The pretension to fathom such adorable mysteries as the Trinity, or the blessed Person of Christ, is both folly and irreverence. The Lord Himself tells us that no man knoweth the Son but the Father. How can the finite creature fathom the infinite? The mind of man has no adequate measure for it, and must be infinite as God Himself to do so. Were it possible to penetrate that mystery, Christ would soon cease to be the holy, precious, and ever-increasing object of interest to the heart. For a subject that our thoughts can scan or compass soon loses its attraction for us, and in the end comes to be neglected or despised. The search, therefore into the mystery of godliness, “God manifest in the flesh,” the human mind is precluded from entering upon; not only because it transcends its powers, but it is forbidden ground God has so reserved it in order to maintain its precious and sacred character. It is as inscrutable to angels, or any created being, as to ourselves. It is not only no man, but “no one (@Û*,ÂH) knoweth the Son but the Father”: this mystery is in the secret knowledge of the Father alone. Yet, with this reservation, to endeavor to remove false conceptions raised by the enemy of souls, by showing the way in which Scripture presents Christ to us, is sometimes right and even imperative, for the sake of those who have been beguiled into them, and for His sake who is God and Man in one blessed person for ever. Nevertheless, this is holy ground, and the shoes of our feet should be taken off in approaching it.
“Great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in flesh.” All that is essentially and properly divine, and all that is truly and perfectly human, were found combined in the unity of His Person apart from the taint of sin and its inevitable consequences, corruption and subjection to death.
And though we cannot tell how, yet Scripture shows us that He was always at the same moment, and at times evidently in the same acts, dependent Man as well as manifest God, the Infant of days as well as the Ancient of days. The angels could celebrate His entry in divine love upon this scene of human woe and misery, (to take up as Man the cause of fallen man) as the expression of glory to God in the highest and of the divine good pleasure in man (manifested in the assumption of manhood): and faith could delight in the Virgin’s seed, “as the Dayspring from on high,” who had come to bruise the serpent’s head, conquering death in divine power on our behalf. Yet, He Himself tells us what He felt in the apparent, and yet real, weakness of infancy, in the touching appeal He makes to His Father, when, hanging on the Cross, reminding Him of that dependence which was to Him so sweet, and of the confidence which He alone could exercise in those earliest moments of human life. “But thou art He who took me out of the womb; thou didst make me hope, when I was upon my mother’s breasts. I was cast upon thee from the womb, thou art my God from my mother’s belly” (Psa. 22:8, 98He trusted on the Lord that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him. 9But thou art he that took me out of the womb: thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother's breasts. (Psalm 22:8‑9)). Even in infancy the blessed unfailing sense of personal relationship, the dawning of hope, the expectation of faith that could not be disappointed, that had all its stay in God, are all presented to God whose title and place as Jehovah had even then awakened this response in the soul of that holy One.
This is all the more remarkable and intelligible also when we perceive from the comparison of Matt. 27:4343He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God. (Matthew 27:43), and Psa. 22:88He trusted on the Lord that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him. (Psalm 22:8), that the position and circumstances in which the Lord was found on our account, had given occasion to the taunt in which His enemies mocked His trust in God and His relationship to Him: “He trusted in God; let Him deliver him now, if He will have him; for he said, I am the Son of God.” And this awakens the reply: “But thou art He that took me out of the womb. Thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother’s breasts.” Even in the case of John the Baptist, for instance, the angel says, “He shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb”; hence Elizabeth, when “filled with the Holy Ghost,” exclaims, “Whence is this to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me, for as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy” (Luke 1:47, 4847And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. 48For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. (Luke 1:47‑48)). What things incredible to human reason happen, where God is at work, and where, He for His glory is pleased to display Himself! And how much more when this display is in the Son Himself!
But I shall be told, perhaps, by some one only partially acquainted with facts, that what has been stated, is, that in certain acts human life only was manifested. But how dare any one presume to affirm this? Who can assign limits either to the extent and range, or to the manifestation of the divine or the human in Christ? and who can tell what appeared to the eye and mind of God in that blessed One? If any lower estimate is taken, we are in danger of falling below the level which is proper to faith. The Jews had their blind and mistaken thoughts concerning Him, and the disciples beheld Him in the twilight of their own partially enlightened minds which never rose to the divine estimate. Hence in attempting to discern what was manifested in Him to others, unless we keep in view what appeared to the eye of God, we necessarily descend to what unbelief, partial or entire beheld, and take that estimate for our own. It has been the fear of this, combined with the sacredness of the subject, that has hitherto kept reverential minds from attempting to draw the line, or seeking to define with exactitude what is expressed in the acts of our blessed Lord; though in the different Gospels we see Him presented in various aspects one giving us more of the human element, as in Luke, and another, as in John, more of the divine.
Why has this holy and sensitive feeling been cast aside? and the silence, which Scripture maintains respecting His life with His parents after the earliest stage of infancy, been rudely invaded? Is it not a holy wisdom that has veiled these years, along with His early life and His occupations, from our eye, lest we should intrude with our fleshly mind where Scripture and the Holy Ghost do not lead us? And though we are far from denying that He filled such a position with His reputed father, Joseph, yet we should not forget that it was not the Holy Ghost, but His rejecters, in order to depreciate His person and worth, who said, “Is not this the carpenter?” (Mark 6:33Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him. (Mark 6:3)).
When at twelve years of age He is found in the Temple sitting in the midst of the doctors, in the very center of Jewish learning, and though with faultless propriety He takes the place of inquiry, both hearing them and asking them questions, we read of the effect produced: “All that heard Him” (even the doctors) “were astonished at His understanding and answers.” And this was really service of the highest order, for being challenged by His mother with the words, “Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? Behold thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing,” she is answered with the rebuke: “How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about My Father’s business?” This reply intimates the glory of His own Person as the Son, His relationship with the Father, the supreme and divine character of that service He came to render. Striking indeed at such an age this must have been in their eyes. Was not their anxiety natural, and might they not justly have expected He should remember what appeared due to them, for He had remained behind in Jerusalem for three days, whilst they were returning home? But the claims of His Person and service were paramount, and far from being excused, His parents are blamed for their want of perception of the higher glories of His Person, and the purport of His presence here below, and this was before His public anointing and recognition by the Holy Ghost resting upon Him. It is also the more remarkable because, having thus indicated His personal glory and liberty of action, we are told: “He went down to Nazareth and was subject unto them.” This was the fulfillment of the prescribed obedience of the law; but, lest man’s unbelief should infer it was a mere human act, which had no divine spring and motive characterizing it, we are told by the prophet respecting the whole of this obedience: “He will magnify the law and make it honorable” (Isa. 42:2121The Lord is well pleased for his righteousness' sake; he will magnify the law, and make it honorable. (Isaiah 42:21)).
The law, as coming from God, would have put honor on any mere creature, who fulfilled it, but here this is reversed and the law itself is honored and exalted by the dignity of the Person who undertook to accomplish it. Thus it was with every relationship in which He was found, every position which He filled in His life here below. He conferred honor upon it, shedding a divine luster on all the human path He trod in this world.
Everywhere indeed throughout His course we shall find this divine element, which lent its sweet savor to His life.
The meat offering is specifically given as an exemplification of this. It was composed of three elements, the fine flour the oil, and the frankincense; the fine flour without leaven is the fruit of the earth, significant of the pure and holy humanity of Christ, where no trace of sin or corruption, but all human perfection, was found; and next we have the special action and presence of the Holy Ghost, both in His birth and His anointing at His baptism. In order to make this more emphatic, and show the permeating power of the Holy Ghost, characterizing that holy nature and life throughout the offering was parted in pieces and oil poured upon it, for there was this spring in it from its origin: “The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee, therefore also that holy thing that shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God” (Luke 1:3535And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. (Luke 1:35)).
Lastly we find the frankincense which was to be wholly consumed upon the altar. The remainder of the offering was to be eaten by the priests, but only after the handful called “the memorial” had been taken out and burnt as a sweet savor unto the Lord with all the frankincense. This sets forth typically the fragrance which the divine element lent to all that human life and perfect devotedness and obedience.
“Who made Himself of no reputation and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men; and being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross” (Phil. 2:7, 87But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 8And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. (Philippians 2:7‑8)). This humiliation for the glory of God was so precious to God that all His future exaltation and place of supremacy as Man is due to it. “Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him and given Him a name which is above every name.” But whilst the frankincense was entirely for God and offered to God, the fragrance of it so filled the atmosphere that none within its range could be unconscious of it.
Here we may pause for a moment to observe that the meat offering as repeatedly stated in Scripture, was a thing “most holy of the offerings of the Lord made by fire” (Lev. 2:3, 10, 163And the remnant of the meat offering shall be Aaron's and his sons': it is a thing most holy of the offerings of the Lord made by fire. (Leviticus 2:3)
10And that which is left of the meat offering shall be Aaron's and his sons': it is a thing most holy of the offerings of the Lord made by fire. (Leviticus 2:10)
16And the priest shall burn the memorial of it, part of the beaten corn thereof, and part of the oil thereof, with all the frankincense thereof: it is an offering made by fire unto the Lord. (Leviticus 2:16)). The whole of it was to be presented to the Lord. Only the priests in their full character as such, were to partake of it. It was to be eaten in the holy place, every one that touched it was to be holy. Communion with God and nearness to Him and the sense of His presence, and of the holiness of this precious subject now before us are thus prescribed, as the necessary accompaniment and safeguard which Scripture throws around it. Has this been maintained in all that has transpired of late?
Never was there an act of Christ, even as Man, which did not exhale this perfume, and to which this divine life did not give its worth, its character, and perfection. In all the Gospels it is discernible to the spiritual eye; in John it is predominant, for there is no essential difference, though there are various aspects to what is divine; just as there are different colors and shades of color in the rainbow, though all proceed from, and are combined in, one ray of light. We know that in the earlier Gospels, especially in Matthew where He is presented as the Messiah of Israel, the Object and Accomplisher of the promises, there was special reason for His hiding His glory (veiled as it was in the lowly guise of manhood), in order that Israel and the heart of man might be fully put to the proof, and that He might be owned by faith, not by sight or sense; which moreover, could not appreciate His true worth. Such were the conditions for the divine glory, under which He came. For Israel had been the subject of the divine dealings for ages past, under priesthood law, kings, and prophets, and now was to be subjected to the last great test by which man was to be tried, the presence of God in love on this earth, whilst at the same time accomplishing or offering the fulfillment of the special promises given to that favored people. It is this that accounts for the special character of the Lord’s presence and activities in this Gospel, though a stumbling-block to unbelief, as Scripture foretold, often resulting in the denial of the true glory of His person. Listen to the expression of what is an apparent inconsistency to the darkness of the human mind, in the words of His brethren, in the days of their unbelief.
“Depart hence (out of Galilee), and go into Judea, that Thy disciples also may see the works that Thou doest. For there is no man that doeth anything in secret and he himself seeketh to be known openly. If thou do these things show thyself to the world” (John 7:2-52Now the Jews' feast of tabernacles was at hand. 3His brethren therefore said unto him, Depart hence, and go into Judea, that thy disciples also may see the works that thou doest. 4For there is no man that doeth any thing in secret, and he himself seeketh to be known openly. If thou do these things, show thyself to the world. 5For neither did his brethren believe in him. (John 7:2‑5)). For this display is what man expects and looks for. But wisdom is justified of her children, for there was ample evidence to all that the God of Israel was there. And more than this, the character of God as come in love into the world, shone out in this way more than it ever could have done, had there been a visible or external glory apparent to the eye of man, and suited to flatter the pride of his corrupt heart.
But was not Israel held responsible according to the real glory of the Lord, when amongst them as Incarnate? What were the terms in which His birth was predicted? “Behold a virgin shall be with child and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is God with us” (Matt. 1:2222Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, (Matthew 1:22)). This was the sign given to the house of David of God’s faithfulness, when that house seemed at its lowest point. He was the virgin’s seed and yet Emmanuel. The remnant of Israel declare their conviction and make their boast of this. “Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Father of Eternity, the Prince of Peace” (Isa. 9:66For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6)). Again, we say, it was a question of what faith always saw in that wondrous Babe. We have seen what the Angels beheld, and when the aged Simeon enters the Temple, his heart filled with exultation, he takes the Babe in his arms and blesses God and says: “Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to Thy word: For mine eyes have seen Thy salvation, which Thou hast prepared before the face of all people” (Luke 2:2929Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word: (Luke 2:29)).
“How could a helpless babe be the manifestation of eternal life” says one. How could Simeon “see” God’s salvation in that Babe, and glory in it? – has been the just reply given to the miserable reasoning of the human mind. He was announced by the Angel to the shepherds as, “Unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior, which is Christ the Lord,” and this is Jehovah, for His title of Lordship over all as Man, is only given to Him in resurrection (Rom. 1:44And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead: (Romans 1:4)) but His very name of Jesus, bestowed by the Angel, is the definite expression of His presence here as the Jehovah of Israel. “And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for He shall save His people from their sins” (Matt. 1:2121And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. (Matthew 1:21); comp. Luke 2:2121And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called JESUS, which was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb. (Luke 2:21)). Jesus – that is Jehovah Savior – the words added, His people whom He shall save bring out more distinctly that it is Jehovah Himself who is manifested in this Babe.
Thus does the Holy Ghost, as if to guard us against the low unbelieving thought of the natural mind, delight to surround the One who, we are told, has been displayed as “a helpless babe,” with varied testimonies to His glory, even in that very condition. The exultation and praises of the heavenly host attendant on that moment; the witness rendered by John the Baptist, or rather by the Holy Spirit even before His birth; the worship awakened in the heart of Simeon, as he glories in what he, by faith, discerns and possesses in this Babe born at Bethlehem; the honor rendered by the wise men from the East with their gold and frankincense and myrrh; all alike combine to show the way in which God delights to keep Him before us, as the holy Object of faith, communion and adoration, and to put to shame the denial of the manifestation of divine life in Him at any moment of His history. All this is the more remarkable because occurring chiefly in the Gospel of Luke, which dwells mostly on His character as Son of Man, and gives us all the human relationships in which He stood, and which have been used to divide or lower the dignity of His Person.
Of old we were rightly warned against the danger (on either side) of “dividing the Person or confounding the substance,” as it has been termed – i.e., supposing that the Godhead was changed into manhood, or manhood into Godhead, by their union in the Person of Christ: this would equally neutralize the value and be destructive of both natures, and would not be union, but transformation. But it was also observed by an eminent servant of God, that, so perfect was the union of the divine and human in the Christ of God, that what properly belonged to one nature, is in Scripture constantly applied to the other. “No man hath ascended up to heaven but He that came down from heaven even the Son of Man which is in heaven” (John 3:1313And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. (John 3:13)). “The bread of God” (Christ as manifested in His humanity here below) “is He which cometh down from heaven and giveth life unto the world” (John 6:3333For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. (John 6:33)). These passages speak of Him as Man, and yet of His personal presence in heaven at that very moment, and preexistence there. In the first citation, when He was conversing with Nicodemus, and when he had moreover been telling him of earthly things, He says no one could tell him of heavenly things but He that came down from heaven, but whose intercourse with heaven and with His Father, were as infinite as His own being. “The Son who is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him.” In Gal. 2. also and where we should have said the Son of Man, the Apostle Paul says, “The Son of God loved me and gave Himself for me.” And again, implying His divine Presence, “Lo I am with you always, even to the end of the world.” But above all are the words addressed to Him: “Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my Fellow, saith the Lord of hosts” (Zech. 13:77Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the Lord of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered: and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones. (Zechariah 13:7)).
Even in speaking of the divinity and humanity of Christ we have to be most guarded, for “God and Man are one Christ.” Hence some have unwittingly erred in saying this was divinity, and that humanity, this was eternal life, and that was not eternal life; for, though we may speak of one nature predominating, or being more expressed than the other, in certain acts, the moment we speak of them separately, we divide them, and the Person is virtually falsified or lost. In Him the divine and human are never abstract, but always in their mutual relation to each other as combined. Scripture never speaks of Him but in the unity of His Person: “Jesus wept,” – “Jesus therefore being wearied with His journey sat thus on the well – i.e., He is spoken of under His personal name, which includes all that He is, Jehovah Savior.
If I say, eternal life was never weary, I have made the divine abstract, and separated it from its relative position in the Person of Christ, and lost the thought of how both were involved and affected by their co-relation. Thus all the perfect and divine love that made Him stoop so low, and come into the condition and circumstances of human want and weakness to win the heart, is lost. He asks indeed for a drink of water for His thirst, and He is hungry as well as weary as He sits upon the well, but He is Himself the Fountain and the Giver of the living water that He gives, and that water becomes a well itself in the soul, springing up to life eternal. Had the woman, as He says, but known who it was that said to her, “Give me to drink,” it would have put her in the place of a lowly suppliant and recipient, of all this blessing; and yet we are now told that in all this, He is not the manifestation of eternal life! Again, we repeat that the Spirit, in the word, never speaks of our Lord but in the unity of His Person. “Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled saith, I thirst” (John 19:2828After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst. (John 19:28)). It is the same blessed Person, who whether in the fullness of divine knowledge, or in lowly utterance from the depths of His humiliation, expresses Himself in these words: “They gave me also gall for my meat, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink” (Psa. 69:2121They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink. (Psalm 69:21)). It is because of what He is in the unity of His Person, that all His sufferings, and all His love to us in them have their value to the heart.
Where is the separation here into “the upper and the lower life,” nor “having to return to communion with His Father,” as we are told He had to do after His conversation with the Samaritan woman in John 4.?
John the Baptist, contrasting Him with himself, says “He that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth He that cometh from heaven is above all; and what He hath seen and heard that He testifieth” (John 3:31, 3231He that cometh from above is above all: he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth: he that cometh from heaven is above all. 32And what he hath seen and heard, that he testifieth; and no man receiveth his testimony. (John 3:31‑32)); and again He says Himself, “He that hath sent me is true, and I speak to the world those things that I have heard of Him,” and, as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things” (John 8:26 28), and, “He that sent me is with me, the Father hath not left me alone, for I do always those things that please Him” (ver. 29). Again, both to the Jews and to the disciples, He avers that the words and the works were expressive, not only of what He was essentially, but also demonstrative of His oneness with the Father. “If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not, but if I do, though ye believe not me believe the works: that ye may know and believe that the Father is in me and I in Him” (John 10:37, 3837If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not. 38But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him. (John 10:37‑38)). “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father?” and this, “he that hath seen” is absolute, not limited to the disciples. Referring again to His works and words, and the consequent guilt of His rejection by the world, He says, “Now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father” (John 15:2424If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father. (John 15:24)). His words therefore and all that He did were the expression of this perfect unity and were spoken in the infinite communion which flowed from it. If He had to return to communion with His Father He must have quitted it, and His words have ceased to be the manifestation of that divine unity, which He unequivocally declares they exhibited.
The Apostle John speaks in his Epistle of “the Word of Life,” for the life was manifested; “that eternal life which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us” (1 John 1:22(For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;) (1 John 1:2)). This is the essential nature of what was divine in the Person of Christ, before manifestation, when manifested and (elsewhere in Scripture) as now on high. As seen in the world, He could not but display it, for it is what He was and is, essentially, whether before man or with the Father. It includes what He is personally and in relationship, for it was “(B"D") with the Father,” which is the expression of personal relationship; whilst “the Word of Life” indicates the manifestation of the mind of God; and “the Word” again identifies it with the Person who was with God, and was God, and was made flesh, and dwelt among us (John 1:1, 2, 141In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2The same was in the beginning with God. (John 1:1‑2)
14And 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)). Not to express this life when on earth wherever and before whomsoever He was, must have been to cease, to exist, or to be Himself, in the world.
We have the Word presented to us in John 1 in all its varied relations, in the absoluteness of Godhead, with God and as God, the eternal Creator; then in connection with men as having entered the scene where men were. Was the “life” invisible? Just the opposite; it was universal light for it shines upon every man, and shows everything in its true character. “That which doth make manifest is light.”
Angels saw God displayed for the first time, though borrowing light, so to speak, from that which was given as the Light of men. This Word of life, carried with it as the Light of men, its attractive, penetrating, exposing, and quickening character. Not a ray of divine Light was wanting; all was displayed, and displayed to the world and among men, and to men. “Yet a little while is the Light with you,” says the Lord: “Walk whilst ye have” (not some light) but “the Light, lest darkness come upon you; for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth.
The moral qualities of this divine or eternal life displayed in the world are light and love. “God is light,” and “God is love,” and it was impossible for the one to be hidden, as the other, when Christ was here. Indeed they cannot be separated in manifestation, in what He is, or God would be falsified. These are, as has been observed, the only two essential properties of the divine nature. For righteousness, holiness, majesty, &c., are all attributes, and are relative, whilst light and love are absolute. Constantly therefore in Scripture we find them associated in the manifestation of what was divine in this world (John 3:16 19, 11There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: (John 3:1) John 1:5, 4:8, 9, 2:8, 11). The latter passage, which refers to its manifestation in us shows that they must coexist (see ver. 9, 10) as flowing from what Christ is, “which thing” (speaking of the new commandment, love) “is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth.” Again, in ch. 3:14, of this Epistle, love is given as the evidence of this life in us in association with Christ. “We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death. Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer, and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.” In the Gospel of John we have the characteristics of this life, which display, either what God is to man, or the Son as come from the Father; in the Epistle more of the traits of this life as manifested in the Christian.
Hence righteousness, dependence, obedience, &c., are added, as well as all the enjoyment of relationship and communion. But all is included in the display (John 14:3131But that the world may know that I love the Father; and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do. Arise, let us go hence. (John 14:31)).
As the Son also, manifesting the Father, and coming from the Father into the world, He bore a glory (when “made flesh”) adapted to the condition of man; “the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” This grace and truth shone out in the world, and this was in contrast with the law, which had indeed a glory of its own, for the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth (that which God was, as meeting the evil, and as supremely above it) came by Jesus Christ. “No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him.” It is the absolute manifestation of God, as the Father, through the Son according to what the divine nature was (in itself and even in relationship, the Son in the bosom of the Father), which brought out all the grace which could be displayed through such a medium, and in terms which render evident, that God in this divine perfection, never could have been seen or known otherwise. If sin had not been in the world, and man what he was and is, never should we have seen all that was heavenly, and all that was divine, expressed in infinite perfection. Had aught of that perfection been hidden, God had not been completely glorified, nor man fully tested; nor could it have been displayed, save in the unity of the divine nature, and in the perfect communion with the Father, deep and full as the Godhead itself.
But not only this, the world into which He came was a world into which sin had entered, and death and ruin were all around Him. In the absence of all that was of God, of all divine life, the necessities of the soul of man were deep, the ruin infinite; for men were not only in darkness, but “alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, by reason of the hardness of their heart.” Was there nothing in Christ, as the Eternal Life, responding to their condition? adapted to this moral ruin? suited to the wants of the soul awakened, when light from God enters, or when it begins to say: “How many hired servants of my Father have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger? I will arise and go to my Father, &c.” (Luke 15:15, 17, 1815And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. (Luke 15:15)
17And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! 18I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, (Luke 15:17‑18))?
Was not His presence here the answer on God’s part, or rather that of the Father, to this need, as well as fitted to awaken the sense of it? He Himself makes use of the illustration – the Manna, the bread which came down from heaven, to satisfy the necessities of Israel in the desert.
“This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof and not die; I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if any man eat of this bread he shall live for ever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world” (John 6:50 51). Again, “I am the bread of life.” Is not this personal and eternal? and, “my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.” “For the bread of God is He which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world” (John 6:32, 33, 35). Again, “In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. He that believeth in Me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water” (John 7:37, 3837In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. 38He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (John 7:37‑38)), for from Him the streams of eternal life flow. What also does He Himself tell us of “His words,” which He spoke at this very time (John 6) at Capernaum? “The words that I speak unto you they are spirit and they are life.” And again of His words which He had received of the Father who “gave Him commandment what He should say and what He should speak”? “I know that His commandment is life everlasting, whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak.”
Does this imply that these words of life (or all that Christ was as the Eternal Life, the Light of life, the Bread of life, or the Giver of the water of life), were received?
No. But the effect was felt, as the reply in John 6 tells “Lord, evermore give us this bread.” Whilst not only could the Apostle Peter say, “Thou hast the words of eternal life” but the officers sent by the chief priests and scribes to take Him, were disarmed by them, giving as the reason why they could not touch Him, “Never man spake like this man” and these words of eternal life, because they were such form the judgment of those who have rejected them at the last day (John 12:48-5048He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day. 49For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak. 50And I know that his commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak. (John 12:48‑50)).
But if this eternal life manifested in the world, and for man as such, in these varied ways and aspects, is denied how deep is the deprivation to souls: how much of the beauty and attractiveness of the Gospel has disappeared!
Like the Calvinistic system, which is limited to the elect and has only something to offer to them; instead of Christ as the Eternal Life being the blessed display of, and response on, God’s part to the spiritual wants of the human soul – man, as such, is excluded from its sympathy and its outflow; though the words “whosoever,” and “any man,” constantly tell of the universality of its character, as it has been so often proclaimed, as coming down from the heart of God to sinners in this world.
Even His relationship and intercourse with the Father and the Father’s delight in Him, is positively declared among men, and this not only in the Gospel of John, but in Matthew also, the most Jewish of all the Gospels in its aspect. This at once accounts for the revelation of the Father’s name in that Gospel, and shows that whilst we may see and learn much from the varied presentation of the features of the blessed Person of the Savior in these different Gospels, we must beware of restricting them, or excluding what does not appear to be the special subject of the Spirit of God in that Gospel; for some additional ray of glory may, according to the perfection of that Person, throw further light on our view of His dignity and beauty, and on the Scripture itself. See Matt. 11:2727All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him. (Matthew 11:27).
In the Gospel of John, the Lord refers, amongst other public and emphatic testimonies that had been rendered to His glorious Person, to that of the Father, as special and above all other testimony to the Jews, saying: “The Father Himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me” (John 5). But it is remarkable that this testimony of the Father is much more fully given in the Gospel of Matthew where the heavens open over Him (for He is the object of heaven, though in humiliation here on earth), the Spirit, like a dove, descends upon Him, and the voice of the Father is openly heard, saying in language that invites the attention of all, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matt. 3:14, 1714But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? (Matthew 3:14)
17And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. (Matthew 3:17)). This revelation by the Father accounts for the grace made known, and in which the Father is revealed and acts in this Gospel, and the consequent conduct to be exhibited by the believer in manifesting the grace of the Father, as above the evil in this world (Matt. 5), which is far beyond what the revelation of the Messiah would imply.
It has been said that when the Lord retired to a remote part of Israel’s land, to the borders of Tyre and Sidon, and would have no man know it; surely this was not the display of divine life? Who is this, we may reply, that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Is this the light in which the Holy Ghost presents this remarkable scene to us?(Matt. 20 and Mark 7). Grieved with the unbelief and the blindness occasioned by the formal religion which enveloped the people that He loved and hindered their discerning His glory – a grief which He expressed elsewhere in the words “How long shall I be with you and suffer you,” – He withdraws and takes the place and attitude described in the prophet: “Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples. And I will wait upon Jehovah who hideth His face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for Him” (Isa. 8:16, 1716Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples. 17And I will wait upon the Lord, that hideth his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him. (Isaiah 8:16‑17)). This was a divine action, and suited to the moment. He hides His face full of grace and healing power from an unbelieving nation. The Spirit’s comment on this is, “But He could not be hid,” for it was impossible that the beauty of that light could cease to penetrate even into some dark recesses of the human heart, where need existed. The Syrophenician woman attracted by it (though the Lord does not forget even then the primary claims of Israel), touches the spring of divine fullness of blessing, that was there overflowing even to the dogs. This could not be limited to the Jews, but reached even to a Gentile outcast in the distance, for God was manifest in grace, and she receives the response, “O woman, great is thy faith, be it unto thee even as thou wilt” (Matt. 15:2828Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour. (Matthew 15:28)). It will be now intelligible why John 3:14-1614And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: 15That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. 16For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:14‑16), containing the beautiful type of the brazen serpent, has been taken away from the sinner as such, and we are told it is “not the beginning of the Gospel.” But Scripture shows that it is for those who are “perishing,” and in death, an effect of the serpent’s power, and goes on to say, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:1616For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)). So that in both cases we have the perishing condition and eternal life, first in the death of the Son of Man on behalf of man (John 6:5151I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. (John 6:51)); and then the love of God who has given His Son for the world and bestows eternal life according to the value of that gift, with whosoever believeth added in each case. Was He not lifted up for the world to see, as an effect of God’s love, and there and then, that “whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have eternal life?” But no, all this would not suit the system which denies that eternal life is presented to the world, and is a conditional relationship in which the world of course could have no interest. The most beautiful display of Christ’s person and work to the world, and which has been so wonderfully blessed to souls, is gone, and has even become “repulsive.”Whilst another teacher avowed that he could not preach the Gospel any more from the Gospel of John.
But this manifestation of that life which was divine or eternal so characterized the Person of the Blessed Lord that the body was included in it. As the Apostle says: “That which was from the beginning . . . which our hands have handled, of the Word of life” (1 John 1:11That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; (1 John 1:1)). Sometimes it flowed out in such power, that “the whole multitude sought to touch Him for there went virtue out of Him and healed them all;” sometimes He makes use of that which flowed from His body as conveying this living power; as when He made clay of spittle and anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay (John 9:66When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay, (John 9:6)), figure of divine power and the humiliation of manhood combined (see also Mark 7:33 8:23). There remains the glorious expression of this Eternal Life which is in Him, when applied to His saints, to put them in the same condition of life and glory as Himself. To this He alludes, in reply to the inadequate thoughts of Martha, when He says: “I am the resurrection and the Life he that believeth in Me though he were dead yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die” (John 11:2020Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him: but Mary sat still in the house. (John 11:20)). This life was in Him then, for it is what He is, in Himself. When this shines forth from Him in quickening power it will raise to life and swallow up mortality in life, for those who remain, and fill the whole scene with this grand and wondrous exhibition of what He is essentially in His own Person. Not only we have this word, “I am,” applied so often to the fullness of Eternal Life, in such varied aspects and ways, but finally He is presented in the Revelation as the Tree of life, in the paradise or city of God, bearing twelve manner of fruits, on which our souls shall feed throughout eternity; whilst during the Millennium the leaves of this Tree of life, “are for the healing of the nations,” and the water of life “proceeds out of the throne of God and of the Lamb” (Rev. 22:1, 21And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. 2In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. (Revelation 22:1‑2)).
Christ is spoken of personally and essentially as the Life or the Eternal Life, just as He is addressed as “Jehovah,” or as “the Word;” for to be the source and spring of spiritual life, to give it or to maintain it, is a divine prerogative, and this Eternal Life is a special manifestation or aspect of the divine in Him. But though it is what He is essentially, it does not, any more than His title of “Jehovah,” or than that of “the Word,” include all that He is essentially; hence the idea that the participation in it introduces us into Deity which is given as a reason for its being a condition or relationship, and not what Christ is personally, is a mistake for it is not a question of His divine attributes, such as omniscience, omnipotence, &c., which are incommunicable but of the moral qualities of the divine nature, in which we can participate, being made “partakers of the divine nature;” “the seed of God remains in him” (the believer), “and he cannot sin because he is born of God” (1 John 3:99Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. (1 John 3:9)).
It is because it is personal, and that blessed Person who is the true God and Eternal Life, is the Son, that we who now believe, through His death and resurrection are introduced into His blessed relationship with the Father, for now He shares, as Man, what He had before the world was with the Father, and having united us with Himself as Man risen from the dead, He can bring us into the sweetness and blessedness of what was His own with the Father. “Then I was by Him as one brought up with Him” (Prov. 8:3030Then I was by him, as one brought up with him: and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him; (Proverbs 8:30)) “the only begotten Son which is in the bosom of the Father He hath declared Him” (John 1:1818No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. (John 1:18)); and if there is this divine glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth, out of His fullness have we all received and grace for grace (ver. 18); so that we share in the Father’s love to Him, and in all the depth of this relationship. “Go, tell my brethren, I ascend unto my Father and your Father, and unto my God and your God” (John 20:1717Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God. (John 20:17)). As He says Himself, when speaking of His own nearness, and the joy of relationship, “These things I speak in the world that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves” (John 17:1313And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves. (John 17:13)). But if Eternal life is “not imparted to us,” as we are now told, and if it is not Christ Himself, and what He was before the world began, and if it was not manifested to the world; not only there is no link with this infinite fullness but it becomes some ideal mystic invisible thing, a sphere or condition, substituted for the divine reality presented to us in the Word of God.
It was the revelation of the Father, in contrast with Judaism and the knowledge of Jehovah in covenant relationship with His earthly people, which introduced into this new position of sonship and eternal life in its heavenly associations and character; for according to Matt. 25:3131When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: (Matthew 25:31) Rom. 14:22For one believeth that he may eat all things: another, who is weak, eateth herbs. (Romans 14:2) [sic], it has its earthly sphere and associations as well as its heavenly. But here the Lord takes His place on high, in the glory He had with the Father before the world was (and where His own are to be with Him, and behold Him) – in order to give eternal life. Yet He says: “I have declared unto them Thy name and will declare it.” So that it was not only declared, and eternal life thus given, after His death, resurrection, and ascension had brought it out fully, but as we have seen in principle or germ whilst He was here on earth, and as a consequence of His glorious Person being known as Son of the Father (John 6:4040And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day. (John 6:40)).
The remark has been made upon this passage, that it is the human life of Christ, and not the divine that is referred to here. This is, in fact, to divide His blessed Person, as if the human and divine could be separated, and shows the deteriorating effect of these views, and that in result they lower the character of life in the Christian, as well as sever it from its proper spring. We have seen that Eternal Life cannot be limited or divided in the Person of Christ, nor does Scripture allow of any such limitation in the case of the believer. The words, “the life of Jesus,” relate to what He was personally, for as the name Jesus means “Jehovah Savior,” “for He shall save His people from their sins,” it involves all that He was, and all the perfections of that divine life which have been displayed in Him, as well as all that He is now.
And here appears the deep mischief and injury caused by these reasonings; for not only has the teaching robbed souls of Christ as the Eternal Life personally, but they are led unconsciously by the enemy (as their language shows) to speculate on what was or was not human or divine in Him and His Person as well as life is also divided. Thus the enemy gains his end, whilst he leads them out of their depth and Christ is gradually displace in the soul, and His Person openly dishonored. For though their intention is innocent the result is not innocent.
The only way for the simple, when such thoughts are presented, is to treat them as sin against Christ. The attempt to realize their meaning or explain them, leads into temptation, and the soul is caught by the enemy and entangled in this net. Many have suffered in this way without being aware of it; teachers as well as taught.
To support this line of reasoning, a passage of Mr. Darby’s is quoted, which has some apparent but merely fictitious resemblance to it. An inexperienced and unwary person may be deceived by a fictitious Bank of England note, while a practiced eye will readily detect the forgery.
Mr. Darby’s statement is as follows
In both Philippians and Colossians, the heavenly life is spoken of as a present thing; but there is entire separation, even down here, between the pilgrimage and this heavenly life itself, although the latter has a powerful influence on the character of our pilgrim life.
His life – God Himself (the last is more John’s doctrine) – was what was to be expressed, expressed suited to the scene He passed through; but, being a true man, He walked with objects before Him, which acted on the tenor of His path. The fact that He was this life and, that for His living it, had not to die in His death as we have to an evil nature, makes it more difficult to realize in His case; but obedience, and He learned what it was, suffering, patience, all referred to His place here compassion, grace as to His disciples, and all the traits of His life, though divine and such that He could say “The Son of Man who is in heaven,” all were the development of the heavenly and divine life here.
Its influence was perfect and entire in the case of the Lord Jesus; but His life in connection with men although the ever perfect expression of the effect of His life of heavenly communion, was evidently distinct from it. The joy of the heavenly life entirely set aside all the motives of the lower life, and, leading to the sufferings of His earthly life in connection with man, produced a life of perfect patience before God. In Him all was sinless; but His joys were elsewhere, save in acting in grace in the midst of sorrow and sin – a divine joy (Synopsis on Joshua 3).
But in this passage, though the word sphere is subsequently used, which gives some apparent similarity, the unity of the Person of Christ is carefully preserved by the words – “His life in connection with men, although the ever perfect expression of His life of heavenly communion.” We have all been taught to see the perfect way in which Scripture presents the Lord to us in various phases. In the Gospel of Luke much more of manhood – the precious and holy dependence – the temptations which surrounded Him – His agony in the garden, where He prays more earnestly and the Angel from Heaven appearing to strengthen Him – express this. So in the Epistle to the Hebrews He suffered being tempted, “learning obedience by the things which He suffered,” accomplishing the w hole path of faith with joy set before Him at God’s right hand. This is in striking contrast with what we find in the Gospel of John, in Gethsemane, where He goes forth “knowing all things that should come upon Him,” to meet His adversaries, who go backward and fall to the ground, and He gives Himself up whilst protecting those who trusted in Him, from the power of the enemy. But in all this, though clearly distinguishable the unity of His Person is never for a moment touched; it is one and the same Person that is always kept before us though in various lights, just as photographs taken from different points of view will bring into prominence the varied features of the same lovely scene. So we have in the passage cited above, various influences or springs of life connected with God, but “a life of perfect patience before God produced.” “His joys,” Mr. Darby says, “were elsewhere,” (speaking of this heavenly life, as the Apostle John presents Him to us), “save in acting in grace in the midst of sorrow and sin a divine joy”; just what this system denies, as regards this heavenly life, whether in Christ or ourselves.
So much is this the case, that even of the wondrous story of the descent which He made from the divine glory to the lowly form and state of manhood, the Apostle says: “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.” This descent and humiliation, inconceivable to us in its fullness, is yet that in which by His life in us, we can share as to the thoughts and springs which it displayed. The humiliation of this obedience (commenced in the assumption of manhood going on even unto death, the death of the cross for the glory of God), was the obedience of a *@L8ÎH or bondservant – for such was man; and into this Christ came, from the divine place and “form,” and carried it out according to His divine purpose and love, even to the last and lowest point, the shameful death of a malefactor. Such is the mind in which we are called to participate, instead of glorying in ourselves or hindering instead of edifying others by our pretentious assumptions. But this shows how the divine characterized and pervaded all the human life of this blessed One, and how it may be carried out in detail by us, from the fact that “we have the mind of Christ” (1 Cor. 2:1616For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ. (1 Corinthians 2:16)). “Put on therefore,” says the Apostle, “as elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering,” for all this was manifested in Christ, and is now to be seen in the new man, where “Christ is all and in all.”
When He rose from the dead and appeared to His disciples on the first day of the week, He breathed on them establishing them in His own relationship with the Father and position before God as risen {John 20:2222And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost: (John 20:22)}; for this He had promised, even life more abundantly, and that they should have life, not only from, but with Himself. “Because I live ye shall live also.” This, with the presence of the Holy Ghost, gave its heavenly character to that life, life of a new order, power, and blessing; in contrast with life in the Old Testament, and even in the Millennium. In it, as in the life of Christ on earth, grace is to be exemplified; whilst Israel in the Millennium, will be used as the executors of divine judgment, as we learn from the Psalms. Though they have eternal life, it will bear an earthly character.
There are three aspects of responsibility brought before us in Scripture, answering to the three positions occupied by the nation of Israel; in Egypt, in the wilderness, and in Canaan.
In the first they were in bondage, exposed to the judgment of God, and liable to destruction by their enemies.
This corresponds with our standing in Adam as men in the flesh, on which ground, being creatures responsible for rendering the obedience and love which is due to the Creator of which the law is the measure, we are totally lost. This is brought to an end in the Cross, where, owning Christ as in death for us, we see ourselves delivered from the consequences which sin entailed on us.
The second sphere of responsibility, which is more properly Christian, is, after having crossed the Red Sea – figure of Christ’s death and resurrection for us – we have as pilgrims to pass through the desert scene of this world before reaching the heavenly Canaan. In this state is learned what the flesh is practically, and it is in this more especially that we are tested, as to what we are (Deut. 8), and to this more distinctly the “ifs” of Scripture apply; as we are not looked at as in heaven, but going on to it, in weakness, and amid the toils and dangers of this world, and we have the promise of being kept, and not being tempted above what we are able to bear (See 1 Cor. 10; Heb. 4; Rom. 5; &c.).
Thirdly, we are looked upon, in our highest aspect, as in Christ, seated in heavenly places in Him {Eph. 2:66And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: (Ephesians 2:6)}, in the new Creation – i.e., already in Canaan, like the Israelites after they had crossed the Jordan, where they had to maintain their position in conflict with their enemies. But to say that there is “no such thing as responsibility in Christ” is an Antinomian statement, and runs upon the same mystic line as the notion of the invisibility of eternal life. True that this position, which according to the purpose of God, is beyond the effects of sin and failure, will be infallibly accomplished by divine power in glory, because secured to us in Christ, to whom we are united. But immediately upon our being spoken of, according to our calling and position in Ephesians 1, 2, as quickened, raised, and made to sit together in heavenly places, comes the warning, “Wherefore remember” and “Walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called” so we have the character of God to be displayed in us as dear children, to walk in love, and a conflict, not down here, but maintained with wicked spirits in heavenly places, and we have to put on the whole armor of God and to stand in the combat. Indeed the whole book of Joshua exhibits the responsibility which belongs to this position; circumcision – the constant returning to Gilgal, the place of circumcision or judgment of the flesh – the government of God – the holiness suitable to His presence – the conditions under which the conflict is to be carried on, all exhibit responsibility of the highest order. Indeed the Apostle says “As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him” (Col. 2:66As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: (Colossians 2:6)). The higher the privilege, the higher and more elevated the responsibility attached to it.
Hence in this heavenly position it relates more to the interests of the Church of God, the service and glory of Christ, the conflict with the power of Satan, in which we are now engaged, and which flows entirely from the fact that we are in heavenly places in Christ.
Mr. Raven’s statement is that “there is no such thing as responsibility in Christ.” Mr. Darby’s statements, now given, presents the matter in its true bearings
We contend with spiritual wickedness in heavenly places where all passes, in Ephesians, and we are called upon “having done all, to stand”. We are in possession of our place, and our business is to hold good, and hence, being spiritual, the arms of God are what are called for. . . . .Hence in conflict the matter is to stand against the wiles and having done all, to stand – Notes and Comments Part 16. p. 375.)
In Ephesians conflict and government, the armor of God to be able to stand in the evil day, but not on a journey uncertain whether I arrive, or sure to fail in myself and if he is sure to be kept by another, but only therefore sure and hence tested” (Notes and Comments, Part 6, p.200).
I can say “I abide in him” – placed with the Father in His perfectness before Him, a place of joy and peace and witness of eternal love. I ought then so to walk as He walked. Christian responsibility is the responsibility of being a Christian; that is of walking because we are in Christ, as Christ walked, through Christ dwelling in us (Coll. Writings, vol. 17, p. 450).
In the foregoing papers the subject of Eternal Life has been examined from Scripture. The following extracts are given to show how distinctly Mr. Darby, who has been quoted as agreeing with this teaching, presses that Christ is the Eternal Life personally (that it is not a condition merely, that its manifestation was before all and to all, whether in Christ or the Christian), as also, the infinite importance of the subject with the seriousness of its denial.
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which “we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and our hands have handled, of the Word of Life.” It was in a man bodily. It comes by the power of the Word now, but they had seen this Eternal life in the person of a man walking about in this world.
Just as we see natural life in Adam, so we see Divine life in Christ. If we look at the life in u s, it is united with failure; but I can see and know what the perfectness of the life is by looking at Christ. For the life was manifested and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you that Eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested unto us. . . . Christ is my life, and all Christ’s words are the expression of that life. . . . All the words of Christ are the expression of what He was. They told out His nature, life and being and when we have got that nature, they guide and direct us.
In the Gospel we get Divine life in the Person of Christ, and in the Epistle this divine life in the person of Christians (from Notes on John’s Epistles).
1 John exhibits to us specially Divine life in the Person of Christ, but communicated to us, and the traits which serve as a proof that life is there. He first speaks of this life as he had known it in Christ on earth showing it as the means of communion with the Father and the Son, so that our joy may be full. But He who was and is this life, has given, yea, has been, the absolute revelation of God as light (from Brief Outlines of the Books of the Bible).
1 John 1:11That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; (1 John 1:1). First, it was from the beginning second, it was a real substantial Person they had known familiarly, not a doctrine; that is the blessed secret of it all. If they had got Christ, then they have got all that the Father has got, all tha t is revealed of Him, and they can’t go from that without being wrong. They have got Eternal life, the perfect revelation of God, the power of life in Christ. This is what is presented to us as the full enjoyment and the safeguard of the saint. It is ours through that which was with the Father, yet was so near to us, not union, but so near to us that nothing could be so near as Christ Himself. This is the Eternal Life that was with the Father, and it is as we study the Lord Jesus Christ we shall have affection s established towards Him which nothing can break.
The least thing manifests the life of Jesus . . .Whatever does not manifest Him is of the world whatever is not the manifestation of the life of Christ in our souls, that is sin.
We get in His person the life itself that was with the Father, “from the beginning.” He was the life, it was in Him. Now it is never said eternal life is in us, it is in Him. But it is given to us; that’s a different thing. He Himself is our life; He has life in Himself. God has given us Eternal life, and this life is in His Son; but the Son has life in Himself. My hand is alive, but my life is not in my hand; my hand lives by virtue of union with my body; take it off and I shall live still. It is in Him {that} the reality of life is. When Christ was down here all His instructions were the expression of this life (from Nine Lectures on First Epistle of John).
The Person then of the Son, the Eternal life manifested in the flesh, is our subject in this Epistle. . .. Life came in the person of Jesus, in all its own divine perfection, in its human manifestations. Oh, how precious is the truth that this life, such as it was with the Father, such as it was in Jesus, is given to us.
The law promised life to those who obeyed it.
Christ is the life. This life has been imparted to believers. Therefore the words which were the expression of that life in its perfection in Jesus, direct and guide it in us according to that perfection (from the Synopsis, First Epistle of John).
Christ Himself is this life sent from the Father into the world and here revealed in manhood. And now he that hath the Son hath life, “he that believeth on Him hath everlasting life.” . . . “Th is life is Christ Himself” (1 John 1). He is the life which was with the Father and is come down here (from Meditations on the Epistle to the Romans, p. 75).
This life existed in a person, Christ, the One who was in the beginning with God, and was God; that is the Christ with whom my life is hidden with the Father. Being in Himself life, He came into the world as the life, and manifested the life – The thing was embodied in the person of the Lord as Man. . . . If we turn to 1 John 1 we see how this life came down. “What our hands have handled of the Word of life” (1 John 1:33That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. (1 John 1:3)). It is a real Man. The life which was with the Father was manifested down here in the Person of Christ. In many you will find great vagueness of thought in connection with this life. It is Christ Himself. “When He who is our life,” etc. Before he speaks of the communication of life he speaks of its enemies; he says, “we have looked upon, and our hands, etc.” . . . What a thought! That Eternal life in this world – a man, a poor man, a carpenter, one who had not where to lay His head (from Collected Writings, Evangelical vol. 2).
In the Person of Jesus, people saw Him who was come down from heaven, the Son of God become Man, as we see in [the] first chapter of [the] First Epistle of John.
“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have contemplated, and our hands have handled concerning the Word of life” . . . “the Eternal life which was with the Father and has been manifested to us.” . . . As in the whole Gospel, we have here what Jesus was light and life, in His Person, as come into the world. . . .Paul, in the Epistle to the Ephesians (ch. 1:3, 4) presents to us this life in its double character. In the first place that which answers to His nature, that which Christ was and is; and secondly, our relationship with the Father that is to say, sons, and that in His presence. . . . The glory of Christ Himself will be the full manifestation of this life, and we shall participate in it, we shall be like Him. Still it is an inward life, real and divine, by which we live, although we possess it in these poor earthen vessels (from Notes on the Gospel of John.)
I could not say that life was not communicated, for surely if a man is born, life is communicated, only I do not admit life in us as a separate thing. “He that hath the Son hath life.” God’s “seed remaineth in him.” . . . Christ is Eternal life. We have Him as life, and it will be complete when like Him in glory. (Letters, 12. p. 1 0).
Existence is not life; the table exists, but is not alive.
“In Him we live” is not we have life. But the thing I fear is, the unsettling the fact of what life in Christ is.
Thus “the Father hath life in Himself.” Is that a mere condition of being? – (Letters, 12. p. 1 7).
“He that hath the Son.” “God hath given us Eternal life and this life is in His Son.” “He that hath the Son hath life,” Christ is life. . . . Life is not a condition of being it constitutes it; a material substance without life is not called a being, a being supposes personal spontaneity (p. 19).
Is life in God a mere condition of being? Being means what has life. Hence to say life is a condition of what has life, has, by itself, no sense (pp. 19, 20).
What we have to cleave to is Christ, in Him we know the Father, and He is that Eternal life which came down from heaven (Letters of J. N. D., Part 13. p. 173).
The fact is that the body of our blessed Lord as an integral part of His person was the instrument and expression of these springs and motives of the divine Eternal life which existed in Him alone. The value of expiation itself in one aspect flows from and depends on this. The Lord says with all the fullness of divine purpose “when He cometh into the world.”. . . “Lo, I come to do thy will” . . . “a body hast thou prepared me.” “By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” The body prepared for Him became the vessel for the fulfillment of the eternal counsels, taken by Him who alone could enter into, measure and accomplish them. The dignity and worth of the Person were such, that the varying conditions through which He passed were as nothing in comparison with what He was; and what He was always and in every circumstance impressed its stamp on the whole.
Hence to say “Eternal life never wept,” is to partition His Person – revolting to a Christian heart, and destructive of all that affection and adoration, which the tender, loving manifestation of divine sympathy, in its human form awakens. As another moved by reading the account of the Lord’s weeping over Jerusalem has well expressed it
They asked not whom those tears were for, they asked not whence they flowed.
Those tears were for rebellious man, their source the heart of God.
They fell upon this desert earth, like drops from heaven on high
Struck from an ocean tide of love which fills eternity
With love and tenderness divine those crystal cells o’erflow
‘Tis God that weeps thro’ human eyes, for human guilt and woe.
Even with ourselves the body of the believer is sanctified and becomes the organ or vehicle of the divine life, so that whether we eat or drink, or whatsoever we do, we are to do all to the glory of God. Yet, we are told, “eternal life never ate and drank,” or “commended His mother to the care of His loved disciple,” and thus the beauty of this touching act is lost and it is reduced to a mere human level, by these unhallowed reasonings. We have seen that the exhibition of “all else” is denied, but “the manifestation of infancy in its helplessness,” “humanity in its conditions.” Yet even in a mere babe the divine life is often displayed in a wondrously attractive way. “Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings Thou hast perfected praise”; whilst we are told this could not be in the Lord of all. To so low an estimate of Christ’s glory has the originator of these sentiments fallen.