102. It is believed that the Lord as to His Human not only was, but also is, the Son of Mary; but in this the Christian world is mistaken. That He was the Son of Mary is true, but that He still is, is not true; for by the acts of redemption He put off the Human derived from the mother and put on the Human from the Father. Consequently the Human of the Lord is Divine, and in Him God is Man, and Man God. That He put off the Human from the mother, and put on the Human from the Father, which is the Divine Human, is evident from the fact that He never called Mary His mother. This may be seen from the following passages:

"The mother of Jesus saith unto Him, They have no wine. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come" John 2:3-4;

and elsewhere;

"When Jesus saw" from the cross "His mother, and the disciple standing by whom He loved, He saith unto His mother, Woman, behold thy son! Then saith He to the disciple, Behold thy mother!" John 19:26-27; and once He did not acknowledge her.

It was told Jesus "by certain, which said, Thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to see thee. And He answered and said unto them, My mother and my brethren are these which hear the Word of God, and do it" Luke 8:20-21; Matthew 12:46-50; Mark 3:31-35.

Thus the Lord did not call her "mother," but "woman," and entrusted her to John as a mother; in other places she is called His mother, but not by Himself.

[2] This is also proved by the fact that He did not acknowledge Himself to be the Son of David: for we read in the Evangelists:

that Jesus asked the Pharisees, "saying, What think ye of Christ? whose Son is He? They say unto Him, The Son of David. He saith unto them, How then doth David in spirit call Him Lord, saying, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool? If David then call Him Lord, how is He his Son? And no man was able to answer Him a word" Matthew 22:41-46; Mark 12:35-37; Luke 20:41-44; Psalms 110:1.

[3] ¹ To the above I will add this account of an incident not hitherto recorded: ²

It was once granted me to speak with Mary, the mother. She was then passing by, and appeared in heaven over my head, clothed in white raiment like silk. Pausing for a little she said that she had been the mother of the Lord, for He was born of her; but that He, having become God, put off all the Human He had from her; and therefore that she now worships Him as her God, and is unwilling that any one should acknowledge Him as her Son, because the whole Divinity is in Him.

From what has been said this truth is now clear that Jehovah is Man in first things and in last, as the following passages declare:

"I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending,... which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty" Revelation 1:8, 11.

When John saw the Son of Man in the midst of the seven candle-sticks, he fell at His feet as dead; and He laid His right hand upon him, saying, "I am the first and the last" Revelation 1:13, 17; 21:6;

"Behold, I come quickly, to give every man according as his work shall be. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last" Revelation 22:12-13.

Again in Isaiah it is written:

"Thus saith JEHOVAH the King of Israel, and His Redeemer JEHOVAH ZEBAOTH; I am the first, and I am the last" Isaiah 44:6; 48:12.

Footnotes:

31. CHAPTER VIII. ¹ IT WAS NOT POSSIBLE FOR REDEMPTION TO BE EFFECTED, NOR CONSEQUENTLY FOR THERE TO BE SALVATION, EXCEPT BY GOD INCARNATE

1. The Word of the Old and New Testaments teaches that God became incarnate.

2. All the Church's worship prior to God becoming incarnate foreshadowed and had respect to Him who was afterwards incarnate; for that reason, and for no other, that worship was Divine.

3. God Incarnate is "Jehovah our Righteousness", "Jehovah our Redemption", "Jehovah our Salvation", "Jehovah our Truth"; and all these are meant by the two names, Jesus Christ.

4. It was not possible for God not incarnate to fight against the hells and overcome them.

5. It was not possible for God not incarnate to be tempted, and still less for Him to suffer the cross.

6. It was not possible for God not incarnate to be seen and recognized, nor consequently to be approached and thus conjoined with men and angels, except through Himself incarnate.

7. There cannot be faith in a God not incarnate, only in Him incarnate.

8. This is why it was said by people of old that no one can see God and live [Exod. 33:20], and why the Lord said that no one hath seen the Father's shape nor heard His voice [John 5:37].

9. And why, too, God showed Himself visibly to people of old through angels in a human form, a form representative of God Incarnate.

10. All God's operating is effected from first things through last things, thus from His Divine through His Human. It is on this account that God is "the First and the Last, who is, who was, and who is to come" [Rev. 1:8, 11, 17].

11. In the ultimates of God all Divine things are present together, thus in our Lord Jesus Christ are all things of His Father.

12. It follows from these propositions that redemption could not have been effected by any means whatever except by God Incarnate.

13. Nor can there be salvation either, except by God Incarnate, thus only by the Lord Redeemer and Saviour; and this salvation is a perpetual redemption.

14. It is for this reason that those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ "have eternal life", and that those who do not believe in Him have not that life [John 3:15-16, 36].

Footnotes: