rose from the dead (1 John, 1. 1-3); for he was then no longer in the flesh; though in flesh, for he had a glorified body, that is, a body like unto the angels, in which he was taken up into heaven. (Acts, 1. 1-3, 9, 10.) When we know that the Son of God is the Word of God, we understand how God made all things by means of him (John, 1. 3. Heb. 1. 2); and when we know that God who has created all things is one with the Son and manifested in him, we can comprehend how the Son created all things. (Col. 1. 15-19; 2. 9.) II. The Son of God is manifested as the Lord and the Christ by his resurrection from the dead. I saw in the night-visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom shall not be destroyed.' (Dan 7. 13, 14. Comp. Isa. 9. 6, 7; Luke, 1. 32, 33.) 'Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both the Lord and the Christ.' (Acts, 2. 36. Comp. 5. 31; Luke, 2. 11.) All power is given to me in heaven and in earth.' (Matt. 28. 18.) As God accepted the sacrifice of Jesus for the salvation of the souls of the elect, he glorified him by raising him from the dead, and he made him the Lord and the Saviour of his people, according to his promise, as it is written in the book of Isaiah, 'By his knowledge shall my righteous slave justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul (life) unto death' (53. 11, 12); for he Was delivered because of our offences, and was raised again because of our justification.' (Rev. 4. 25.) And David, speaking in the Spirit of the resurrection and the glory of his Son, saith, 'I will declare the decree, Jehovah hath said unto me: Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I will give thee the nations for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possessions.' (Ps. 11. 7, 8. Comp. Acts, 13. 33.) And, again, 'Jehovah said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand till I make thine enemies thy footstool' (Ps. 110. 1. Matt. 22. 42-45); and the prophet Isaiah testifies of his glory, saying, 'And now, saith Jehovah that formed me from the womb to be his slave, to bring back Jacob again to him, though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of Jehovah, and my God shall be my strength.' (Isa. 49. 5.) What is man, saith the Spirit, that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man, that thou visitest him? Thou madest him for a little while inferior to the angels; thou crownest him with glory and honour; thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he hath put all things in subjection under him he left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see this Jesus who was made for a little while lower than the angels crowned with glory and honour on account of the death which he suffered for all men.' (Heb. 2. 6-9. Comp. Heb. 13. 20; Rom. 4. 25.) That Jesus was raised again from the dead by God and justified in Spirit, that is, in power as his Son, and therefore as the Christ, on account of his sacrifice for the sins of his brethren, as he himself announced, is shown by the following scriptures, namely, Matt. 16. 21. John, 17. 4, 5. Acts, 2. 24, 32. Luke, 24. 25, 26. Rom. 1. 4. 1 Cor. 6. 14. 1 Thess. 1. 10. 2 Tim. 2. 8. Phil. 2. 8-11. Col. 2. 12. Heb. 11. 35. 1 Pet. 1. 20. (Rom. 1. 4. He And hence to confess that Jesus is come in flesh, is to confess that God raised him from the dead, and to acknowledge him to be the Lord (1 Cor. 12. 3. Rom. 10. 9), for he was declared to be the Son of God in power by the resurrection from the dead. Matt. 28. 18. John, 1. 14. 1 Tim. 3. 16. 1 Pet. 3. 18.) And it was by the power of God that he was awakened from the dead and glorified (Acts, 5. 30, 31), for though he was crucified in weakness he liveth by the power of God (2 Cor. 13. 4. Eph. 1. 19, 20); having been put to death in the flesh, but made to live in Spirit (1 Pet. 3. 18), that is in power. is the Lord of all (Acts, 10. 36. Eph. 1. 9, 10, 20-23. Heb. 1. 2), the Prince of the kings of the earth (Rev. 1. 5), for though Satan is the chief of the world, yet his designs are overruled by God who poureth contempt upon princes, and causeth them to wander in the wilderness.' (Ps. 107.40.) How wonderful it is, my brethren, to think that the Son of Man, who was in all things made like unto us, who was despised and rejected by men, should, now that he is glorified, have all power in heaven and on earth! For which glory he prayed to God before he suffered, saying, 'I have glorified thee on the earth, I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do; and now, O Father, glorify thou me with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.' (John, 17. 4, 5. Comp. 7. 39; 12. 16-28; 13. 3, 31; 17. 24.) That the Son of God was glorified before the foundation of the world is evident, for he was appointed to be the Mediator between God and men before God created it, as the Spirit testifies, saying, 'Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; but with the precious blood of the Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: who, verily, was appointed before the foundation of the world, but was manifested at the end of the time for you.' (1 Pet. 1. 18-20. Comp. Rom. 3. 25; Mic. 5. 2-5.) Now, as in the mind of God his only Son was appointed to be the Mediator of the covenant of grace before the foundation of the world, it follows, that he was glorified before the foundation of the world, for all things are present to the mind of the Eternal, who accomplisheth all things according to the good pleasure of his will. And accordingly his prayer was heard; and his disciples saw his glory as the Son of God when he was manifested in flesh (John, 1. 14); having been made perfect through suffering (Heb. 2. 10. Luke, 13. 32; 24. 26), for he told his disciples, in speaking of his death, that he would be made perfect, that is, glorified, the third day. (Luke, 13. 32.) And hence the angel of God said unto the shepherds, 'Unto you is born in the city of David, a Saviour, who is the Christ, the Lord.' (Luke, 2. 11.) And Elisabeth called Mary, The mother of her Lord. (Luke, 1. 43.) For to this end the Christ died and lived that he might be the Lord of the dead and the living. Comp. Matt. 22. 43.) 6 (Rom. 14. 9. And of the glory and power of the Son of God Paul testifies, saying of him, And being in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God 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 that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is the Lord, to the glory of God the Father.' (Phil. 2. 8-11.) Thus Jesus, for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, 'despising the shame, and is set down on the right hand of the throne of God.' (Heb. 12. 2. Comp. Heb. 2. 7-10.) For he was manifested to destroy the works of the devil, and having finished the work that God gave him to do, his Father raised him again from the dead, for he who delivered him for our offences raised him again because of our justification (Rom. 4. 25); for God glorified him on account of his obedience and made him the heir of all things (Matt. 21. 38), and hath put in subjection to him the world to come, that is, the generations which shall be on the earth when he shall come again in glory, for as yet we see not all things subject to him (Heb. 2. 8), and he shall reign for ever over the house of Israel. (Luke, 1. 32, 33. 2 Pet. 3. 18. Heb. 1. 5-11. Comp. 2 Sam. 7. 12.) Jesus was born King of the Jews, and he died as King of the Jews (Matt. 2. 2; 27. 37); but his kingdom is not temporal, but spiritual (John, 18. 36), and it was not established till God raised him from the dead, when all power was given to him in heaven and on earth. (Matt. 28. 18.) There was no King of Israel from Zedekiah till the Son of David came to the throne, according to the prophecy of Ezekiel (37. 20-28. 2 Chron. 36. 11), for the Spirit testified that 'The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.' (Gen. 49. 10.) pensation, which was a theocracy, house of Israel as king (Judg. 8. 23. dispensation of grace the kingly office is conferred on his Son (Matt. 22. 42, 45; 25. 31-46), for 'At length the lawgiver hath come forth, whose goings forth have been of old, from the days of eternity, who shall rule over the house of Jacob for ever.' (Mic. 5. 2-5.) Under the Mosaic dis- The Son glorified of God is the last Adam, being the first of all the new creation of God (Rev. 3. 14; 21. 5), for he is the first-born among many brethren (Rom. 8. 29), being the first man born from the dead, that among all he might have the pre-eminence (Col. 1. 18. Heb. 1. 7-9); and as the King of the Israel of God he now sits on the throne |