32. iii. That the Lord made His Human Divine from the Divine in Himself, is evident from many passages of the Word, of which those shall be here adduced which confirm:
1. That this was done by successive steps:
Jesus grew and waxed strong in spirit and in wisdom, and the grace of God was upon Him (Luke 2:40).
Jesus increased in wisdom, in age, and in grace with God and men (verse 52).
[2] 2. That the Divine operated through the Human, as the soul does through the body:
The Son can do nothing from Himself, but what He seeth the Father doing (John 5:19).
I do nothing of Myself, but as My Father hath taught Me, I speak these things and He that hath sent Me is with Me He hath not left Me alone (John 8:28, 29; 5:30).
I have not spoken of Myself, but the Father who sent Me, He hath given Me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak (John 12:49).
The words that I speak unto you I speak not of Myself, but the Father that dwelleth in Me, He doeth the works (John 14:10).
I am not alone, because the Father is with Me (John 16:32).
[3] 3. That the Divine and Human operated unanimously:
What things soever the Father doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise (John 5:19).
As the Father raiseth up the dead and quickeneth them, even so the Son quickeneth whom He will (John 5:21).
As the Father hath life in Himself so hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself (John 5:26).
Now they have known that all things which Thou hast given Me, are of Thee (John 17:7).
[4] 4. That the Divine was united to the Human, and the Human to the Divine:
If ye had known Me ye would have known My Father also; and ye have seen Him. He said to Philip, who desired to see the Father, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known Me, Philip? He that hath seen Me, hath seen the Father. Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? Believe Me, that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me (John 14:7-11).
If I do not the works of My Father, believe Me not; but if I do, believe the works; that ye may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father (John 10:37, 38).
That they all may be one, as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee (John 17:21).
At that day ye shall know that I am in My Father (John 14:20).
No one is able to pluck the sheep out of My Father's hand; I and the Father are one (John 10:29, 30).
The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into His hand (John 3:35).
All things that the Father hath are Mine (John 16:15).
All Mine are Thine, and Thine are Mine (John 17:10).
Thou hast given the Son power [potestas] over all flesh (John 17:2).
All power [potestas] is given unto Me in heaven and on earth (Matt. 28:18).
[5] 5. That the Divine Human is to be approached, is evident from these passages:
That all may honor the Son, even as they honor the Father (John 5:23).
If ye had known Me, ye would have known My Father also (John 8:19).
He that seeth Me, seeth Him that sent Me (John 12:45).
If ye had known Me, ye would have known My Father also; and from henceforth ye know Him, and have seen Him (John 14:7).
He that receiveth Me, receiveth Him that sent Me (John 13:20). The reason of this is that no one can see the Divine Itself which is called "the Father;" but the Divine Human can be seen; for the Lord says,
No one hath seen God at any time the Only-begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father, He hath set Him forth (John 1:18).
Not that any one hath seen the Father, save He that is with the Father; He hath seen the Father (John 6:46).
Ye have not heard the Father's voice at any time, nor seen His shape (John 5:37).
[6] 6. As the Lord made His Human Divine from the Divine in Himself, and as the Human is to be approached, and as the Son of God, we must put our faith in the Lord, who is both Father and Son. This is evident from these passages:
Jesus said, As many as received Him, to them gave He power [potestas] to be the sons of God, even to them that believe in His name (John 1:12).
That whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life (John 3:15).
God so loved the world that He gave His Only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should have eternal life (John 3:16).
He that believeth in the Son is not judged; but he that believeth not hath been judged already, because he hath not believed in the name of the Only-begotten Son of God (John 3:18).
He that believeth in the Son hath eternal life; but he that believeth not the Son, shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him (John 3:36).
The bread of God is He that cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. He that cometh to Me shall never hunger, and he that believeth in Me shall never thirst (John 6:33, 35).
This is the will of Him that sent Me, that everyone who seeth the Son, and believeth in Him, may have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day (John 6:40).
They said to Jesus, What shall we do that we may work the works of God? Jesus answered, This is the work of God, that ye believe in Him whom He hath sent (John 6:28, 29).
Verily I say unto you, He that believeth in Me hath eternal life (John 6:47).
Jesus cried, saying, If anyone thirst let him come unto Me and drink; he that believeth in Me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water (John 7:37, 38).
Unless ye believe that I am, ye shall die in your sins (John 8:24).
Jesus said, I am the resurrection and the life; he that believeth in Me, though he were dead, shall live and whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die (John 11:25, 26).
Jesus said, I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth in Me should not abide in darkness (John 12:46; 8:12).
While ye have the light, believe in the light, that ye may become sons of light (John 12:36).
Verily I say unto you, that the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live (John 5:25).
Abide in Me, and I in you. I am the vine, ye are the branches; he that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit; for without Me ye can do nothing (John 15:4, 5).
That they should abide in the Lord, and the Lord in them (John 14:20; 17:23).
I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one cometh unto the Father but by Me (John 14:6).
[7] In these and all other passages where "the Father" is mentioned, there is meant the Divine which was in the Lord from conception, and which, according to the Doctrine of Faith of the Christian world, was circumstanced as is the soul in the body with man. The Human itself from this Divine is the Son of God. Now as this Human was made Divine, therefore, in order to prevent man from approaching the Father only, and thereby in thought, faith, and thence in worship, separating the Father from the Lord in whom the Father is, after the Lord had taught that He and the Father are one; that the Father is in Him, and He in the Father; that all should abide in Him; and that no one cometh to the Father but by Him, He taught also that we must believe in Him, and that man is saved by a faith directed to Him. [8] Many in Christendom can form no idea of the fact that the Human in the Lord was made Divine, the chief reason of which is that they think of a man from his material body, and not from his spiritual body. And yet the truth is that all the angels (who are spiritual) are also men in a complete form; and, what is more, the whole Divine which proceeds from Jehovah God, from its first principles in heaven, down to its ultimate in this world, has a tendency to the human form.*
* That angels are human forms, and that everything Divine has a tendency to the human form, may be seen in the work on Heaven and Hell (n. 73-77, 453-460), and more fully in the works which follow this present one, which will be from Angelic Wisdom concerning the Lord.