The Ohio Independent Baptist, December 1968

Glimpses of Truth from the Greek New Testament by Dr. George Lawlor ''The Word Was Made Flesh • • • II It i not d ifficul t to de. cribe the i)irth - or entrance into human life - of an ordinary man. We imply )a)' that he "i born which ex– Jre 5es the beginning of hi exi tence. But it i an entirely different matter o find word to de cribe the en– rance into the world of One who, )eing God, had alway exi ted. The e,v Te tament writers were faced vith the neces ity of making plain he fact that the entrance into hu– nan life of our Lord Jesu Christ ,,a uniquely different from that of ,rdinar)· men. Con equently, moved ))' he Holy pirit, they almo t ex- 1au t the resources of human lan– ~uage in order to make clear the fact hat Chri t is different from other nen as regards Hi s entrance into 1uman exi tence. A great many words and expres– ions are used in the ew Te tament o describe the Incarnation. 1' here Lre more than 25 various modes of xpre ion in the ew Testament ,criptures Wihich the pirit-controlled rite~ use to set forth the Lord's Xlming down from heaven into the _ Im of human exi tence. One of he be t known i the statement in ohn J: 14, ·~And the Word was made lesh. . ." It will be helpful to ex- rnjnc the expression Hwas made s,1r.x ege11ero), and briefly ote a few glimp es of truth con- rning: 1) 1'/ 1 e J~ .. act of the Incar– a1io11 , and 2) 1'11e For,,, f the In- • a, 11at 10,1 . The FACT of it. ..A l " , 1 mr t , \\itl1 Ji gard to the f tl1c J ncarnation, 1hr t: thing are dmc te b)' the rb · v.'a 111ad ' ' g 11 ro). J 11 \tJ1e fir t pl, , 1llc r ugge 1 1 /1 portal f tl1 In- n tio11, i . . d1... irgin bir.ltl1. }lt; I b eg e11 to (gi110111ai nic, 11 ' l - n , 111 o b , 11 int t n . • J }1 u · 1 l 1l r fl n of ahandoned in the prodL1ction of fle h. 1 he virgin hirth i , th n1can by "hich the on of C,o I came down fron1 H eaven and entered the realm of human life. It i the door of en– trance into the world, by which the eternal God wa manife t in flesh (M att. 1:18-25; Luke 1:26-35; 2:5-11: J ohn 1: 1-14). In the second place, tthe verb ets forth the per– f o r,rzance of tihe Incarnation. The ao ri t ten e denote the hi torical fact: zt did take place as recorded in the cri ptures. God the Son became fie h. He did not cea e to be God, but by mea n of a definite, crisi aotion. He entered the realm of fie h. The world h a beheld, and h1 tory h a witne ed the virgin birth and incarnation of J e u Chri t, and uch an act will never be repeated in •the cour e of time. By superna– tural activity, by the miraculou work of God in pecial creation and con– ception in the virgins w:omb, and vhe ub equent normal proper birth of the child J esus, according to the cripture , the Word became flesh. l n the third pl ace the verb igni– fie tlie po..,ver of the Incarnation. ' 'Became' ' i the fulfillment of Luke 1: 35 the words of the angel to Mary: ' The H oly pirit hall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest hall over hadow thee ; wherefore ail- ·o that holy thing that hall be born of thee ·hall be called on of God." Beyond thi th 1 e miracle could not be revealed, for the human mind could not gra p more. The conception wa brought about by the H oly pirit who H im elf came upon Mary. He H im elf worked by mean of Hi own miraculou creative power. The en– tire work wa wrought by the on1ni– potent operation of God the H oly pirit. Beyond ohi we cannot go. herefore the ecun1en1cal apo tat .. have rejected the virgin birth and incarnation a cientif1cally in1po ~ ible. Bt1t we n1u,t ren1en1ber that even an ordinary human conception i al o, in pirit of all our cience, as great a my tery as ever - a new per on, an immortal oul uddenly come in– to exi tence. We mu t not be di - mayed because it i impo ible to penetrate the mystery of the virgin birth and incarnation of the econd per on of the great Godhead. We must bow down and confess that '"without controver y great i the my tery of godline . . . 1 but rejoicing becau e '"God \\ as n1anife t in fle h to take avvay our jn ." ( I Tim. 3:16 with l John 3:5) . The FORM of it. econd, with regard to the FORM of the Incarnation, two con iderations tand out in connection with the noun f le h" (sarx). Fir t of all, the noun denote tl1e reality of the body of Chri t. The word i derived from the verb s11ro, which is related ito airo "to dralv" - hence that which o ne can dlfaw off or trip off the bone , i.e. flesh. It relate properly ro ., fle h of the body" - that which adhere to the bone , cover the frame, and i permeated by the blood. hri t aid, ' ' the bread that I will give i n1y flesh (sarx) ..." Paul tates ' ' All fie h i n t the ame fie h : but one fle h (sarx) of men ...' ' (I r. 15:39). The \vord i u ed to de ignate the ub tance of the human b d y as w 11 as in the ethical en e, l'he hun1an natuv f man, and here in J hn 1: 14 t h \\ p cificall y and cl arly that ur Lor~ Je u hri t ntered into full part1c1- paition of hun1an nature, that He Look LI pan H1n1 If the f rn1 f rth race He can1e to ave. th,tt He ,I,,/ (Continued on page 14) ESTABLISHING BAPTIST CHURCHE WHERE THERE WERE NONE IN NORTHERN UNITED TATE AND I.N A HIAWATHA BAPTIST MISSIO S 2601 South 2 rd Street E c n ba, Mi h1 g n 49829