81. CHAPTER II. THE LORD THE REDEEMER
In the previous chapter we treated of God the Creator and also of creation; but in this chapter we shall treat of the Lord the Redeemer and also of redemption; and in the following chapter we shall treat of the Holy Spirit and also of the Divine operation. By the Lord the Redeemer we mean Jehovah in the Human; for it will be shown in the following pages that Jehovah Himself descended and assumed the Human in order to effect our redemption. He is called the Lord and not Jehovah, because Jehovah in the Old Testament is called the Lord in the New, as is evident from the following passages. In Moses it is said:
"Hear, O Israel: JEHOVAH our God is one JEHOVAH: And thou shalt love JEHOVAH God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul"Deuteronomy 6:4-5.
But in Mark it is said:
"The Lord our God is one Lord. And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul" Mark 12:29-30.
Then in Isaiah it is said:
"Prepare ye the way of JEHOVAH, make straight in the desert a highway for our God" Isaiah 40:3.
But in Luke it is said:
"Thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways" Luke 1:76.
In other passages the same distinction is made. The Lord also commanded His disciples to call Him Lord, and therefore He is so called by the Apostles in their Epistles, and afterwards by the Apostolic Church, as is evident from its Creed, which is called The Apostles' Creed. This was because the Jews dared not utter the name "Jehovah" on account of its holiness; and also because by Jehovah is meant the Divine Being, which was from eternity; and the Human, which He assumed in time, was not that Being. What is meant by the Divine Being, or Jehovah, was shown in the previous chapter, 18-26, and 27-35. For this reason, both here and in the following pages, by the Lord we mean Jehovah in His Human; and since knowledge of the Lord surpasses in excellence all knowledge in the Church, and even in heaven, some revelation of it will now be made in the following series of articles:
(1) Jehovah the Creator of the universe descended and assumed the Human, in order to redeem and save mankind.
(2) He descended as the Divine Truth, which is the Word; and yet He did not separate the Divine Good.
(3) He assumed the Human according to His own Divine order.
(4) The Human, by which He sent Himself into the world, is what is called the Son of God.
(5) The Lord, by acts of redemption, made Himself righteousness.
(6) By the same acts He united Himself to the Father, and the Father united Himself to Him, also according to the Divine order.
(7) Thus God became Man, and Man God, in one Person.
(8) The progress to union was His state of exinanition, 1 and the union itself is His state of glorification.
(9) Hereafter no Christian can enter heaven unless he believes on the Lord God the Savior, and approaches Him alone.
Each of these articles will now be treated separately.
Imibhalo yaphansi:
1. Or state of humiliation, during which the maternal heredity was being removed.
