The Seven Greatest Mysteries for a Man to Know (Part 5: The Mystery of Godliness)

Academia’s theory of a Godless creation is absurd, especially their theory of evolution: The idea is that a “mysterious big bang” occurred and—out of basically nothing came inert, lifeless matter—itself a result of the nothingness explosion.  Coupled with “time and chance,” this inert, lifeless matter then evolved into all of the marvels one sees.  This so-called “theory” has always raised its share of eyebrows. 

The absurdity that this big, fortuitous explosion positioned us in space in perfect proximity to the sun, moon, and stars!  How about the amazing, life-protecting, unique-to-the-earth ozone layer?  The reality that we all fit so conveniently perfectly has raised additional eyebrows. 

The absurdity that the human brain, in all its majesty, somehow evolved out of this “big bang”—or that the dinosaur is now a hummingbird, the water buffalo evolved into a whale, and your first cousin, the banana, has been relegated to second cousin to make room for your “real” first cousin, the mushroom—well, that has the raised eyebrows propped up with toothpicks. 

Some of evolution’s poster children, in a stupidity-shifting exercise, have suggested that we may have been seeded from outer space by some absolutely amazing, genius-upon-genius being.  That kind of sounds like God, don’t you think?   

Are you ready for some sanity?  Genesis 1:1:

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

And it is easily provable beyond any reasonable doubt. 

Have you been BORN-AGAIN—born a real, second time, this time of the Spirit of God?  Isn’t it time to shed all the foolishness and absurdities and begin a brand-new life built upon a sure foundation?  Today, all your sin and its shame will be expunged from your record.  Today, all of Satan’s bondages will be broken, no matter how big and bad they may seem.  Today, your soul is in your own hand.  In mere moments, I will ask you to follow me in a simple prompt and your response will dictate the rest of your life, and even eternity.  Remember, your soul is in your own hand.  Here we go.  Here’s the prompt: Click onto “Further with Jesus”  for childlike instructions and immediate entry into the Kingdom of God.  NOW FOR TODAY’S SUBJECT.

GOD SAID, I Timothy 3:16:

And 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.

GOD SAID, I John 3:1-3:

1 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.

2 Beloved now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

3 And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

GOD SAID, I John 1:5:

This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

MAN SAID: I know everything I need to know, and it certainly didn’t come from your Christian Bible! I looked it up on my phone. You Bible-thumpers need to get on with it!  You do know this is the 21^st Century, don’t you?! Uh-oh!  Oh no!  Where is my phone?! I can’t find my phone! What do I do now?! I’m lost without my phone!  Help me!! I can’t live without my phone! 

Now THE RECORD:  This is the fifth feature in the GodSaidManSaid series, “Seven Greatest Mysteries for a Man to Know.”  Godliness is the mystery, as defined in I Timothy 3:16:

And 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.

Godliness is simply defined as God-like-ness or, even more simply: becoming one with God’s Word.  There is a very defined process by which godliness is accomplished.  The process begins at the place Jesus calls BORN-AGAIN (John 3:3). 

BORN-AGAIN is the first mystery in this series and it is the greatest mystery and the greatest miracle of all time as far as the sons and daughters of Adam are concerned.   Everything in the faith revolves around this marvelous event that can only be spiritually understood, for it is not of this world. BORN-AGAIN is not joining a physical church; BORN-AGAIN is not turning over a new leaf, but a new and very real, even everlasting, life. BORN-AGAIN begins in a miracle.  If you are yet to be BORN-AGAIN, the information in this feature will be incomprehensible, but to the blood-bought, it will be magnificent, childlike revelation.  

At BORN-AGAIN, the sonship that was lost to us as a result of Adam and Eve’s sin is restored unto us in the Last Adam (I Corinthians 15:45), Jesus Christ, the Righteous, the only begotten Son of God.  The mystery of godliness begins in Genesis 1:26-27:

26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

Our parents, Adam and Eve, cast off God’s Word and the results were deadly.  They lost their immortality and died the second death the very day they ate of the forbidden fruit, they were booted out of Paradise, and as an additional consequence, their children were spiritually stillborn. In Adam, we lost the spiritual image and likeness of God, but it is restored in the image and likeness of Jesus Christ, which as believers, we are required to put on.

Once one is BORN-AGAIN, the true evolution begins.  I cannot emphasize this enough: BORN-AGAIN means born a literal, second time, this time of the Spirit of God—and it comes with a new Father, a new name, a new, eternal purpose, and a new power to progress, grow, and live in godliness.  It even comes with a birth certificate that is recorded in the Lamb’s Book of Life (Revelation 20:15).  This is NOT just “church talk.”   II Corinthians 5:17:

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.    

This is the place where the evolution of godliness begins: BORN-AGAIN. 

Terminologies employed in God’s Word are childlike and laden with keys to the mysteries, just like BORN-AGAIN simply means born a second time.  From the day of your salvation, the death of the carnal nature begins and godliness grows.  Consider some of these terminologies:

✤ Quickened.  Quickened means to make alive.  Remember, we were sold in sin from conception.  Psalm 51:5:

Behold, I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.

Ephesians 2:1:

And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins:

This is BORN-AGAIN, where new life begins.  Godliness is now begun. 

✤ Water baptism. Romans 6:3-4:

3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?

4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

We go down into a watery grave of full emersion where we bury the sinful nature and arise in the name of Jesus Christ and godliness is the outcome, which is known as putting on the mind of Christ, whose name is The Word of God (Revelation 19:13). 

✤ Mortification.  Romans 8:13:

For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.

Colossians 3:5:

Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:

To mortify your members is to put to death the desires of the senses that are contrary to God’s directives, and as we do that, godliness abounds.

✤ Take up your cross. Matthew 10:38:

And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.

The cross is a place to die, and as we take up our own cross and follow Christ, we arrive at Calvary, just as our Master did. As we die to self, we put on the magnificent mind of Christ, and this, again, is godliness in progress.

When BORN-AGAIN, which is the beginning of godliness (God-like-ness), we become new creatures and the results of this transformation are multi-faceted, and certainly measurable spiritually and at the cellular level. These transformations are powerful, spiritual transformations that have eternal and temporal, physical benefits and manifestations, and they are not merely cosmetic.  The following excerpts are from the GodSaidManSaid feature, “The Seven Greatest Mysteries for a Man to Know (Part 1):”

The changes that take place beginning at BORN AGAIN, which is the beginning of godliness, are not cosmetic, but deep and everlasting transformations.  In neuroscience, it has been discovered that those given to deep, spiritual meditations experience actual physical changes in the brain structure that science has titled “neuroplasticity,” and note these physical changes are a result of spiritual activity.  The following excerpts are from the GodSaidManSaid feature “Meditation Rebuilds Grey Matter in 8 Weeks:”

Today’s neuroscientists have arrived at the Book.  God’s Word speaks of the brain and the renewing of the mind that transforms or causes the changing of form—a concept neuroscience now knows as neuroplasticity.  Dr. Andrew Newberg, whose list of accreditations is long, and M.R. Waldman, co-author of the book How God Changes Your Brain, write about the amazing phenomenon that occurs when one meditates and focuses thought on God:

Contemplating God will change your brain, but I want to point out that meditating on other grand themes will also change your brain.  If you contemplate the Big Bang or immerse yourself in the study of evolution—or choose to play a musical instrument, for that matter—you’ll change the neural circuitry in ways that enhance your cognitive health.  But religious and spiritual contemplation changes your brain in a profoundly different way because it strengthens a unique neural circuit that specifically enhances social awareness and empathy while subduing destructive feelings and emotions. This is precisely the kind of neural change we need to make if we want to solve the conflicts that currently afflict our world.  And the underlying mechanism that allows these changes to occur relates to a unique quality known as neuroplasticity: the ability of the human brain to structurally rearrange itself in response to a wide variety of positive and negative events.  [End of quote]

Today’s concept of neuroplasticity confirms perfectly Romans 12:1-2:

1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Notice that the mind is renewed, transformed, which means to change form.  James 1:18:

Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

The BORN-AGAIN have been changed:

The big news in the field of neuroscience is that the brain is plastic—it changes form over time, and words and experiences are central to this process.  Thousands of years before neuroscience was even conceived, God declares this principle over and over again in His Word. 

The Godly renewing of the mind—making new the mind—actually transforms your entire being: mind, heart, body, soul, and spirit.  This process, through a very dramatic life-changing experience, is what Jesus Christ calls “born again.”

The Words of God renew the mind and we are transformed.  Webster’s 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language defines transform: “To change the form of; to metamorphose.”  Metamorphose is defined: “To change into a different form.”  Again, Webster defines it in theology as follows: “Change the natural disposition and temper of a man from a state of enmity (war) to God and His law, into the image of God, or into a disposition and temper conformed to the will of God.” [End of quote]  The call to put on the mind of Christ, to put on His words, is the call to be transformed into the likeness of God.  God changes our entire being with words—His! This is the mystery of godliness at work. 

So, neuroscience now understands that the brain can be transformed.  The Word of God, the foundation of all that is true, proclaimed this revelation thousands of years ago. [End of quotes]

Proofs of the BORN-AGAIN experience are on display in the instantaneous and continuous changes that take place.  We are not talking about turning over a new leaf, nay, but a new life.  BORN AGAIN will dramatically change a life.  Consider a few examples that demonstrate the mystery of godliness at work:

1. The new birth is so real, it begins with a new Father (God), and a new name (Revelations 2:17; 3:12).  The Father gives His name to His children.  We are His namesake and consequently, all God’s children are brothers and sisters; we often address one another this way. 

2. The physical man eats food; the spiritual man eats words.  Job 12:11:

Doth not the ear try words? and the mouth taste his meat? 

Jesus is the bread that came down from heaven (John 6:31-35).  Signs of redemption would include a hunger to read and hear God’s Word, a hunger to fellowship with likeminded brothers and sisters, and a hunger to attend a Bible-believing church.

3. New entertainment will be sought.  When I first gave my life to Christ, a young, unsaved lady asked me what I did for fun.  I told her I read the Bible, went to Church several times a week, sang praises unto God, fellowshipped with the saints, and witnessed to the lost sons and daughters of Adam.  She looked at me incredulously.  I gave her this example:

If you went to the funeral parlor and placed a beautifully prepared pot-roast dinner under the nose of the deceased, you would get no response.  However, if you placed that same dinner under the nose of a construction worker who stopped to pay his respects on his way home, he would dig right in. 

This lady was not BORN-AGAIN; she was dead in trespasses and sins.  The joys of the saved are 180° out from the pleasures of sin. 

4. The Bible becomes the BORN-AGAIN’s entire authority on living.  It will direct:

🞿 How I talk; my vocabulary changes.
🞿 How I spend my money.
🞿 How I work.
🞿 The spouse I choose.
🞿The friends I keep.
🞿 The career I choose.
🞿 How I rear my children.
🞿 Even how and what I eat and drink. 

The Words of our Father become the final authority.

5. A believer’s love for God and His Kingdom will grow and bloom into a beautiful bouquet. 

6. The ministry of reconciliation (II Corinthians 5:19) is delivered unto the BORN-AGAIN, where they seek out the lost souls of men to bring them unto redemption and usher them into the Kingdom of God.  Godliness is a progression.  [End of quotes]

Yes, it is true that unless Jesus Christ returns and we meet Him in the clouds (I Thessalonians 4), we will all die the first death.  But, hallelujah! We will not die the second death!  The benefits of godliness are abundant life here, full of hope, love and promise, and eternal life across the divide.  Jesus said in John 10:10:

The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. 

The following excerpts are from the GodSaidManSaid feature “Don’t Feed the Devils.”  Watch godliness at work:

Watch what happens to your body when prayer, a major tool in the process of godliness, is employed:

Stress is a killer and God’s plan for shifting stress is truly life and life more abundantly.  Coming unto God in prayer and mixing the Word of God with faith yields phenomenal results.  Concerning prayer, a subhead in a March 2006 article in the magazine First reads, “The silent dialogue proven to reduce stress-hormone levels by 40%—and melt away 36% more body fat.”  The following is an excerpt from that article:

To understand the mechanism behind the miracle, we turned to world-renowned expert Harry G. Koening, M.D., of Duke University and coauthor of The Healing Power of Prayer (Baker Books, 2003).  “An ongoing dialogue with a higher power calms the amygdala, the brain’s stress-serenity command center,” he explains.  “It also increases activity of the brain’s soothing alpha waves.  This prevents the adrenal glands from releasing a flood of harmful cortisol.”  In fact, a study from the Shimane Institute of Health Science in Japan found that this type of calming activity reduced cortisol by up to an astounding 40 percent. 

That can translate into major weight loss, maintains Shawn Talbot, PH.D., author of The Cortisol Connection (Hunter House, 2002):  “In my research, those who reduced cortisol by 20 percent lost nine times more weight, including 18 percent more body fat and 9 percent more belly fat.”  [End of quote]

The mega-studies have been tabulated regarding the benefits of attending church.  Those who attend church at least twice per week live 11% longer—or about eight additional years.  That’s 2920 more days, where you are sick less often, and enjoy faster recovery times should you get sick.  Godliness produces life and life more abundantly, just like King Jesus said. 

The end result of the mystery of godliness is positively, absolutely staggering. Stay tuned in.  Proverbs 4:18:

But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day. 

I like to think of “the path of the just” as Rt. 7 North (Obedience).  Each day, we travel 20 miles north towards the light source, Jesus Christ, the Light of the World (John 8:12).  Each day, we grow brighter and refract Christ’s light to those we encounter along the way.  When the BORN-AGAIN finally reach the end of the road—and it surely does end—they will meet Jesus Christ and we will become as He is.  I John 3:1-3:

1 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.

2 Beloved now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

3 And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

This, saints, is the progression of godliness.

Psalm 17:15:

As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.

Here, the mystery of godliness is completed. 

Remember, His likeness, which is complete godliness, is of another sort.  Consider these bullet points:

🕇 Jesus Christ is the Lord of glory (I Corinthians 2:8)

🕇 Glory is the illuminating light of life. 

🕇 Jesus asks the Father to restore unto Him the glory He had with Him before the world was (John 17:5).

🕇 The sun itself is ashamed in His presence (Isaiah 24:23). 

🕇 Christ will destroy the wicked, at the soon-to-come battle of Armageddon, with the brightness of His coming (II Thessalonians 2:8). 

🕇 The wicked are reduced to ashes at His coming (Malachi 4:3). 

🕇 The rocks are molten under His feet (Nahum 1:5). 

🕇 Jesus had this to say concerning Satan in Luke 10:18:

And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.

🕇 Revelation 12:4 has what appears to be a direct reference to the fallen angels who followed Satan:

And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.

Revelation 12:7-9:

7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,

8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.

9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

When we see Jesus, I John 3:2 tells us “…we shall be like him.”  The Lord Jesus now sits on the right hand of the Father as the Lord of Glory, “the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world” (John 1:9).  So, how do the redeemed participate in this likeness, this godliness? 

I must reiterate: The full revelation of the mystery of godliness is truly staggering.  Consider these verses and what a plain, childlike reading declares.  Keep in mind during your consideration: They are, of course, literal.

🕆 Colossians 1:12-13:

12 Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:

13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: 

The inheritance of the saints is light in every aspect of the word. 

🕆 Revelation 22:5:

And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.

🕆 Matthew 13:43:

Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

🕆 Daniel 12:3:

And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.

I John 1:5:

This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

God is light and godliness—God-like-ness—will require similar Godly attributes.  Jesus said that the redeemed are the light of the world.  I thought it interesting that science has measured the energy, which is a product of light, in each cell at 0.2 of a volt.  When multiplied by every cell in the body, each human contains the power of a lightning bolt.  Saints, prepare for a serious upgrade in Light. 

I Timothy 3:16:

And 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. 

This same process that played out in Christ’s life plays out in the lives of His servants. 

Street-level attributes of practicing godliness would include things like:

🍂 Not leaving dirty dishes in the sink.  If God wouldn’t leave dirty dishes in the sink, then you doing so is ungodly. 

🍂 Picking up your clothes. 

🍂 Making your bed each morning. 

🍂 Shaking off the world’s fears. 

The mystery of godliness plays out in the lives of the BORN-AGAIN in so many marvelous ways.  Imagine, the inheritance of the saints in light is how eternity begins.

GOD SAID, I Timothy 3:16:

And 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.

GOD SAID, I John 3:1-3:

1 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.

2 Beloved now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

3 And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

GOD SAID, I John 1:5:

This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

MAN SAID: I know everything I need to know, and it certainly didn’t come from your Christian Bible! I looked it up on my phone. You Bible-thumpers need to get on with it!  You do know this is the 21^st Century, don’t you?! Uh-oh!  Uh-oh!  Where is my phone?! I can’t find my phone! What do I do now?! I’m lost without my phone!  Help me!! I can’t live without my phone! 

Now you have THE RECORD.

 

 

References:

Authorized King James Version

GodSaidManSaid, “Don’t Feed the Devils”

GodSaidManSaid, “The Seven Greatest Mysteries for a Man to Know (Part 1)”

 

 

• Go Further With Christ
• Email To a Friend
• Comments or Questions?