p. 6 (598) | The Word Incarnate by J. H. D.

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Sep 26, 1895

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 21, No. 38.

The Word Incarnate.

By J. H. D.

BY J. H. D.

“And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.” John 1:14.

The divine incarnation, the death, and the ascension of Jesus Christ, the free pardon of the unrighteous, the work of redemption, and a final issue in a life that is eternal, are all parts of a system which in fragments is incredible. In order to make any single part thoroughly intelligible it is almost necessary to expound the whole at once. But to the natural mind each is a mystery that human reasoning can not fathom. But what the wisdom of man fails to search out, can be known by the heavenly wisdom that is promised to all who ask. James 1:5. “The Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.” 1 Cor. 2:10.

That Jesus Christ existed before he was upon this earth is clearly proved by the word of truth: “O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self, with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.” “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.” Rev. 22:13. It is Christ himself who speaks, and he is speaking of himself. “In the beginning was the Word [Logos], and the Word [Logos] was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that hath been made.” John 1:1, 2, R. V. See also Col. 1:13–16; John 3:13, 31; 13:1–3; 10:30.

The Word Made Flesh.

“But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth his Son, born under the law, that he might redeem them which were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.” Gal. 4:4, 5, R. V. Christ was born under the law as man’s representative, to satisfy the law for all of man’s transgression of it. See Gal. 3:13. This is the work of redemption for man. But this is not complete until death is abolished. “The wages of sin is death.” Those that are under the law are condemned to death. Jesus Christ was made flesh to give man freedom from this death.

This Christ is the all-creating “Word made flesh,” “God over all, blessed forever.” “Who, in God’s form subsisting, not a thing to be seized on, esteemed the being equal with God; but emptied himself, taking a servant’s form, coming to be in man’s likeness; and in fashion being found as a man, humbled himself, becoming obedient as far as death, yes, death on a cross.” Phil. 2:6–8, Rotherham’s Translation.

It is impossible to separate the incarnation of Christ from the plan of salvation. The whole plan is founded on this fact: He must be made flesh before he could die. His incarnation must be a fact before his resurrection could be true. And of the importance of this resurrection we read: “If Christ hath not been raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ have perished.” 1 Cor. 15:17, 18, R. V.

The Nature of Christ’s Incarnation.

“The Word was made flesh.” What was the nature of this flesh which he took? Was it free from all tendencies to sin? Was it free from temptations? One scripture answers the latter question: “We have not a High Priest that can not be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but one that hath been in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.” Heb. 4:15, R. V. So the flesh which the Logos took was subject to temptation, just as the flesh we possess. “But each man is tempted, when he is drawn away by his own lust, and enticed. Then the lust, when it hath conceived, beareth sin; and the sin, when it is full grown, bringeth forth death.” James 1:14, 15, R. V. The flesh without any of the desires for evil is not subject to temptation. But Christ was tempted like as we are, so he must have had the same kind of flesh which we have.

“For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God, sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh [margin, “flesh of sin”] and as an offering for sin, condemned sin in the flesh.” Rom. 8:3, R. V. According to the marginal reading of this text, which is the literal reading, Jesus Christ took “flesh of sin.” But a flesh of sin must have had sin in it, although it may never have been manifested. Yes, reader, the blessed Son of God, the Creator, the divine Logos, did indeed humble himself, when he emptied himself of his glory (John 17:5), and of his creative power, and took up his abode in flesh with the same desires that you have in your flesh.

The connection between the divine and the human in Christ’s flesh was so real and so vital that the Word became just as much a part of the personality of Jesus, as is the thinking power a part of man’s being. The union was so close that it constituted the Logos, the man, and the Manhood Divine. It was so close that when Jesus says “I,” it is the whole man which speaks. Although he is God and man, yet he is not twain, but one Christ.

The Object of the Incarnation.

Why did Christ take the humble position he occupied on earth?—“To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.” Gal. 4:4, 5. Fallen man could not redeem himself. It must take divine power to break the bands of sin. This power must come from heaven. Man lost his innocency, his dominion, and his life. The Son of God became flesh in order to restore to man his innocency, his life, and his dominion. Or, in other words, the object of the incarnation of the Son of God is to give eternal life to mankind.

“In him was life, and the life was the light of men.” Again it is said, “God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” He taught the woman of Samaria that the water which he would give would be within, a fountain of water springing up to everlasting life. In another place Christ proves to the Jews that he is the bread of life. He called their attention to the fact that their fathers ate manna in the wilderness and died, but that he was the bread that came down from heaven, of which, if a man should eat thereof, he should not die. John 6:50.

In order to be freed from death and have life, one must be a partaker of Christ. “For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end.” Heb. 3:14. We are partakers of him by being partakers of his holy life. See Heb. 12:10. If we are partakers of him, as the heavenly bread, he must dwell in us. And this is promised to the believer: “Ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” 2 Cor. 6:16. “That he would grant you according to the riches of his glory, that ye may be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inward man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.” Eph. 3:16, 17, R. V.

The Lord himself says it is his desire to dwell in the hearts of those who will receive him: “I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.” Isa. 57:15. If the believer will open the door of the heart, Christ desires to come in and abide with him, by his actual representative, the Holy Spirit. But Christ in us is Christ again in the flesh. But Christ has no better flesh in us than that which he took when he came to this earth. “For I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing.” But there must be good in us if we enter the kingdom of God; and in order that this may be so, it was necessary for Christ to take this sinful flesh when he dwelt among men. It was to teach man that in him was the only perfection that would ever meet the requirements of God’s holy law.

As he kept his flesh from sin, and condemned sin in it, so he will keep the flesh of the sinner who believes in him, and condemn sin in it. As he caused his flesh to conquer death in a resurrection from the dead, and carried it into heaven triumphant, so will he take our bodies through death by a resurrection, and bring them safely into heaven if we will let him take up his abode in us. He

is the same yesterday, to-day, and forever. His triumphant incarnation, his reign in sinful flesh, is the assurance that the sinner need not become discouraged, but he can have this same divine power to bring the flesh triumphant to the kingdom of heaven.

Christ does not keep the law for us, apart from us, but he works the righteousness of God in us. The humanity of Christ both revealed and obscured his divinity. Many of those who associated with him only looked upon the flesh, and failed to see the divine power that was working within. Many more to-day only see the human, while the divine is hidden from them. Had the world looked at his life and seen that his life was a perfect one, they would have seen that there was power to live a perfect life in the flesh. The flesh alone could not live the life he lived; therefore it was evident that there was divinity within that gave the flesh power over sin. It was God in the flesh. Until his divine nature was thoroughly understood, his forgiving power could not fully be believed.

This same Logos lives to-day. “Fear not; I am the first and the last, and the living one; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of hades.” Rev. 1:17, 18, R. V. Being alive, he is able to do for our flesh that which he did for the flesh he took triumphantly to heaven. He was the Word before the world, and he was the Word while in the flesh. He is the Word in heaven to-day, and by his Holy Spirit he is the Word in the heart of every sinner who will accept him. But this word is life. John 6:63. Then he who receives the Word, receives life, and is a new creature. “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever.” 1 Peter 1:23. By the new birth the Word (Logos) again takes up an abode in the heart. “I have been crucified with Christ; yet I live; and yet no longer I, but Christ liveth in me; and that life which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, the faith which is in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” Gal. 2:20, R. V.

As the connection between the divine and the human in Christ’s flesh was so real that the Word became just as much the personality of Christ as is the thinking power a part of man’s being, and the union made the Logos man, and the manhood divine, so should the close union exist between the divine and the human in our flesh. The man should be transformed thus again, making God and man one in Christ. Then will the flesh, with all its desires, be in perfect subjection to God’s holy law. Then will the object of the Word being made flesh be fulfilled, and our flesh, given his life, will be finally saved in the kingdom of God.