Week Devoted to God | Pastor Duane Sheriff

The mystery of godliness reveals something truly astounding: God became one of us. This isn't just a nice theological concept—it's the foundation of everything we believe. When we explore 1 Timothy 3:16, we discover six declarations that unveil the gospel scheme, God's meticulously planned design hidden for thousands of years. The first and most profound declaration is that God was manifest in the flesh. But why did God have to become human? The answer transforms how we understand our salvation. We were all born into sin through Adam, the first man who represented all of humanity. When he fell, we fell with him—not because of our personal sins, but because we were in him. This is where the virgin birth becomes absolutely essential. Jesus had to be born of a virgin so His blood wouldn't carry the sin nature passed down through human fathers. He became the second man, the last Adam—a new master copy for humanity. Just as a master recording transfers everything onto duplicate copies, whatever was on Adam got transferred to all his descendants: sin, death, and separation from God. But Jesus, the perfect master copy, now transfers His righteousness, holiness, and life to all who believe in Him. We weren't made sinners because we sinned; we were born sinners because of where Adam moved spiritually. But now we can move states—from being in Adam to being in Christ. When we understand this mystery, we realize salvation isn't about our good works making us righteous any more than our sins made us sinners in the first place. It's about which man we're connected to, which family we belong to, which state we reside in spiritually.