again at the last day.'* These passages abundantly confirm the great truth that Jesus is Lord of all by the gift of his Father; and not only so, but the last shows the great purpose for which all are given to him. II. Jesus is Lord of all by his death. No fact is more evident in the gospel history, than that Christ died for all. A single passage will be sufficient: 'For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead; and that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.'t This doctrine is generally admitted in the christian world. Two great truths follow from the fact. One is, that we should 'live unto him who died for us;' the other, that God will have all men to be saved,' because 'the man Christ Jesus gave himself a ransom for all.' So we perceive that on the fact that Jesus died for all rests a great moral and a great doctrinal truth, both of which we would be glad to enlarge on; but we must pass to our third statement. The III. Jesus is Lord of all by his resurrection. Apostle presents this in a very forcible manner: 'For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's. For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living.' 'Because I live,' said the great Teacher, when on the eve of his crucifixion, 'because I live, ye shall live also.'|| The * John vi. 39. †2 Cor. v. 14, 15. Apostle also says, 'For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.'* The Lord of all descended into the tomb, and on the third day conquered death, and stood before the world as Lord both of the dead and the living! What rich consolation does this great truth afford to the believer. Jesus is his Lord through all the trials of life, and when he comes to die, he will be his Lord in that trying hour, and his Lord to all eternity. IV. Jesus is Lord of all by universal conquest. The extent of the conquest of Jesus was one of the great leading themes of prophecy. 'All kings shall fall down before him: all nations shall serve him.'† 'And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him.' To illustrate the reign and conquest of the Lord of all, the most beautiful imagery is everywhere employed by the inspired writers. But we must close, and we cannot finish better than by citing the words of the Apostle, wherein he looks forward to the final subjection of all things to Christ as the Lord of all in the highest and sublimest sense! 'God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.'|| *1 Cor. xv. 22. Psa. lxxii. 11. Phil. ii. 9-11. LII. MAN. 'Ye men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man approved of God among you by miracles, and wonders, and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know.' Acts ii. 22. THIS word is applied to the Saviour in seven instances. The term is put both for the body and the mind, 2 Cor. iv. 16; the sins and corruptions of human nature, Eph. iv. 22. and valor, 1 Cor. xvi. 13. weakness, Psa. ix. 20. It is put for the church, Eph. ii. 15. It is also applied to God, Ex. xv. 3. Jesus generally called himself the Son of Man.* Put also for courage This title seems, at first sight, to lower the character of the Redeemer. It appears the more singular when we find the distinguishing names, attributes, and even works of the Supreme Being ascribed to him. We seem indeed perplexed, especially when we find that 'even the winds and the sea obey him.' We ask in astonishment, like the Apostles of old, 'What manner of Man is this?' The Trinitarian answers the whole matter at once, by saying, that though Jesus was but one person, yet he possessed two natures. His doctrine is, that one of the three infinite minds in the Godhead was so united to a hu * See title SON. man soul as to form one intelligent being, and retaining the properties both of the God and of the Man. On this opinion we present the following views of an excellent controversialist: 'By the Nature of any thing we always mean its Qualities. When therefore it is said, that Jesus Christ possesses both a Divine and a Human Nature, it must be meant, that he possesses both the qualities of God and the qualities of Man. But, if we consider what these qualities are, we perceive them to be totally incompatible with one another. The qualities of God are eternity, independence, immutability, entire and perpetual exemption from pain and death, omniscience, and omnipotence. The qualities of Man are, derived existence, dependence, liability to change, to suffering, and to dissolution, comparative weakness and ignorance. To maintain, therefore, that the same mind is endued both with a Divine and a Human nature, is to maintain, that the same mind is both created and uncreated, both finite and infinite, both dependent and independent, both changeable and unchangeable, both mortal and immortal, both susceptible of pain and incapable of it, both able to do all things and not able, both acquainted with all things and not acquainted with them, both ignorant of certain subjects and possessed of the most intimate knowledge of them. If it be not certain, that such a doctrine as this is false, there is no certainty upon any subject. It is in vain to call it a mystery; it is an absurdity, it is an impossibility.'* * A Vindication of Unitarianism, in reply to Mr. Wardlaw's Discourses on the Socinian Controversy. By JAMES YATES. Chap. iv. part iii. Our own views are well expressed in this paragraph; but we add, that whether we adopt the Trinitarian, or the Humanitarian scheme, we are liable to arrive at incorrect conclusions. In the view of the writer, both are extremes. In a qualified sense, we think the popular Trinitarian phrase to be correct, that Jesus was both God and Man. He was clothed with the attributes of Deity, and yet 'bore our griefs, and carried our sorrows.' He resembled God in stilling the elements of the physical world, in forgiving sins, and in raising the dead, and in various acts of his life. The winds, the waves, the rocks, the sun, the earth, the heavens, all were subject to the Man Christ Jesus! But then in nearly every instance he acknowledged that his power was given to him of the Father. In Jesus of Nazareth, a Man approved of God, we see the Deity moving and acting before us; that is, we see a bright, unclouded, moral exhibition of the great Father. In this Man, God shines upon us in all his brightness and glory.* If the expression be allowed, we think the Man Christ Jesus holds an elevation in the scale of being occupied by no one else. We do not wish to mysticise; but we confess that while we do not like to level the Redeemer with man, we are also opposed to making him equal with God. Every thing relating to Jesus is peculiar. His whole mission is grand; his character is perfect, and every thing that he does commands our admiration, and calls forth our reverence. When we come, therefore, to place him in the scale of being, we find difficulties unthought of before. The longer * See title IMAGE. |