The Mystery of Godliness
The early confession of the Church found in 1 Timothy 3:16 (“we confess”) declares “the mystery of godliness” one of the six mysteries noted in the New Testament.Jesus Christ Himself is this “mystery of godliness.” God, the timeless Spirit, manifested Himself in time, and in flesh! This stretches belief to its limits! It’s utter foolishness to the unbeliever. To the Jew it is blasphemy. Would the Master of the universe stoop so low as to enter the womb of a woman? Would he share human nature with us?
And if He did, would it be real? Would this figure Jesus actually be God and man in a body of flesh? Or would God somehow lend His Spirit to this otherwise ordinary human in some unique way, for the unique work of redemption?
In the early Church there were some who could not believe that God and man could share the divine nature. An interesting term comes to us from these early days. The Greek word “Theotokos” means “God bearer” and also translates “mother of God.”
This expression came to be at the center of a significant dispute in the 5th century. All could agree that Mary was Christotokos, (the mother of Christ), but Theotokos? This proved too much for some (by the way, for those concerned, Mary, of course, was not the “mother” of the eternal nature of Christ--this would have been a monstrous heresy. He is the eternal Son of God, and as such, Himself preceded the womb of Mary, which was in time to deliver this God-man into the world).
It is essential to understand that this dispute about the motherhood of Mary was not about Mary at all! It was about Jesus! Was this Jesus truly, fully, God? Did Mary actually give birth to... God? This was no “splitting of hairs.” The very deity of Christ was being challenged. Would Orthodoxy prevail?
In the end, Cyril of Alexandria won the day against the Patriarch of Constantinople (Nestorius). The bishops gathered at Ephesus, and in 431 AD affirmed that our Lord had two natures; Jesus was fully God and fully man. The issue was settled once and for all. Jesus is God. Mary is the mother of... God!
Brothers, sisters... understand the mystery of godliness--the baby lying in the straw is none other than “God, manifested in the flesh...” And He is to be worshiped, as baby; as 12 year old boy in the temple; as suffering figure on the cross; and as the risen and glorified Christ!
Come, let us adore Him!
Peter Cardillo
Labels: Advent, Christmas, Guest Post, the Person of Christ
posted by Tim Shorey at
7:30 AM
2 Comments:
Amen Peter, Thanks for slaying Nestorianism afresh and standing firm on the hypostatic union. Good job,
My thoughts,
Peter, thank you for your clarifying point concerning Mary as "Theotokos". So often in our day this has been misunderstood and reacted against as an exaltation of Mary far beyond the humble godly woman that is presented to us in Sacred Scripture, involving the increasing distortions of the Medieval church concerning her, distortions that sadly have continued and taken away the glory that belongs to God alone. You have helpfully reminded us of whom that glory alone is to rest upon, and what historically was intended by Theotokos-----the one who gives birth to that One who is God in human flesh.It was an affirmation and confession of Christ's Deity, not Mary's.
The Council of Ephesus at this point rightly affirmed the ancient apostolic and Biblical faith once for all deliverd to the saints. We ought to be immensely thankful for all those who were faithful in their day for the truth. May God help us to be faithful in our day.
Yes, come let us adore Him---Christ the LORD!
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