Chapter 6
Summary

The intention in this chapter is to set out in summary form what has been dealt with in a detailed way in other chapters and appendices.

The person of Christ is unique. He is not just an aggregation or admixture of God and man; neither is He, on the one hand, simply God in human form or, on the other, a kind of superman. He is a new kind of man: a man who is the image of God, and that absolutely and substantially. He has existed from eternity with God, having his own unique glory which He will have eternally (John 17:5). He has a share in the glory of his Father (Revelation 3:21), but He also has his own glory (Matthew 25:31). He also has his own unique name (Revelation 19:12).

Christ is complementary to God his Father (John 14:13) and is united to Him (John 14:10). He represents Him. His Father is God essentially; He is God representatively. He is the image of God; not the image of Himself.

Christ stands between God and man: He is the mediator. He is not the mediator of Himself and man; to be the one who paid the debt we owed to God He must be distinct from God and also distinct from sinful man.

However, in order to be great enough to be an acceptable sacrifice for sin He not only needed to be sinless, but he needed to be great enough in his person to bear away the sin of the world. He therefore needed not only to be a perfect and sinless man, but in fact another kind of man; one who had come out of heaven.

As to his relationship of Son to God, Christ has a link with God which enables Him to not only tell us about God, but also to show us what God is like. As Son of man He can come alongside of us and communicate God's thoughts to us. The foregoing thoughts are found in chapters 1-5. They do not violate Scripture, but enable us to accept what Scripture teaches as to God, Christ and the Holy Spirit without having to force into Scripture ideas that are not really there and therefore cannot be read out of it. Giving a literal sense to some passages may enable a scheme to be built up contrary to what has been set out above. However, if taking certain passages of Scripture in a literal sense violates other passages of Scripture and throws the general teaching of Scripture into confusion there must be something wrong with the exegesis.

Who Christ is gives authority to his word and value to his work; thus his person, word and work all hang together and all have their own importance. Christ's person underlies his word and work so that if his person were defective so would be also his word and work. We have to take up these things separately (we only have partial knowledge - 1 Corinthians 13:12), but they make up one integrated whole. Similarly, though we quite rightly speak of God the Father, his Son and his Spirit separately they in fact make up one whole and are all closely linked together in every way.

Christ is the Son of God. Although we may speak of Him under the name of Son or Christ before the foundation of the world, this does not mean He was Son or Christ then. The idea of sonship implies an event when the person started a separate existence from its parents, just as the term Christ implies that an event, that is, anointing, has taken place. The term 'eternal sonship', if this is referring to an existence from eternity is an unreal conception. It is possible to say that there was a father / son relationship existing in character then, but not an actual one. However it is in any case a question of what Scripture actually teaches.

The appendices deal largely with various views as to God and Christ which can be shown to be erroneous or at least very defective. The question as to who or what the Holy Spirit is has been dealt with in a separate set of articles.

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In Appendix 1 it is shown that Christ is not an angel or a god. Also that the trinitarian system is not found in Scripture. God is not a triumvirate. Christ is distinct from God. The artificial scheme that makes the relations between divine persons simply arrangements is not real.

In Appendix 2 it is shown that Christ is not simply God in human form; neither is He just a man of Adam's order. Christ is not a God-man, whether this is taken to mean He is an aggregation or admixture of God and man.

In Appendix 3 it is shown that nouns are often used in Scripture as adjectives. This is noted in relation to such statements as "The Word was God" and "He is the true God".

In Appendix 4 the meaning of John 1:18, Acts 20:28, Romans 9:5 and 1 Timothy 3:16 is considered.

In Appendix 5 it is shown that Christ did not come into existence when he was born into this world, nor was he in some way born before creation. He existed from eternity, but this should not be used to prove that he is simply God as this would make the existence of the Father and the Spirit superfluous. Christ's Sonship is not based on his resurrection nor his baptism; neither was his Sonship based on a birth before creation. He was not Son from eternity.

In Appendix 6 an account is given of how the orthodox views as to the person of Christ arose historically: how the errors were built up over centuries.

In Appendices 7, 8 and 9 an analysis of John's Gospel chapter 1 verses 1-18 is given; then similarly Colossians chapter 1 verses 12-23; then lastly Hebrews chapter 1 verse 1 to chapter 3 verse 6.

In Appendix 10 the consistency of New Testament teaching as to the person of Christ is shown with relation to his divine origin (Son of God); his office (The Christ), His title (Lord) and his name (Jesus).

In Appendix 11 the Old Testament basis of what is taught in the New is shown; again as to Christ's relationship to God; his office, his title Lord and his name Jesus.