Sermon Tone Analysis
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(ESV)
Verse 14 is the theme verse for the whole book.
How should we behave?
We should aim for love.
We should accept the saying that Christ Jesus came into this world to save sinners.
We should order our lives around the gospel.
When we speak or act, especially with others, we should ask if what we say or do will detract from our ability to share the good news of Jesus Christ or aid it.
Sometimes we share the gospel.
At other times we just comment on things.
Those comments often reveal whether we are people of grace or condemnation.
Often it is not what we say, but how we say it that either aids the gospel or detracts from it.
This totality of what we believe, “Christ Jesus came into this world to save sinners…” as well as our other Christian beliefs and how we act, how we live out what we believe, defines our religion.
Many of us don’t like saying Christianity is a religion, we say it is a relationship.
But our Bibles use this word.
The word “religion” in James similar to the idea in 1 Timothy 3:16.
This “godliness” is a hard word to define.
It includes everything you believe about God.
It also includes everything you do in response to what you believe.
What we believe and how we live out our belief reveals our religion.
A person who “gets religion” is someone who has had a major change in belief that is followed by a major change in actions.
One commentator hinted that this verse could be translated as “Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of our religion.”
We use the word “mystery” to speak of something that we don’t know.
We read Agatha Christie, a mystery writer, and wonder as we read it, “Who done it?”
Paul uses the word “mystery” to describe the person who has already read the last chapter.
The mystery is what used to be unknown but is now known.
Paul grew up learning the Old Testament.
He studied passages that dealt with the coming Messiah, the one who would deliver Israel from Rome.
But who the Messiah would be and exactly what he would do was unclear.
It was unclear until he met Jesus!
Jesus unraveled the mystery of the Messiah, the Savior and did so in a way that really surprised Paul and gave him a lot more information and understanding than he had before.
In the qualifications for deacons, Paul writes,
In 1 Timothy 3:16, Paul quotes what many believe is an early Christian hymn.
This hymn highlights the Christian religion.
The focus on the hymn is on Jesus.
He is the subject of every line.
Christianity is not about an organization or a building.
This building could burn to the ground and disband as an organization, but Christianity would not die.
As long as there are people who trust in Jesus in this community, the Christian religion is alive here.
Everything he highlights from this hymn shows the greatness of Jesus.
This mystery of the faith is faith in Jesus.
This mystery had many aspects.
The Jews did not understand the equal and full inclusion of Gentiles.
We do not have separate meeting places for people based on their race.
Jesus unifies.
The indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit in both Jew and Gentile was not fully understood.
Christ in you, the hope of glory!
Jesus made all of this clear.
What was once unknown, what was once a mystery, was now known by the apostles, including Paul.
What is so great about Jesus?
What is there about him that Paul didn’t know but came to know?
What do you know about Jesus?
He may be a mystery to you.
Some of the significant details about Jesus are given in this hymn.
We are going to look at the verbs, the action words, in these phrases.
He was manifested in the flesh.
When we manifest something, we reveal it or show it.
God was manifest in the flesh in the person of Jesus.
When we see Jesus, we see God.
John said,
Jesus said,
The core of our religious belief is that Jesus is the Son of God.
He was vindicated by the Spirit.
A person can make a claim, but making a claim does not make anything true.
When a person makes a claim and it is found to be true, they are justified or vindicated at that point.
A person is on trial.
They plead innocent.
When the facts come out, the public finds out that they are innocent.
At that point they are justified or vindicated.
Jesus was vindicated by the Spirit.
What vindicates the claim that Jesus was God manifest in the flesh?
The resurrection.
His life pointed in that direction, but was not a vindication.
Others had performed miracles.
Others had been good teachers.
His death did not vindicate him.
All the holy men and women of ages past had died.
A martyr’s death was not a vindication of his claim to be God in the flesh.
It is only in his resurrection that he was justified, that he was vindicated.
Resurrection didn’t happen to Abraham or Moses.
Samuel and Elijah were never brought back to life.
Ezra and Nehemiah, Isaiah, Jeremiah and Daniel all died.
They had tombs that held their remains.
Jesus didn’t.
He rose from the dead, vindicated by the Holy Spirit that he was the Son of God.
Paul had seen Jesus.
He had seen him following his resurrection.
This was enough for the apostle Paul.
We do not have firsthand experiences like this.
We sense God’s presence, we see the results of his power, but we have not seen him physically.
Paul did.
When Jesus spoke to him on the road to Damascus, the whole Christian faith was vindicated.
He had arrested people who he thought were guilty that were actually innocent.
He had mocked the resurrection and crucifixion of Jesus and found out that he was totally out of line.
Paul says in
The core of the Christian religion is the physical resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
Seen by angels
We are not sure what he is speaking about here.
We do know that surrounding the tomb were angels.
We also know that sometime during the three days that the tomb was sealed, Jesus returned to heaven.
The angels of heaven were aware of what was happening on earth.
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