Christ. In the second place, besides this negative proof, the Bible affords all the evidence of the individual personality of our Lord that the case admits of. He always says I, me, mine. He is always addressed as Thou, thee, thine. He is always spoken of as He, his, him. It was the same person to whom it was said, " Thou art not yet fifty years old ; " and " Thou, Lord, in the beo-inning hast laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens ai'e the works of thine hands." The individual personality of Christ is set forth as clearly and as variously as that of any other personage of whose history the Scriptures give us the record. In teaching that Christ had a perfect human and a perfect divine nature, and is one person, the Bible teaches the whole doctrine of the incarnation as it has entered into the faith of the Church from the beo-inning.
Second Argument^ from the Current Representations of Scripture.
The current language of Scripture concerning Christ proves that He was at once divine and human. In the Old Testament, He is set forth as the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Judah and the family of David ; as to be born of a virgin in the town of Bethlehem ; as a man of sorrows ; as meek and lowly ; as bearing the chastisement of our sins, and pouring out his soul unto death. He is everywhere represented as a man. At the same time He is everywhere represented as God ; He is called the Son of God, Immanuel, the Mighty God, Jehovah our righteousness ; and He is spoken of as from everlasting ; as enthroned in heaven and receiving the adoration of angels.
In the New Testament, the same mode of representation is con- tinued. Our Lord, in speaking of Himself, and the Apostles when speaking of Him, uniformly speak of Him as a man. The New Testament gives his genealogy to prove that He was of the house and lineage of David. It records his birth, life, and death. It calls Him the Son of Man, the man Christ Jesus. But Avith like uniformity our Lord assumes, and the Apostles attribute to Him a divine nature. He declares Himself to be the Son of God, existing from eternity, having all power in heaven and in earth, entitled to all the reverence, love, and obedience due to God. The Apostles worship Him; they call Him the great God and Saviour; they ac- knowledge their dependence upon Him and responsibility to Him ; and they look to Him for pardon, sanctification, and eternal life. These conflicting representations, this constant setting forth the same person as man, and also as God, admits of no solution but in
384 PART m. Ch. m. — the person of CHRIST.
tlie doctrine of the incarnation. This is the key to the whole Bible. If this doctrine be denied all is confusion and contradiction. If it be admitted all is light, harmony, and power. Christ is both God and man, in two distinct natures, and one person forever. This is the great mystery of Godliness. God manifest in the flesh is the distinguishing doctrine of the reHgion of the Bible, without which it is a cold and lifeless corpse.
Third Argument^ from Particular Passages of Scripture.
Although, as appears from what has already been said, the doc- trine of the incarnation does not rest on isolated proof-texts, but upon the broad basis of the whole revelation of God concerning the person and work of his Son, yet there are some passages in which this doctrine is so clearly stated in all its elements, that they cannot be properly overlooked in treating of this subject.
To this class of passages belongs, —
1. The first chapter of John, verses 1-14. It is here taught con- cerning the Logos, (1.) Tiiat He existed in eternity. (2.) That He was in intimate relation to God. (3.) That He was God. (4.) That He was the Creator of all things. (5.) In Him was life. Havino- life in himself. He is the source of life to all that live. That is, He is the source of natural, of intellectual, and of spiritual life. (6.) And, therefore. He is the true light; that is, tlie foun- tain of all knowledge and all holiness. (7.) He came into the world, and the world although made by Him, did not recognize Him. (8.) He came to his own people, and even they did not receive Him. (9.) He became flesh, i. e., He assumed our nature, so that He dwelt among us as a man. (10.) And, says the Apos- tle, we saw his glory, a glory which revealed Him to be the only begotten of the Father. It is here taught that a truly divine per- son, the eternal Word, the Creator of the world, became man, dwelt among men, and revealed Himself to those who had eyes to see, as the eternal Son of God. Here is the whole doctrine of the incarnation, taught in the most explicit terms.
2. A second passage to the same effect is found in 1 John i. 1-3. It is there taught that what was in the beginning, what was with God, what was eternal, what was essentially life, appeared on earth, so as to be seen, heard, looked upon, and handled. Here, again, a divine, invisible, eternal person, is said to have assumed our nature, a real body and a rational soul. He could be seen and touched as well as heard. This is the main idea of this epistle. The incarnation is declared to be the characteristic and essential
§2.] SCRIPTURAL FACTS. 38o
doctrine of the gospel. " Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh, is of God : and every spirit that con- fesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh, is not of God : and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come ; and even now already is it in the world."
3. In Romans i. 2-5, the Apostle says that tlie gospel concerns the Son of God, who is our Lord Jesus Christ, who, as to his human nature, kulto. adpKa^ is the Son of David, but as to his divine nature, Kara Tri'eS/x.a, is the Son of God. Here also the two natures and one person of the Redeemer are clearly asserted. The parallel pas- sage to this is Romans ix. 5, where Christ is said Kara a-dpKa to be descended from the fathers, but at the same time to be God over all and blessed forever. The same person is declared to be tl'.e supreme God and a child of Abraham, a member of the Hebrew nation by natural descent.
4. In 1 Timothy iii. 16, we are tauglit that God was " manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached among the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory." In this passage the reading is indeed doubtful. The common text which has 0€os has the support of almost all the cursive, and of some of the uncial manuscripts, of several of the versions, and of many of the Greek fathers. But whether we read 0eds or 6s, the meaning is substantially the same. Two things are plain : first, that ail the predicates in this verse belong to one subject ; and secondly, that that subject is Christ. He, his person, is the great mystery of Godliness. He was manifested in the flesh (i. e., in our nature) ; He, as thus manifested, the Theanthropos, vas justified, i. e., proved to be just, i. e., to be what He claimed to be (namely, the Son of God), by the Spirit, either by the divine nature or majesty dwell- ing in Him, or by the Holy Ghost, whose office it is to take the things of Christ and reveal them unto us. He, this incarnate God, was seen, i. e., recognized and served by angels ; preached among the Gentiles as the Son of God and Saviour of men ; believed upon as such ; and finally received up into glory. All that the Church teaches concerning the person of Christ, is here taught by the Apostle.
5. No passage, however, is more full and explicit on this subject than Philippians ii. 6-11. Of one and the same subject or person, it is here taught, (1.) That He was God, or existed in the form of God. The form of a thing is the mode in which it reveals itself; and that is determined by its nature. It is not necessary to assume that /Aop<^7y has here, as it appears to have in some other cases, the
YOU II. i&
886 PART in. Ch. m. — the person of CHRIST.
sense of ^uVi?; the latter is implied in the former. No one can appear, or exist in view of others, in the form of God, i. e., mani- festing all divine perfections, who is not God. (2.) Hence it is asserted that the person spoken of was equal to God. (3.) He became a man like other men, and assumed tlie form of a servant, i, e., appeared among men as a servant. (4.) He submitted to die upon the cross. (5.) He has been exalted above all created beings, and invested with universal and absolute authority. Christ, therefore, of whom this passage treats, has a divine nature, and a human nature, and is one person,