According to the context, we may
say that the truth in 1 Timothy 3:15 denotes the mystery of
godliness, the manifestation of God in the flesh, in verse 16.
The unique truth, the unique reality, in the universe is the
manifestation of the Triune God in the flesh.…This manifestation is not only in Christ but also in
the church. (The Conclusion of the New
Testament, pp.
2232-2233)
First Timothy 3:15 and 16 imply
that not only Christ Himself as the Head is the manifestation
of God in the flesh but also that the
church as the Body is the manifestation of God in the flesh. When the church grows in Christ
with the growth of God (Col. 2:19), it will function as the
house of the living God for His move on 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 will become 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.…The church,
then, is the increase, the enlargement, of the
manifestation of God in the flesh.This is God manifested in the flesh in a
wider way according to the New Testament principle of incarnation.
