A Glimpse Into the Mystery of Godliness

Can you see that He was heard because of His godly fear? The entire person of Christ is a mystery that came into being through godly fear. Though He was a Son, He learned obedience by the things that He suffered. Death could not hold Him, because through His own death He destroyed him who had the power of death, that is, the devil. David, foreseeing this, spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption. Acts 2:31. This is also a part of the mystery of Christ. These were the things He prayed about with vehement cries and tears, and He was heard because of His godly fear. The ruler of this world had nothing in Him; therefore he could not hold Him captive in Hades. On the contrary, Jesus destroyed Satan within the confines of His own flesh by His own blood, so the Father could raise Him up from the dead in the power of the blood of this everlasting covenant.

3. Seen by angels

It happened, while the women stood by the grave, greatly perplexed, that two men stood by them in shining garments. Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen!” Luke 24:4-6.

The Spirit testified to the prophets of old about the sufferings of Christ and His death, and also of the glory that would follow. Even the angels desired to look into these things. If Jesus had taken upon Himself the nature of angels, they could have understood these things, but He took upon Himself the seed of Abraham. So now the seed of Abraham—his seed by faith—can comprehend the work of Christ by faith as soon as they become partakers of what the prophets called the sufferings of Christ. God’s manifold wisdom is now to be made known by the church to the powers and principalities in heavenly places. The angels are in heaven, and they can see how Christ was exalted after His sufferings. They also see how His followers enter into glory through sufferings. They see and comprehend things from the outside. But the church is the work itself.

4. Preached among the Gentiles

Is it not a mysterious power that constrains tens of thousands of people to go to the mission fields, gladly leaving everything that is dear to them in order to serve the Lord Jesus in the light they have received? However, another Helper has already gone ahead of them to the Gentiles and has spoken to their consciences. For it is possible for the mystery of Christ to be at work in someone without that person consciously being a part of this work. The more we are able to embrace and comprehend Christ with our understanding, the deeper our awe and admiration of this wisdom which God has manifested in order to create something as glorious as Christ and the church. The love of Christ constrains us to proclaim this gospel among the nations.

5. Believed on in the world

The Spirit convinces with such straightforward clarity and simplicity that we simply have to believe. Even if a person believes nothing else, he is compelled to believe that he is condemned because he does not believe. This is also a faith worked by the Spirit of God. Many people have allowed themselves to be convinced. They have the faith of Christ and they believe in Christ. It is a mystery that Christ can be believed on in the world. If He had been an ordinary man, He could not have sent His Spirit to testify of Himself. The difference between Christianity and other religions is this: Christ sent the Spirit of Truth into the whole world. This is a Spirit that testifies of Him and everything He has spoken, a Spirit that convicts every man who does not believe in Him of sin, because he does not believe. Which founder of any other religion has been able to send such a powerful Spirit into the world to testify of Himself? None of them have been able to do that. Therefore, it is a mystery of godliness that Christ is believed on in the world.

6. Received up in glory

Is it any wonder that a righteous, truth-loving Father took His beloved Son to Himself in glory, after He had been mistreated and crucified so shamefully by ungodly men who had been provoked to do so by envious, religious people? The Son had fulfilled all His Father’s requirements so perfectly during the days of His flesh that a voice even came down from heaven to testify: “This is My beloved Son, hear Him!”

The glory was that the Father conquered Satan’s power in the flesh, so that Christ triumphed over principalities and powers on the cross. The Father proved that He had ample power and wisdom to drive Satan out of man. Could there be any greater glory than to be one with the Father? That is why He is called the Lord of glory. To understand this glory, however, a person must be godly, for it differs as much from the glory of silver and gold as the spirit differs from matter. If we suffer with Him now, in the days of our flesh, we will also be glorified together with Him.