B
First Timothy 3:15-16 indicates that not only Christ Himself as the Head is the manifestation of God in the flesh but also that the church as the Body of Christ and the house of God is the manifestation of God in the flesh—the mystery of godliness:
１
Godliness in verse 16 refers not only to piety but to the living of God in the church, that is, God as life lived out in the church to be expressed:
ａ
Both Christ and the church are the mystery of godliness, expressing God in the flesh.
ｂ
The church life is the expression of God; therefore, the mystery of godliness is the living of a proper church—1 Cor. 1:6; 14:24-25.
２
God is manifested in the church—the house of God and the Body of Christ— as the enlarged corporate expression in the flesh—Eph. 2:19; 1:22-23:
ａ
The manifestation of God in the flesh began with Christ when He was on earth—John 14:9.
ｂ
The manifestation of God in the flesh continues with the church, which is the increase, enlargement, and multiplication of the manifestation of God in the flesh—1 Tim. 3:15-16.
ｃ
Such a church becomes the continuation of Christ’s manifestation of God in the flesh—Christ lived out of the church as the manifestation of God.
３
The great mystery of godliness is that God has become man so that man may become God in life and nature but not in the Godhead to produce a corporate God-man for the manifestation of God in the flesh—Rom. 8:3; 1:3-4; Eph. 4:24.
Morning Nourishment
1 Cor. 14:25 The secrets of his heart become manifest; and so falling on his face, he will worship God, declaring that indeed God is among you.Eph. 4:24 And put on the new man, which was created according to God in righteousness and holiness of the reality.
In 1 Timothy 4:7 Paul… [tells] us that we should exercise ourselves unto godliness. To exercise ourselves unto godliness is to exercise our spirit so that we may express the mystery of godliness—God manifested in the flesh. This is indicated by Paul’s words in 2 Timothy 1:6-7, which says, “For which cause I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of cowardice, but of power and of love and of sobermindedness.”… Since the Lord Jesus as the mystery of godliness is in our spirit [4:22], in order to express and practice this mystery, we need to exercise ourselves unto godliness by exercising our spirit. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, p. 3665)
Today’s Reading
Before we do anything, we should exercise our spirit. Then our spirit will lead us, and whatever we do will be godliness, God manifested in the flesh. This is the exercise unto godliness. In everything we need to exercise ourselves unto godliness. Before we speak, we should exercise our spirit unto godliness. Therefore, we must live, walk, have our daily life, and have our whole being according to our spirit (Rom. 8:4). Paul exhorted Timothy to pray for those “who are in high position, that we may lead a quiet and tranquil life in all godliness and gravity” (1 Tim. 2:2). If we are godly, it will affect the choice of pictures we hang in our bedroom, the kind of clothes that we wear, our hairstyle, and our conversation. The inward life of godliness has an outward expression. Such a manifestation of godliness is a testimony and has an impact on those who meet us. In whatever we say, whatever we do, whatever we wear, there should be an impression that God is manifested in us.In the church life there should be the manifestation of God in the flesh. In order for this to be the situation, there must be in the church the glorious union of God and man. Inwardly we should have God, but God is manifested in the flesh through a normal and proper humanity. All those in the church life—the brothers and the sisters, the elderly ones and the young ones—should behave in a way that is normal and fitting for their respective ages. Instead of pretense, there should be a genuineness that is both human and divine.
The church as the house of God is the living God becoming flesh and being manifested in the flesh. In the four Gospels God was manifested in the flesh in Jesus as a single individual. But in 1 Timothy 3 God’s manifestation in the flesh is in the entire church corporately.
Christ is the manifestation of God in the flesh, but so is the church. We are the church, but we are still in the flesh. When we meet together in the Spirit, God is manifested among us; this is the manifestation of God in the flesh. Just as Christ the Head is the manifestation of God in the flesh, so also is His Body. If the whole church is gathered together in a proper way, and an unbeliever comes in, “falling on his face, he will worship God, declaring that indeed God is among you” (1 Cor. 14:23-25). God’s presence is known whenever the church meets together properly. We admit that we are still flesh, but the God who lives in our spirit will be manifested, expressed, in our flesh. This manifestation must be not merely individual but corporate. Because the proper church life is the corporate manifestation of God in the flesh, the church of the living God is the consummate mystery of godliness. For the church to be the corporate expression of God in the flesh, everyone in the church must be transformed (2 Cor. 3:18). (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 3665-3667)
Further Reading: CWWL, 1952, vol. 2, “How to Administrate the Church,” ch. 1