Jesus WAS God In The Flesh

 

It is in Christ Jesus that God was and is manifested to all of mankind. Jesus said, "When you have seen me, you have seen the Father, for I am in the Father and the Father in me." Jesus and God are one in the same. How can that be you ask? Well, to be perfectly honest, Paul concurs regarding this great mystery ... God IN CHRIST, that GOD Himself became a man that we might know Him. He openly spoke of this as a "mystery." The mystery is God manifested in the flesh (Jesus). Paul said it in Colossians 2: 2-3. "My purpose is that they (every believer and follower in Jesus) may be encouraged in heart and unite in love, so that they may have the full riches of COMPLETE UNDERSTANDING, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge."

This "mystery" had at one time been hidden but now is revealed in our time to Gods people. Jesus spoke about it. He called it the mystery of the kingdom of God in Mark 4:11 as He revealed Himself to His disciples. Did you know if I counted correctly, Paul used the word mystery about 21 times in the books he wrote? Each time, it involved a declaration of spiritual truth which of course was revealed by God through divine inspiration. But for us now, after His disciples are long gone, has been revealed by the Spirit in God's written Word! Jesus was the Word made flesh (John 1:14) so He still continues to reveal Himself through the written Word of the Bible to this day! The mystery of God is the consummation of all God's plan in bringing His Kingdom in Christ to fulfillment (Ephesians 1: 9-10, 1 Corinthians 2:7, Revelation 10:7). At the time of Christ (Biblical history) this was not clear though the "mystery" stood in bodily form before the disciples! This mystery is now disclosed to the Lord's Church (Colossians1:25-26) through the testimony the disciples'  in writing, all of which point to Christ and represent the final disclosure of God's Word to mankind. 

There is NO UNDERSTANDING OF GOD'S WORD apart from a personal relationship with His son, Jesus (Matthew 12:50, John 14:23, 2 John 1:6).  CHRIST IS THE MYSTERY IN THOSE WHO BELIEVE- as is the mystery of "Christ in you the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27). A key to having the "full riches of complete understanding (Colossians 2:2) is to be born again by the power of the Holy Spirit. The Bible tells us the Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God (1 Corinthians 2:10),

The Bible reveals the heart of the gospel: the mystery of true godliness, what it means, and how you arrive there. The bottom line is, YOU cannot get there by anything you do, say, perform, or wish for. We, on our own volition, cannot please God by our perceived goodness; WE MUST depend on Christ (2 Corinthians 3:5) for salvation. Jesus was/is our perfect example of what pleases God, and thus our example of how to live. And since as humans with a fallen nature, we cannot be this perfect model on our own. We need Christ as our intercessor because we will fail and do fail outside of Christ. When a person accepts and believes the sacrifice Jesus made by dying for our sins, He gives every person the power to overcome the temptation to sin as He overcame sin. "To him that overcomes will I grant to sit with me on my throne, even as I  overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. Jesus gives us His same power not to give into temptation. It is, therefore, possible to live a life pleasing to God through the power of Jesus Christ. It is why you need that personal relationship with Him. Yes, it is a mystery alright!

God has truly revealed His complete Word to His followers (Colossians 1:26) who have "heard and learned" the gospel (John 6:45, also refer to Romans 10:17 and John 3:16-18), because it was they who fathom "the glorious riches of this mystery" (Colossians 1:27). Simply, "the mystery of God is God's plan of salvation through Jesus. Why? Because you and I would never have been able to comprehend the way to eternal life without the coming of Jesus, His death and resurrection. 

Until He Comes,

-Pat-