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Chapter 2 |
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" Henceforth shall the Son of man be sitting on the right hand of the power of God. |
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In that Christ is God's only begotten Son He is distinct from all others. Others are said to be sons of God (Galatians 3 : 26), but He is the only one said to be begotten Son (1 John 4 :9), others receive sonship (Galatians 4 : 5). He is also the Firstborn (Hebrews 1 : 6) and therefore heir (Hebrews 1 : 2). The reality of his sonship is stressed. God is not just said to be his Father, but his own Father (John 5 : 18). Christ is not just said to be God's Son, but his own Son (Romans 8 :32). Christ is so identified with his Father that He could say, " I and the Father are one " (John 10 : 30). What He said and did were the words and doings of the Father : " I speak what I have seen with my Father " (John 8 : 38), and " The Son can do nothing of Himself save whatsoever He sees the Father doing : for whatsoever things He does, these things also the Son does, in like manner " (John 5 : 19). His Father spoke and worked through Him : " He whom God has sent speaks the words of God " (John 3 : 34), and " The words which I speak to you I do not speak from myself; but the Father who abides in me, he does the works " (John 14 : 10). The source was the Father " of whom [are] all things ", but the communicator was the Son " by whom [are] all things " (1 Corinthians 8 : 6). Their roles were distinct but complementary. They worked together (John 5 : 17). |
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Personally they are distinct, and their roles distinct, but viewed together only one God was seen. That one and only God is clearly identified in Scripture as the Father. That there may be no doubt upon this point we will quote three passages. |
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" Father ... this is the eternal life, that they should know thee, the only true God " (John 17 : 1-3). |
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" One God and Father of all " (Ephesians 4 : 6). |
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" To us there is one God, the Father " (1 Corinthians 8 : 6). |
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These passages show clearly that God and the Father are the same person, and that the designations are therefore interchangeable. |
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The greatness of the Son flows from the greatness of the Father (John 5 : 23). To claim, as Christ did, that he was indeed the Son of God, was to the Jews blasphemy, and upon his acknowledgement of this he was condemned to death (Matthew 26 : 63-66). |
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Christ's relationship of Son to God involves two important facts : one, his identification with God, and two, his distinct personality. |
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As to the first, what is said of God in many Old Testament passages had its fulfilment when Christ was here on earth. What is said of God in Isaiah 40 : 11, " He will feed his flock like a shepherd : he will gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom; he will gently lead those that give suck " was carried out by his Son in manhood here. " And having taken them (little children) in his arms, having laid his hands on them, he blessed them " (Mark 10 : 26). Similarly Jehovah said " They shall look on me whom they pierced " (Zechariah 12 : 10), when the one pierced would be his Son (John 19 : 34 and 37). Psalm 24 : 7-10, ascribed to Jehovah, cannot but be prophetic of Christ, similarly Zechariah 14 : 3-5. Again, Joel 2 : 32, "Whosoever shall call upon the name of Jehovah shall be saved " is applied to Christ in Romans 10 : 8-13, and preparing " The way of Jehovah " in Isaiah 40 : 3-5 is applied to John the Baptist's work as the forerunner of Christ in Matthew 3 : 3 and John 1 : 23. |
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Apart from this identification with God in prophecy, there is a present identification treated of by the Apostle John in his first epistle and in Revelation. " Him " in 1 John 2 : 28 to 3 : 6 can refer to either God or Christ or both. " Abide in Him " (verse 28) can mean in the Son or in the Father. We are in both (verse 24). We are in the Father by being in the Son (1 John 5 : 20). “Before Him at his coming" (verse 28) can again refer to either God or Christ. It is Jehovah who comes (Zechariah 14 : 5), but in the person of his Son (1 Thessalonians 1 : 10). The Lord Jehovah who comes with might to give reward in Isaiah 40 :10 is the Lord Jesus who comes quickly in Revelation 22 : 12 and 20. " Begotten of Him " (verse 29 ) is begotten of God (1 John 3 : 9), for " of Him [are] all things " (1 Corinthians 8 : 6), but " Knew Him not " (1 John 3 : 1) can refer to both the Father and the Son (John 16 : 3). " Be like Him " (verse 2) is like Christ (Romans 8 : 29), but this also involves likeness to God, for Christ is " the image of God " (2 Corinthians 4 : 4). Likeness to Himself was God's original thought as regards man (Genesis 1 : 26). It may be said that the likeness to God is in character, which is true (Ephesians 5 : 1), but God's thought involves that man should have a suitable vessel to display that character (Philippians 3 : 21). " In Him sin is not " (verse 5 ) clearly refers to Christ who " knew not sin " (2 Corinthians 5 : 21), but this only reflects the holiness of God Himself, " Be holy, for I am holy " (Leviticus 11 : 45). " Abides in Him ", "seen Him or known Him " (verse 6) refer to Christ, but involve being " in ", " seeing " and " knowing " God. |
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Examples of this way of speaking of God and Christ (the Father and the Son), are not limited to John's first epistle. Revelation 22 : 3/4 reads, " The throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve Him, and they shall see his face; and his name is on their foreheads " Again here " Him ", " his face " and " his name " can refer back to either God or the Lamb. (Compare Revelation 20 : 6; 1 : 7; 14 : 1) |
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Apart from this, there is the case where a singular verb is used when speaking of God and Christ together (1 Thessalonians 3 : 11). |
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Underlying this way of speaking of God and Christ as one, is the fact that the Son is in the Father, and the Father is in the Son (John 14 : 10). They are bound together. The one (Christ) is the manifestation of the other (Colossians 1 : 15), so that the Father is seen in the Son (John 14 : 9). By Him (the Son) we are brought to know God (John 14 : 7). Our link with God is Christ. He is the way, and the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father unless by Him (John 14 : 6). And so we could go on. Our |
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