Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.
As I said yesterday, we do love a good mystery. It is a part of the human condition. God made us this way. We seek to understand. What we seek to understand defines us in ways that we will not understand until we are satisfied.
As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness; when I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness.
This was always one of my favorite quotes. Now I realize I will never be satisfied until I awake from that long sleep. While I was pleased with the thought, I will never find satisfaction in this life. I will always want to be more than I am.
I am not what I was and I am grateful, but not satisfied. I am changing more and more each day but I am not satisfied. I now see the mystery of godliness, it only ends with being taken up.
The mystery now is in when and how that comes into being. Seeking to discover that mystery will only end in unhappiness because it is a thing hidden from us all until the time of the end.
Why? Because it is a distraction from the will of God for us at this moment, today.
Seeking God’s will is selfless. Seeking to be satisfied is selfish.
We know that the flesh opposes the spirit. We perceive the natural world with eyes of flesh but in the spirit we may see that God’s Word is being proven to be true. Where the world is headed is into a future that God has predicted with perfect knowledge. Trying to make world events fit His prophecies is a fool’s errand. In the flesh it will create fear and doubt which works against the spirit and our calling.
Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction,
It is my opinion that we are not there yet. I’m not looking for the son of perdition because he does not change my calling in Christ. We all have work to do. Do the will of the Father, that is selfless.