Paul concludes 1 Timothy 3:16 with the phrase taken up in glory. This refers to Christ’s ascension into glory (Mark 16:19; Acts 1:9-11; 2:33; Phil. 2:9). According to the sequence of historical events, Christ’s ascension preceded His being preached among the nations. However, it is listed here as the last step in Christ’s being the manifestation of God in the flesh. This must indicate that the church too is taken up in glory. Hence, it implies that not only Christ Himself as the Head but also the church as the Body are the manifestation of God in the flesh. When a church is well taken care of according to the instructions given in the first two chapters of 1 Timothy, with the oversight of the elders and the service of the deacons fully established, as revealed in chapter 3, the church will function as the house and household of the living God for His move on the earth, and as the supporting pillar and holding base of the truth, bearing the divine reality of Christ and His Body as a testimony to the world. Then the church becomes the continuation of Christ’s manifestation of God in the flesh. This is the great mystery of godliness—Christ lived out of the church as the manifestation of God in the flesh.
Although Christ was taken up in glory (Acts 1:9) before the preaching of Him began in Acts 2, Paul mentions this last, not only after the preaching but even after being believed on in the world. This indicates that taken up in glory may include not only the ascension of Christ but also the rapture of the church. The Head, Christ, was taken up before the preaching of Him began; however, the Body, the church, will be taken up only after Christ has been preached and believed on in the world. Therefore, in 1 Timothy 3:16 there is a definite indication that this verse refers not only to the Head as the manifestation of God in the flesh but also to the Body as the continuation of this manifestation. The Head, Christ, has been taken up in glory, and the Body, the church, will also be taken up in glory. Both the Head and the Body are the mystery of godliness.
Christ as God manifested in the flesh is the truth borne by the church of the living God. In 1 Timothy 3:15 Paul speaks of the house of God, which is “the church of the living God, the pillar and base of the truth.” In speaking of the church as the house of God, Paul specifically refers to God as the living God. The living God who lives in the church must be subjective to the church rather than merely objective. An idol in a heathen temple is lifeless. The God who not only lives but also acts, moves, and works in His living temple, the church, is living. Because He is living, the church is also living in Him, by Him, and with Him. A living God and a living church live, move, and work together. The living church is the house and the household of the living God. Hence, it becomes the manifestation of God in the flesh.
Everything in the church must be living because this is the house of the living God. We should not do anything in the church according to dead rules or dead forms. Everything we do or practice in the church life must be living because we are serving a living God (Heb. 9:14).
Speaking metaphorically, Paul speaks of the church as “the pillar and base of the truth.” The pillar supports the building, and the base holds the pillar. The church is such a supporting pillar and holding base of the truth. The truth here refers to the real things which are revealed in the New Testament concerning Christ and the church according to God’s New Testament economy. The truth is the reality and the contents of God’s New Testament economy. This economy is composed of two mysteries: Christ as the mystery of God (Col. 2:2) and the church as the mystery of Christ (Eph. 3:4). Christ and the church, the Head and the Body, are the contents of the reality of God’s New Testament economy. The church is the supporting pillar and holding base of all these realities. A local church should be such a building that holds, bears, and testifies the truth, the reality, of Christ and the church.
To God, the church has the function to bear all that God is as the reality, the truth, of the universe. The word reality is better than truth in conveying the proper meaning, because truth can be misunderstood as doctrines. This may cause people to think that the church holds doctrines. No, the church is not for holding doctrines but for holding the reality of all that God is. In the universe, only God is reality; all that He is, is reality, which is borne by the church. We are here as the church, the house and household of God, holding the reality of all that God is.
The truth borne by the church is the Triune God, having Christ as the embodiment, center, and expression, to produce the church as the Body of Christ, the house of God, and the kingdom of God (Col. 2:9; Eph. 1:22-23; 4:16; 1 Tim. 3:15; John 3:3, 5). The truth, the reality, is Christ, and Christ is the embodiment of God. The church bears Christ as the reality. The church testifies to the whole universe that Christ, and Christ alone, is the reality (1:14, 17; 14:6). As the pillar and base of the truth, the church bears the reality of the Triune God. The church stands not for doctrine but for the truth, the reality of the Triune God.
In Greek the word truth in 1 Timothy 3:15 denotes something real and solid. Hence, truth means “reality.” However, truth is not simply a solid reality but also the expression of this reality. Truth is not vain doctrine; it is the expression of reality, doctrine constituted with reality and conveying that reality. The church is the pillar bearing the truth, that is, bearing the expression of the reality.
The reality borne by the church is revealed in 1 Timothy 3:16: “Confessedly, great is the mystery of godliness: He who was manifested in the flesh, / Justified in the Spirit, / Seen by angels, / Preached among the nations, / Believed on in the world, / Taken up in glory.” The truth in verse 15, the expression of the reality, is the mystery of godliness in verse 16. As previously mentioned, the mystery of godliness is God manifested in the flesh. When Christ was on earth, He was God manifested in the flesh. Outwardly, He was a man in the flesh; inwardly, in actuality and in reality, He was God. God in His reality was manifested in the man Jesus. God was reality, and Jesus as a man in the flesh was the manifestation of God. This is the truth mentioned in verse 15, and this is the mystery of godliness.
The Gospel of John confirms that the truth in 1 Timothy 3:15 refers to the manifestation of God in the flesh. John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Verse 14 continues, “The Word became flesh and tabernacled among us (and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only Begotten from the Father), full of grace and reality.” That this reality, this truth, has become flesh is indicated by verse 17, which says, “Grace and reality came through Jesus Christ.” Furthermore, in John 14:6 the Lord Jesus, the God who created all things and became flesh, declared that He is the reality. These verses indicate that truth refers to God becoming man, God entering into man, God being joined to man, and God being manifested in man; thus, the truth is God manifested in the flesh. The church is the pillar and base of the truth of God being manifested in the flesh. As a pillar and base of the truth, the church upholds and presents to the universe the fact of God’s manifestation in the flesh.
In summary, God manifested in the flesh implies God manifested not only in Christ, the Head, but also in the church, His Body. When Christ lived on the earth, God was manifested in the flesh of Christ; now in the church age, the same God is manifested in the flesh of the believers, who compose the church. This is the great mystery of godliness, that is, the great mystery of the expression of God. The manifestation of God first in the flesh of Christ and then in the flesh of the members of His Body is a great mystery. Such a manifestation of God in the flesh is witnessed by and justified in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached among the nations, believed on in the world, and taken up in glory. The manifestation of God in the flesh is also the truth, the reality, borne by the church of the living God. Today the church is not only the manifestation of God in the flesh but also the bearer of the truth of the living God. In the universe God alone is the reality, and this reality rests upon the church. Therefore, the church is the pillar and base of the truth, bearing the Triune God Himself, who is the unique reality in the universe.