CHAPTER 15 THE MEDIATOR CONTINUED.
We can scarcely read this text without being reminded of what Paul says, [Phil. 2:9-11,] “Wherefore God hath highly exalted him, and hath 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.” This name, which is above every name, of things in heaven or earth, is given to Jesus in consequence of his having humbled himself unto death; it was his human nature, or Jesus as man that was humbled unto death, and as man he was exalted, and this name which is above every name, was given to him; or was written on his vesture that was dipped in blood, which shows the purple gore of his former humiliation, and the severe battle in which he had been engaged, when he by death destroyed him that had the power of death, and trod the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God; and having arose from the dead, spoiling principalities and powers, he brought life and immortality to light, and receives this name, which is above every name, and it is written on his vesture, which was dipped in blood, and on his thigh in capitals, to show the victory he has won, and that his enemies are all under his feet, and in capitals to make it the more conspicuous, and to show that he is God as well as man, and as Godman he is King of saints, and this victorious name is given to, and written upon his human nature, to show that in the human nature the battle was fought and the victory won, as well as to show the exaltation of our nature, and give us full confidence in this conquering king and glorious mediator. This exaltation seems to denote his victory as king of saints, which he gained by his death and blood upon the cross, and his glorious resurrection from the dead; but this exalted king was of no recent appointment, he did not come into office after his birth of Mary, but he had come into this world to perform this arduous, this painful, but victorious tour of duty, in his kingly office.
Shall I say he came into this world as the Captain of the Lord’s hosts, to vanquish every opposer, and lead his subjects to victory and glory immortal. But who will say he was not in this office ages before? Even in the days of Joshua, about fourteen hundred and fifty years before his birth at Bethlehem, he appeared as man in this office. See Joshua 5:13-15, “And it came to pass when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand, and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, art thou for us, or for our adversaries? And he said, Nay; but as captain [or prince] of the host of the Lord am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, what saith my Lord unto his servant? And the captain of the Lord’s host said unto Joshua, loose the shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy, and Joshua did so.”
Here we see that about 1451 years before the gospel era, that the man who was the captain of the Lord’s host, appeared to Joshua. I cannot believe this captain was an angel, for Joshua was not forbid to worship him, and the scripture plainly says he was a man, and I simply believe the fact; that is, I believe that God in the man appeared to, and was worshipped by Joshua. Again, the man Christ appeared to Nebuchadnezzar. Dan. 3:24, “Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonished, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counsellors, did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered, and said unto the king, True, O king. He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.”
Here as a king or deliverer of his three subjects; the Son of God, the man appeared in human form, was visible to the heathen king about 580 years before the birth of Christ, for he was seen as a man, and this form [perhaps the glory and majesty of it, and the miracle of leading his servants loose and without hurt in the midst of the flames] caused the king to say he was like the Son of God, and John in Rev. l:13, saw this same character in his glorious majesty, and said he was like the son of man; and if we read the majestic description which John gives of him, perhaps we may learn the form in which he appeared to Nebuchadnezzar, which caused him to say his “form is like the son of God.” Now he was seen as man, then he must have been in being as man, for we cannot suppose they saw him who was not in being; then in scripture language we say, they saw the man, and of course the man did then exist.
God was only visible in the man, nor did mortal man ever see God, other than in the veil of humanity, for God is invisible in his essence, and only visible in the divine glory of the mediator in his manhood, or as God is the visible glory of the man, thus we have beheld the glory of God in the face or person of Christ. Having noticed a few out of many places where God in the man appeared to the old saints in the capacity of a prophet, priest, and king; all of which offices he sustains as mediator, I shall next attempt to show that God is only visible in the human nature, and was never seen by man without it.
First: I shall show that God in the divine essence, or without the mediator, was never seen by man.
Secondly: That God has been frequently seen, but always in the mediator.
Thirdly: Speak of the mediator as the medium by which God was seen, and how the scriptures are reconciled in him.
1. We are to show that God in the divine essence, or without the mediator, was never seen by man. This I shall settle by positive scripture. See John 1:13. “No man hath seen God at any time.” The same words are recorded in I John 4:12 and I Tim. 6:16, “Who only bath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see.” Exod. 33:20, “And he said, thou canst not see my face; for there shall no man see me and live.” If these witnesses are to be believed, we need not call in any others; and if John, Paul, and God himself are not sufficient witnesses to place this point beyond all doubt, we despair of evidence to prove anything; and it may never again be said, “in the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established”.
Secondly. I shall show that God has been seen frequently, but always in the mediator. See Gen. 32:30, “For I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.” Exod. 24:10-11, “And they saw the God of Israel.” “And upon the nobles of the children of Israel he laid not his hand; also they saw God and did eat and drink.” Judges 13:22, “And Manoah said unto his wife, we shall surely die, because we have seen God.” To such as will be convinced by positive scripture language, or will admit of the scripture as an evidence in such cases, this point is sufficiently demonstrated. Then the scripture, in language too nervous to be misconstrued, or evaded, declare in pointed terms, that “no man hath seen God at any time;” and again they declare that certain men, at sundry times have seen him.
These scriptures are irreconcilable in my mind, if I do not admit the pre-existence of the mediator, the man Christ Jesus; but this being admitted, all is easy, for God was seen, or the divine majesty and glory was seen in the visible man or mediator; and so where he was seen he was frequently called a man. It is said in John 5:37, “Ye have neither heard his voice [God’s] at any time nor seen his shape.” Yet we know that the scriptures declare to us that many, very many of the old saints and prophets have seen him in shape as a man, and have heard his voice again and again. Now this apparent paradox is found in the Bible, and if the mediator in human nature or as man had no existence before his birth of Mary, I cannot reconcile those scriptures; but if he did then exist, all is as easy to reconcile as for us to read where Jesus said, “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father.”
So according to John, we have “beheld his glory, [that is, God’s] the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” “God was in Christ.” Thus when Christ the mediator was seen in the visible man, the glory of the invisible God was beheld in him, for “the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.” So no man hath seen or can see God, I Tim. 6:16, for divinity is invisible, but the man Christ Jesus, who is the mediator between God and men, was seen by Manoah, the nobles of Israel, Abraham, and Joshua, with many others of the old saints and prophets, before the gospel day, and also by the apostles and evangelists in the Gospel dispensation. And as God was in Christ; and the divine glory conspicuously revealed to men in him; it may be well said, he that hath seen Christ hath seen God; but in no other way is God visible to men for “no man knoweth the Father but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him.”
Then it evidently appears that while God is invisible; and in his essence was never seen by man, yet in the man, the mediator, God was seen frequently, but always in the mediator; therefore, in the mediator, both natures, divine and human, or God and man, was in actual existence in the patriarchal, as well as the apostolic age; and this glory of the Deity was seen in the visible humanity, and both natures were proper and essential to him as mediator. This brings us to the third proposition, which is to speak of the mediator as the medium by which God was seen, and how the Scriptures are reconciled in him.
Shall I say he came into this world as the Captain of the Lord’s hosts, to vanquish every opposer, and lead his subjects to victory and glory immortal. But who will say he was not in this office ages before? Even in the days of Joshua, about fourteen hundred and fifty years before his birth at Bethlehem, he appeared as man in this office. See Joshua 5:13-15, “And it came to pass when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand, and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, art thou for us, or for our adversaries? And he said, Nay; but as captain [or prince] of the host of the Lord am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, what saith my Lord unto his servant? And the captain of the Lord’s host said unto Joshua, loose the shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy, and Joshua did so.”
Here we see that about 1451 years before the gospel era, that the man who was the captain of the Lord’s host, appeared to Joshua. I cannot believe this captain was an angel, for Joshua was not forbid to worship him, and the scripture plainly says he was a man, and I simply believe the fact; that is, I believe that God in the man appeared to, and was worshipped by Joshua. Again, the man Christ appeared to Nebuchadnezzar. Dan. 3:24, “Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonished, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counsellors, did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered, and said unto the king, True, O king. He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.”
Here as a king or deliverer of his three subjects; the Son of God, the man appeared in human form, was visible to the heathen king about 580 years before the birth of Christ, for he was seen as a man, and this form [perhaps the glory and majesty of it, and the miracle of leading his servants loose and without hurt in the midst of the flames] caused the king to say he was like the Son of God, and John in Rev. l:13, saw this same character in his glorious majesty, and said he was like the son of man; and if we read the majestic description which John gives of him, perhaps we may learn the form in which he appeared to Nebuchadnezzar, which caused him to say his “form is like the son of God.” Now he was seen as man, then he must have been in being as man, for we cannot suppose they saw him who was not in being; then in scripture language we say, they saw the man, and of course the man did then exist.
God was only visible in the man, nor did mortal man ever see God, other than in the veil of humanity, for God is invisible in his essence, and only visible in the divine glory of the mediator in his manhood, or as God is the visible glory of the man, thus we have beheld the glory of God in the face or person of Christ. Having noticed a few out of many places where God in the man appeared to the old saints in the capacity of a prophet, priest, and king; all of which offices he sustains as mediator, I shall next attempt to show that God is only visible in the human nature, and was never seen by man without it.
First: I shall show that God in the divine essence, or without the mediator, was never seen by man.
Secondly: That God has been frequently seen, but always in the mediator.
Thirdly: Speak of the mediator as the medium by which God was seen, and how the scriptures are reconciled in him.
1. We are to show that God in the divine essence, or without the mediator, was never seen by man. This I shall settle by positive scripture. See John 1:13. “No man hath seen God at any time.” The same words are recorded in I John 4:12 and I Tim. 6:16, “Who only bath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see.” Exod. 33:20, “And he said, thou canst not see my face; for there shall no man see me and live.” If these witnesses are to be believed, we need not call in any others; and if John, Paul, and God himself are not sufficient witnesses to place this point beyond all doubt, we despair of evidence to prove anything; and it may never again be said, “in the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established”.
Secondly. I shall show that God has been seen frequently, but always in the mediator. See Gen. 32:30, “For I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.” Exod. 24:10-11, “And they saw the God of Israel.” “And upon the nobles of the children of Israel he laid not his hand; also they saw God and did eat and drink.” Judges 13:22, “And Manoah said unto his wife, we shall surely die, because we have seen God.” To such as will be convinced by positive scripture language, or will admit of the scripture as an evidence in such cases, this point is sufficiently demonstrated. Then the scripture, in language too nervous to be misconstrued, or evaded, declare in pointed terms, that “no man hath seen God at any time;” and again they declare that certain men, at sundry times have seen him.
These scriptures are irreconcilable in my mind, if I do not admit the pre-existence of the mediator, the man Christ Jesus; but this being admitted, all is easy, for God was seen, or the divine majesty and glory was seen in the visible man or mediator; and so where he was seen he was frequently called a man. It is said in John 5:37, “Ye have neither heard his voice [God’s] at any time nor seen his shape.” Yet we know that the scriptures declare to us that many, very many of the old saints and prophets have seen him in shape as a man, and have heard his voice again and again. Now this apparent paradox is found in the Bible, and if the mediator in human nature or as man had no existence before his birth of Mary, I cannot reconcile those scriptures; but if he did then exist, all is as easy to reconcile as for us to read where Jesus said, “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father.”
So according to John, we have “beheld his glory, [that is, God’s] the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” “God was in Christ.” Thus when Christ the mediator was seen in the visible man, the glory of the invisible God was beheld in him, for “the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.” So no man hath seen or can see God, I Tim. 6:16, for divinity is invisible, but the man Christ Jesus, who is the mediator between God and men, was seen by Manoah, the nobles of Israel, Abraham, and Joshua, with many others of the old saints and prophets, before the gospel day, and also by the apostles and evangelists in the Gospel dispensation. And as God was in Christ; and the divine glory conspicuously revealed to men in him; it may be well said, he that hath seen Christ hath seen God; but in no other way is God visible to men for “no man knoweth the Father but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him.”
Then it evidently appears that while God is invisible; and in his essence was never seen by man, yet in the man, the mediator, God was seen frequently, but always in the mediator; therefore, in the mediator, both natures, divine and human, or God and man, was in actual existence in the patriarchal, as well as the apostolic age; and this glory of the Deity was seen in the visible humanity, and both natures were proper and essential to him as mediator. This brings us to the third proposition, which is to speak of the mediator as the medium by which God was seen, and how the Scriptures are reconciled in him.
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