December 1929
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though existing eternally in the Godhead and continuing to exist in that state even when He became incarnate, did not cling to the prerogatives of divine majesty, but divested Himself of the outward mani festation of these and took upon Him the nature of a servant, assuming the likeness of men. And having done so, He hum bled Himself, becoming obedient unto death, even the shameful death of the cross.” The interpretation that has been given of this classical passage gives no coun tenance to the various modern Kenotic theories. It leaves us with what the Church of Christ has always held, that in the Incarnation we have a true divine nature and a real human nature joined together in a mysterious union in the one Person, and that forever. of light when the blind men cried out for Jesus to have mercy upon them; but they could not see it until He opened their eyes. So, today, there are floods of light upon every matter over which so many people perplex themselves —upon our duty, our relations one to another ; upon what is right and what is wrong among men ; upon our responsibility to God; upon His law, His love, His divine selfhood. And yet, amid the effulgence of this sunset hour, some pray for light upon these very things when they should be following in confident obedience the light which is pouring its glory around them. “I f any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine." Let us pray, “God, give us eyes.”— Selected. tom of going to the synagogue and that Jesus was influenced by habits. “From earliest childhood He had been accustomed to go to the synagogue every Sabbath. In His mature years, He continued this habit as a matter of course. There are some peo ple nowadays who have a fresh struggle with the question each Sunday morning, ’Shall I, or shall I not, go to church?’ If the weather is a trifle cloudy, or warm, or cold, the problem is all the harder. Jesus was spared all this struggle from week to week, simply because going to the syna gogue was His custom. He did not have to exert any will power in the matter. In fact, it doubtless would have required an effort of will to stay away.” Light and Sight S OME men pray for light when what they need is sight. There was plenty Jesus a Churchgoer H . B. HUNTING calls attention to Luke 4:16, showing our Lord’s cus
ceding verse, emphasizes the voluntariness of this step in the humiliation and also suggests that the act was accompanied by the same self-consciousness of deity which is implied in the fact that He was still subsisting in the form of God. “It is this continuous self-consciousness of the Son of God that gives the true measure,” says Dr. Gifford, “of His transcendent humility, in every act of submission to His Father’s will, in suffering patiently endured, in man’s ingratitude meekly borne, and finally in obedience unto death, even the death of the cross” ( The Incar nation, p. 45), T he L owest S tep : “U nto D eath , E ven T he D eath of the C ross ” That He who was the “eternal life [the life that had no beginning and shall have no ending] which was with the Fa ther” should die, is a mystery of myster ies ; but that in dying He should die a shameful death on the accursed tree, surely brings home to us in some mea sure the depth of our Lord’s humiliation and enforces as far as language can en force the ¡apostle’s exhortation to the Philippians to have the same mind as was in Christ Jesus. Such a mind would most effectually destroy all self-seeking and glory and make a speedy end of the dissension and strife which marred the unity of the Philippian Church. The obedience of the Son of God was of such a nature that it was not only perfect up to death but in rendering it He had to die. And in dying, that it should be on the accursed tree—“For cursed is every one that hangeth upon a tree.” This was the lowest step and from these depths He was raised to heights proportionately great. He who humbled Himself lower than any, was raised high above all others and gave a supreme fulfillment to the divine law that "he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.” Athanasius is w o r t h q u o t i n g in this connection. “For as He was ever worshiped as being the Word,” he says, “and subsisting in the form of God, so being the same, and having become man, and been called Jesus, He none the less has the whole creation under foot and bending their knees to Him in His name, and confessing that the Word’s becoming flesh, and undergoing death in flesh, has not happened against the glory of His Godhead, but to the glory of the Father. For it is the Father’s glory that man, made, and then lost, should be found again; and when dead, that he should be made alive, and should become God’s temple” ( Contra Arian., I, sec. 37). We have now accomplished the task of an attempt to interpret Phil. 2:5-8 and it now only remains to give a summary of
Christus Vivens B y R ev . B enjamin F. P aist 0 Infant Christ of Bethlehem, By angel chorus sung, The wise of earth still laud Thy birth, In many a human tongue. O toiling Christ o f Nazareth, Whose days were full of care, The workman now with sweated brow Reveres Thee everywhere. O pleading Christ of Olivet, Upon Thy lonely way, Forgive our cheap and, selfish sleep, And teach us how to pray. O bleeding Christ of Golgotha, Thy death for us is life, ’Twas not in vain God’s Lamb was slain, A victim in the strife. O living Christ of every age, Thy kingdom plant within, Then souls of light will boldly fight The tempting hosts of sin.
the conclusions reached: 1. It has been shown that {¡■Kapxcw, subsisting, denotes both the preexistence and the continued existence in the form qf God. 2. It has also been seen that poppi) Qeov, form of God, includes the whole nature and es- sense of Deity, and is inseparable from them; that it does not include in itself anything separable and that the Son of God could not possibly divest Himself of the “form of God” at His incarnation without thereby ceasing to be God. 3. It has also been seen that laa Qe
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