The Gospel of John describes how the Lord Jesus Christ was the very embodiment of the Word of God: “… And the word was made flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth” (Jno. 1:14). It is similarly stated that “God was manifest in the flesh …” (1 Tim. 3:16). Being that “the Word Was God” in John 1:1, to say that the Word was “made flesh’ is equivalent to saying that “God was manifest in the flesh”. Again, another way of illustrating the same principle, is to say that “God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself …” (2 Cor. 5:19).
But the question has arisen as to when that manifestation began to take place. It has been thought by some that from birth, the Word of God was flashed into Jesus’s mind, and that he therefore somehow bypassed the process of learning, and was innately wise and obedient. But that doesn’t accord with Word itself, which describes how the Lord himself had to go through a learning process. “Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man” (Lu. 2:52). To increase in wisdom implies time and application, and it was so with the Lord. He was not programmed to be obedient: for he “learned obedience by the things which he suffered” (Heb. 5:8). Not that there was ever a time when he was not obedient: rather by passing through trials of increasing degree, he was strengthend and prepared to undergo the next trial – in this, he “learned” how to endure the next trial, leading up to his crucifixion.
Again, Isaiah described the coming Messiah:
“The Lord Yahweh hath given me the tongue of the learned, That I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: He wakeneth morning by morning, He wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned. The Lord Yahweh hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back …” (Isa. 50:4-5).
These words also imply a process of learning, where Messiah had his ears opened to the Word of God – and a demonstration of that learning was when as a child: “All that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers” (Lu. 2:47). Every indication is that Jesus was being prepared in his earlier life, in order to commence a 3.5 year ministry, which began at his Baptism.
When we read that “God was in Christ”, the question arises, When did God become “in” him? John chapter 1 again provides the answer:
“John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him” (Jno. 1:32).
Again, chapter 3 alluded to earlier:
“… he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him …” (Jno. 3:34).
The time when Jesus began to speak the words of God is thus linked with the time when the Holy Spirit came upon him. The Christadelphian Statement of Faith (BASF) also makes this connection, and puts it in a very succinct way:
“X.- That being so begotten of God, and inhabited and used by God through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, Jesus was Emmanuel, God with us, God manifest in the flesh”
The indwelling of the Spirit began when it came upon the Lord, and it was from then that his ministry began, as he spoke the words of God. From this, we can see that the Word being made flesh was a process, reaching its fulness in Messiah’s ministry following his baptism.
There is another line of evidence, leading to the same conclusion. Hebrews chapter 10 reads as follows:
“… wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me: In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God” (Heb. 10:57).
Jesus was the “word made flesh” in that in the volume of the Old Testament Scriptures, it was written of him. But we are told that he spoke these words “when he cometh into the world” – but when was that? It cannot be at his birth, for as a baby he would have been unable to vocalise those words! We suggest that this is a reference to when “God sent his Son into the world” (Jno. 3:17, 17:18, 1 Jno. 4:9) at the commencement of his ministry. When he was made known to the world, he demonstrated his Father’s glorious attributes to the world – and manifested them completely.
There is an Old Testament background to the opening chapter of John’s Gospel. In Exodus 33, we read the words of Moses to God:
“… and he said, I beseech thee, shew my thy glory. And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of Yahweh before thee and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy” (Exo. 33:18-19).
Moses said, “shew my thy glory” – and in John chapter 1, we are told: “we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father” (Jno. 1:14). Moreover, we find that when the time came for God’s Glory and Goodness to be displayed before Moses, it was not what was physically seen that was important, rather it was what was spoken to him:
“… and Yahweh passed by before him, and proclaimed, Yahweh, Yahweh God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering in goodness and truth, Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgresssion and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty … (Exo. 34:5-7).
What comprised the Goodness and Glory of God as revealed to Moses, were the attributes expressed in words. And so, the Lord Jesus Christ became that Word Made Flesh, “full of Grace and Truth”. All of the splendid array of his Father’s attributes were focalised in His Son, to the extent that he could say to Philip: “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father” (Jno. 14:9). When he began to fulfil the Old Testament Scriptures in his ministry, he came into the world as that Word made flesh, for in the volume of that book it was written of him.
This point was not lost to the Lord’s disciples. Matthew chapter 1 reads:
“Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted, is God with us.” (Mat. 1:23).
We have already shown how this was accomplished by God being “in Christ” through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit power, but there is a further point. The prophecy was that “they” shall call his name Emmanuel. Who are the “they”? It can only be those who recognised the true nature of the One who was the Son of God, and therefore the Word Made Flesh (cp. Mat. 16:16). God was manifest in the flesh, because His Son came “in the flesh” (1Jno. 4:2-3), and God was “in” him.
There is a final point for us to consider. Messiah’s brethren receive the spirit of adoption, (Rom. 8:15), and are considered as children: “whereby [they] cry, Abba, Father”. They also have the responsibility to display the Glory of God to those around them. They are chosen, as were Israel of old: “ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a purchased people; that ye should show forth the praises (margin: virtues), of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light” (1 Pet. 2:9). Those who would be followers of Christ must strive therefore to also manifest the attributes of God – however imperfectly. They have the Word of Christ dwelling in them richly in all wisdom (Col 3:16), and seek to develop within them a Divine Likeness, which is worthy of perpeptuation throughout the ages to come. Such is our hope and earnest desire!
Christopher Maddocks
