GOSPEL PROOFS OF THE GODHEAD OF CHRIST.
The Credal statement that "Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is both God and Man; yet He is not two but One Christ" is not an arbitrary dogma, but is based upon the facts as set forth in the Gospels. There are our Lord's own direct statements as reported in St. John's Gospel; ("I and My Father are One". St John X. 30. "He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father" St. John XIV. 9.) There is also His reply to the question of the High Priest at His trial, reported by St. Matthew (XXVI. 63, 64.), St. Mark (XIV. 61, 62.), St. Luke (XXII. 70.), in which our Lord distinctly claimed Divine Sonship, and that in the sense stated in the Creeds, as is shown by the fact that He was at once adjudged to be guilty of death for blasphemy, which would not have been the case had not His claim amounted in the mind of His judges to that of equality with God. Passing for the moment Peter's confession of faith at Caesarea Philippi (St. Matt. XVI. 16) there are certain inevitable inferences establishing the belief that in Christ God became Man which are drawn from His life and teaching while on earth. Some of the most salient of these are;—
1. He invariably speaks to men about God not as one whose thoughts are the outcome of even the deepest and most perfect spiritual insight a man could possess, but as one who had absolute knowledge. We feel instinctively that it is God who is speaking to us about God.
2. Next, he makes a claim upon men that no man, however perfect, ought to, or would dare, to make; a claim which men would strongly resent another man making on them. For He claims men body, soul, and spirit, and not only for time, but for eternity, and tells them that the acceptance or rejection of that claim will make all the difference to their eternal destiny (e.g. St. Matt. X. 32). And He could only make this claim as One who speaks as God.
3. His teaching is delivered with an absolute authority that no man could possibly arrogate to himself. What he says is final; "I say unto you". Nor does he offer salvation through acceptance of a system or philosophy of life, but through Himself; "Come unto me"; "Follow me"; "I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father, but by me"; and many similar statements abundantly illustrate this fact.
CHRIST'S MANHOOD. HIS SINLESSNESS.
We need no proof of the Manhood of Christ, as we can read about it for ourselves in the Gospels. We can see from the records therein contained that Christ was man like as we are. But there was one most important difference between us and Him. He is the only man who was ever free from the taint of sin. He alone could fearlessly ask the question:—"Which of you convicteth me of sin"?
But the fact that He was sinless does not imply that He was never tempted. Had He been entirely free from temptation, His manhood would have been so utterly different from ours that it would mean little or nothing to us. But He was not so free. This we have on His own authority, as the account of His temptation in the wilderness can only have come from Himself. And there can be no doubt that He was tempted not only on that occasion but constantly throughout His earthly life. As the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews says, "He was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin."
But the sinlessness of Christ does not if rightly understood repel us, or prove any barrier between us and Him. It is not an abstract belief about Him, but is exhibited in His life as a man, thereby showing of what manhood is capable if the human will be brought into perfect harmony with the divine will. We know ourselves that the closer we bring our will into agreement with the Divine will, the less liable we are to fall before temptation, and we also know that the nearer we draw to Christ, the easier it becomes to will for ourselves what God wills for us. The sinlessness of the Son, Whose will was always in perfect agreement with that of His Father, has always been the inspiration of the saint, and at the same time the great attraction of His personality to the sinner.