Covenant Community: Timothy's Covenant Responsibility

how to behave in God's household. As those who have been joined to God's household, the church is called to bear true witness to Christ by its way of life. Paul is concluding a section in which he has outlined the church's conduct in public worship (2:1-15) and in the character of its leaders (3:1-13). and support of the truth. Amidst a city of temples and their idols, Paul described the church at Ephesus as the household of the one, true God, who lives. That confession of truth is supported by their public piety in corporate worship, the character of their leaders and their own conduct.

This may be part of an early Christian hymn. Jesus appeared in a body: this is a reference to the incarnation, with a hint at Christ's preexistence. Christ was vindicated by the Spirit: this is a reference to Christ's resurrection (Rom. 1:4). Christ was seen by angels: this is a reference to the ascension (Acts 1:10-11). He was taken up in glory: this is a reference to Christ's exaltation in glory. See WCF 8.2; BC 18.

Hendriksen says that this hymn was developed from many texts:

It is exactly this immeasurable greatness of the Christ which forms the subject of the hymn from which Paul now quotes six lines. That theme was a familiar one in the early church, as is shown by passages such as the following: Acts 2:22-36; 4:11, 12; 10:38-43; 13:26-41; Rom. 8:31-39; 1 Cor. 1:30; 15:1-20, 56, 57; Eph. 1:20-23; Phil. 2:5-11; Col. 1:12-20; 2 Thess. 1:7, 8; 2:8; Titus 2:13; Heb. 1:1-4; 7:23-8:2; 9:24-28; 10:5-25; 12:1-3; Rev. 5:6-14; 12:10-12; 19:6-8.

Mounce gives significance to the six separate lines in the hymn:

Lines 1 and 6 serve as the bookends of Jesus' earthly ministry, his birth and ascension. The remaining four lines can refer to events either before or after the ascension, spelling out aspects of Christ's earthly and risen life.

Hughes summarizes:

Here is the point: The magnificent Christ of this grand confession makes possible the godly conduct that Paul so earnestly desires.

We are the church. We are family "God's household." God is our Father, and we are brothers and sisters. We are "the church of the living God." He lives in each of us. We together are "the pillar and foundation of the truth."

And because of this, what we believe and confess about Christ is everything. We confess that he was revealed by his incarnation and resurrection.

He appeared in a body,

was vindicated by the Spirit.

We confess that he was witnessed by heaven and earth.

was seen by angels,

was preached among the nations.

We confess that he was received in earth and in Heaven.

was believed on in the world,

was taken up in glory.

Because we are the church, and because we confess such a Christ, we can and must conduct ourselves in a way that brings glory to him. As the apostle told another church, "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God" (1 Corinthians 10:31).

the revealed truth of godliness is great. Over against the Ephesian public profession that 'Artemis is great!' (cf. Acts 19:28), Paul wrote yet another summary of the gospel, and described not only its subject, but its wider impact (on godliness, see note 2:10) as 'great'! With a parallel grammatical structure, Paul either penned or incorporated an early Christian hymn. This brief introduction and the hymn itself underscore the scope of God's revelation. Again, Paul chose the Greek word mysterion (see note 3:9; cf. Eph 3:4-6), which is his shorthand to reference the inclusion of the nations in the covenant community. He was proclaimed among the nations, He was believed on in the world. The poetic parallelism is emphatic. The gospel is 'good news' for the nations, that is to say, for the entire world.