The Mystery Of Iniquity…

For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. (2 Thessalonians 2:7)

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. ( I Timothy 3:16)

There are two rival mysterious spiritual principles working simultaneously in the world today, vying for the hearts of all men.

Paul tells us that both are actively doing a work, building rival kingdoms, developing a following, and leading to a final outcome.

The Mystery of Iniquity, (iniquity is lawlessness) originated in the garden of Eden, and was first annunciated by the serpent when he tempted the first man and woman, telling them that by breaking away from the Creator, they could become “as god, knowing good and evil…”.

For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. (Genesis 3:5)

This aspiration to be one’s own “god” and to be able to decide for ourselves what is “good and evil” is the very root of all lawlessness that runs through the fallen heart of mankind. This is the Lie that undergirds all other lies. By this lie the Devil, who is the father of Lies and the original murderer, seduced and decieved Adam and Eve and spiritually slew them.

Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not. ( John 8:43-44)

In the end the whole world will come under a “strong delusion” and believe “the LIE” and thus will be damned.

The core of this lie?

The damning, God sent delusion will allow people to believe that we are all “gods” or that “we are all part of god”. The Creator /Creation distinction will be erased in the minds of the world. The Creator will be rejected, and the world will finally “be as one”. The deceived will ‘realize’ that really we are all one with each other, and with nature and one with the universe.

There is a counter mystery to the mystery of iniquity, called the Mystery of godliness. It was revealed from the very beginning too, but the fullest revelation of it came in the Gospel of Jesus…“God was manifested in the flesh…”.

This spiritual principle, and revelation from heaven, flies in the face of the mystery of iniquity. It insists to fallen sons of Adam and Eve, “You can not ascend to become a god…you are a fallen creature unable to save yourself… But instead GOD DESCENDED AND BECAME A MAN….”.

This truth underlies the only genuine religion and thus the only real godliness (Devotion to God). God humbled himself, He came down to us bankrupt and ruined sinners, in order to save us. The only possible way we could ever go to heaven, is by God coming down and entering into flesh as a man. The Incarnation of God in Christ, is the only cure for the soul.

What corrupted me? Wanting to be “as god”. To determine for myself good and evil, to be master of my own fate, to go my own way.

How can that corruption be reversed in my soul? By embracing the God who came down, and who became a man to die for my sin.

“No man has ascended to heaven, but the Son of man who has descended…” John 3:13

The entire world is polarized, and the line runs through the heart of everyman. Either they partake of the “Mystery of Iniquity” and imagine themselves to be ‘as gods’ or ‘part of god’ or that they have a ‘god within’ . This Hindu belief has been becoming popular in the western world with the advent of the Beatles, and of Psychedelic drugs and the consciousness revolution of the 1960s.

The end of this movement is mass allegiance to the Anti-Christ, the ushering in of his short-lived Kingdom of evil (3 and a 1/2 years). AntiChrist will embody all of the ideals of those who receive and believe in the lie. He will seem to be the proof of it, but only for a short time.

On the other hand there is a remnant in the earth who have received and clung to the opposite message; “We are not “gods” nor could man ever be “god”. But the only true God, humbled himself and became a man…for God was in Messiah, reconciling the world unto himself…” . This message is the true cure for iniquity and for the rebellion which has poisoned our spirits.

The visible head of this movement, is the Lord Jesus Christ, the Shepherd who willingly died for his flock. As the returning King, He will soon possess his universe again, and bring in an age of everlasting righteousness.

This is the spiritual principle of godliness, ( true devotion to God), and the way back into communion with the Creator who we once broke away from.

“All we Like Sheep have gone astray, we have turned everyone to his own way, but the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all..” (Isaiah 53).