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CHAPTER II.
STATES OF CHRIST.
SECTION 1.--ORIGINAL GLORY.
BEFORE HIS INCARNATION, THE SON OF GOD
WAS IN INTIMATE COMMUNION OF GLORY AND BLESSEDNESS WITH THE FATHER.[1]
The existence of Christ, previous to his appearing in the world, is proved by
passages of Scripture, that do not expressly declare his divinity.
If we had no further teaching on the subject, we might suppose that he was a
created spirit, had enjoyed honor and happiness in the presence of God, and had consented
to appear, in obedience to the will of God, in the person of Jesus Christ. But the proofs
which have been adduced from other parts of Scripture, clearly show that this pre-existent
spirit was God, and not a creature.
Several names are ascribed to the pre-existent divinity of Jesus Christ. John calls
him the Word of God.[2] He is more
frequently called the Son of God. Various passages speak of him as the Son of God,
antecedent to his coming into the world. He is called the Angel of the Lord, the Angel of
the Lord's presence, the Angel of the Covenant, the Captain of the Lord's hosts. It is
also supposed that he is intended to be designated, in the 8th chapter of
Proverbs, by the name Wisdom.
To ascertain the precise import of these several names, is attended with
difficulty. He appears to be called the Angel or Messenger, because he is sent to make
known, or to execute, the will of God. He is probably called the Word of God, because he
is the medium through which the mind of God is made known. Why he is called the Son of
God, is a question on which divines have differed. His miraculous conception, his
mediatorial office, his resurrection from the dead, and his investiture with supreme
dominion, have been severally assigned, as the reason of the title; but these appear
rather to declare him to be the Son of God, or to belong to him because of that relation,
than to constitute it. The phrases first-born, first-begotten, only-begotten, seem to
refer to the true ground of the name, Son of God: but what these signify, it is probably
impossible for us to understand. The ideas of peculiar endearment, dignity, and heirship,
which are attached to these terms, as used among men, may be supposed to belong to them,
as applied to the Son of God; but all gross conceptions of their import, as if they were
designed to convey to our minds the idea of derived existence, and the mode of that
derivation, ought to be discarded as inconsistent with the perfection of Godhead. Some
have considered the titles Christ, the Son of God, as equal and convertible; but the
distinction in the use of them, as pointed out in our examination of the charges brought
against the Redeemer, shows the error of this opinion. When Saul at Damascus,[3] and Apollos in Achaia,[4] preached to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ,
the aim was to convince them that Jesus was the Messiah, long expected by their nation.
But when Saul preached "Christ, that he is the Son of God,"[5] and when the eunuch professed his faith, "I
believe that Jesus is the Son of God,"[6]
more than the mere messiahship of Jesus is manifestly intended. Christ or Messiah is a
title of office: but the phrase "Son of God," denotes, not the mere office, but
the exalted nature which qualified for it.
The possession of proper deity is alone sufficient to show that the Son of God was
glorious and happy eternally; but we may learn the same truth from the language of
Scripture directly referring to this subject. "And now, O Father, glorify thou me
with thine own self, with the glory which I had with thee, before the world was."[7] "For ye know the grace of the
Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye
through his poverty might be rich."[8]
"Then I was by him, as one brought up with him; and I was daily his delight,
rejoicing always before him."[9]
"Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God."[10] "The only begotten Son, which
is in the bosom of the Father."[11]
The full communion of the Son with the Father, in all the glory and blessedness of the
Godhead, is to be inferred from these passages.
SECTION II.--HUMILIATION.
THE SON OF GOD ASSUMED HUMAN NATURE, AND
IN THAT NATURE LIVED A LIFE OF TOIL AND SORROW, AND DIED AN IGNOMINIOUS AND PAINFUL DEATH.[12]
The full history of this wonderful humiliation, is given by the four Evangelist;
and is often referred to in the New Testament, and sometimes in the prophetic declarations
of the Old.
In contemplating this mystery of "God manifest in the flesh," we are not
to suppose that the divine nature underwent any real change. God cannot cease to be God.
The change was in the manifestation, and not in the nature. In this manifestation, even
the angels were concerned, for it is a part of the mystery that "God manifest in the
flesh" was "seen of angels;"[13]
but so wonderful was this new mode of manifestation, that the angels could not readily
know their God, in this humble form, as the babe of Bethlehem, and the man of sorrows.
Hence, they needed a special command from the eternal throne, before they could render him
divine worship: "When he bringeth the first-begotten into the world, he saith, `Let
all the angels of God worship him.' "[14]
But this fact, it may be objected , shows it to have been a concealment, rather than a
manifestation. This, to some extent, is true; but it is a concealment resembling that by
which God showed himself to Moses in the cleft of the rock, concealing the beams of
insufferable brightness, that the favored servant might see the back parts of his glory.
So the angels, while they behold the Godhead veiled in human nature, obtain views of the
divine glory, which would otherwise have been impossible. These are the things "into
which the angels desire to look."[15]
"Unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places, might be known by the
Church."--by the redemption and salvation of the Church, through the humiliation and
death of Christ,--"the manifold wisdom of God."[16]
The lowest point of Christ's humiliation, was his death by crucifixion, and his
being held for a time under the power of death, as a prisoner in the grave. Some have
thought that he descended into hell; but this opinion has arisen from misinterpretation of
the Scripture, "It was said, Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell:"[17] but the word "hell"
signifies in this place, as in many others, the unseen world, or the state of departed
spirits. When it is said, "He went and preached unto the spirits in prison[18], the meaning is, that he, by his
spirit, in the ministry of Noah, who was a preacher of righteousness, preached to the
antediluvians, who, being disobedient, and rejecting the ministry, were swept away by the
flood, and were, when these words were penned, spirits in prison.
The glorious benefits resulting to us from the deep humiliation of Christ, are
intimated in the words of Paul: "that ye through his poverty might be rich."[19] The extent of the riches which
we shall acquire by this poverty, eternity must disclose.
SECTION III.--EXALTATION.
THE SON OF GOD, IN HUMAN NATURE, WAS
RAISED FROM THE DEAD, ASCENDED TO HEAVEN, AND WAS INVESTED WITH SUPREME DOMINION OVER ALL
CREATURES.[20]
The facts of Christ's exaltation, like those of his humiliation, are related in the
Scripture narrative, and referred to in various parts of the sacred volume.
The exaltation, like the humiliation, produced no real change in his divine nature.
It affected the manifestation of it, and also wrought a real change in the condition of
the human nature. This nature is now perfectly happy. Jesus has received the joy that was
set before him;[21] and saints,
who are to be happy with him for ever, are said to "enter into the joy of their
Lord."[22] On this nature
rests, also, the full glory of the Godhead, "the glory of God in the face of Jesus
Christ."[23] As through him
the brightest manifestations of the divine glory are made to intelligent creatures, so
through him they receive the commands of supreme authority. "He is head of
principalities and powers." "He raised him from the dead, and set him at his own
right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principalities and powers, and might and
dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is
to come."[24]
The glory to which Christ has been exalted, is not a subject of idle speculation,
in which we have no interest. In his address to his Father, he said, in allusion to his
disciples, "The glory which thou hast given me, I have given them."[25] Hence, while we suffer with
Christ,[26] and for Christ, in
this world, we may rejoice in the hope of being glorified with him.
[1]
John i. 15, 30; iii. 13, 17, 31; vi. 38; viii. 58; xvii. 5; 1 Cor. xv. 47; Gen xvii. xxii. 15; xxxii. 30; Ex. iii. ; xx.; Acts vii. 30, 35, 38; John i. 3; Col. i. 16; Heb. i. 2, 10; Mic. v. 2; John viii. 58; Heb. i. 8; xiii. 8; Rev. i. 8, 18.[2] John i. 1.
[3] Acts ix. 22.
[4] Acts xviii. 28.
[5] Acts ix. 20.
[6] Acts viii. 37.
[7] John xvii. 5.
[8] 2 Cor. viii. 9.
[9] Prov. viii. 30.
[10] Phil. ii. 6.
[11] John i. 18.
[12] I Tim. iii. 16
[13] Phil. ii. 6.
[14] Heb. i. 6.
[15] 1 Pet. i. 12.
[16] Eph. iii. 10.
[17] Ps. xvi. 10.
[18] I Pet. iii. 19.
[19] 2 Cor. viii. 9.
[20]
Matt. xxviii.; Mark xvi.; Luke xxiv.; John xx.; Acts i. 11; vii. 56; ix. 4; 1 Cor. xv. 4-8; Phil. ii. 9, 10, 11.[21] Heb. xii. 2.
[22] Matt. xxv. 21.
[23] 2 Cor. iv. 6.
[24] Eph. i. 20, 21.
[25] John xvii. 22.
[26] Rom. viii. 17.
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