ALONE WITH GOD------

QUESTION: Is it scripturally correct to say that "God was made flesh and dwelt among men?" If this is correct, give the scriptures to prove the statement.

ANSWER: I do not know of any direct scripture that says this in these words. However, it seems to me this thought is inferred in a number of scriptures. What the scripture spells out in regard to this is, "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us,..." John 1:14. But John 1:1 says, "...The Word was God." This is the same Word which was made flesh and dwelt among us. I Timothy 3:16 says that "...God was manifest in the flesh." I John 5:20 says, "And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life." Also in Isaiah 9:6 we read, "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given:...and his name shall be called...The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." Here the Son, Jesus, which was given, is called THE MIGHTY GOD. Truly, the Father and Son were one and in Him that part of the God-head; the second Person in the Trinity, took on human form and flesh and dwelt among men. God in Christ was clothed in mortal flesh. Evidently God the Father did not assume human flesh, but God the Son did. And we conclude that the Son is an equal part of the God-head along with the Father and the Holy Spirit.

All scriptures pertaining to the incarnation of Jesus Christ would have a bearing on this and be connected to this thought, but they are too numerous to insert here. Therefore, it seems to me it could be said that the scriptures say it in so many words that "God was made flesh and dwelt among men;" but it also seems to me that the whole tenor of the scriptures on this line teach that this actually happened.

QUESTION: Just what is meant by the expression, "The Person of Christ?" We see it in many articles, but the scriptural meaning is not always clear.

ANSWER: First, I will insert the dictionary definitions of the word person. 1. A living human being, especially as distinguished from an animal or thing. 2. The composite of characteristics that make up an individual personality. 3. An individual of some specified character. 4. The living body of a human being. There are several others which clearly do not apply in this case and No.’s 1 and 4 do not closely apply as pertains to this discussion No. 1 not at all. But we will note No. 8 as appears in the dictionary. In theology: the separate individualities of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, as distinguished from the Godhead that unites them.

The term "Person of Christ" appears only one time in the Holy Scriptures. In II Corinthians 2:10 Paul said, "To whom ye forgive any thing, I forgive also: for if I forgave any thing, to whom I forgave it, for your sakes forgave I it in the person of Christ." The margin here says, "In the sight of Christ." The Amplified Bible says, "In the presence (and with the approval) of Christ." Phillip’s Translation says, "As before Christ." Another translation says, "By the authority of Christ." Forgiveness is one of those characteristics which make up the individual personality of Christ, and God be praised that it is. In our forgiving of another, we do so in the presence of Christ by His approval and instruction, by His authority and grace, in conformity with His doctrine and in keeping with His example which is full of mercy and kindness toward the penitent. Let us never forget this and in all our dealings and relations with our fellow men remember that we are in the presence of Christ. We are to act under His authority, by His approval, conform to His doctrine, and follow His example. This is said in this case to be done "In the person of Christ."

While the expression itself only appears one time in Scripture, its equivalent is widespread throughout the New Testament and is a major element in our relationship with Christ. In II Corinthians 5:20 Paul says, "Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God." In other words, Paul and every other God-called, God-sent minister of the gospel is a representative of Christ doing business for Him as an ambassador, in His name, and by His authority and commission in the person of Christ.

All true saints live their lives in all of their aspects in the person of Christ. We are all representatives of Him to manifest His glory and likeness to the world. Paul said in II Corinthians 3:2-3, "Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men: Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us,..." Colossians 3:17 says, "And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of our Lord Jesus,..." This text covers every phase and area of the life, and it is all to be done in His name, under His supervision, by His authority and grace, and in keeping with His example in the person of Christ.

In Mark 16:18, "They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover." All the work of God in all its phases is to be done in His name, as His representative, in His stead, under His authority, commission, and power. In other words, in the person of Christ.

Although Christ was a human being among men in the likeness of man and in the form of a servant; yet He possessed within Him the full composite of divine characteristics that made up a personality that set Him apart from all other men. This was His real person. Saints are to conform closely to that pattern of divine characteristics which made Him what He was. And as we do this we manifest the person of Christ. Christ was "...the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person,..." (Hebrews 1:3.) This text refers to the relationship between Christ and His Father. Christ manifested the complete image or likeness of his Father. Colossians 1:15 declared Him to be the image of the invisible God. Jesus said in John 14:9, "...he that hath seen me hath seen the Father;..." All that God was in His divine attributes, Jesus revealed and manifested to mankind in His life. This is said to be the "Express image of His person. In other words, Jesus lived and acted in the person of God. Jesus never departed from this at any time, but He said, "...The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do:..." In all His doings and teachings He was acting in compliance with His Father’s will and under His direct authority, power, and commission.

Now the saints maintain this same relationship with Christ. II Corinthians 3:18 says, "But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." Romans 8:29 says, "For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son,..." We are to become the image of His Person and reflect His glory and manifest His characteristics to the world. Paul said in II Corinthians 4:10, "Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body." In Philippians 1:20 he says again, "...Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life or by death." Let us realize that nothing unlike Christ is ever going to get into heaven. He is the model, and we must conform to His likeness if we have this hope in us. Just as Christ’s relationship with His Father was declared to be the express image of His person (in the Person of God); so our relationship with Christ is declared to be the image of His Person in the Person of Christ.

Of course, the Person of Christ as He is distinguished from the Father and the Holy Spirit is glorious in His own right if no one loves and serves Him and manifests His likeness to the world. To describe His glory and majesty would defy all human wisdom and rhetoric. Glimpses of His glory, majesty, power and strength are given in Revelation 19:11-16, Revelation 1:13-16, Matthew 17:1-8, Timothy 6:14-16 and other texts.

ANSWER: In regard to this question, I am reminded of what I heard a prominent Bible teacher, conference speaker, and preacher say a while back. He said that as a Bible teacher and conference speaker, he had many questions put to him and he always had an answer for every question. Then he went on to say that many times his answer was, "I don’t know." That is my answer to this question: "I don’t know." And I can add to that, "I don’t know how or where to find out."

Since the question is presented and we are into it, I might notice a few points in regard to it which do not in any way answer the question as it is phrased. The text in I Timothy 3:16 is pertinent to the discussion. It reads thus, "And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory." The incarnation of Jesus Christ (God manifest in the flesh) is a great mystery. Likewise is the resurrected body of Christ a great mystery. It seems to me that just as it was necessary for Jesus to possess a dual nature (both divine and human) in carrying out the phase of His ministry and redemptive work down here upon the earth and introducing God to man; so it would still be necessary for Him to possess the same dual nature yonder in heaven where He has gone to engage in His intercessory ministry and represent man to God and make intercession for us. In order for His intercessory ministry to be effective in a full measure with the Father, it would be necessary for Him to have a body with the scars and marks on it (nail prints in His hands and feet, and the spear gash in His side) which He received at Calvary where His redemptive work was fully accomplished and fulfilled to show before the Father as He interceded and pled for mercy for sinful men.

Many times when praying for people who are critically ill and need special mercy from God, I say to God the Father in my prayer, "Father, please look upon your Son as He stands in Your presence right now to intercede for us and plead with you for mercy and look especially on those stripes on His back and remember that they were placed there for the healing of the people." (Isaiah 53:5 and I Peter 2:24.) This thought has often added inspiration and faith to my prayer in urgent cases.

We know for certain that the body of Jesus arose and came out of the sepulchre. It was the same body that was buried that arose. When certain of His followers came to the sepulchre on the morning of the resurrection with spices to anoint His body they found the stone rolled away and they went into the sepulchre and "found not the body of the Lord Jesus." His body had gotten up and walked away from there alive, and the tomb was empty. That resurrected body had the wounds and marks in it that caused His death, and He drew special attention to this when He appeared to His disciples and told them to, "Behold my hands and my feet,..." (Luke 24:39), and proceeded to say, "...handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have." He convinced Thomas of His identity in the same way (John 20:26-30). He ate fish and honeycomb in their presence (Luke 24:41-43).

This body was different from what it had been during the time of his ministry and work with His disciples. In this body He could appear, disappear and reappear. In Luke 24:31, He just vanished out of their sight. In John 20:26, He appeared to His disciples right through a closed door. This was a spiritual body, but it was not a spirit as Jesus Himself declared in Luke 24:39. His body was sown a natural body; it was raised a spiritual body. (I Corinthians 15:44.)

According to Acts 2:27, the body of Jesus never saw any corruption. God never allowed it to stay in the tomb long enough for decomposition to set in. But in the process of resurrection, His body underwent a change. The glorious thing about all this for us is that the same change will happen to us in the morning of the resurrection on that last great day. "We shall rise and be like Him, when we see Him as He is." Philippians 3:21 says, "Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body,..." I Corinthians 15:51-52, says, "Behold, I shew you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed."

In the last great day every living saint upon the earth shall be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, and put on that same kind of body Christ had when He arose from the dead. In that body we will rise right up from the earth just like He did, and straight upward we will fly to meet the Lord in the air to forever be with Him. Inspiring, glorious, and wonderful thought!

All of this, both His and ours, is a mystery and called so in the Scriptures. It is all in the hands of God, and both Christ’s resurrection and ours are works of the power of God. The nature of the resurrection and the changes that are to take place are reserved with God, only to be revealed to us in that day. As far as I can see from here on, we will just have to leave it that way with the Lord and in that day we will understand it all. I John 3:2 tells us that it does not yet appear what we shall be, but that when He appears we shall see Him as He is and be like Him. Only if we could tell what we shall be, would we be able to tell how Christ was at His resurrection and how He is now, for we will be just like Him, but the Scripture states plainly that we do not know that. It is all reserved with the Lord Himself until then.