Page 9 - January 2023 - Truth & Tidings

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Introduction Scripture woven into its whole texture.”
When purchasing an original painting, a
The hypothetical reasoning of Paul re-
garding the resurrection could be applied certificate of authenticity is vital, but the
buyer wants the see the colours, contrasts
to this current topic: If Christ is not divine, and brushstrokes of the artwork as well.
our faith is vain, we are yet in our sins … He wants to see and feel its reality. So it
we are of all men most miserable. This is not is with Scripture. There are proof texts in
hyperbole; eternity hinges on the identity abundance of the deity of Christ (Joh 1:1;
of the Lord Jesus. 20:28; Rom 9:5; 1Ti 3:16; Titus 2:13; Heb
To say that Christ is divine is to say that 1:8; 2Pe 1:1; 1Jn 5:20); these correspond to
He has the essential nature and substance the certificate. More than this, however,
of God. He is not ontologically inferior in are the shadows, hints, implications and
any way. As a man on earth, He was still tenses that combine to give the feel and
co-equally, co-essentially and co-eternally experience of reality.
God. There is a distinction of persons The Law
within the Godhead, meaning Christ is The art gallery of Old Testament types
the Son, and not the Father. Since the shows us that the man Christ Jesus is
substance of God cannot be divided, both divine. The ephod of the high priest was
persons are divine. a singular item (Exo 39:2,3), with two
distinct materials – linen and golden wire
When He was made flesh, He became (Jews regarded gold as a symbol of deity,
what He had never been before, but never hence the golden calf [32:3,4]). The manna
ceased to be who He ever was. In one was like a gold-coloured seed (Num 11:7),
person (Christ) there resided two natures and the tabernacle had badgers’ skins on
(divine and human). He is simultaneously the outside (Exo 26:14), veiling the gold
and paradoxically truly God and truly within. Each type describes one item, with
man. This article will focus on the divine two distinct features, foreshadowing one
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nature of the Lord Jesus. person (Christ) with two natures (divine
Proving the deity of Christ is “not forc- and human).
ing one or two texts, but the doctrine of ² John Nelson Darby, The Deity of Christ
and What Constitutes Christianity: https://
¹ The Chalcedonian Definition: https://www. www.stempublishing.com/authors/darby/
theopedia.com/chalcedonian-creed MISCELLA/33009E.html
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