The Humanity of Christ
By L. A. S.
In order that fallen man might be identified with the Son of God, the Son of God identified himself with humanity. He who was the Son of God became the Son of man. He who was equal with God in the courts of heaven, who was a begotten Son and not a created being, left his station there, and identified himself with a totally different order of beings. He took on him the seed of Abraham. He was born into the world, like any other descendant of Adam. He grew from a babe to manhood, like any other human being. He was crucified and died on the cross; he rose from the dead, and ascended to the right hand of God. But he retained his humanity. He is “the man Christ Jesus.” There was nothing lacking in the completeness of the sacrifice which Jesus made. He gave up all; he “emptied himself;” and after he had trod the pathway from the manger to the cross, condemned sin in the flesh by a sinless life, vindicated his Father’s government before men and angels, and made sure the end of sin and Satan by his death and resurrection, God highly exalted him, and gave him a name that is above every name. Christ’s work is to restore harmony again in his Father’s kingdom; and when that shall have been accomplished, he will deliver up the kingdom to his Father. “Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. . . . And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.” 1 Cor. 15: 24-28. As the head of the human family, Jesus longs for the co-operation of humanity in his great work of redemption. He feels all that affects humanity. He is “touched with the feeling of our infirmities,” and he likewise feels the zeal that is shown by his followers in his service. The sympathy of human beings in his cause is not lost upon him. Behold him, in the supreme hour of trial in Gethsemane, seeking the sympathy of his disciples. In that crisis of his life he desired that they should watch with him, and pray with and for him. Twice he came to them for such comfort as they might have given him. He felt deeply their want of loyalty when they all “forsook him, and fled.” And never were words more grateful to his ears than those addressed to him on the cross by a human being, even a malefactor undergoing punishment for his crime, “Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.” Though exalted at the right hand of God, and worshiped by the angelic host, Jesus desires the society of human beings. “Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me.” Not all the joy of his great victory over sin and Satan, nor the glory of his triumphal return to the courts of his Father, could satisfy him without the presence of those who were of that race with which he had identified himself. For that consummation he is longing yet. “His soul will not be satisfied,
Till he in glory see
The faithful ones for whom he died
From sin forever free.” And when the redeemed of the human family shall be gathered home, and shall behold his glory which the Father has given him, then “he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them.” As a pledge of his desire for the presence and companionship of his human brethren, he said to his disciples as he passed to them the cup of wine at his last supper with them, “I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.” Heaven is not complete, will not be complete, to the Son or the Father, without the society of the human family. Christ is the second Adam, the head of a new humanity. He is the head of his church. As the head of the human body is the seat of sensation, feeling everything that touches the body and responding to every need that is felt in any part,7so the divine Head of the church feels and responds to every need of afflicted humanity. Humanity has been highly honored in heaven. Its representatives have been made “heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ,” and to its Head angels bow in worship. Humanity will feel that it has a perfect right to the place won for it by its divine Head in the glorious kingdom of God. “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God.” Let us ever keep in mind the high calling of God to humanity in Christ Jesus, and earnestly co-operate in the eternal purpose of God which brought his Son into the human family. L. A. S.