The Corporate Manifestation of God in the Flesh is Christ and the Church, the Body

1 Tim. 3:15-16 indicates that not only Christ Himself as the Head of the Body is the manifestation of God in the flesh but also the church as the Body of Christ, the house of the living God, is the corporate manifestation of God in the flesh, the mystery of godliness.

The Gospels clearly reveal that the Lord Jesus, God incarnated to be a man, was the individual manifestation of God in the flesh.

He came as the Word of God, who is God, to become flesh; He did not become sinful flesh but rather, took on the human nature, without the sin.

He appeared to men as a human being, and He humbled Himself to the uttermost.

Here was God in a man, but no one could see that He is God; He appeared to others as a man, and He lived a perfect and normal human life.

This is very mysterious. This God-man, Jesus Christ, was the embodiment of God, and in Him, all the fullness of the Godhead dwelt bodily. Wow!

The fullness of the Godhead dwelt in the Son of God for eternity, but now He became a man, and still, the fullness of the Godhead dwelt in Him.

He was the first God-man, and He lived a God-man life.

The Lord Jesus did not just try to express God or to do a work that pleases God and speak words that are from God.

He lived God. He expressed God. He manifested God.

He was the Word who became flesh, and as such a One, He explained God, defined God, made God tangible and real to man, and expressed God to the uttermost.

The entire God – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit – was embodied to be the man Jesus Christ.

He chose to be finite. He chose to be limited. He chose to be in time and space.

This He did not only because He loved us and wanted to redeem us but even more, for God to be manifested in the flesh. God is pleased to manifest Himself, to express Himself, in humanity.

He was pleased to create man in His image and according to His likeness, and He is delighted when man expresses Him.

God was so delighted in the Lord Jesus Christ with His living, work, and speaking, that at least two or three times He testified from the heavens that this is His beloved, in whom He is well-pleased.

God is well-pleased in the Lord Jesus Christ, in His being and in His living with His work.

But He was only one man, an individual person.

Through death and resurrection, Christ as the one grain of wheat was multiplied and reproduced to be many God-men, the many believers in Christ (John 12:24).

Now we are His continuation, His multiplication, and His reproduction. Hallelujah!

Even as He was in this world, so are we now.

He was God’s manifestation in the flesh, and we today need to be the corporate manifestation of God in the flesh, the church as the house of the living God, the pillar and base of the truth.

Great is the Mystery of Godliness – God Manifested in the Flesh!

The church is the corporate manifestation of God in the flesh; this is a great mystery.

We human beings manifest ourselves, for we express what we are.

We grow in a certain place, live in a certain way, and have a certain expression; when others see us, they realize where we’re from, what we learned, and what we’re constituted with.

But when we look at the Lord Jesus Christ, we do not see a typical Jewish person who did what the Jewish people did and spoke about Jewish things as the rest of the people around Him.

Rather, as 1 Tim. 3:16 says, Christ is God manifested in the flesh.

He is the individual manifestation of God in the flesh, the great mystery of godliness.

Great is the mystery of godliness – He who was manifested in the flesh.

Through the Lord’s incarnation and human living (John 1:1, 14), God was manifested in the flesh (Rom. 8:3; Phil. 2:7-8).

He appeared to those around Him in the form of man (2 Cor. 5:16), yet He was God manifested in man.

This was truly a great mystery, and those around Him were amazed and glorified God when they saw Him and heard Him.

Christ was also justified in the Spirit. On one hand, Christ in His human living was vindicated as the Son of God by the Spirit (Matt. 3:16-17; Rom. 1:3-4), for the Spirit came upon Him and testified of Him.

On the other hand, Christ was approved, justified, and proved as right and righteous by the Spirit (Matt. 3:15-16; 4:1).

He was justified in the Spirit. He was God manifested in the flesh, and He was vindicated and justified in the Spirit.

He lived like no one else around Him or before Him; He was a man in the flesh, but He lived in the Spirit (Luke 4:1, 14; Matt. 12:28) and He offered Himself to God through the Spirit (Heb. 9:14).

This was a mystery – the mystery of godliness. Christ could have just lived by His human life and nature to express Himself, and no one had any problem with that, for everyone did the same.

But He chose to deny Himself and live by the divine life to express God and manifest Him in His living.

Therefore, the Spirit vindicated Him and justified Him.

He was also justified in the Spirit in His transfiguration on the mountain (Matt. 17:2) and in His resurrection.

This One, Jesus Christ, was the mystery of godliness – God manifested in the flesh, and He was justified in the Spirit.

Even more: He went through death and resurrection, and in His resurrection, He became the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45; 2 Cor. 3:17) to come into our spirit, dwell in us, and live in us (Rom. 8:9-10).

Now we have Christ as the mystery of godliness in us, and we become the church as the corporate manifestation of God in the flesh, for we also manifest God in the flesh today.

After being regenerated by God with His life and nature, we start a new life in the Lord and with the Lord; we start to live one spirit with the Lord, exercising our spirit to not live by the flesh or in the self but in the mingled spirit.

We no longer walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit (Gal. 5:16, 25), and we no longer know Him and our fellow believers according to the flesh but according to the Spirit (2 Cor. 5:16).

The Spirit is one with our spirit, and in our spirit, we are justified in the Spirit (Rom. 8:16).

When we live and behave in our spirit, we are justified in the Spirit, and we become part of the great mystery of godliness, God manifested in the flesh.

Lord Jesus, we praise You as the One who came to manifest God in the flesh on earth. Thank You for lowering Yourself, humbling Yourself to the uttermost, so that You may be found in fashion as a man. Hallelujah, God became man to manifest God in the flesh for God’s expression on the earth! We praise You as the One who was justified in the Spirit. you were approved and proved as right and righteous by the Spirit, for You lived out God, expressed God, and manifested God. Amen, Lord, thank You for becoming a life-giving Spirit in Your resurrection to impart Your life into us and regenerate us to be the many sons of God. Hallelujah, God in Christ as the Spirit lives in us and dwells in us. Thank You, Lord, for being joined to us as one spirit. We want to live and behave in our spirit today so that we can be Your manifestation on the earth. Keep us one spirit with You today!

The Corporate Manifestation of God in the Flesh is Christ and the Church, the Body

And confessedly, great is the mystery of godliness – God manifested in the flesh.

This is how 1 Tim. 3:16 begins. The conjunction “and” shows that this is not a separate thought but a continuation of the previous thought.

In v. 15 Paul spoke concerning the church as the house of the living God, the pillar and base of the truth; and great is the mystery of godliness – God manifested in the flesh.

On one hand, the great mystery of godliness refers to Christ, who is the individual manifestation of God in the flesh; on the other hand, this mystery refers to the church as the house of God.

The church is something more than the house of the living God and the pillar and base of the truth: the church is also the mystery of godliness.

The church is a mystery. The church is the mystery of godliness.

What is godliness? It is not merely piety; it is the expression of God, being God-like.

When God gains His manifestation in the flesh, the entire spiritual world rejoices.

For example, when the Lord Jesus was born, a host of angels praised God (Luke 2:10-14).

They rejoiced at the birth of the Lord Jesus in Bethlehem, and they rejoice – though not as visible as in those days – when they see the manifestation of God in the church.

When God gains a corporate manifestation of Himself in the flesh, the angels rejoice and God is satisfied.

When the Lord Jesus was living out God and manifesting Him on earth, the demons were afraid of Him, even begging Him not to send them into the abyss (8:31).

Much more today, when the church is living God and manifesting Him, the demons and the evil angels will be terrified.

The church is the place where Christ is born anew in the saints and where Christ lives in the saints for the manifestation of God in the flesh.

Every local church must be filled with born-again people who live Christ and manifest God by exercising their spirit to live in the mingled spirit.

When the church becomes the great mystery of godliness by manifesting God in the flesh, the angels will rejoice and sing for joy, and the demons and the evil angels will tremble. Hallelujah!

This is what God is after today, and this truly is a great mystery, for the church is composed of human beings of flesh and blood, yet God is manifested through them. This is truly amazing.

May the church today come up to God’s standard to become the corporate manifestation of God in the flesh so that God may gain His corporate expression on earth and be satisfied and so that the enemy would be put to shame.

When Christ was on earth, He expressed God and manifested Him in an individual way.

Now we as His continuation and reproduction need to continue to manifest God and express Him.

The only way we can do this is by being in our spirit. It is when we walk according to the spirit that we can fulfil God’s purpose and not live in the lusts of the flesh (Rom. 8:4).

The mystery of godliness is the living of a proper church; such a living is the manifestation of God in the flesh.

Even as Christ was in this world, expressing God and manifesting Him, so we are today; we have Christ living in us, and we need to live Him for God’s manifestation.

The mystery of godliness is not only Christ as the individual manifestation of God in the flesh but even more, it is the church as the Body of Christ, the corporate manifestation of God in the flesh.

1 Tim. 3:15-16 indicates that not only Christ Himself (as the Head of the Body) is the manifestation of God in the flesh but also that the church (as the Body of Christ and the house of the living God) is the manifestation of God in the flesh – the mystery of godliness. Wow!

In the context of speaking of how should we conduct ourselves in the church of God, Paul mentions the mystery of godliness, which is great; the church life, the proper living of the church, should be the corporate manifestation of God in the flesh.

Christ is in us to be our very life (Col. 1:27), and we live because of Him, in Him, by Him, and unto Him, for we have been crucified with Him and He is the One who lives in us (Gal. 2:20).

This is not only the mystery of godliness but a great mystery.

Our workmates at the office need to see this great mystery being lived out before them.

Our family members need to see the manifestation of God in the flesh through us.

Those around us see a human being when they look at us, but there must be something more there: there must be the manifestation of God in the flesh.

When others come to meetings of the church and hear us prophesying, speaking for the Lord, they sense God’s presence, they are exposed and examined by Him, and they will worship God, declaring that God is among us (1 Cor. 12:24-25).

This should be our normal daily living and our church life today.

It is Christ the Head with the church as His Body who is the great mystery of godliness, God manifested in the flesh.

The corporate manifestation of God in the flesh is the Christ, the corporate Christ, Christ the Head with Christ the Body. Hallelujah!

Lord Jesus, even as You lived in this world when You were on earth, so we want to be and live today. We open to You. We exercise our spirit and we put ourselves aside. We want to live one spirit with You today. May our living be the manifestation of God in the flesh. May the living of the saints in the church be the mystery of godliness, the corporate manifestation of God in the flesh. Amen, Lord Jesus, keep us in our spirit today! Keep us turning to You, remaining in fellowship with You, and being one with You in our living, working, speaking, and doing. May the church come up to God’s standard to be the corporate manifestation of God in the flesh for God’s satisfaction and for the enemy’s shame. Yes, Lord, shame Your enemy and cause the evil angels to tremble by gaining the manifestation of God in the flesh! Praise the Lord, He is bringing all the local churches up to His standard to be the corporate manifestation of God in the flesh for His joy and for the enemy to be terrified!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by the brothers in the message for this week, and portions from, Life-study of 1 Timothy, msg. 6 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Living and Serving According to God’s Economy Concerning the Church (2023 fall ITERO), week 9, entitled, The Function of the Church (2) The Corporate Manifestation of God in the Flesh.
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• Hymns on this topic:
  – God eternal has a purpose, / Formed in His eternal past, / Spreading to eternal future; / ’Twixt these ends all time is cast. / For with time there is the process, / Time for His accomplishment; / And in time we’re merely travelers— / For eternity we’re meant. / God would have a group of people / Built together in His plan, / Blended, knit, coordinated / As His vessel—one new man. / God would come into this vessel / With His nature, life and ways, / Mingling Spirit with our spirits / For His joy and to His praise. (Hymns #1325 stanzas 1-2)
  – O Lord Jesus, Thy redeemed ones / Are Thy Body and Thy Bride; / As Thy fulness, Thine expression, / In her Thou art glorified. / Thou, her all in all forever, / She Thy riches doth declare; / Thou dost fully saturate her / And Thy glory with her share. (Hymns #976 stanza 1)
  – The principle of incarnation / Is but the blend of God and man, / Both acting in cooperation / To thus fulfill th’ eternal plan. / To God, the man is His expression, / And man is of God’s life possessed; / The man is wholly God’s possession, / And God thru man is thus expressed. (Hymns #740 stanzas 1-2)