The Sonship of Christ

THAT the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, the Son of God, did die upon the cross, for the sins of the world, and that he was buried in the grave is positively asserted many times from Matthew to Revelation. All sects profess to believe this. Orthodox creeds state it in explicit terms. Thus the Methodist discipline, copied from the Episcopal creed says: "The Son, who is the Word of the Father, the very and eternal God of one substance with the Father, took man's nature in the womb of the blessed virgin; so that two whole and perfect natures, that is to say, the godhead and manhood, were joined together in one person never to be divided, whereof is one Christ, very God, and very man, who truly suffered, was crucified, died and was buried." Notice, they say that the godhead and manhood were joined together in one person never to be divided, and that this godhead truly suffered, died, and was buried; and yet not one of them believes this doctrine at all. Furthermore they denounce those as infidels who do believe just what the Scriptures and their own creed set forth upon this subject.

Let us see now. Did the godhead die upon the cross? Oh! no, say they, it was only the body, the humanity that died. The divinity, God, that which came from heaven, they squarely affirm never died at all. It left the body, and continued to live in the spirit world. Again, was divinity buried, was the godhead buried? They affirm that it was not. It was only the human body of Jesus that was buried. Thus, then, their godhead was divided from their humanity. The godhead did not die, neither was it buried. "According to this, then, all the sufferings of Christ were endured by a man, to whom the Son of God was united, and the Son himself was as free from pain and as death as though there were no such thing as suffering and death in the universe. No possible union between the Son of God and a man could render it proper to call the suffering and death of a man the sufferings and death of the Son, if it be true that the son did not suffer and die; and on this hypothesis the sufferings of the man might as well be called the sufferings of Gabriel, or the sufferings of God the Father, as the sufferings of the Son of God. Must the sun be darkened, must the rocks be rent, must the earth quake, and nature be thrown into convulsions while the Son of God suffers and dies on the cross? Must the angels show so deep an interest in that scene, and must all the world be called upon to behold with wonder and astonishment, the height, and depth, and length, and breadth, of the love of God displayed in that event? Must all the redeemed of the Lord unite in songs of everlasting praise to the Son of God because he hath loved them and redeemed them to God by his own blood, and can it after all be made to appear that the Son of God suffered not at all unless it was by proxy or substitute?"

Now we are happy to say that their creed is right upon this question, that the divine Lord, Christ, was inseparably united with humanity, and that he did truly suffer, did actually die, and was buried in the grave and that he remained under the power of death three days. Let us now see what the Scriptures says upon this point.

As we have already shown, the apostle declares, John 1:1-14, that the word of God which was in the beginning with God, and by which all things were made, that this word was made flesh. Now the apostle Paul asserts that this Christ died and was buried. "For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures." 1 Cor. 15:3-4. If he did not die, if simply the human nature; the body of Jesus died, then, as we have shown before, it was only a human sacrifice; and could this save a world from sin? No, indeed, Christ the Lord died, his soul died, for thus we read: "Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful even unto death." Matt. 26:38. This he said while suffering in the garden of Gethsemane, just before he was crucified. The prophet speaking of his suffering, says: "Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief; when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin." Isa. 53:10. "Because he hath poured out his soul unto death." Verse 12. His soul, then, was made an offering for sins, and was poured out unto death. Then certainly his soul died.

Peter bears testimony that his soul was buried, and was taken out of the grave by his resurrection. Thus he says: "He, seeing this before, spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption." Acts 2:31. The resurrection, then, of Jesus took his soul out of hades, the grave. Many years after this, the glorious Son of God, when he appeared to John on the Isle of Patmos said, "I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive forevermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death." Rev. 1:18. Who was it that appeared to John and gave him the revelation? It was he that had been dead, and was now made alive. Was this simply the human nature of Jesus or was it indeed the glorious Son of God? The latter evidently.