478 JESUS CHRIST TRUE GOD AND [SeR. VII.
is prophesied of : 'In that day the branch of the Lord shall be beautiful , and glorious, and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely.' When he is called 'the branch of the Lord,' his Godhead is signified ; when he is called ' the fruit of the earth,' his manhood. So again, Isa. vii. 14, 'A virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and thou shall call his name Immanuel' — that is to say, ' Grod with us;' which can agree to none but to him that is God and man. So that this mystery of God incarnate was not hid from the church of the Old Testament, for his very name did import God with us, or God in our nature recon- ciling us to himself. So Isa. ix. 6, ' To us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulders, and his name shall be called The Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, the ever- lasting Father, the Prince of Peace.' W^ho can interpret these speeches' and attributes but of one who is God-man ? How could he else be a child and yet the everlasting Father — born of a virgin, and yet the mighty God ? So Isa. xi. 1 , with the 4th verse, ' A rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch out of his roots : ' therefore man ; and ver, 4, ' He shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked : ' therefore God. So Isa. liii. 8, ' He shall be taken from prison and judgment :' therefore man ; yet ' who shall declare his generation ? ' therefore God. So Jer. xxiii. 5, 6, ' A branch raised unto David from his dead stock:' therefore man : yet ' the Lord, or Jehovah our righteousness ; ' therefore God. Shall I urge that speech whereby Jesus did silence divers of the learned pharisees ? Ps. ex. 1, * The Lord said to my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, until I make thy foes thy footstool.' He was born in the mean estate of human flesh and King David's seed, and yet David's Lord ; which he could not be if he were not God himself, the King of kings, and Lord of lords. Well, then, he was David's son as man, but David's Lord as he was God. And so do many of the ancient Jewish rabbins in- terpret this place. So again, Micali v. 2, ' Thou Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel ; whose goings forth have been from old, from everlasting.' He is born in Beth- lehem, yet his goings forth are from everlasting. He came out of Bethlehem, and therefore man ; his goings forth are from everlasting, and therefore God. So Zech. xii. 10, ' I will pour out the spirit of grace and supplication, and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced.' He is God, because he giveth the Spirit of grace ; man, because he is pierced or crucified. So Zech. xiii. 7, ' Against the man, my fellow.' A man he was, but God's companion, his only-begotten Son, and co-essential with himself, and so God.
Secondly, Come we now to the New Testament, in which this mystery is more plainly and fully demonstrated. There often the Son of Man is plainly asserted to be also the Son of God. Thomas calleth him his Lord, his God, John xx. 28. We are told that the Word was made flesh, John i. 14 ; that God purchased the church with his own blood. Acts xx. 28, which can be understood of no other but Christ, by whose blood we are redeemed, and who, being incar- nate, hath blood to shed for us. But God, as a pure spirit, hath not flesh and blood and bones as we have : so Eom. i. 3, 4, ' Jesus Christ
COL.I. 19.] TRUE MAN IN ONE PERSON, 479
was made of the seed of David, according to the flesh, but deckred to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness,' &c. In respect of his divine subsistence, he was begotten, not made ; in regard of his human nature, made, not begotten. True man, as David was, and true God, as the Spirit and divine nature is. Again, Kom. ix. 5, ' Whose are the Father's, and of whom as concerning the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever.' Than which nothing can be said more express as to that nature which is most apt to be questioned ; for surely he that is God over all cannot be said to be a mere creature. The Jews confessed him to be man, and one of their blood, and Paul asserteth him to be God over all ; they accounted him to be accursed, and Paul asserteth him to be blessed for ever ; they thought him inferior to the patriarchs of whom he descended ; and Paul over all. So that no word is used in vain ; and when he saith ' according to the flesh,' he insinuateth another nature in him to be considered by us. The next place is 1 Cor. ii. 8, ' They crucified the Lord of glory.' He was crucified — there his human nature is acknowledged ; but in respect of the divine nature he is called ' the Lord of glory :' as in the 24th Psalm, the Lord or King of glory is Jehovah Sahaoih, ' the Lord of hosts.' Go we further : Phil. ii. 6, 7, ' Who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men.' By the form of God is meant not only the divine majesty and glory, but also the divine essence itself — for without it there can be no true divine majesty and glory. Now this he kept hidden under his human nature, letting only some small rays sometimes to shine forth in his miracles. But that which was most 'sensible and conspicuous in him was a true human nature in a low and contemptible estate. Again, 1 Tim. iii. 16, ' Great is the mystery of godliness, God manifested in our flesh' — that is, the eternal Son of God became man, and assumed the human nature into the unity of his person. Once more : 1 Pet. iii. 18, ' He was put to death in the flesh, but quickened in the Spirit ' — that is, died according to his human nature, but by his divine nature raised from the dead. It is not meant of his soul. Quickened signifies not one remaining alive, but made alive — that power belongeth to God. Secondly, By types. Those that come to hand are these : —