GOD MANIFEST
23
beginning, and who, if the Author of his existence should so will, may yet cease to be? However exalted, such a
being is parted from the Divine Essence by a fathomless chasm' (Liddon).
We conclude this aspect of our theme by giving two quotations, which the reader should compare and ponder.
`For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; GOD HIMSELF that formed the earth and made it ... I am the
Lord; and there is NONE ELSE ... There is No GOD ELSE BESIDE ME ... Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the
ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. I have sworn by Myself, the word is gone out of My
mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, that UNTO ME every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear' (Isa.
45:18-23).
`Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a NAME which is above every name: that at the
name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and
that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is LORD, to the glory of God the Father' (Phil. 2:9-11).
We must next consider the relationship which the Scripture reveals between `The Father' and `The Son' and its
bearing upon the absolute deity of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Meanwhile, let us remember that all who would have a form of sound words based upon the teaching of the
apostle Paul will unreservedly give to the Saviour the titles `God' and `Lord'.
CHAPTER 5
God manifest in the Flesh
From the revelation given in the Scriptures it would appear that there has been and still is a movement in the
Godhead towards a fuller and more complete manifestation. Before age-times began, or first creation saw the light,
the invisible and only God stepped down from the plane of the absolute and unconditioned, into that of the visible
and self-limited. Only by this means was creation made possible, and for this purpose God was made manifest in
Him Who is `The Image of the invisible God, the First-born of every creature' (Col. 1:15). Originally existing
(huparchon) `in the form of God', this High and Holy One divested Himself of all the insignia of His deity (for He
did not consider equality with God a thing to be grasped at), `took upon Him the form of a servant (slave), and was
made in the likeness of men'. This was, however, a further step down in the realm of manifestation and willing
self-limitation. The first (Col. 1:15) was for the purpose of creation; the second, for the purpose of redemption:
`... and being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death
of the Cross' (Phil. 2:8).
This manifestation `in the flesh' is referred to in 1 Timothy 3:16 in the words, `Great is the mystery of godliness:
*
God was manifest in the flesh'. This passage is illuminated by observing its place in the structure of the epistle.
Including only those sections which have an immediate bearing on the subject we find the following relation of
theme:
a Hetero didaskaleo, `Teach no other doctrine'.
A 1 Tim. 1:3-20.
b The King, incorruptible, INVISIBLE.
B 1 Tim. 3:16
GOD MANIFEST in the flesh.
A 1 Tim. 6:3-20. a Hetero didaskaleo, `Teach otherwise'.
*
Textual criticism is out of place in such a work as this. Proofs that the correct reading is as found in the A. V.
are given in The Berean Expositor, Vol 32, pages 212-218.