LBCF 1689 Reflections. Part 92

Reflections on the Baptist Confession of Faith of 1689. 23 Aug 14 began a perhaps unbroken, orderly, and personal journey through my favorite written confession of faith. This will be my personal reflections on this beloved written codification of the Christian Faith which is according to a Baptist flavor.

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Chapter 8, paragraph 7: “Christ, in the work of mediation, acteth according to both natures, by each nature doing that which is proper to itself; yet by reason of the unity of the person, that which is proper to one nature is sometimes in Scripture, attributed to the person denominated by the other nature.”

A disciple’s Christology must have place for both the humanity and Deity of Jesus or it will be deficient. Jesus is no mere man, but he is indeed a man. He is both fully God and fully man. Councils and confessions in history have detailed this doctrine many times. As with several other profound or robust biblical doctrines, refinements in this subject over time have sought more to ward off clear error than to simply ‘make the subject simple’ for people. This is not a one dimensional doctrine.

Jesus revealed himself in many ways throughout the pages of Scripture. Some of those ways reveal that he was completely human. We see him eating, sleeping and expressing numerous incarnational limitations. This is Christology. We also see him receiving worship, speaking of himself as just as worthy to be honored as the Father, and claiming that all men will face him at the final judgment. This is also Christology. The multi-faceted nature of these inspired revelations show the unlimited and diverse manifold glories of the person of Jesus such as could never be said of any other human being.

The author of Hebrews is zealous to show Jesus’ descent and subsequent exaltation. Christ is exalted through his humiliation. It is through his birth, life, death, Resurrection and Ascension that Jesus inherits all he inherits as the Godman and sole head of the church. Though being eternally worthy of full honor, his life added to him something new. Christ became a man in order to redeem a very large host of mankind. His death becomes our death. His life our life. His righteousness our righteousness. The full measure of why God has done this cannot be known in this life. There is a glory to be revealed that cannot be compared to what’s already been revealed.

All that Jesus is was predicated upon him coming to be born under the Law, born as the Seed of Abraham, as both the descendent and Lord of David. Jesus is David’s son and also David’s Lord. He is the Resurrection and the life. He is the creator of all things. He is the beginning and the end. He is the King of all kings. That King was once a baby laid in a manger. He wept near the graves of people he’d soon raise to eternal life. I’d like to leave you with a wonderful poem from James Stewart, a Scottish theologian.

He was the meekest and lowliest of all the sons of men, yet he spoke of coming on the clouds of heaven with the glory of God. He was so austere that evil spirits and demons cried out in terror at his coming, yet he was so genial and winsome and approachable that the children loved to play with him, and the little ones nestled in his arms. His presence at the innocent gaiety of a village wedding was like the presence of sunshine.

No one was half so compassionate to sinners, yet no one ever spoke such red hot scorching words about sin. A bruised reed he would not break, his whole life was love, yet on one occasion he demanded of the Pharisees how they ever expected to escape the damnation of Hell. He was a dreamer of dreams and a seer of visions, yet for sheer stark realism He has all of our stark realists soundly beaten. He was a servant of all, washing the disciples’ feet, yet masterfully He strode into the temple, and the hucksters and moneychangers fell over one another to get away from the mad rush and the fire they saw blazing in His eyes. He saved others, yet at the last Himself He did not save. There is nothing in history like the union of contrasts which confronts us in the gospels. The mystery of Jesus is the mystery of divine personality.