by Octavius Winslow
(continued from page 171)
We now proceed to inquire into the nature of that glory, which, in connection with his pre-existent state, Christ possessed.
The remarkable words of our Lord — “And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was” — are as clearly decisive of a pre-eternal state of dignity and glory as of being. The import of that glory which he had with the Father in his primeval state, and with which he here prays he may be re-invested, is
now to form the subject of our inquiry. May the Eternal Spirit enable us to behold, through the glass of faith, the glory of this glorious truth!
That the glory to which Jesus here alludes, and for the manifestation of which he pleads, is the glory of his human nature, cannot possibly be; the human nature of Christ never existed in any form in a pre-eternal state, consequently it could possess no glory with the Father before the world was. It is most true that in the purpose of the Divine mind it did exist; that from eternity the tabernacle that was to enshrine the divinity of our Lord was planned and anticipated. “A body,” says Christ, “hast thou prepared me;” but its actual existence did not transpire until in the fulness of time he appeared a babe in Bethlehem. All the references to Christ’s humanity found in the Old Testament writings are in the future tense, and all the appearances of it were typical and anticipative.
Nor are we to confine the import of this glory to his mediatorial character. It is equally true that in the eternal covenant of grace, Jesus was designated to the office of Mediator of his people, set up from everlasting, to be their Surety and Redeemer; but the glory which appertained to him as such, was a separate and distinct glory from the Father’s. Whereas, in the passage we are now considering, he speaks of a glory possessed in conjunction with the Father, “the glory which I had with thee.” It would not be proper to speak of the Father as invested with a mediatorial glory. This, therefore, cannot be the true interpretation of the text; – we must look for another solution of its meaning. May we not find it in the following view:—
Our Lord here prays as the God-Man Mediator. In this character he approaches his Father. The mercy for which he prays is, a manifestation of that Divine glory which, as essentially one with the Father, he possessed before the world was. The connection in which the words stand, suggest, and would seem to sustain this solution. In the 4th verse Christ thus addressed his Father: “I have glorified thee on the earth.” In the 6th verse he explains in what way he had glorified his Father, namely, by the manifestation of his Divine name. “I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world.” The manifestation of God’s name was the glorifying of him as Jehovah. And now he asks at his Father’s hands a reciprocation of the same honour, a like manifestation of the same glory. “I have glorified thee on the earth by a manifestation of thy Godhead – now, Father, glorify thou me, with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. And, seeing that I am no more in the world, but come to thee, part thou the veil, and let my Divine majesty shine forth; manifest to angels and to men the long-concealed glory of my deity.”
And how would this manifestation of Christ’s pre-existent glory be effected? or, in what way did the Father answer the prayer, and glorify him with that glory which was essentially his own? We answer – By publicly re-instating him in the honour, dignity, and glory which he voluntarily laid
aside, when he assumed human nature. Let it be borne in mind, that the Divine glory of the Son of God was but veiled, or, as it were, eclipsed, for a little moment, by his investiture with a human form. That he ceased to be God when he became man, he did not, and could not. There was no cessation of the Godhead, in the stooping to the manhood. The human did not become Divine, nor did the Divine become human. There was no coalescing, no blending together of these two extremes of being. Mysteriously, closely, and indissolubly one, they yet were separate and distinct, the peculiar properties of each unaffected and unchanged by its union with the other. This constituted one of the essential wonders in the “great mystery of godliness, God was manifest in the flesh.” The deity of Christ was incapable of change, else deity it could not be. It was incapable, too, of any sympathy or participation in the humiliation and suffering through which the humanity passed. Upholding and strengthening the manhood, it yet remained free from all the pains which it endured. Towering far above the storms which swept over the human soul of Christ – above the sea of suffering and blood through which he waded – above the infirmities, weaknesses, and tears which pressed upon the “incarnate mystery,” the Godhead of Jesus rose untouched, unaffected, and unmoved. The shock which convulsed to its centre his human frame, agitated not for an instant, his essential deity. Here all was calm, serene, and tranquil. The dark clouds which gathered around his inferior nature threw not a shadow athwart the sun of his superior nature. Deep veiled beneath was the divinity, even like the calm under-current of the ocean which not a breath moves, while the hurricane lashes into foaming billows its storm tossed surface. Though a mournful dweller upon earth, moving amid, and identified with, forms of sorrow, suffering, and pollution, Jesus could yet speak of himself as the “Son of man, which is in heaven.” Like the tall pyramid whose base is wreathed with thunder clouds, while its summit is bathed in serene sunlight, the manhood and the Godhead of Jesus appeared before men and angels – despised on earth – adored on heaven. All humiliation below – all glory above.
This remarkable petition of the Redeemer will now be better understood. That for which he so fervently pleads is the entire uncovering of his Godhead, and the manifestation of its unclouded glory to all created intelligences. While yet enshrined in the flesh, scintillations of his glory did occasionally break forth. There were moments when Jesus stood forth, his Godhead seen, acknowledged, and adored. The indwelling glory seemed too intense even for the pure and perfect humanity entirely to conceal; the veil of flesh too transparent to obscure the Divine majesty which it sought to cover. Jesus was so truly God, it would seem impossible not to betray the truth, obscured though it was by the dark veil of humiliation. Men and devils were compelled to confess, “truly this is the Son of God!”
The prayer of our Lord was heard, and his request was granted. The
Father glorified him with the glory he had with him before the world was. He was “declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.” His ascension into heaven yet more fully glorified him. Then the long-concealed deity burst forth into its strongest effulgence. He came down to earth as a man, he went up to heaven as God. He descended in humiliation and sorrow, he ascended in glory and triumph. The celestial convoy who attended him back to his kingdom. — perhaps the same holy embassy, who, in such lofty strains, announced his advent to the earth, – demanded a triumphal and royal entrance for their glorified King. “Lift up your heads, O ye gates, and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord, mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O ye gates, even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory.” O what glory encircled the incarnate God, at this moment, in the eyes of all celestial intelligences!
But the manifestation of Christ’s pre-existent glory would not be confined to the spirits in heaven. On earth there would be such a visible unfolding of it, as would confirm all his previous claims to infinite dignity and power. This was accomplished by the descent of the Holy Ghost, upon the day of Pentecost. On that day was Christ glorified with the glory he had from all eternity with the Father. The Holy Spirit in his special and enlarged influence had not yet proceeded from God, being enshrined within the heavenly temple, during the period of our Lord’s humiliation. “The Holy Ghost,” says the evangelist, “was not yet given, because that Jesus was not yet glorified.” As he was to descend as an evidence of Christ’s enthronement, he would consequently remain until that august event had transpired. This was in strict accordance with Christ’s repeated declaration: “Nevertheless I tell you the truth; it is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you: but if I depart, I will send him unto you.”
Our Lord’s triumphant entrance into glory was now the signal of the Holy Spirit’s descent. For this great blessing he bade his disciples wait. “And being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptised with water; but ye shall be baptised with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.” Acts 1:4, 5. Scarcely had he crossed the threshold of the heavenly temple, the august ceremonies of his enthronement, amid the songs of adoring millions, had but ceased, when the promise of the Father was fulfilled, and the orphan church of Jerusalem was baptised with the Spirit from on high. Or! how soon was that promise fulfilled! How soon did Jesus make good the pledges of his love! The outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost transpired fifty days after Christ’s resurrection. Forty days he was seen of the disciples, “to whom he showed himself alive after his
passion by many infallible proofs;” consequently but ten days elapsed from the period of his return to his kingdom before the Spirit came down in all the plentitude of his glorifying, witnessing, awakening, and sanctifying power!
And why were even ten days allowed to intervene between the glorification of Jesus and the descent of the Spirit? Doubtless to place the church in a state of preparedness to receive so vast, so holy, and so rich a blessing. The Lord would have them found in a posture suited to the mercy. It was that of prayer, of all postures this side of glory the most blessed and holy. Thus did the Spirit find them on the day of Pentecost. Returning from the mount of Olivet, whence they had caught the last glimpse of the receding form of their ascending Lord, they came to Jerusalem, and “went up into an upper room,” where abode the rest of the disciples. “There all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication.” And while “they were with one accord in one place,” breathing forth their souls in fervent petition, “suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues, like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost.”
And now how manifestly and how illustriously was Jesus glorified – with that overpowering effulgence did his Godhead shine forth – how gloriously did he appear in the eyes of the awe-stricken multitude, wearing the crown, not of painful thorns – and invested with the robe, not of mock-majesty, but of his real divinity! With what majestic mien and stately step would he now walk amid the assembled throng, the God confessed! And all this divine glory would be seen arrayed on the side of REDEMPTION! its conquests would be those of GRACE – its manifestations those of LOVE – its signals those of MERCY. Was it not so? See how they crowded the temple! Some, their hands scarcely cleansed from the blood they had been shedding on Calvary; others with the dark scowl of malignity yet lingering on their brows. Mark how intently they gaze! how breathlessly they listen! how fearfully they tremble! and with what anguish they smite upon their breasts, and cry, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” Nor did the Spirit rest its triumph here; it paused not until it led three thousand heart-broken sinners to the Fountain which some of them had been instrumental in opening for “sin and uncleanness,” there to plunge, and from thence to emerge washed, sanctified, and saved; the heirs of God, the joint-heirs with Jesus Christ. Now was Jesus glorified – now was a crown of pure gold placed upon his head – and now was fulfilled his own prophetic words, “At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and he in me, and I in you.”
There are none so old that they need despair of mercy, so there are none so young that they should presume on mercy.