"And the word became flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld
his glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father), full
of grace and truth."—John 1:14.
"Who, existing in the form of God, counted not the being on an
equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself,
taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of
man; and being found in fashion as man, he emptied himself,
becoming obedient even unto death, yea the death of the
cross."—Phil. 2:6-8.
"There is one God, one mediator also between God and men,
himself man, Christ Jesus."—1 Tim. 2:5.
Our subject in this chapter is "Jesus Christ a Real Man." I have three
texts, and the substance of all that I shall say is these three texts.
The first text is John 1:14: +"And the word became flesh, and dwelt
among us (and we beheld his glory, glory as of the only begotten from
the Father), full of grace and truth."+ The second text is Phil.
2:6-8: +"Who, existing in the form of God, counted not the being on
an equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking
the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of man; and being
found in fashion as a man, he emptied himself, becoming obedient even
unto death, yea the death of the cross."+ And the third text is 1
Tim. 2:5: +"There is one God, one mediator also between God and man,
himself man, Christ Jesus."+
We saw in the preceding chapter that Jesus Christ was God, that in
Him dwelt all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, that He possessed
all the distinctively divine attributes, that He exercised all the
distinctively divine functions, that He occupied the position in New
Testament thought that Jehovah occupied in Old Testament thought,
that He was a being worthy of our absolute faith, our supreme love,
our unhesitating obedience, and our whole-hearted worship, that He
was God and is God. But in the passages which we have taken for our
texts to-day, we are told that this Divine One, who had existed from
all eternity with God, the Father, and who was God, _became a man_. In
becoming a man, He did not cease to be God; but the Word, the Eternal
Word, which was with God and was God, took human nature upon Himself.
While He was very God of very God, He was real man, as truly and
completely a man as any man who ever walked on this earth. The doctrine
of the real humanity of Christ is as essential a part of the Christian
faith as the doctrine of His real Deity. There is one very large class
of people who do not see the real Deity of Jesus Christ. They are in
fundamental error. There is another large class of people who see only
His Deity, and who do not see the reality of His manhood. They also are
in error. A doctrine of a Saviour who is only man is false doctrine;
and a doctrine of a Saviour who is only God is equally false doctrine.
The doctrine of the Bible is that, One Who from all eternity was God in
the person of Jesus of Nazareth _became man_. There are many passages
in the Bible which set forth the Deity of our Lord Jesus in a way that
is unmistakable and inescapable. There are many other passages in
the Bible which set forth the complete humanity of our Lord Jesus in
a way which is equally unmistakable and inescapable. It is with the
doctrine of His real humanity, i.e., that He was a real man, that we
are concerned this morning.