In a world where so much is fake — especially now, when artificial intelligence can create counterfeits that look like the real thing — how do you tell the genuine from the counterfeit? How do you distinguish truth from falsehood?
This is a very important question. Counterfeits have become so convincing that even educated and intelligent people are easily deceived. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission reports that in the first half of 2025, Australians reported over 108,000 scam incidents with losses of approximately $174 million. The most common methods were fake websites, advertising, and social media. And these are only the reported cases. The real number is much higher.
When so much around us is fake, the value of truth increases immeasurably. Truth becomes precious because it is hard to find. When falsehood fills every space — news, social media, conversations, the internet — the truth you want to know becomes rare, and its value rises accordingly.
But where do you look for truth, especially truth of eternal significance? Truth on which life and death depend? Truth that you can actually trust?
The answer is simple: truth can be found in the Word of God.
In the Russian language there is a helpful distinction between two words: istina (absolute truth) and pravda (subjective truth).
Istina is what actually is — God’s reality. It is objective, independent of any person’s perspective.
Pravda is how a person understands or expresses truth. It is subjective, shaped by what a person perceives.
For example: someone says, “My neighbour Timothy is a good man.” That is true for the person who said it. He is not lying — he has only seen good from Tim. He is speaking his truth, but it is subjective. Tim’s wife, however, might disagree: “No, he is not a good man, because he treats me and the children badly.” That is also true — she is not lying either, because that is her reality. Both are speaking truth as they see it, because each has only part of the information and sees Tim from their own angle.
But the Truth found in the Word of God says that Timothy is a sinner, like everyone else, and needs to find salvation, and no one is good — only God. God sees a person as they truly are, because nothing is hidden from Him. He sees Tim completely and knows everything within.
Jesus said: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). He does not say, “I am someone’s subjective truth.” Because subjective truth can be partial. But absolute truth is complete.
If the truths on which eternal life and eternal destruction depend can be found in the Word of God, then at the very least we need to read and understand it. But people say, “I read it and I don’t understand” — what then? Then you need the church. If you want to hear the truth, you can do so in a church where the Word of God is preached.
The Church — a Pillar of Truth
The Apostle Paul writes:
“I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these things to you so that, if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth” (1 Tim. 3:14–15).
The church preserves the truth of Scripture and proclaims it to the world. If a person wants to know who they are, where they came from, and where they are going after death — the answers are in the Word of God, and they can be heard in a church where the Gospel is proclaimed.
The Word of God is truth for many reasons. It is truth because the One who spoke these words is God Himself, and He cannot lie, and He sees the full picture — nothing is hidden from His eyes. God, by His very nature, cannot speak anything but the truth.
The Apostle Paul writes to Titus:
“Paul, a servant of God… in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began…” (Titus 1:1–3).
Several observations from this text:
A Christian, by definition, is one who has come to know the truth. This truth is about Jesus and what He has done.
This truth leads to godliness. Godliness is true reverence for God, expressed in keeping His commandments — an inner awe before God that shapes outward conduct.
This truth, which the Christian has come to know, gives hope of eternal life. And this was promised by God Himself, who “never lies.”
And this truth, in due time, God revealed through the preaching entrusted to Paul by our Saviour and God, Jesus Christ.
Notice: for Paul, God’s promise of eternal life is truth because it was promised by a God who cannot lie and always speaks the truth. God does not make forecasts and “strongly hope” that things will turn out a certain way. God speaks truth, and it will be so, because no one can prevent it.
Let us return to our passage and see what truths Paul declares.
“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” (1 Tim. 3:16).
The first thing we saw in our text is that the true church is the place which is “a pillar and buttress of the truth.” Paul continues and speaks about the truths that can be heard in a true church. We will look at the first of them.
The Great Mystery: God Was Manifested in the Flesh
“Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh…”
What does “mystery” mean? John Piper explains that the word “mystery” in the New Testament refers to a truth that was previously hidden but has now been revealed in Christ. John MacArthur emphasises that Paul is here using an ancient hymn or confession of faith. The “mystery” is not an unsolvable riddle, but a truth that was once concealed and has now been made known to the world: Christ is God in the flesh.
The mystery of godliness, rephrased in modern terms, means this: “The truth about the right worship of God and obedience to His commandments has been revealed in Jesus Christ.”
And at the centre of the Christian faith — what was revealed in Jesus Christ — is the incarnation of God.
Jesus said: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). Jesus Himself is the Truth. If you know Jesus, you know the Truth, but the reverse is also true: if you do not know Jesus, you are not acquainted with the Truth.
God was manifested in the flesh — this is the greatest truth of Christmas. In the manger lies not merely a child, but God who became man.
John and Peter write: “In the beginning was the Word… and the Word was God… And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:1, 14). “For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty” (2 Peter 1:16).
John adds in his epistle: “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes… concerning the word of life” (1 John 1:1). “And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world” (1 John 4:14).
Paul, John, Peter, and many others who saw Jesus with their own eyes tell us that the Christmas story is not a myth, not a legend, not a beautiful fairy tale designed to make us feel good and exchange gifts. It is a historical truth, confirmed by eyewitnesses.
Why Did God Need to Appear in the Flesh?
John says that “the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.” The truth of Christmas is that the Father sent His Son into the world:
- To save us from sin.
- To die in our place.
- To show how serious our problem of sin really is.
If sin were something small, as some think, God would have found another way to deal with it. But since He went so far as to send His only Son into the world, to become a man and die on the cross, it means our problem was fatal and required a radical solution.
This is the truth that every person needs. It is not a fake, not a fairy tale, not a nicely filtered story. It is a truth confirmed across the centuries, and it still resounds today.
You know that you often wear a mask yourself. You try to look better on the outside than you really are. On Instagram today, it is rare to find a photo that has not been filtered to look better than reality. Sometimes this is done so heavily that when you see the person in real life, you cannot recognise them.
But we do not only put filters on Instagram; in real life we also have filters — to appear better, kinder, more attractive, more spiritual.
But God sees the heart. And despite this — knowing us without any filters or fakes — He loved you so much that He came into the world for your sake. And He gave the most precious thing He had for your sins.
“But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).
If you come to Him in repentance, He will forgive you and give you hope. Do not think that you have another way and can sort out your problems, sins, and guilty conscience on your own. As we have already read, Jesus Himself said: “No one comes to the Father except through me.”
The truth is not only that Jesus came into the world, but also that no one, departing from this world, will come to God without accepting Jesus Christ as their Saviour.
Conclusion
Perhaps you came to church at the invitation of a friend, or out of curiosity, or simply because it is the custom at Christmas. But it is no accident. God arranged the circumstances so that you would hear the truth.
Now the choice is yours:
Accept the truth that you are a sinner who needs forgiveness. And the truth that you need to receive Christ in repentance and faith.
Or reject it and continue living as though nothing happened. Living with the fakes and the deception that “there is no life after death” and “I am good enough; I do not need to repent.”
I pray that the day of your salvation would be today. That you would be able to see and recognise the real truth in a world full of fakes and deception. May the Lord help you, that your eyes would be opened and you would see what perhaps you could not see before.
Amen.