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T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
December, 1938
A S YOU hear the angel of the Lord r \ speak to the shepherds on the hill- J - -»-side, what does the angel declare? “Unto you is bom this day in the city of David. . . ” What? A friend, a humani tarian, a social worker, a philosopher, a teacher of ethics, an example? No, “a Saviour." The uniqueness of the personality of the Lord Jesus Christ explains His sinlessness. Many people ask an explanation for His sinlessness in the light of what is contained in the Scriptures that there is nothing clean born of woman, according to the teaching in the Book of Job. How could Jesus be sinless and still be born of a woman? What difference does the Virgin Birth make? As the pre-existent Son of God, He "emptied himself” and was bom of a virgin. Does it make any difference whether He was bom of the Virgin Mary or not? It makes a great deal of difference. If He had not been born of a virgin, He would have been a natural man. He would have been the same type of personality as you and I. If He had not been a higher personality, His work of redemption could not have been supernatural. Because He was bom into the world a unique personality, His work on Calvary was a unique work. Jesus was bom into the world of the Virgin Mary in such a way that He could be sinless and still be human at the same time. Blessed mystery! Why a Sinless Personality? In the realm of personalism, there is the “Principle of Inclusion and Exclusion.” What is the meaning of this principle? Here is a woman. As you look at this woman, is she a com bination of her father and mother? No, you know that all human beings have inherited some of the characteristics of their fathers and mothers, but they are not a combination of father and mother. Each one is a unique conception. They are in dividuals, and in their individual personality they have inherited some of the traits of both mother and father, and have excluded others. That is the reason that in some families you will see brothers and sisters who are totally different. One included more of mother and excluded more of fa ther, and one included more of father and excluded more of mother. The same process goes back generation after generation, and as it goes back ¿here is not the same amount
of inclusion and exclusion in each child, and that is the reason we are all different. Each personality varies in the inclusion and exclusion of inherited traits, characteristics, and tendencies. On the same basis Jesus’ sinlessness is explained. As Jesus was born of the Virgin, what did He include? He included all of humanity. He was born of a woman, but what did He exclude? He excluded all of the sinful. What was the inclusion and ex clusion on the divine side? The inclusion that took place as Jesus came into the world, was the inclusion of deity, and the exclu sion was the exclusion of Spirit life. He was Spirit as the pre-existing Son of God. There was the exclusion of Spirit life, and as He was conceived of the Holy Spirit there was a unique conception and there was the inclusion of deity. On the human side there was the inclusion of humanity and exclu sion of the sinful. On the divine side there was the exclusion of Spirit and inclusion of deity. Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary. His was a unique personality. He was not bom into the world in the natural process of con ception, but He was conceived of the Holy Spirit. He was not human and divine. He was the humandivine. He is GODMAN, not with a hyphen, but without a hyphen. He is a unique personality. There can not be any dual personality, any dual nature. Neither can there be a Christ as God and Man. He is the one personality, the GOD- MAN. He is a unique person, bom the GODMAN, born truly human, with the exclusion of the sinful. Only thus could He be the Saviour of mankind. People have often asked, “What differ ence does it make whether you believe in physical resurrection or not?” It makes a great difference. If Jesus’ resurrection had been just a phantasma, a sort of spiritual resurrection, we would not have the assur ance that the work of Calvary had been efficacious and atoning. The physical bod ily resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ is God’s receipt for that debt which was paid on Calvary, and we have the attestation of history—we have the attestation of those who saw Him after He was raised from the grave. He was not any mere spirit. They saw Him, and when Thomas doubted, he was given the opportunity to put his fingers in the nail prints and in the spear-pierced side. The reality of physical bodily resur rection was sufficient; he cried, “My Lord and my God.” He recognized that this was more than a spiritual resurrection. This was a physical, bodily resurrection of his Lord. Recognizing the physical resurrection as a supernatural work, we realize that it would be impossible to have a supernatural resur rection and yet to have only a natural birth. The supernatural is obvious in the work of redemption, and the supernatural must be seen in the personality of Jesus from the Virgin Birth through the physical resurrection. It must be logical; it must be consistent. Because of that physical resur rection, we know His work on Calvary was efficacious. His atoning work was sufficient to pay the debt of mankind. It was suffi- Physical Resurrection and Other Supernatural Facts
Christ Jesus I clent for the remission of your sins. It was sufficient also to make it possible for me to be a new creation through the Lord Jesus Christ. Unique Blood The blood plays a very important part in the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Scripture says that without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sin (cf. Heb. 9:22). Scripture also gives a very definite scien tific fact when it says: “The life of the flesh is in the blood” (Lev. 17:11). Life is in the blood. W e see Jesus as He died on the cross. His blood dripped from that cross. ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ Grace of God- pages, is himself a testimony to the power of the Lord Jesus Christ. A young man of thirty-three years, Dr. Kallenbach is one of the most careful students and eloquent preachers in the evangelistic field. In his early youth, he was an outstand ing athlete in a great university. Then he was for several years solo trumpeter with Paul Whiteman's orchestra. Coming in contact with the corruption in European courts and elsewhere while on an orches tra tour, he knew from personal experi ence the sorrow of sin and worldly living. and He gives life through the shedding of this blood. What is there about the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ that makes it pos sible for Him to give life? Would not the blood of any one have been sufficient? W as not the blood of goats and bullocks suffi cient for sacrifice? No, there had to be a unique blood, greater than all the sins of mankind, more powerful than the blood of goats and bullocks. W as not Jesus’ blood the blood of a woman? W as not His blood the same human blood all of us have in our veins? It was d ifferen t from any blood in the world, different from yours and mine. W hy was it different? It was different be cause of His unique conception and because of His unique personality. It used to be said that a mother gave her blood to her children. Many mothers have said, "This child is flesh of my flesh and Walter D. Kallen- bach, blind evan gelist, author of the article on these
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