First Timothy 3:16
‘God was manifest(ed) in the flesh; proclaimed just in the Spirit…; believed on in the world; received up into glory!’ First Timothy 3:16.
Calvin comments: “The secret of godliness is great…. It does not deal with common themes — but with the revelation of God’s Son in Whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom (Colossians 2:3)…. All the Greek manuscripts…agree on the reading ‘God manifested in the flesh’!…
“The most fitting description of Christ’s Person, is contained in the words ‘God manifested in the flesh’…. He declares Him to be…true God, and true man…. He asserts the unity of His Person, by declaring that it was one and the same Person Who was God, and Who was manifested in the flesh…. In Christ, we see God’s infinite glory joined to our…flesh — so that the two become one….
“‘(He was proclaimed) just…in the Spirit’…. The Son of God…took upon Him(self) our flesh…. There appeared in Him a Spirit-ual power that testified that He was God….. By the word ‘Spirit’ — he includes everything in Christ that was divine…. Paul now contrasts the Spirit with the flesh, by making clear His glory….. The glory worthy of God’s Only-begotten Son…did not consist of outward show or earthly grandeur, but was almost completely Spirit-ual….. (He) ‘was…declared to be the Son
of God in the power of the Spirit’ (Romans 1:3)….
“‘(He was) believed on in the world.’ It was above all things wonderful that God should have given an equal share in His revelation to profane Gentiles…. Christ overcame all obstacles, and brought into the obedience of faith those who seemed quite incapable of being subdued…. By an almost incredible victory, faith conquered!
“Finally, he says that He was ‘received into glory’…after this mortal…life…. In the Person of Christ, a wonderful change was wrought…. He was exalted from the…state of a (human) servant, to the Father’s right hand — so that to Him, every knee might bow!”
Calvin also says in his Institutes I:13:11 & IV:14:2-3 & 29:35-36: “‘God was manifest in the flesh’ (First Timothy 3:16)…. He is God blessed for ever! He therefore it is to Whom alone…all glory and honour is due…. Paul…openly exclaims that…(He was) ‘in the form of God’…(and) ‘equal with God’! (Philippians 2:6)….
“In the First Epistle to Timothy (3:16): ‘Without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh!’… The truth of God is in itself sufficiently stable and certain, and cannot receive a better confirmation from any other quarter than from itself!”
“This was Spirit-ually fulfilled in Christ…. Paul declares…: ‘This is a great mystery’…. In the First Epistle to Timothy (3:9.16)…, it is used…in every instance for mystery!”
For God the Son was manifested in the flesh, and received up into glory! Is that your belief?
