Mystery
Today we are starting a new series called The Mystery of Godliness. As we prepare to celebrate Christmas, we are going to think about the mystery of Jesus coming to earth.
When I hear the word mystery, the first thing I think of is Scooby-Doo. For a couple of years—when I was in 3rd and 4th grade—my routine would be to get home from school, get a peanut butter sandwich, and then sit in front of the TV to watch Fred, Daphne, Thelma, Shaggy and Scooby ride around in the Mystery Machine van and solve mysteries.
Every show was essentially the same. There was this old mansion, or amusement park, or warehouse or whatever that was being terrorized by some ghost, swamp monster, or creature from the deep. The gang would search for clues, Shaggy and Scooby would hunt for food and get terrified, and then the ghost would be exposed to be some guy in a rubber mask with a sound machine and some trick lighting. At the end of the show, every mystery would have a completely logical explanation—usually supplied by Thelma (who was kind of a know-it-all. She was my favorite).
But when the Bible uses the word “mystery,” that’s not quite what it is getting at. Instead, a “mystery” in the Bible is something that has been revealed, but remains beyond our total comprehension. A “mystery”—in the Bible—is something that we believe, but that we can’t quite understand.
And the thing is: there will always be mystery with God. Tony Campolo once had a student come to him and say: “For me to believe in God, I have to have a God that I can understand.” Campolo smiled as he replied: “God refuses to be that small.”
Because of the nature of who God is—the infinite, eternal, omniscient Ruler of the universe—and because of the nature of who we are—finite and limited by time and knowledge—there will always be things about God that are beyond our complete comprehension. Things like the Trinity or heaven or the incarnation.
Which brings us to our theme verse, 1 Timothy 3:16:
16 Beyond all question, the mystery of godliness is great:
He appeared in a body,
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.
The Apostle Paul is talking about Christ’s coming to earth, and he calls it a mystery. Then he quotes this little six line verse that most scholars agree was probably an ancient song—like Mary said, an early Christmas Carol—that was used to teach early Christians the basics of the faith. This, in a nutshell, is the story of Jesus: He appeared in a body, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was preached among the nations, was believed on in the world, and was taken up in glory. These are truths that we can know about Jesus, though we will never fully understand them.
When I came across this verse earlier this year, it occurred to me that Paul’s “mystery of Godliness” is really the “mystery of Christmas.” These six lines make a perfect outline for thinking about what Christmas is all about. Plus, with 4 Sundays in Advent and then Christmas Eve and Christmas Morning, we have exactly 6 worship services to think about Christmas. So it only made sense to me to do a series of sermons based on the lines of this verse.
This is what God has revealed to us about Christmas. Things we can know, even though we’ll never fully understand them. This is the Mystery of Godliness.
The Word Became Flesh
The first line, then, is: He appeared in a body. This is, perhaps, the most mysterious thing about Christmas.
We believe that the Almighty, Transcendent, Omnipresent God—a God with no limitations in terms of space or time—chose to humble Himself to become a human being. Philip Yancey writes: “The maker of all things shrank down, down, down, so small as to become an ovum, a single fertilized egg barely visible to the naked eye, an egg that would divide and redivide until a fetus took shape, enlarging cell by cell inside a nervous teenager.” (Philip Yancey, The Jesus I Never Knew, p. 36)
C.S. Lewis, commenting on God’s plan, says: “The whole thing narrows and narrows, until at last it comes down to a little point, small as the point of a spear—a Jewish girl at her prayers.” (quoted by Yancey, p. 31)
This is what we celebrate at Christmas—the incarnation. Literally, the “enfleshing” of God.
When you try to explain Christianity to someone who has never heard about it, one of the most important things is to help them understand that Jesus was God. A core tenet of the Christian faith is that when Jesus was on earth, God was on earth. The footprints Jesus left on the beaches of Galilee were the footprints of God.
But equally important for us to understand is that Jesus was a man. He was really, and fully, human. He wasn’t just God with a rubber mask on—like one of the villains from a Scooby-Doo episode. He was—at the same time—fully God, and fully human.
And the question is: Why? Why was it necessary for God to come in the flesh? Why did He have to be a human?
For an answer we can turn to the second chapter of Hebrews. Probably more than any other passage of scripture, Hebrews 2 sets out to explain why Jesus left His throne at the Father's side to become one of us. The key verses are 14-18.
14 Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— 15 and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. 16 For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants. 17 For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. 18 Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
In these verses we get three reasons Jesus became human. Three reasons He appeared in a body.
To Deliver From the Fear of Death
First, Jesus became human so that that He could deliver us from the fear of death. Jesus appeared in a body so that we would not have to be scared of dying anymore. Verses 14-15:
Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death--that is, the devil--and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.
I read a good story this week. There were three guys--buddies--sitting around and talking. And the thing they got to talking about was dying and what they would want to be said at their funerals. (Guys, that's the sort of thing we talk about with our buddies all the time, right? Well, that's what these guys were discussing.) And the first guy says, "Well, I'd like them to say that I was a great humanitarian. That I made the world a better place and that I made the people I dealt with happier." The second guy says, "Yeah, that would be good. But I'd be happy if they could just say I was a good and loving husband to my wife and a caring and faithful father to my kids." The third guy says, "Yeah, those things would be all right. But what I'd really like them to say is, 'Look, he moved!'"
That's a good story--it's funny--because we can all relate to it. None of us really want to die.
But here's an interesting statistic, everybody dies. There is a strict 1 to 1 correlation--if you live, you will die. There is a 100% mortality rate. Unless Jesus comes again in your lifetime, you will experience death.
I did quick study on some great historical figures this week: Alexander the Great, Julius Ceasar, Charlagmagne, Ghengis Khan, George Washington…They all died. Everybody dies.
But, in spite of that forthright inevitability, the Bible says that our lives are "held in slavery by [the] fear of death" (v. 15). We have an uneasiness when it comes to death. It scares us. And the devil is using that fear to hold us in bondage.
What does that mean? Well, the devil wants to keep us from God. And one of the main weapons he is using to hold us down and oppress us is the fear of death. Not death, mind you. The fear of death. Killing us doesn't really do Satan any good, what he wants is for us to be afraid of dying.
Because, you see, if we are afraid of dying, we’re likely to react in one of two ways. Either we’ll deny that it’ll ever happen, or we’ll try to get as much living in as possible before it does.
Consider the denial of death. We live in a culture that is all about euphemizing death and pretending it will never happen to us. Think of some of the words we use:
--We call undertakers "funeral directors."
--We don't die, we "pass away."
--It's not a cemetery, but a "garden of memories."
--It's not even a hearse anymore, it's a "funeral coach."
Nobody is comfortable talking about death. Nobody likes to think about it.
The enslaving part of this kind of denial is that as long as we keep denying our own death we keep putting off thinking about things that really matter. If you are uncomfortable with the thought of your dying, what incentive is there to examine the ultimate purpose of your life? How are you going to honestly deal with the prospect of meeting God and answering to Him?
But there is another way the devil uses the fear of death to enslave us, and it is nearly the polar opposite of denial. Sometimes, instead of getting us to pretend we're not going to die, the devil makes us all too aware of our own mortality. He reminds us that we don't have long on this earth, and then he encourages us to do what we want in the time we have. This is the heart of the hedonistic slogan that says: "Life is short, play hard." Sometimes it is the awareness of our coming death, and the fear of no longer living, that prompts us to do things we know we shouldn't do.
This is one of the most powerful tools the devil has: the fear of death. Think about it, I'd guess that most of the sins you commit--most of the sins you struggle with--have at their root the fear of death. Maybe not consciously, but somewhere in the back of your mind is this fear of death that is either telling you that you have to do what you want while you can, or it is telling you that you won't really die and you're never going to have to answer for what you do, anyway. Either way, the fear of death keeps us enslaved.
But, these verses tell us that Jesus came to earth as a man to deliver us from that fear. Jesus took on flesh and blood like we have so that He could die--like we do--and in his death destroy the power of the devil to enslave us in this way. Because Jesus came to earth as a man we don't have to be afraid of death anymore.
To Deliver Us from Judgment
So, Jesus appeared in the flesh so that He could die. Second: Jesus became one of us so that He could deliver us from judgment. Jesus came so that He could be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Verses 16-17:
For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham's descendants. For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.
In the Old Testament, the protection against God's judgment--God's fire insurance, if you will--was the Levitical system of sacrifice. God said there had to be a shedding of blood to atone for the sins of the people. And so, one of the most important annual days in the Old Testament was the "Day of Atonement", when the High Priest went into the holiest part of the temple and offered a sacrifice for the sins of the entire nation.
Now, these verses tells us that Jesus became a man so that He could be both the High Priest who offers the sacrifice, and the sacrifice itself. He became a man so that He could offer the perfect sacrifice that would obtain eternal redemption for sins (cf. Heb. 9:12).
And the thing is: it wouldn't have worked any other way.
The key word in verse 17 is the word translated "make atonement for". If you have your Bible open, you’ll notice that the NIV includes a margin note that says this could also be translated to say "that he might turn away God's wrath." And that's important, because that's what we are talking about here--God's wrath. Jesus had to become a man, because there was no other way we could be delivered from judgment. He had to become a man so that He could take God's wrath for us.
I know that Christmas time isn’t usually a time to think about God’s wrath. Christmas is about God's mission of love and His wisdom in fulfilling prophecy and bringing everything together. That's all true, but that doesn't mean that God is not also angry about sin.
The truth is, there is a cost to our sins--a penalty--and that penalty is God's wrath. It would be possible, theoretically, for God to just remain in heaven and forgive all our sins. He could have just let us off the hook and skipped the whole Christmas and Easter thing. But if He had, there would still be all this anger over sin that wouldn't get spent. He could just forgive us, but there would still be unpaid debts.
Think of it this way: Suppose there was a wealthy businessman out there who cheated on his taxes. Suppose that he owed a million dollars in back taxes. But suppose he's also a buddy of the President, that the President cares about him, and wants to let him off the hook. The President could simply pardon him and he'd be free, just like that. But the government would still be out a million dollars. That debt wouldn't get paid.
That's what it would be like if God simply forgave us, and that wouldn't be good for anybody. God has to do something with His wrath, and we wouldn't want those unpaid debts hanging over our heads. How would we know He wouldn't someday change His mind? And so, if He is really going to forgive us, God's anger needs to be directed somewhere.
That's what the Day of Atonement was all about. Symbolically, in the Old Testament God's wrath was directed against the sheep and the goats, and the people were forgiven. But, we need to realize that no high priest was really pure enough to offer the kind of sacrifice we need, and no animal could really stand in for human beings.
And so, Jesus became a man so He could offer the sacrifice and--more than that--so He could be the sacrifice. Jesus had to be a man so He could be our substitute. He took the wrath of God, so that we could truly know that we have been delivered from judgment. All our debts have been paid.
To Deliver From Temptation
So, Jesus came to earth as a man so that He could deliver us from the fear of death and so that He could deliver us from judgment. He came to die and He came to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. And, of course, those two things are closely related. Christmas is explained by the cross. Jesus destroying the power of Satan and sin.
But there is one more thing our text needs to add, one more explanation for Christmas. The third reason our text says Jesus became a man was so that He could deliver us from temptation. He came so that He could understand. Verse 18:
Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
When I was in high school, there was a popular rap song called "Parents Just Don't Understand." Actually, it was sung by Will Smith, the guy from “Independence Day” and “The Pursuit of Happyness.”
Anyway, I think sometimes we think the song should be “God Just Doesn’t Understand.”
It's so easy for us to start thinking that God--up there on His throne in heaven--has no idea what it is like to live down here on earth in constant conflict with the devil. I mean, it's fine and dandy that God destroyed the power of death, but how does that help me with the trials and temptations I face every day when I get out of bed? It's so easy to think that God just doesn't--or can't—understand.
But, as this verse from Hebrews tells us, Christmas exposes that lie for what it is. By putting on flesh and blood--by becoming like His brothers in every way--Jesus came to know, by experience, exactly what it is like to be human, and to suffer, and to be tempted.
Because He Himself has suffered and been tried, He is able to help us when temptation comes our way. We have a God who understands. As it says a little later in Hebrews:
14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. 16 Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
So now you might be wondering: if God is supposed to know everything, how can we say there was something lacking in His knowledge before he appeared in the flesh? A professor of mine from Seminary gives an illustration that I think is helpful here:
Apparently the author (of Hebrews) is speaking not of any additional factual or intellectual knowledge, but of an ability to recall a personal experience. Some faint parallel to this might be seen in the fact that a man who is a medical doctor, and has perhaps even written a textbook on obstetrics, might know far more information about childbirth than any of his patients. Yet, because he is a man, he will never share in that actual experience. A woman who has herself had a baby (or, to give a closer parallel, a woman physician who first writes a textbook and then has a baby herself) can sympathize much more fully with other women who are having babies. (Grudem, Systematic Theology, 542, footnote #13, italics his.)
And so, Jesus became a man so that He could know by experience what it is like for us to be tempted. He came to earth and suffered so that we would know--without a doubt--that He is in a position to understand and help us when we are tempted.
Conclusion
It’s one of the greatest mysteries of our faith: How can the eternal, almighty God of the universe also be a vulnerable, limited human being? It’s something we believe, though it may not ever be something we fully understand. He appeared in a body.
But it is important for us to know that God became flesh for us. He did it so that He can identify with us. He did it so that He could become a substitute for us. He did it so that He could die and defeat death and Satan forever.
Our Savior was fully human.