth. It's
not up for debate or argument. It is without controversy. The mystery, it says, of godliness. Godliness speaks of the things
of God, the Word of God, unseen things of God, such as creation
or God's sovereign rule and reign over all things, His providence,
His purpose, His will, His salvation, the mystery of godliness it's
called. It is a mystery to most. It is hidden, the Lord Jesus
Christ said, hidden from the wise and the prudent, but revealed
unto babes, all of God's children, that is. He said they'll all
be taught of God, the absolute truth, and it then is without
controversy to those to whom he reveals it. Alright, it gives
six things here about the mystery of godliness. It says, beginning
with, God was manifest in the flesh. God became man. God, the Creator, walked among
His creatures upon this earth. In Isaiah's book it says, In
chapter 7, verse 14, the Lord Himself shall give you a sign. Behold, a virgin shall conceive
and bear a son and shall call his name Immanuel, which means
God with us. In Isaiah 9, verse 6, unto us
a child is born and unto us a son is given. The government shall
be upon his shoulder And his name shall be called Wonderful,
Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince
of Peace. In his government there is no
end. A mystery to most. And so man doesn't believe it.
Man does not believe what he cannot see or understand. They
didn't believe this mystery then. They didn't understand this mystery
when he was on this earth. They said to the Lord Jesus Christ,
they said, you're just a man and you make yourself to be God. But the opposite was true. You
see, their eyes were holding that they might know Him. They
did not know Him. He was hidden from the natural
man. They said, you're just a man.
You make yourself to be God. The opposite is so. He was God,
and He made Himself to be a man. And men don't believe it now.
The Jehovah Witnesses go door to door. The Mormons go door
to door to try to disprove that Jesus is God. God. They call Him the Son of
God, a created being. By the way, if these groups,
this cult comes to your door, do not let them into your house.
Tell them, if you're a believer, tell them, point blank, first
thing, face to face, without apology, without hesitation,
tell them, I believe Jesus Christ is very God of very God, and
you don't, therefore you're anti-Christ. Well, this unbelief goes further. The Baptists, the Methodists,
the Catholics, the Presbyterians, so many don't really believe
He is God. They don't believe God is God.
Anyone who says things like this, you must let God be God, well,
that person doesn't know God. That man who preaches like that,
that God has no hands but your hands, He doesn't know God because
the God in whose hands Our breath is in all our ways. They haven't
glorified Him. They don't know Him. Those who
say, let Jesus into your heart, don't know the Lord Jesus Christ. Because the fact is, He's the
One in whose hands your heart is. You don't let Jesus into
your heart. This is the God in whose hands
your heart is and who must give you a new heart. This is the
God who works all things according to His sovereign free will. Man doesn't have a free will.
God has free will. He does according to His will. Whoever has free will, that means
they're doing according to their will. Totally free to do as they
will. That alone applies to God. So, they didn't believe Him then,
they don't believe Him now. This is the God who must let
man do things. This is the God who is God. So,
he says without controversy, this is a fact, the mystery of
godliness without controversy, God was manifest in the flesh. That babe in that young woman's
arms, Mary, that was really her father. That young boy in the
carpenter shop, that young boy on the earth but a few days is
really the ancient of day. The one dying on the cross is
God who cannot die. Explain that, preacher. I can't,
because you can't explain God. If you could, He'd be like us.
Now here's proof. God was manifest in the flesh.
It says He was justified in the Spirit. The Lord Jesus Christ
was justified, or that is, declared, revealed, anointed by the Holy
Spirit to be the Son of God, to be God manifest in the flesh. Listen to me. The reason He's
called the Son of God is because He's the only begotten or offspring,
or bodily image. He's called in Hebrews 1, the
express image of God. God who is Spirit made a body. A body hast thou prepared me,
Christ said. That means He was before He had
a body. Express image. The offspring,
the only begotten, the only express image of God. It was God, the
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And this is a mystery, but it's
true. In the garden, in the beginning, in creation, it was God who said,
let us make man in our own image. That was Jesus Christ who made
all things. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things
were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that
was made. It's the same God who made the
heavens and the earth, walked upon this planet. And He was
justified by the Spirit and in the Spirit. Romans 1 verse 4
says, He's declared to be the Son of God with power according
to the Spirit of holiness. The only man ever born sinless,
holy, pure, like God. Why? Because He is God. Every
son of Adam is born with the seed of man in him. Born in sin. Dead in sin. Not Christ. He didn't
have the seed of man. He's born of a virgin. And even
Mary had really nothing to do with his conception that that
holy thing in her was the Son of God. Born of God. Of God. The just one. The holy
one. The righteous one. One came to him one day and said,
Good Master, and he stopped that young man and said, Why callest
thou me good? There is none good but God. Well
then, if he is truly in nature, in essence, born good, holy,
just, righteous, he must be God, declared to be the Son of God,
justified in the Spirit, declared to be God in His holy nature. Well, the next thing says, proving
Him to be God manifest in the flesh, it says He was seen of
angels. Seen of angels. 1 Peter 1, 12
says these are the things angels desire to look into. The things
of God. The things of Christ. Angels
desire to look into. At creation. By Him were all
things created. Principalities, powers, that
means angels were created by Jesus Christ. Satan, by the way,
is a fallen angel. He was created by Jesus Christ.
He was first, and he's the first one that they saw. Once the angels
were created, the first thing they saw was Jesus Christ. The angels saw him during the
creation of the universe. When he said, let us make man,
they beheld in wonder and amazement as he reached down and scooped
up some dust and made clay and made a human being, made two
creatures out of that dust. He was seen of angels when He
appeared in the Old Testament. Many bodily appearances. His
delight, Proverbs 8 says, was with the sons of men. They rejoiced
in the habitable parts of the earth. In the garden they saw
Him walk and talk to Adam and talk to Noah about the ark. Abraham,
Jacob, Moses. Angels must have surely thought,
what a merciful and gracious Lord to be mindful of such sinful,
lowly creatures and to visit them. They saw Him at His birth. They were sent by the Father
to announce it. Christ the Lord. They saw Him
working as a young boy. They saw Him and ministered to
Him when He was tempted by Satan. They saw Him at the resurrection.
They were sent to roll back the door, to tell Mary and the others,
He's not here. He's risen. They saw Him at His
ascension. Which brings me to the next thing.
He was preached unto the Gentiles. Preached, declared that God has
come, Jesus Christ, come to put away sin, to glorify God, to
fulfill the law, to keep the covenant for His people, to abolish
death, to bring life and immortality to life through the Gospel. Preached
unto the Gentiles by the power of the Holy Spirit. Believed
on in the world. This proves that He is God, because
some really believe miraculously, amazingly, by the working of
His mighty power. He said to His disciples one
day, whom do men say that I am? And they said, they say you're
John, they say you're a prophet. Whom do you say that I am? Simon,
on behalf of all these people, said, we believe and are sure
that thou art the Christ. Thomas fell at his feet and said,
my Lord and my God. Christ said, the Father hath
revealed me to you. believed on in the world, and
were received up into glory. This proves Him to be the Son
of God because the clouds received Him up from heaven to where He
sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, and someday
He's coming back again with clouds. And so, without controversy,
great is the mystery of God. God was manifest in the flesh
just justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto
the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory. Do you believe? I hope you do. Amen.