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g. T h e W o rd d id n o t acqu ire p er- sonality b y th e incarnation . T h e W o rd w as a p erso n b e fo re H is in carnation , “H e w as w ith G o d , an d was G o d .” H e w as as tru ly a p e r son b e fo re H is in ca rn a tio n as a fte r H is in c a rn a tio n ; b u t b e fo re H is in c a rn a tio n H e was pu re ly an d sim ply a D ivine p e rso n ; a t H is in c a rn a tion H e b e c am e a D iv ine-hum an person. ( 2 ) T h e In c a rn a tion as a H istoric F a c t— He “tabernacled among us.” T h e in c a rn a tio n to o k p lace a t a definite time, an d w as m an ife sted in a definite historical person , in a defi n ite place. T h e G re ek w o rd which is tra n sla te d “dw e lt” in th e A u th o r ized V ersion a n d th e R ev ised V e r sion a n d in th e Am erican R evision m ean s literally “ ta b e rn a c led ” o r “ te n te d .” J e h o v a h in O ld T e s ta m en t tim es w a lk ed in a te n t a n d in a tab e rn a c le (2 Sam . 7 :6 ) , b u t th a t O ld T e stam en t ta b e rn a c le was sim ply a ty p e o f th e tru e tab e rn a c le in which Je h o v a h shou ld dwell am ong H is p e o p le a n d fully m an i fest H is g lo ry— th a t is, Jesu s Christ. T h e re m ay b e found in th e G re ek w o rd used a referen ce to th e She- k inah which seem s to b e d e riv ed from th e sam e root. T h is seem s to b e likely from th e em phasis th a t is la id in this verse u p o n th e w ords, “W e b e h e ld His glory.” J o h n says n o t m erely H e tab e rn a c led on earth , b u t H e ta b e rn a c led among us — th a t is, am o n g tho se w ho like J o h n him self w ere eye w itnesses of H is life. It is ev id en t th a t th e w riter o f this G o spel w as eith e r one o f th e apo sto lic com p an y o r else p re te n d e d to b e w h a t h e w as not. No really sp iritually -m inded m an will h av e an y difficulty in d e cid ing which of these a lte rn a tiv e s is th e tru th in th e m atter. ( 3 ) T h e A p o stle ’s P e rson a l T e s tim ony to th e F a c t a n d C h a ra c te r of th e In c a rn a te W o rd : “We beheld His glory: glory as of the only be
gotten from the Father.” Jo h n is w riting, n o t m erely o f som eth ing which he h a d h e a rd from others, b u t of som eth ing w hich h e h a d b eh e ld w ith his own eyes. (cf. 1 J o h n 1 :1 ). T h e w o rd tra n sla ted “b e h e ld ” is a v e ry stro n g w o rd , which m ean s to “view attentively,” “contemplate.” J o h n h a d n o t m e re ly seen th e L o rd Jesus, th e in c a rn a te W o rd , he h a d scrutinized H im , stu d ied H im , c o n tem p la te d H im , lo o k ed up o n H im w ith intense adm ira tio n . D oub tless m an y o f us h av e o ften w ished th a t w e m ight h av e this sam e o p p o rtu n ity o f b e h o ld in g H im . W e m ay hav e it. By th e H o ly S p irit’s p ow e r we m ay b eh o ld H im as H e m anifests H im self to us in th e W o rd a n d in th e sa c ram en t o f th e L o rd ’s Supper, a n d d ire c tly to ou r h e a rts (Jo h n 1 4 :2 1 ). W h a t J o h n b eh e ld as he gazed u p o n th e L o rd Jesu s was “glory.” In th e use o f this w o rd a p a ra lle l b e tw e en G o d ’s p resen ce in th e tab e rn a c le o f o ld an d G o d ’s real presence in th e ta b e rn a c le o f C h rist’s p erso n is em phasized . N ow an d th en on ra re occasions, th e L o rd m an ife sted H is g lo ry in th e ta b e r nacle in ■th e w ilderness (E xod . 4 0 :3 4 ) , b u t in th e p erso n o f Christ, G o d con stan tly a n d p e rm an en tly m anifests H is glory. T h e g lo ry thu s m en tio n ed in th e p erso n o f C hrist was “g lo ry as o f th e on ly b e g o tte n from th e F a th e r. It w as g lo ry seen in no o th e r person. T h e w o rd tra n s la ted “on ly b e g o tte n ” m ean s lite r ally as h e re tra n sla te d “on ly b e g o t ten, b u t in th e usage o f th e w o rd in th e New T estam en t, th e em phasis is n ev e r up o n th e fact o f H is being begotten b u t u p o n th e fa c t th a t H e is th e only One. E v eryw h ere in th e New T e stam en t ex c ep t w hen used of Christ, this G re ek w o rd is used to d escrib e a n on ly child. (L u k e 7 :1 2 - 8 :4 2 ; 9 :3 8 ; H eb . 1 1 :1 7 .) T h è th o u g h t which th e w o rd em phasizes is th a t C hrist is th e one only S on o f
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