A Mystery Will Help Your Faith

Read 1 Timothy
 
1 Timothy 3:14-16 I am writing these things to you now, even though I hope to be with you soon, 15 so that if I am delayed, you will know how people must conduct themselves in the household of God. This is the church of the living God, which is the pillar and foundation of the truth. 16 Without question, this is the great mystery of our faith: Christ was revealed in a human body and vindicated by the Spirit. He was seen by angels and announced to the nations. He was believed in throughout the world and taken to heaven in glory.
 
PAUL is a spiritual father to Timothy, who was leading the church at Ephesus. Paul was a loving mentor, wanting his students to stand firm for Jesus Christ against many challenges. Here he instructed and encouraged Timothy regarding two good and true purposes of the church. First, the church is the household of God. Believers must be aware of God’s presence in his church and should conduct themselves as God’s children both in the assembly and in their lives. Second, God’s church is to be a pillar and foundation of the truth. A church is obligated to live in God’s truth. If it does not, it must repent or disband. There is no church where God’s Word is not its pillar and foundation.
   After all, the church is one of God’s ways to reveal himself to the world. It exists because of the great mystery of our faith: Christ was revealed in a human body and vindicated by the Spirit. But why does Paul call this a mystery? After all, a mystery is a vague understanding. It can delay or prevent us from seeing facts correctly. Is it good to base our faith on what we cannot completely know? The gospel is clearly defined, spoken and learned, isn’t it?
   But surprisingly, some mystery of God is an essential of faith. The Hebrews’ author wrote: Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see. (Hebrews 11:1) Paul’s and Hebrews’ point is that we cannot fully grasp why and how Jesus Christ came to a crime-ridden earth. Why would a Holy God want to draw some people into his eternal household? How do we understand Jesus to be fully God and fully man? How can God be Father, Son and Spirit?
   Yes, we can with study and life experience come to know the essentials of these truths. But we cannot fully understand God until we are fully with him. It is your task, then, to build your faith and church on the foundation of Jesus’ gospel as the apostles taught. Conduct your lives in God’s truth. Submit your life to God, who continues to reveal the mystery of his great love to redeem you.