Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1882-05-18
&eadina Tar the Sabbath.
CONDUCTED BY
REV. ROBERT LATHAM.
I(riginal.l
THE INCARNATION.


1t is the universal belief of all orthodox
Christians that Jesus Christ is both God and
man. ''The Word" we are told, 'was made
flesh and dwelt among us.' This is calledthe
incarnation. This is great mystery. No
finite mind can understand how two natures
the one divine and the other human-can he
united in one person. Paul, in his first eplstle
to Timothy, says: "Without controversy great
is the mystery of godliness." lie then goes
on to specify in what the mystery consists. 1t
is in the fact that God was manifested in the
flesh, justified in the spirit, seen of angels,
preached unto the Gentiles, believed Oh in the
world, received up into glory The incarna-
tion of the second person of the trinity Is a
doctrine purely of revelation. From no other
source can the fact be learned. The only thing
which the individual in search Of truth on this
subject has to do is to search the Scriptures
that he may learn what they teach.
Every one conversant with the New Testa-
ment Scriptures, will admit that Jesus Christ
is spoken of as both the son of man and the
son of God This means that he was possessed
of the nature of man and of the nature of God
He was begotten, conceived and born; he was
a babe, boy and a full grown man ; he was
hungry, and he was thirsty, he labofed and he
rested he was weary and he was refreshed.
His experience was that which was common to
his associates. In fact, it never was denied
that Jesus of NaZarath was a man. He never
attempted to conceal his humanity, but at the
same time, he declared that he was the son of
God. The incarnation of the Saviour is taught
in the Old Testament Scriptures as plainly as
it is in the New Testament. 1t would be an
almost endless undertaking to attempt to col
lect all the passages in the Old Testament in
which the incarnation of the Saviour is taught,
either directly or by legitimate inference. In
Genesis 3 IS it is said "Adam and Eve heard
the voice of the Lord God, walking in the gar
den.'' The words, literally translated, would
read thus: "And they heard the voice of Je-
hovah God going in the garden" The Ian
guage was designed to impress upon our minds
the fact that the Supreme being presented
himself in new and unexpected way. The
primitive notion which Adam had of God was
that he was pure spirit imperceptible by the
senses. Now, however, he hears him going in
the garden, in particular part of the garden
and he and Eve hide themselves in another
part.
From the general scope of the Old Testa-
ment Scriptures, confirmed by the teachings of
the New Testament. we know that the Jeh0-
yah God, who was heard going in the garden,
was Jesus Christ. This being the case, we
may assume that the first appearance that the
Saviour made to the human family, was God
manifest in the flesh.
1t is not claimed that Adam and Eve under
stood this, or that they at that time, expected
that God would send a deliverer who would
save them from their sin. In the first promise,
however that was made to them, the incarna-
tion of the Saviour was clearly revealed, and
they seem to have understood it, at least, in
part. In making an application of the prom
Use, they erred. The first promise which was
made to the human family is contained in the
curse which is pronounced upon the serpent
1t is found in Genesis 3: IA, Is, whichwe trans
late literally sand Jehovah God said to the
serpent because thou didst this, cursed art
thou from all the beasts and from all of the
living Of the field upon thy belly thou shalt
90, and dust thou shalt eat all of the days of
thy lives, and enmity shall put between thee
and between the woman, and between thy seed
and between her seed he shall hit thee on the
head and thou shalt hit the heel. The pronoun
she, >" in the last clause, evidently refers to the
seed of the woman. Not all the seed of the
woman as the pronoun ''it'' incorrectly used
in the authorized version would indicate, but
particular one Of the seed. This particular
one of the seed of the woman was to be a de-
liverer, in thathe would hit the serpent's head.
This indicates dominion.
From other passages of Scripture, we learn
that the particular one of the seed of the wo-
man who was to hit the serpent's head was
understood by Adam and Eve, and by all of
their descendants for many generations, and
by the Jews from the time of Abraham down
to the present time, to be divine person. In
Genesis4: we find these words: "And Adam
knew Eve his wife and she conceived and
bare Cain, and said have gotten man from
the Lord" The above is from the authorized
version, and is very good translation except
the last clause which is simply an interpreta-
tion and not translation. Eve did not say,
II have gotten man from the Lord - but she
said, 81 got man jehovah" She thought
that Cain was the seed of the woman who
would hit the head of the serpent. In other
words, she thought that Jehovah God had ac-
tually fulfilled the promise which he made
prior to driving the human family from the
Garden of Eden, and that Cain, her frst-born,
was the incarnate Jehovah. She made great
mistake, but still she shows by her mistake
that it had been revealed that the deliverer of
her and her offspring would be Jehovah incar-
nate, or God manifest in the flesh.
1t is a remarkable fact, that in all, or nearly
all, those visible or audible manifestations of
the Supreme being, it is not God that appears,
but Jehovah. 1t was Jehovah that appeared
to Cain after he had murdered his brother
Abel. In bodily form Jehovah appeared to
Abraham in the plains of Mamre. 1t was Je-
hovah that commanded Jacob to return to the
land of his fathers. 1t was the Angel of Je-
hovah that appeared to Moses in the burning
bush, and it was Jehovah that ever afterward
continued to speak unto Moses.
In all the theOphanies, or manifestations of
the Supreme Being, the incarnation of the Sa-
yiOur was fOreShadOwed In all the predic-
tions respecting the coming Saviour, contained
in the Old Testament, it is net intimated, but
plainly declared, that the promised deliverer is
Jehovah, and that Jehovah is God. This is
clear, from the names which are given the
promised Saviour. 1t is also declared that the
Saviour will be born of woman-of virgin.
This was the universal belief among the Jews.
Every Jewish female cherished the hope that