South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1913-12-06
THE INCARNATION.

THE INCARNATION.
4. God Prepared Body i'm Which
to Dwen.-The wonderful story OF
God made manifest in the person of
Jesus Christ is much easier TO under
stand by faith than it is of explana-
ton. The theory Of the immaculate
conception is that Jesus while born Of
Mary, did not have any earthly father;
that God supernaturally became the
father of Jesus, and that he was there
fore the son Of virgin and his birth
miraculous. l am not concerned
about this or any other theory, but
the fact is very clearly apprehended
by me, that God did dwell in the body
of Jesus, and that his birth. whether
natural or supernatural, made God
manifest in the flesh. Jesus was un-
doubtedly born of Mary n harmony
with the story which we have of that
event, and his life and teaching, and
above all his death and resurrection,
have demonstrated that God dwelt in
him in all his fullness. God either nat
urallv or supernaturally. or by both
methods, combined, prepared himself
a body in the person of Jesus in which
he could live in the flesh, and tell
mankind of his love, and teach. as
from man to man concerning his plan
of salvation.
.. God From Eternity. Jesus as a
man began to be, he was admittedly
born of Mary and therefore received
his entire manhood, body, spirit, soul,
from his mother. just as we have re-
ceived our manhood from our moth
ers 1t is we'll therefore to realize the
fact that Jesus of Nazareth began his
career as babe. and that he had a
beginning. just as the rest Of us, not
withstanding the fact that the Christ
of God is from eternity. God never
began to be, so that when the Christ
is spoken Of as having pre-eXisted
from all eternity, it evidently means
that God himself who dwelt in Jesus.
and was in a mysterious way, incOr-
porated in the human nature Of Jesus,
is referred to. II is I think, a means
Of confusion on the part of some, and
unbelief and ridicule on the part of
others. to have a theory of the deity
of Jesus Christ which is contrary to
reason and the facts There is no
doubt what we call mystery, in con-
nectiOn with the divine nature Of
Jesus, and yet, as with other mystic
riOus facts of nature, 1t need not be
mystifying; we ought to be able to
obtain from the records, by tho aid or
Gods Holy Spirit, reasonable under
standing OF the incarnation.
>. The Word Became Flesh. There
is q double meaning to the Greek
term "Logos." or word OF God. 1t
sometimes means reason or intelli-
gence. as it exists inwaTdly in the
mind. and at other times reason or in
telligence as it is expressed outwardly
| in speech. / think ii is this two-fOld
thought that John expresses when he
says in the text that The word be
came flesh" II is that Gods wisdom
| and power became incarnated, or, if
you will, incorporated in the person Of
Jesus. and that he manifested in his
| life and speech the mind or the
thought of Cod. That is. Jesus be-
came the word Of God, or the express
sion of God, or the message of God, to
the world. It is that Gods wisdom,
and power, and love, were in Jesus
! the Christ, so that, as one writer ex
presses il. ''In him dwelleth all the
fullness of the Godhead bodily" The
word of God or the ''Logos" became
| flesh. hence when Jesus speaks we
are listening to the eternal God; when
he acts. such as when he raised the
dead. or stilled the tempest, we wit
| ness the act of God.
4. Jesus Was Born Man and God.
| This may be complicated thought
| to many. but to those who have been
living in harmony with the Lord for
| any length of time, and have become
| accustomed to walk and talk with
him. and by meditation upon his ways
are to a certain extent familiar with
| the Divine processes, it Is simple
truth practically, If not fully. compre-
| hended In the first place Jesus was
under obligation TO do the work of
man, to obey Gods laws, and to full
| fill his human destiny, as any other
man: and. as I believe. under obliga-
lions to do all these things with just
! the same kind of Divine help that any
other Christian may have. In this re-
spect he is our perfect example.
which by the grace Of God we may
| initiate and, as I believe, duplicate.
AS a man he was tempted and sub
/ jected to human limitations. He was
/ tired and hungry; he slept, he suffer
ed. he prayed and finally died. Now
/ the eternal God has never done any OF
these things. nor can God pray TO him
self. hence. Jesus took not upon him
the nature Of angels, but he took on
/ him the seed Of Abraham" But while
/ he was very man, he was very God,
and his work and mission as the
Christ was the work and mission OF
Co himself I pray that the Holy
Spirit may use these inadequate words
of mine. to give you some comforting
conception concerning the incarnation
\ and that il may help others, who have
doubted his divinity, to believe.
! Downright. 1913, by f. s. Davidson)
/ No. 3. Cut this out and after
signing IL hand it to one of our
| collectors
This is TO certify that I have
| read the Seven Minute Sermon on
| the Golden Text. for Sunday Dec.
! :, as published in The News-Times.
Name ..-.....'..' -