All Scripture doctrine gets its value from the truth of the person of
our Lord. We will but mention a few of these doctrines more manifestly
deriving their significance from the great foundation fact.
The Doctrine of the Atonement
It is the altar which sanctifieth the gift; the person of Christ gives
value to His atoning work. Had He not been perfectly Man He could not
have been the substitute for men, nor have died; had He not been
divine, His sacrificial death would not have had the infinite value and
efficacy that goes with His Godhead. Indeed, had He not been absolutely
divine, we may well question the possibility of His having borne the
awful load of our guilt. The true and complete nature of atonement is
not seen in the mere bodily sufferings or even the death of our Lord;
still less was the mockery, rejection and scorn to which He was
subjected by man the basis of His atonement. The real value of that
work was due to His having borne the wrath of God, to having been
forsaken of Him. This forsaking was absolute. Had man been thus
deserted, he would have exhibited the evil of the heart away from God,
and have been cut off forever from the presence of God in the outer
darkness, the portion of the lost. But with the Son of God, when thus
forsaken, His heart was as absolutely loyal to God as when He stood
upon the Mount of Transfiguration. His whole being in all its human
divine perfections was thus engaged in the mighty work of atonement.
Thus that work is of eternal value, sufficient for the guilt of all
mankind, did they but turn in faith to Him. It is well to remember that
our blessed Lord suffered for sins in order that He might bring us to
God. Could we conceive of the possibility of souls being brought to God
in such a way that they were not also brought to Christ? Can we ever
forget, even in the bliss of heaven, the One who has brought us there?
Is He not therefore God, who has brought us to Himself?
The Headship of Christ
Our Lord, as risen from the dead, is
Head to the Church; in the millennium, He will be displayed as Head
over Israel and over all the nations of the earth. He is also Head and
Lord over all creation. In each of these relationships, His personality
is that which gives character to the position.
His Priesthood and Advocacy
The priest is the mediator between
God and man. The advocate maintains man in communion with God. How
appropriate and necessary it is that our Priest should be able to lay
one hand upon the needy worshiper and the other upon the very throne of
God! He can thus sympathize with and succor the weak, without the
sacrifice of a single divine attribute.
His Coming Again
The entire New Testament, after the ascent of
our Lord into glory, places His coming again before the hearts of His
people as the great hope which is to control their lives. It is this
hope which separates them from the world and makes them pilgrims. All
wait for the coming of God’s Son from heaven. It is His full person
which gives sweetness to this blessed hope. It is “this same Jesus” who
shall so come; and it is the Son of God who has prepared a place for us
in the many mansions, who will come and receive us unto Himself.
The Eternal Conditions
We have already seen that all judgment
has been committed to the Son. When He shall come in His glory, sitting
upon the throne of His glory, all the nations shall be gathered before
Him for judgment (Matt. 25). When the great white throne is set up, He
that judges the dead, both small and great, is the Son of Man. Thus, He
is the Judge of the quick – the living – and the dead. How unutterably
solemn is the thought that He who gave Himself for the sin of the
world, declares most unmistakably the awful and eternal doom of those
who refuse His salvation.
The Doctrine of Inspiration
The written word of God has for its
theme the living Word, and the living Word bears witness to the
perfection of the written Word. It is He who has said, “The Scripture
cannot be broken” (Jn. 10:35), and who has declared that not one jot or
tittle shall pass from the law until all be fulfilled (Matt. 5:18). He
has put the stamp of His approval upon the entire Old Testament,
saying, “That all things must be fulfilled which were written in the
law of Moses and in the Prophets and in the Psalms concerning Me.”
(Luke 24:44) Thus, the truth as to the person of the Son of God is
witness to the infallible inspiration of the entire Scriptures.
The Doctrine of Justification by Faith
All the value of the
work of Christ, the blessedness of forgiveness, peace with God,
acceptance, is made available to man and received by faith alone. This
faith, however, is directed toward His person rather than His work.
Scripture constantly speaks of faith in Him. Therefore, all our
blessings stand or fall with His person.