The Christ Song - The Household of God - Part 11
The Christ Song
1 Timothy 3:16
Immanuel – 10/19/25
The church is the household of God, the pillar and buttress of the truth. God has appointed us, church – by our love for Christ and for one another – to put his truth on display for the whole world to see. As Paul said in his summary statement at the beginning of his letter.
The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. -1 Timothy 1:5
The ultimate aim of Paul’s charge is love. The love of God is the earth’s ultimate truth, and all truth is shaped by his love. This is not love as defined by a twisted and broken humanity, but love defined by the holy and all-wise God, revealed to humanity through his Word. We in the church, as we cling to God’s word, hold up that love as truth for the world to see.
I thought Ben Osenbach did a tremendous job bringing those ideas together last week: that we are the household of God, the pillar and buttress of the truth. I loved the stories he shared from our own church family where God is moving, people are growing, and lives are being transformed. At Immanuel the truth and love of Christ are on display for the world to see!
If 1 Timothy 1:5 is the summary statement of Paul’s letter– that love is the aim of his charge – then our verse today is the highest Christological moment in 1 Timothy. We have soaring language of Christ, and it catches us up in heaven’s purpose and glory, propelling us into a world desperate for gospel truth.
And this summit of Christological theology in 1 Timothy is different than any other part of Paul’s letter. You might notice much of verse 16 is formatted differently. Formatting like this indicates you are reading poetry.
But these stanzas are not just poetry, this is a song. Scholars have dubbed it “The Christ Song.” It’s highly likely these words were sung by first century churches. It’s possible Paul wrote these words, but I think he is quoting a song written by someone else: some unknown believer from an unspecified church, quoted by Paul, imprinting all readers of 1 Timothy ever after.
It has been my prayer that our hearts together would lift in worship as I exposit the words of “The Christ Song.” Let’s read it again.
Read vs 16
Before Paul gets to the song, it’s almost like he opens the throttle, or presses the gas pedal to the floor, revving believing hearts to soar upon the lyrical heights of “The Christ Song.”
Godliness
Great indeed, verse 16 opens with. This phrase comes from a Greek word bursting with the emphatic, with exultation – like a trumpet call to worship. To get a sense of this, let’s consider alternate translations while we also remove the word confess – only for a moment.
“Resoundingly true is the mystery of godliness.”
“Beyond all doubt is the mystery of godliness.”
We need to break this down. What is godliness? And what is the mystery of godliness?
First, what is godliness? In short, godliness is God-centeredness. It is loving God with such wholehearted devotion that you burn with the desire to do his will. Godliness is God-centeredness. And honestly, if someone calls you godly, it is the highest of compliments.
There is something else to understand about godliness, and we learn it from Paul’s 2nd letter to Timothy.
[There will be people] having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. -2 Timothy 3:5
Do you see that? There is some kind of power that fuels, or energizes, godliness. Godliness blazes with power. But notice also, the appearance of godliness can be imitated. In other words, outwardly a person can look like they are godly. Which means the power of godliness is not on the outside, it’s not primarily an external thing – because the external things can be counterfeit.
Therefore, godliness is sourced internally. It’s like a blazing furnace within, radiating into the world around, seen and felt by so many others. There are countless ways to imitate superficial sensations of spiritual heat and the light – a thousand hypocrisies; but there is no substitute for the holy inferno of Spirit fueled God-centeredness.
The Jews tried to follow the law to become godly, but all they ended up producing was hypocrisy and oppressive legalism. The false teachers in Ephesus thought godliness could be found in human wisdom, but they proved themselves fools.
All this is because, as Paul indicates in our passage, there is a mystery to godliness. Meaning, it cannot be discovered by clever thinking or human ingenuity. It is a mystery until God reveals it. In other words, no human can understand how to be God-centered, unless God reveals how we are to be God-centered.
And in the most satisfying way, resounding with world transforming love, powerful enough to raise the dead to life, God has revealed the mystery of godliness.
He was manifested in the flesh,
vindicated by the Spirit,
seen by angels,
proclaimed among the nations,
believed on in the world,
taken up in glory.
“The Christ Song”: What soaring heights of Christological wonder! What worship of Jesus! Let’s step through the lines of this song one at a time.
He was manifested in the flesh.
The Son of God was not created. He had no beginning. Rather, he was manifested in the flesh. The eternally existing Son of God entered into our broken world and became a man.
When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. -Galatians 4:4-5
The Son of God became a man, Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ. Though he was surrounded by our brokenness he lived the perfect life: self-sacrificial, overflowing with love, a beacon of the truth, gentle and lowly in heart, wholly consecrated unto God. In a man, humanity beholds the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature (Hebrews 1:3).
The eternal Son of God, entered into time, and was manifested in the flesh. “If he were not God, he could not reach God; if he were not man, he could not reach us.” (John Calvin, Institutes, Book II) As Paul said 2:1, there is only one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all.
He was manifested in the flesh so his flesh could be broken, as he gave up his life as a ransom for all. It is we who were condemned by our sins and sentenced to die. But Jesus said, “I will stand in their place! Father, pour your wrath for sins upon me, and not them.” And so the Father emptied his wrath for sin upon his one and only Son, who was manifested in the flesh. The perfect, innocent, incarnate Son, died in our place. The Holy One of Israel, his lifeless body laid in a tomb.
He was vindicated by the Spirit.
To be vindicated means to be proven right, that your claims are correct. God the Spirit vindicated Jesus – a wildly glorious truth! How was Jesus vindicated by the Spirit? The Holy Spirit raised Jesus from death to life.
The Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you.
-Romans 8:11
When the Holy Spirit raised Jesus Christ from the grave, every lie about Jesus was proven to be false. He was vindicated! In him alone is salvation. He is the Light of the World. He is the resurrection. He is the way, the truth, and the life! His name is above every name and he is our Lord of lords and King of kings!
After three days dead, the moment Jesus walked out of that tomb in resurrection glory, it is proven that he is – emphatically, unequivocally, triumphantly – the Son of God who is one with the Father.
Jesus was vindicated by the Spirit.
He was seen by angels.
The Apostle Peter says that the angels longed to look into the mysteries of salvation (1 Peter 1:10-12). The angels yearned to understand how God could possibly save a people that hated him – sinners who were offensive to him and whose entire lives were lived in rebellion against him. In spite of all this, the angels knew God desired to save sinners, but it was a mystery how God could exact justice while also delivering mercy.
God gave us life so we would reflect his image. But since we defiled that image, we do not deserve to have life. So God is right to take our lives from us. We deserve death, and it is just for God to condemn us to everlasting death.
But Jesus perfectly reflected the Father with his perfect life. So instead of God taking our life, Jesus gave up his life. Jesus took the justice we deserve, so in mercy he can give us his death-defeating life. And the angels saw in the sacrificial death of Jesus that God is both just and the justifier (Romans 3:26). The angels saw the salvation Jesus purchased with his own precious blood, and they worship!
Then I looked, and I heard around the throne…the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!” -Revelation 5:11-12
Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen and worshipped by angels because he was slain, as he gave his life as a ransom for many!
Proclaimed among the nations.
Who could have guessed anyone would hear of Jesus of Nazareth while he hung dead on a Roman cross, his followers scared and scattered, his remarkable life snuffed out by the people he came to save? Who could have guessed?
But in resurrection vindication Jesus was given a name above every name. And having been given all authority in heaven and on earth, he commissioned his fearful disciples to go to the nations and make more disciples (Matthew 28:18-20) – a command for every follower of Jesus. The 1st century church was so courageously committed to obeying Jesus that Paul could write,
I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. -Romans 1:8
In less than 40 years the gospel was proclaimed among the nations! Of course, Paul was talking about the known world, the Greco-Roman world. Today we know the world is much bigger. But still the followers of Jesus, in obedience and courage, proclaim the name of Jesus! If the gospel was seen by the angels, it is proclaimed among the nations by the Church.
And so shall it be until the knowledge of the glory of the Lord fills the earth as the waters cover the seas (Habakkuk 2:14)!
For Jesus shall be believed on in the world.
As the church proclaims the gospel among the nations, people will believe! It is promised! As sure as the Son rises, so shall the nations believe! The Great Commission will be fulfilled. The mission will be effective. The redemption of the world will proceed as God has promised!
In Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. -2 Corinthians 5:19-20
As we – ambassadors of Jesus Christ – proclaim the good news, God will reconcile the world to himself. In Revelation 7 we get a glimpse of what it means that Jesus was believed on in the world.
I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!
-Revelation 7:9-10
Every nation, tribe, peoples, and language rejoicing in their Lord and King, Jesus Christ. We are counted in that number. Any who believe because of our testimony are counted in that number. It is promised. Jesus is and will be believed on in the world.
Taken up in glory.
40 days after the resurrection, as the disciples looked on, Jesus lifted off the ground and ascended through the clouds. Having won victory over life and death he returned to the Father, where he was enthroned in glory.
Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him. -1 Peter 3:21-22
But this line, taken up in glory, is not just about Jesus’ enthronement. It’s about his exaltation.
God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. -Philippians 2:9-11
Jesus is glorified as every knee bows before him: either as a Savior that is loved or a Judge that is feared. In glorious exaltation does every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord! And in Jesus’ glory, the Father is also glorified as the one who willed it all.
That Jesus was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.
“The Christ Song” soars with Christological wonders. As we believers, we Redeemed, hear these things our hearts should soar too. If you have found that your heart soaring – or burning within you – you have discovered the mystery of godliness; you have found the key to becoming God-centered.
Jesus was manifested in the flesh for you, to take your place. In resurrection he was vindicated by the Spirit that you may have life everlasting. Having wrought our salvation he is seen by angels resounding in heaven’s praise.
It is his name we proclaim among the nations, and through our proclamation he is believed on in the world. As the church gathers the harvest of the earth, may he be taken up in glory with an ever-growing multitude of the Redeemed: saved by grace, unshakably joyful, alive forevermore, in thunderous worship.
Brothers and sisters, fix your eyes upon the truths of “The Christ Song,” and your heart will be set ablaze with godliness. It is a fire that cannot be counterfeit. It can be ignited in no other way.
Once burning, the gospel truths of Jesus (as confessed in “The Christ Song”) will power a life lived unto God.
This great King who has given you his very life, how can you not get on your knees and pray in his name?
If you want to know him more, and stoke the fires of godliness, see him in the pages of the Bible. He is on every page! He is the living Word of God!
If he is so great, then how could you possibly keep silent about the name above every name? People are dying without him, lost in their sins, headed to hell. They need to hear you confess salvation in Jesus Christ. They need the gospel!
And perhaps as you profess the gospel, you just might watch a fire ignite in someone’s heart – another worshipper, another soul that has found the mystery of godliness!
If Christ is your King, how can you not want these things? Do you not want the Lord of Glory to use your life like this?
If your answer is yes, if you hear these things and your heart burns within you, then you have found the mystery of godliness.
An angry mob once broke out against Paul and his companions in Ephesus. For two hours they cried out, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” (Acts 19:28-34) I think these words echo in Paul’s memory as he writes, Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness. Resoundingly true is the gospel. Beyond all doubt, Jesus’ name is above every name. Nothing compares. All other gods fall before him.
He is the one who forgives our sins and transforms our hearts and brings us to God. He is the one who gives us godliness, transforming us from being self-centered to being God-centered. Jesus paid it all, all to him I owe!
What should we know? Jesus was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.
What should we believe? Believe that because of Jesus you will not receive justice. You will receive mercy. Believe Jesus gave himself for you because he loves you. Believe these things and the power of godliness will burst from your life.
What should we do? Fix your heart on Jesus and confess the gospel (the mystery of godliness) to anyone and everyone.
Though “The Christ Song” is a song, it is also an early Christian creed – a statement of the 1st century church’s beliefs. The Apostle’s Creed was built upon the outline of the “The Christ Song.” And though it did not start as a song, the Apostles Creed has been given a melody and we are about to sing it. Listen for the echoes of “The Christ Song” as we sing “Apostle’s Creed.”
