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Book messages «Conclusion of the New Testament, The (Msgs. 021-033)»
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The conclusion of the New Testament

Christ — His person (6)

  In this message we shall consider Christ’s person in incarnation.

D. In incarnation

1. God manifested in the flesh

  In the incarnation Christ is God manifested in the flesh (1 Tim. 3:16). He was manifested in the flesh not only as the Son but as the entire God, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. As the Word, who is the very God, Christ became flesh (John 1:14). Therefore, He is God — the Triune God — manifested in the flesh.

  It is important for us to realize that it was the entire God and not only the Son of God who was incarnated. John 1:14 says that the Word, which is God, became flesh. This God, who the Word is, is not a partial God; rather, He is the entire God — God the Son, God the Father, and God the Spirit. The New Testament does not say that the Word, who became flesh, was God the Son. Instead, the New Testament indicates that in the beginning was the Word, and this Word is the entire Triune God, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. Hence, Christ in incarnation is the entire God manifested in the flesh.

  Because of the influence of traditional teaching, we may think that only the Son of God, not the entire God, was incarnated. Actually, the New Testament does not say that the Son of God was incarnated; it says that God was manifested in the flesh. This means that the entire God became incarnated.

  Through incarnation and human living God was manifested in the flesh. “In the flesh” means in the likeness, in the fashion, of man (Rom. 8:3; Phil. 2:7-8). In the form of man Christ appeared to people (2 Cor. 5:16), yet He was God manifested in a man.

2. The God-man

a. Conceived of the Holy Spirit, having the essence of God

  Christ is the God-man. As the God-man, He was conceived of the Holy Spirit with the divine essence (Luke 1:35; Matt. 1:20). The Gospel of Luke is unique in telling us how the God-man was conceived. He was conceived not of a man but of the Holy Spirit with the divine essence. The Holy Spirit is God Himself reaching man. In the conceiving of the God-man, the Holy Spirit came into humanity.

  Because the God-man was conceived of the Holy Spirit, He has the divine essence, the essence of God. Here we use the word “essence” in a strong sense to denote something even more intrinsic than nature. The essence is the intrinsic constituent of a certain substance. The God-man was conceived of the Holy Spirit not only with the divine nature but with the divine essence.

  Concerning the conceiving of the God-man, Luke 1:35 says, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; wherefore also the holy thing which is born will be called, Son of God.” As the cloud overshadowed the Mount of Transfiguration (Matt. 17:5) and the tabernacle (Exo. 40:34, 38), the power of the Most High overshadowed Mary. It seems that, according to this verse, the Holy Spirit only came upon Mary as the power for her to conceive the Lord Jesus. However, Matthew 1:18 and 20 tell us that Mary “was found having in womb out of the Holy Spirit” (lit.), and “the thing begotten [generated] in her is out of the Holy Spirit” (lit.). This indicates that the divine essence out of the Holy Spirit had been generated in Mary’s womb before she delivered the Lord Jesus.

b. Born of a human virgin, having the essence of man

  As the God-man, Christ was born of a human virgin and therefore has the essence of man (Luke 1:31; Gal. 4:4). Christ was born of a human virgin with the human essence. In Luke 1:27 and 31 we see that a virgin named Mary conceived in her womb and bore a son whose name was Jesus.

  Because the God-man was conceived of the Holy Spirit with the divine essence and was born of a human virgin with the human essence, He has two essences, the divine and the human. Such a conception of the Holy Spirit in a human virgin, accomplished with both the divine and the human essences, constitutes a mingling of the divine nature with the human nature, producing the God-man, the One who is both the complete God and a perfect man, possessing the divine nature and the human nature distinctively, without a third nature being produced. This is the most wonderful and excellent person of Christ in His incarnation.

  The conception of the God-man was God’s incarnation, constituted not only by the divine power but also of the divine essence added to the human essence, hence producing the God-man of two natures — divinity and humanity. Through this, God joined Himself to humanity so that He might be manifested in the flesh.

  Some Bible teachers have failed to understand the matter of mingling in Christ’s conception. In ancient times there was a debate regarding the word “mingling,” a debate concerning the mingling of the divine essence and the human essence in the person of the Lord Jesus. Some who did not understand this mingling said that it caused a third nature to be produced, something which is neither divine nor human. It is a great heresy to say that Jesus Christ is not quite God nor quite man but a third entity with a third nature, something neither God nor man. To say that with respect to the Lord Jesus the mingling of the divine essence with the human essence produced a third nature, a nature that is neither fully human nor fully divine, is heretical. The first definition of the word mingle given in Webster’s Abridged Dictionary is: “to combine or join (one thing with another, or two or more things together), especially so that the original elements are distinguishable in the combination.” According to this definition, when two or more things are mingled together, their original natures are not lost but remain distinguishable. This certainly is the situation regarding Christ as the God-man. He was conceived of two essences, the divine and the human. Hence, He is a mingling of God and man. But in Him both the divine essence and the human essence remain and are distinguishable. These essences are mingled in Him as one person without the producing of a third nature. As the God-man He possesses two natures, and in Him each nature is distinguishable.

3. The holy thing

  In Luke 1:35 Christ is called “the holy thing.” Because the conceiving was of the Holy Spirit, what was born of this conception was a holy thing, something intrinsically holy. As the holy thing, Christ was absolutely for God and separated unto God. He was absolutely unto God and one with Him.

4. Jesus

  The name Jesus was given by God. The angel Gabriel told Mary that the child she would conceive was to be called Jesus (Luke 1:31). Later, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph and also told him to call the child Jesus (Matt. 1:21). Hence, “Jesus” was a God-given name.

  Luke 1:31 says, “Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call His name Jesus.” “Jesus” is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew name Joshua (Num. 13:16), which means Jehovah the Savior, or the salvation of Jehovah. Therefore, Jesus is not only a man but also Jehovah, and not only Jehovah but Jehovah becoming our salvation.

a. Jehovah

  The name Jesus includes the name Jehovah. In Hebrew “God” means the mighty One, and “Jehovah” means I Am (Exo. 3:14). The verb “to be” in Hebrew refers not only to the present but also includes the past and the future. Hence, the correct meaning of Jehovah is I Am That I Am, the One who is now in the present, who was in the past, and who will be in the future and in eternity forever. This is Jehovah.

  Only God is the eternal One. From eternity past to eternity future, He is the I Am. Because the Lord Jesus is God incarnate, He could say of Himself, “Before Abraham came into being, I am” (John 8:58). Furthermore, He could say to the Jews, “Unless you believe that I am, you shall die in your sins,” and, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am” (John 8:24, 28). We need to realize that Jesus is the I Am and believe in Him as the I Am. The Lord Jesus is whatever we need. If we need salvation, He Himself will be salvation to us. Whatever we need, He is. He is life, light, power, wisdom, righteousness, holiness. Everything we need is found in Him.

b. The Savior, or the salvation

  We have pointed out that the name Jesus means Jehovah the Savior, or Jehovah our salvation. Jesus is Jehovah-Savior, the One who saves us from everything God condemns and from all negative things. He saves us from our sin and sins, from all the besetting sins in our daily life, from the evil power of Satan, and from every bondage and addiction.

  Jesus is not only the Savior — He Himself is also our salvation. He does not simply give us salvation; He comes to us as our salvation.

  When we call upon Him to save us, He is our salvation. When we call on Jesus we are not simply calling the name of a man. Jesus is not simply a man — He is Jehovah our Savior, Jehovah our salvation. When we call on the name of Jesus, we are calling on Jehovah as our Savior and as our salvation. Whoever calls on the name of Jesus will be saved.

  Jesus is also the real Joshua. Moses brought God’s people out of Egypt, but Joshua brought them into rest. As our Joshua, Jesus brings us into rest. Matthew 11:28 and 29 indicate that Jesus is rest and that He brings us into Himself as rest. Hebrews 4:8, 9, and 11 also speak of Jesus as the real Joshua who brings us into the rest of the good land. He is not only our Savior saving us from sin; He is our Joshua bringing us into rest, which is Himself as the good land. Whenever we call on His name, He saves us and brings us into the enjoyment of Himself.

5. Emmanuel

  In His incarnation Christ is also Emmanuel: “Behold, the 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. 1:23). Jesus was the name given by God, while Emmanuel, meaning God with us, was the name called by man. Jesus the Savior is God with us. God is He, and He is God incarnated to dwell among us (John 1:14). He is not only God but God with us. Without Him we cannot meet God, for He is God. Without Him we cannot find God, for He is God incarnate.

  Christ is Emmanuel, God with us. “Us” refers to the saved ones, the believers. Day by day we have Christ as Emmanuel. Whenever we have some experience of the Lord Jesus, we shall realize that He is God with us. God said that His name would be called Jesus. But as we receive Him and experience Him, we realize that Jesus is Emmanuel, God with us.

  When we call on Jesus, we have the sense that God is with us. We call on the Lord Jesus and we find God. Jesus is not only the Son of God but also God Himself. When we call on Jesus, we have Jehovah, we have the Savior, we have salvation, and we have God with us.

  The more we experience the Lord Jesus, the more we shall know that He is Emmanuel, God with us. As we experience Him, we may say, “This is God! This is not God far away from me, or God in the heavens, but God with me.” In our experience Jesus truly is Emmanuel.

  According to Matthew 18:20, whenever we are gathered together into the name of Jesus, He is with us. This is Emmanuel, God with us. The presence of Jesus in our gatherings is actually God with us.

  At the end of Matthew 28:20 the Lord says, “Behold, I am with you all the days until the consummation of the age.” Here the Lord promises to be with us in His resurrection with all authority all the days until the consummation of the age, that is, until the end of this age. “All the days” includes today. The Lord Jesus as Emmanuel is with us now, today!

  Today Christ is not only among us; He is in our spirit. Second Timothy 4:22 says, “The Lord be with your spirit.” This One who is with our spirit is Emmanuel, God with us.

  Today the Lord’s presence is the Spirit. We cannot separate the Spirit from the presence of Jesus. The Spirit is simply the reality of the Lord’s presence (John 14:16-20). This presence is Emmanuel, God with us.

6. The Son of Man

  In His incarnation Christ is the Son of Man (Matt. 16:13). Because the Lord Jesus was conceived of the Holy Spirit, He is the Son of God. Because He was also conceived in and born of the human virgin, He is the Son of Man. On the divine side, He is the Son of God; on the human side, He is the Son of Man. Because the Lord Jesus is both the Son of God and the Son of Man, sometimes He indicated to others that He is the Son of God (John 5:25; 9:35, 37; 10:36), and at other times, that He is the Son of Man (John 1:51; 3:14; 5:27).

  In His incarnation Christ emptied Himself by putting aside the form, the outward expression, of His deity and becoming in the likeness of men. He was God with the expression of God. Although He was equal with God, He put aside this equality and emptied Himself by taking the likeness of men. He became a man through incarnation. He did not regard His equality with God as a thing to grasp. Rather, He laid aside this equality and emptied Himself. This does not mean, however, that Christ in His human living was no longer God. It simply means that He put aside His outward expression of God. Although He subsisted in the form of God, He became in the likeness of men and in the fashion of a man. As a result, He had the appearance of a man instead of the expression of God.

  To accomplish God’s purpose and to establish the kingdom of the heavens, it was necessary for Christ to be a man. Without man, God’s purpose cannot be carried out on earth, and the kingdom of the heavens cannot be constituted on earth.

7. The second Man

  Christ in His incarnation is also the second Man (1 Cor. 15:47). Through the incarnation of Christ, God in the Son became a man. God had created man with a purpose according to His design, but man failed Him in His purpose and ruined His design. Instead of creating another man, God Himself came to be the second Man. God came to be the second Man not in the Father nor in the Spirit but in the Son.

  Concerning Christ as the second Man, 1 Corinthians 15:47 says, “The first man is out of the earth, earthy; the second Man is out of heaven.” “Out of the earth” denotes the first man Adam’s origin, and “earthy” denotes His nature. As the first man, Adam is the head of the old creation, representing it in creation. As the second Man, Christ is the head of the new creation, representing it in resurrection. In the entire universe there are two men: the first man Adam, including all his descendants, and the second Man Christ, comprising all His believers. We believers were included in the first man by birth and became part of the second Man by regeneration. Our believing has transferred us out of the first man and into the second. As a part of the first man, our origin is the earth and our nature is earthy. As part of the second man, our origin is God and our nature is heavenly. “Out of heaven” denotes both the second Man Christ’s divine origin and His heavenly nature.

8. The last Adam

  In the incarnation Christ is not only the second Man but also the last Adam. Concerning Christ as the last Adam, 1 Corinthians 15:45 says, “So also it is written, The first man, Adam, became a living soul; the last Adam became a life-giving Spirit.” This verse implies both the old creation and the new creation. Adam, the first man, was the head of the old creation. When God created him, Adam became a living soul. This means that he became a person, a human being. In Hebrew the word for Adam means man. Christ being the last Adam implies a termination and conclusion of the old creation. The old creation ends with a man, the last Adam. This Man who terminated the old creation became in resurrection a life-giving Spirit. Now this Spirit is the center and lifeline of the new creation. The old creation was created by God. The new creation, however, comes into being not by creation but by resurrection. Therefore, 1 Corinthians 15:45 implies two creations: the old creation with man as a living soul to be its center, and the new creation in resurrection with the life-giving Spirit as its center. Through incarnation Christ became the last Adam to die on the cross for the termination of the old creation, and through resurrection He as the last Adam became the life-giving Spirit to germinate the new creation.

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