THE PERSONALITY OF CHRIST.
By Samuel T. Spear, D.D.
7. THE manner in which the Bible, in some passages, states the fact that the "one Lord Jesus Christ" of that book is both human and divine, and, hence, in this respect complex in his nature, furnishes the basis for the Christian doctrine of divine incarnation in him. This doctrine is not that of a human Lord Jesus in one person, and a divine Lord Jesus in another person, and, hence, a duality of persons in Christ, one being human and the other divine. The Bible doctrine is that of "one Lord Jesus," with humanity and divinity alike belonging to him. The passage in which the idea of a divine incarnation is most clearly and strongly stated, is that in which John says: "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father) full of grace and truth." John 1:14. This Word or Logos, in the previous context, had been described as a divine person with direct reference to Christ, and here the apostle says that this divine person "was made flesh, and dwelt among us," in the historic Jesus. This certainly cannot mean that this word was actually transformed into flesh and blood in the literal sense. It must mean that Jesus of Nazareth, having in him the essential elements of human nature, became the local and special habitation of this word, and that in him and through him the word "dwelt among" men, and that in this way the apostles "beheld his glory." The fact which John affirms is the inhabitation of Jesus of Nazareth by the divine word, or the incarnation of that word in him. When this incarnation actually became a fact, whether at the birth of Jesus or at his baptism, the788evangelist does not say. The fact existed and was exhibited during his ministry. Other passages in the New Testament either assert or imply the same fact. Paul clearly implies incarnation when he speaks of the pre-human Christ, who was "in the form of God," as taking "upon him the form of a servant," as "made in the likeness of men," and as "found in fashion as a man." Phil. 2:7, 8. The apostle's idea, as expressed in this language, is that he who was "in the form of God," placed himself in human conditions, and subjected himself thereto, even to the death of the cross, by assuming human nature in the historic Jesus. This is only another mode of saying in effect what John says. So, also, in the epistle to the Hebrews, we are told that "forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he [Christ] also himself likewise took part of the same." Heb. 2:14. The meaning of this passage is that Christ assumed the nature of the human beings he came to save; and inasmuch as they were human, and not angelic, he assumed human nature, and in that nature became incarnate. John is very emphatic on this point when he says that "every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God," and that "every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God." 1 John 4:2, 3. John's doctrine is that of Jesus Christ as having come in the flesh, or as incarnated in the flesh; and he makes this a test of the question whether one is of God or not. This doctrine actually locates the divinity of Christ in his humanity, and assumes a relation, or connection, or union, between the two that was true of him, but is not true of human nature as possessed by any other being. Incarnation is the word in ordinary use for the statement of this fact. 8. The complexity thus involved in this theanthropic, or divine and human, constitution of the person of Christ, is a mystery, in the sense that it defies all human explanation. Paul, while believing in the fact and clearly teaching the doctrine of the God-Man in respect to Christ, says, with reference to this point, "And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness." 1 Tim. 3:16. He never undertook to explain it. No one can with his thoughts so penetrate into the interior constitution of this God-man as to solve the mystery. The fact may be apprehended and believed upon the authority of the Bible; but when we attempt to tell just how it is that Christ is divine and human and at the same time one person, we are dealing with a matter that transcends our power. Early in the history of the Christian church, and all along the track of theological discussion in subsequent ages, we find an abundance of human speculations, cropping out here and there, in respect to the "one Lord Jesus Christ" of Paul and of the gospel narrative, who is both divine and human; but with all this speculation we have no solution that clears away the mystery, and at the same time preserves the facts, intact and unchanged, as they are stated in the Bible. The theory of Apollinaris, in substituting the word or Logos for the human mind in Jesus of Nazareth, denies his complete humanity, and makes him human only as to his body, and, while perverting the facts, denies the obvious teaching of the Bible. The theory that gives to Christ a double personality, or a double consciousness, is a pure speculation that cannot be verified, and is inconsistent with the oneness of his personality as lying on the face of the history, and taught by the Bible. The theory that makes Christ human only in appearance is equally inconsistent with the Bible. The theory that so exalts the divine element as to displace and virtually destroy the human element in Christ, and the theory that in effect annihilates the divine element and leaves nothing but the human element, are open to the same objection. The just conclusion from history is that men had better stop the work of speculation on the subject altogether, and, accepting the facts as stated in the Bible, there leave the matter. It will not, however, do to say that, because speculation thus fails, the doctrine of the God-man in Christ, as taught in the Bible, is an absurdity, and in this way discredit the inspiration which affirms it. The answer to this position is that, until we know more than we can know on the subject, we cannot supply the requisite conditions of showing it to be such. These conditions cannot be derived from our own experience or our own intuitions, and they certainly cannot be derived from a direct vision that penetrates into the interior life and consciousness of Christ. 9. The divine nature in Christ so attaches to him, and the human nature in him so attaches to him, that, in thinking of him for spiritual purposes, we are to connect them together as realities in the "one Lord Jesus Christ," and hence not exclude either in our meditations. It is as such that he is presented to our thoughts in his great work in our behalf, and as such that he is the glorious center of the system that bears his name. If we think of him as "the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world," we are to keep in mind that he is the divine and human Lamb of God. If we think of him as the "High Priest of our profession," whether on earth or in heaven, we are to remember that he is the divine and human High Priest. When Paul tells us that "Christ died for our sins," we are not to forget that it is the theanthropic Christ of whom the apostle was speaking. The humanity is ever present with this Christ, and the divinity is ever present, while the latter is unquestionably the dominant element, and while, also, in some passages of the word of God, the one element may be the matter of special reference more prominently than the other. Christ is himself an entirety, a distinct whole in the work of our salvation, not divided into parts, and as such we should think of him in all departments of this work. It has pleased the Godhead, in providing for the salvation of men, to establish a mission from heaven to earth in a person who, in his higher nature, came down from heaven, and to enrobe that person in the nature of those he came to save. It has pleased the Godhead to define the work to be done, and to do it through this extraordinary and wonderful mission. These facts make Christ—the whole Christ, the human and the divine Christ, in one mysterious personality—the Saviour of sinners; and whether we see this Christ traveling through the villages and cities of Judea and Galilee, and preaching to the people, or conversing with Nicodemus, or dying on the cross, or rising from the dead, or ascending into heaven, or there dwelling in "his glorious body," or descending from heaven and coming to raise the dead and judge the world—yes, whenever and wherever we see this "one Lord Jesus Christ"—we see the adorable Being who, in the counsels of heaven, is our divine and human Saviour, who died to save us, who is the center of the gospel system, on whom all our hopes depend, and whom we are commanded to accept, trust, and love. This is the Christ whom Paul knew and preached. . . . This is the Christ who, in the totality of his being, said to the Jews, "I am the light of the world;" to the weeping Martha, "I am the resurrection and the life;" and to Thomas, "I am the way, the truth, and the life." John 8:12; 11:25; 14:6. This is the Christ by whom we are to be saved, if at all.