| Show Y SKASOMBLE IRTICIE CHRIST PERMVNEXT HLMAMTt JN BOTH WORLD For nato y is born this day In the Cty of Did a Saior hich i dinst the Lord Luke I I I Humanity the world all over i celebrating tins day the birth in the flesh of the Savior and the feh te te Redeemer Re-deemer of mankind The exact date of this glorious occurrence has thi glorou orec h occasioned casioned much dispute Dionysius Exigons a Syrian monk of great learning in the sixth century published pub-lished a the result of his researches the opinion that Christ was born 753 years after the e aler te founding of Rome or as will sometimes b seen in the te books A U C AnnoUrbe Conditu > As no one could then prove to the contrary that year ws after a time generally adopted by the nations na-tions of Europe a the year i of the Christian cr But within the last two hundred biblical years biblel scholars have discovered by comparing the death of Hero the date of which i known absolu ely and the data when certain Roman governors ruled in Judea that the data Dionysius was several years to late I i now generally believed that Christ enerly tht Chrt was horn in 749 stUCojg four ears before our er though Lenin and some others V say it was sue j e The object of this article will not be a Crt Story but the setting ting forth of one great ide namely Crt in His permanent humanity in both worlds and to the study of this idea I respectfully invite the land attention of the readers of the Christmas mas issue of the DESERCT NEWS < The doctrine of incarnation a t taught in the Bible i that Christ contemplated in His higher or divine nature a existing before the world wasfor the purpose of affording salvation penal entered into the domain of humanity a to both body and soul and that on the snthropic or purely hum side of His being He became a n T doctrine supposes a local and personal residence resi-dence of divinity in humamtj Paul statement of te idea i that Christ of GOdS and who was In the form Go an who thought it not robbery to b equal with God actually took upon Him the form of a servant and w made in the likeness of men Philip i 67 Johns statement I that the personal and divine word oC Logos who was sin the beginning ad who was who was with God a made flesh and that Goa mde feh tat in the flesh or in human nature this word dwelt among men md was see and heard by them John i i 14 and John iv s 3 Human nature according to both of these statements became the special tabernacle taber-nacle of div uiy The incarnation thus taught i united to the human nature o Jesus of Nazareth who was born of the Virgin Mat and as human had al the attributes of our common humanity human-ity a realty as Paul or any other considered n as man Christ thus conidcrewa imply a man without any displacement displace-ment or suspension of His humanity jj the incarnation of divinity therein Hence He a the God Man a really real-ly divine a He w human and a really human asHe was diviDe No other Being that ever trod the earth presents the parallel of this fac or ven the remotest analogy to it The act a to its mode i a greatjmystery and et as a fact to be believed no mystery at ill since it is clearly taught in the Word of Go The doctrine of the Bible i that esus while on earth was smlessl perfect as a man and hence that He exhibited His own le to the fullest ful-lest extent all that i contained in the ideal man and in this respect differed ered from the race with which hew he-w nature allied This doctrine i presented to us in two forms the frt of which i that of general statement state-ment Cor ii 21 Heb iv 15 Acts iii 14 and John viii 2 The other form i that of the record given bye by-e evangelists who in telling the story of Christ earthly life have drawn the picture of a perfect character acter lived and acted out under conditions con-ditions common to humanity The picture is arles and simple in the language used jet the absolute moral beauty and perfection of Jesus shine out in ev crj part of it We see Him under a great variety of dream rey crcm stances and in the midst of numerous numer-ous trials and provocations but we see nothing and hear nothing anywhere where suggestive of sin or any bad passion No one taking Jesus upon the showing of His recorded acts and I rd and judging of Him thereby aD find a single point in His whole career for the slightest criticism No other character was ever s carefully studied and no other ever commanded com-manded such a universal tribute of homage from human thought Scof flag infidelity in the presence of this character forgets its sneer Here then in this human Jesus of Nazareth a we trace Him through His public ministry to His death wend we-nd these two facts first that in Him divinity was incarnated without any suspension oC His essential and complete com-plete humanity secondlythat a a man He was smlessly perfect alike in His relations to God and man This i the Jesus Christ the God Man that for some three years and a half conducted ducted a public mmistr among tees te-es that spake as never man before spoke that wrote mire in proof of hHo words and that wa at last put to death in the flesh on the cross No other hunt was ever the incarnating in-carnating tabernacle of divinity Jeans oC Nazareth the sinless Man was in the councils of Heaven selected for this purpose and consecrated t the end sought thereby In this respect He stands peerless and alone in the history Ian of the worU Behold the IanThe Te incarnation of Christ in humanity hu-manity a not terminated by the death of Jesus on the cross This death was not His annihilation a to I ither body orsoul and was Dot their Permanent separation The c fed aDd buried body rose from the dead Ion I-on the third day without any corrup ton or decays and the soul which at death temporarily passed into Hades or the invisible world came band I emhabited that body a it was after the resurrection The severed humanity hu-manity of Jesus m its entirety of body and soul was speedily restored and I iD that restored humanity the incur nation w continued This is the doctrine which Peter iD done hic Peer m expounding a prophecy in regard to Christ made by Davidboth assumed and preached in his address t the Jews on the day of Pentecost Acts i 25 38 Peter told them that God had made that same Jesus whom they had ana n e J6 both Lord and Chnst Acts This Christ Jesus in His risen body met His disciples at diflerent times after His resurrecuon iand identified Himself them by many fallible proofs a the same Crt who had die on the cross Acts i i J There were no such changes His body or in Him or in h m ncr of intercourse with them a to exude dude theirperfect pere recognition of Him He was not de incanuzed by His death or His resurrection b o Hi reureon and was not s changed a to imply that He had laid aside any part of His hu Inanity He w still the God fDa fD-a really ag He was beforeldeath and a such appeared at suc appr sundry times to His disaples for forty ud d and spoke to them of the things pertaining to the Kingdom of God Acts i 3 Go ei i The ascension of Christ into Hear CD did not terminate His terite Hi incarnation iD humanity The fc a show he record i that He left neither His by nor His soul in this world but are both with Him a pan of His own personality when He ascended Heaven and sat dow acde te eight hand of the Majesty on high Acts i to it Heb i J I was the God Man the GMan te theaathropic Christ who had appeared in the fleshwho lad died in the flesh and who in the flesh had risen from the dead hat are His human nature ded it Him when he went back to Heaven and that now there exists and tt ter eit acts a the God Man te GMa This same Jesus said the angels to the te ngel te wondering isaples which i taken up from you into Heave shall so Heen shl s come m like mera ye have seen Him go into Heaven Acts i I n He i0 i the same alike i His departure and return Peter speaks ofthla same esus as being received int beDg re e into Hear e i and a there remaining until the Ifilment of the whole scheme of prophecy in regard to uim o iii21 Paul in h Epistle to the Philip plans refers to Crt a having a glorious body ID Heaven and to this body as the model after a te mDde afer which the bodies of His redeemed Hi reee people will be fashioned when He fahione comes to raise the dead and judge the word Then what the Apostle calls our rile body better translated a the body of our humiliation will C be fashioned like unto His glorious body Philip m 2 21 This dearly implies that Chnst language cer implie tt Chrts boly m Heaven i a human body In that body He will make His send advent and hence will come as the Son of Ian a well a the Son ol Go Paul speaks of Him a that whom God will Judge the Man by Go ijude te world j righteousness applying to Him the term Man after His resur rechion and ascension into Heaven Acts xi J What the Bible says about the priestly office of Christ in Heaven prest supposes His humanity in the world suppe the Son of We are told that Jesus Sn God has passed into Heaven itself a the High Priest of our profession i profes-sion and with reference to His liumamty He is se before u a a High Priest who can be touched mill the feeing of our infirmities The reason TSsigned for this fact i > that He w once in 1 points tempted like as we are and that basing been thus tempted He is able to succor them that are tempted Heb ii 18 and iv 15 There i neither pertinency nor force in this reason except upon the supposition of Chnst humanity in Heaven Withdraw this element from Hu heavenly liCe and He ceases to be the High Priest described in the Epistle to the Hebrews Epite te Christ in a word having dwelt on earth in human nature in that nature died on the cross rose from the dead 5 and ascended into Heaven and in leaven He still retains the same nature ture and in it e a really a He did on earth His incarnation inhumanity in-humanity was not for time merely but for eternity and not for tills world simply but also for Heaven His abiding humanity i the condo sion to be draw from the facts and the teachings of the Bible What Paul says m his First Epistle to the Corinthians with regard to the resurrection of the dead sheds important import-ant light on the doctrine of Chnst humanity alike on earth and m HeeD Take the following points I First The Apostle after adverting to the effect that Christ rose from the dead to the evidence of this factand I also to the theoretical consequences resulting from its denial proceeds to I say But now i Christ risen from the I dead and become the first fruits of F them that slept For since by man came death by man also came the resurrection of the ded For a in Adam all die even so in Christ shall I all be made alive But ever man in his own order Christ the first fruits afterwards they that are Chnst at 1 His coming I Cor xv 2023 of and that The resurrection Christ 1 Te reurtn of His people are here connected the former being regarded a the guaranty and model of the latter Their humanity participating in the fate of His humanity in the fact of r death will also particip in the destiny of His humanit in the fact 1 of resurrection His resurrection a the first fruits is already a accomplished ac-complished fact and theirs will be such at His coming His was a bodily resurrection and so will theirs b His humanity and their humanity humani-ty are allied in death and in the resurrection urrection and hence participant in essentially the same facts Such i the import of the above passage Second This however i not all that Paul says on the subject He further remarks The first man Adam i of the earth earthy the second man Christ i the Lord from HeeD A He i the earthy such are they also that are earthy and a i the heavenl such are they also I that are heavenly And as we have i borne the image of the earthy we i shall also bear the image of the i heavenly I Cor x 4749 It i important to observe that the Apostle i here speaking simply 01 the body or corporeal part of human nature alike with reference to Christ I and to Christians Here they bear the image of the earthy and m I this respect are like Adam a he was when on earth but m Heaven they w ill bear the image of the heav enly and in this respect be like Christ a He is in Heaven having bodies fashioned like unto His glorious 1 body Phillip iii 21 Community of nature with mankind will according ac-cording to Pauls conception be a i true of Christ in Heaven a it was on I earth earthThe The amazing wonder of Providence and revelation involved in the doc trine of the GodMan a established n the historic Christ than which nothing can be more wonderful has a already Intimated for its object the restoration pardon justification exaltation glorification and eternal salvation ofthehumnan race Whether G would do anything for the attainment at-tainment of this end and iso what it would beare questions respect to which except a informed by His action I axis neither a competcn judge nor a competent objector The case however in its relation to human thought i most materially altered when God Himself ha acted and given us such a system a that contained m the Christology of the Bible We are competent to apprehend hend and believe this SStem a te and thus see the d vine Chnst in His hum and work on earth and in His humanity and work in heaven This is the one great idea Chnst in His permanent humanit in both words and essentially the same in both which it ha been the object of this article to set before the reader Such a Christ exalts and glorifies humanity in the r c of taking it upon himself and therein showing upn himelf therer showng the high spiritual elevation which i possible to it Such a Crt offers to humanity its clearest simplest and best facility for becoming acquainted with the invisible God especially in relation to the affections of His infinite heart Such a Christ in him self having tasted death and also risen from the dead and ren Cfm ascended I into Heaven guarantees a like resurrection resur-rection to all His people and in His own history opens the gate of immortality im-mortality t human hope He puts the stamp immortality on hnmanit and brings immortality to light in His own record Such a Crt in what He was and what He did when in the flesh on earth supplies historical toncal materials that enable u to follow Him into Heave t identify Him a a personal reality there to think of Him a He i there and tn what He i doing there inhuman behalf m a word tomake Him the most familiar and best known object presented to thought in the spirit rm Such a Crt possessing our nature alike on earth and in e an i Heaven invested with human sympathies sympa-thies bestowing these sympathies on all who seek His help and once in l things tempted like as we ae i eminent adapted to inspire the hart with comfort and hope in the great struggle of lie Such a Christ in a nature and under conditions common to Hun and the rc teaching teach-ing us by His own living example a I e a by His words presents t u a lovely and beautiful life to imitate a life not foreign to our nature Dot out of harmony with our relations life not above our apprehension a lie thatSPeakStothehen11 and with the tat sk te hCr ad wt te affections warm and eloquent aleon of the her a no mere words can speak Such a Christ by Hu ow life simplifies the idea of perfect virtue and gives it a sweetness and charm that cannot b found m the technicalities of formulated dogma The life of such a Christ in the per before the lived son who it brings bfore te eye of thought an object to love a friend to trust and a hallowed companionship com-panionship to bless u forever The existence of such a Christ declared to b real and on earth believed to be real enriches our existence here and clears away 1 doubt a to our more glorious existence hereafter I is well known to every carcfu reader of the Bible that the second coming oC Christ waS to the Apostles a cherished ind delightful thought While not informed a to the date of His coming they nevertheless believed be-lieved in it and by Him were taught so to believe The Crt ol whom they thought a thus coming and whose coming was s precious to them i the divine and human Crt whom they preached to the world not the divine without the human or the human without the divmebut both n the same person The humanity of Christ in His return to this world was identified with that return The c was to them not a dry dogma mere for the intellect to handle but a practical and cheering power They felt it as a living inspiration The humanity of Chnst begun on earth continued m Heaven and lasting last-ing forever is then an element in His glorious personality with which Hi gloro pero alty c we cannot dispense in our conception of Him It brings u near to Him and Hun near to u This humanity while no superfluity in His person and certainly no degradation of that Person when connected with His i divimt and interpreted by the purpose pur-pose for which it was assumed and i also when considered in the absolute punt that adorned it shines out a i the climax remedial grace Infinite power infinite goodness and amazing amaz-ing condescension come before us in I the same Person Such a Savior may well command the best service of r human thought and evoke alike the admiration and gratitude of 1 hearts I cannot conceiv e how the God and Father of our Lordjesus Chnst could L have interposed in our behalf by any method better than the one He has i adopted In Christ He comes to u in our nature and makes that nature ou facility in coming to Him The words I am the Way the Truth and the Life fall vet appropriate from the lips of this Christ Happy i that m who believing in the truth of these words makes Christ his personal Savior DR ED ISAACSON AMERICAN FORV De 24th IS |
