The transforming truth of Jesus Christ, we learn in the first part of 1 Timothy 3:16, is certain, supreme, clear and relevant to our lives. Paul then outlines six pivotal elements of this truth, which are critical to understanding and appreciating the magnitude of Jesus Christ and His plan for us.
First, Paul emphasizes the great incarnation: “He was manifested in the flesh.”
We know this truth. We have read this truth. Yet, it is one of those truths that just blows the mind. Let’s consider what this means.
Jesus Christ is eternal! “In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God…” (John 1:1). The word “was” is the Greek imperfect tense, which emphasizes that Jesus “always was, always existed.” So, “in the beginning” of earthly time, Jesus was already there. He did not Himself have a beginning, as He was there before creation (before time). Jesus is eternal and unchanging.
Jesus Christ is God! “…[T]he Word was God” (John 1:1). Again, the Greek imperfect tense (“was”) emphasizes the ongoing, perpetual reality that Jesus Himself has always possessed the very essence of deity. He has the same essence (i.e., deity) as the Father, for Jesus is His “equal” (John 5:18; 10:30, 33, 36). No wonder Paul emphasizes Jesus’ “equality with God” in Philippians 2:6. Jesus truly is God!
Jesus Christ took on human flesh! This is where the mind is especially overwhelmed. The eternal God (read this slowly) “became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14), for He “emptied Himself, taking the form of a bondservant, and being made in the likeness of men” (Phil. 2:6). He came and lived fully in a human body, experiencing fully the human life, with all the good and the bad that it has to offer. Why? Why would He ever do that?
Jesus Christ was manifested in the flesh FOR US! The second chapter of Hebrews explains to us why the eternal God “was made a little lower than the angels” (Heb. 2:9). (1) He came to “taste death for everyone” (2:9). (2) He came to bring “many sons to glory” (2:10). (3) He came to be the “perfect” Savior through His “sufferings” (2:10). (4) He came to “sanctify” His people (2:11). (5) He came to “destroy…the devil” and his works (2:14). (6) He came to “deliver” us from the “bondage” of “death” (2:15). (7) He came, that He might identify fully with us, when we suffer and are “tempted,” as “a merciful and faithful High Priest” (2:17-18).
This indisputable truth ought to transform our lives toward godliness! As the Lord’s church, we are “the pillar and ground of the truth” (1 Tim. 3:15). We must know it! We must teach it! We must defend it! (more next week)