Our Mediator is farther said to have been ‘incarnate, in the fulness of time;’ and it is added, ‘he shall continue to be God and man for ever.’
1. Let us consider what is meant by Christ’s becoming man in the fulness of time. The human nature could not be united to the divine from eternity; for it is inconsistent with its being a created nature, that it should exist from eternity. Yet he might, had it been so determined, have assumed this nature in the beginning of time, or immediately after the fall of man, who then stood in need of a mediator. But God, in his sovereign and wise providence, ordered it otherwise, and ordained that there should be a considerable distance of time between the fall of man, and Christ’s incarnation in order to his recovery. The period fixed on, is called in scripture, ‘the fulness of time,’1 that is, the time foretold by the prophets, and particularly Daniel;2 whose prediction had an additional circumstance of time annexed to it, which gave occasion to the Jews to expect Christ’s coming at the actual time when he became incarnate.
That there was an universal expectation of the Messiah at this time, appears from the disposition of many among them to adhere to any one, especially if he pretended that he was a prophet, or that he would make some change in their civil affairs. The Jewish historian tells us of many tumults and seditions which were in that age. Some of their ringleaders he styles magicians. And though he does not expressly say that persons pretending to be prophets assumed the character of Messiah; yet he observes, that the time in which they appeared occasioned their being viewed as such.3 By this he means, that it being at that time that the Jews expected that the Messiah, their King, should come, they thought it a fit opportunity to make efforts to shake off the Roman yoke. And they were so far from concealing the expectation they had of this, that it was well known by the heathen, who were not without jealousies concerning them, with respect to this matter. Hence, some celebrated writers among the latter observe, that it was generally received throughout the East, according to some ancient predictions, that at that time the Jews should obtain the empire.4 There are also several expressions, in scripture, which intimate as much. Thus Gamaliel speaks of one Theudas, ‘who boasted himself to be somebody,’ by which it is probable, he means the Messiah, ‘to whom a number of men, about four hundred, joined themselves, who was slain.’5 This some think to be the same person whom Josephus mentions, the name being the same; though others are rather inclined to think that it was another pretender to this character, from some critical remarks they make on the circumstance of time referred to by Gamaliel being different from that which is mentioned by Josephus.6 This, however, does not affect our argument; for it is plain, from this instance, that about that time the Jews were disposed to join themselves to any one who endeavoured to persuade them that he was the Messiah. This farther appears from the words of our Saviour, ‘All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers;’7 by which, doubtless, he means several who pretended to be the Messiah, in the age before he came. It is said elsewhere, a little before our Saviour’s crucifixion, that ‘they,’ that is, the Jews generally, ‘thought that the kingdom of God,’ and consequently the Messiah whom they expected, ‘should immediately appear.’ Our Lord also foretells, that between that period and the destruction of Jerusalem, that is, before that age was at an end, ‘many false Christs should arise,’ and warns his followers not to adhere to them.8 Moreover, had not the Jews expected that the Messiah would appear at that time, they would never have sent in so formal a manner, as they are said to have done, to inquire, whether John the Baptist, when he exercised his public ministry amongst them, was he. And when he had convinced them that he was not the Messiah, but that our Saviour would soon appear publicly amongst them, who had the only right to this character, he found it no difficult matter to persuade them to believe it. Accordingly, ‘Jerusalem, and all Judea,’ that is, the people almost universally, attended on his ministry, and ‘were baptized,’ making a profession of their faith in the coming of the Messiah, and of their expectation of him, and willingness to adhere to him. And it was the report which ‘the wise men who came from the east’ had received from the Jews who were conversant with them, that this was the time that the Messiah should appear, which brought them to Jerusalem from their respective countries; for without this, the preternatural meteor or star which they saw, could not have given them a sufficient intimation concerning this matter, so as to induce them to come and pay their homage to him. And when they came, and inquired of Herod, ‘Where is he that is born King of the Jews?’ how surprising soever it might be to that proud tyrant, to think that there was one born who, as he supposed, would stand in competition with him for the crown; yet it was no unexpected thing to the Sanhedrim, whose opinion in this matter he demanded, in an hypocritical manner. Hence, they said that he was to be born in Bethlehem, according to the prediction of the prophet Micah. But if they had not known that this was the time in which he was to be born, they would have replied, that it was an unseasonable question, and a vain thing, to ask where a person was to be born whose birth was not expected in that age. They might also have easily satisfied Herod, and removed the foundation of his jealousy and trouble, and thereby have prevented the inhuman barbarity committed on the infants of Bethlehem, if they had told him that the time spoken of by the prophet Daniel, in which the Messiah was to be born, was not yet come. But they knew otherwise; and in this respect, Christ might be said to be born ‘in the fulness of time.’
We farther observe, that the coming of Christ was at that time when God had sufficiently tried the faith of the Old Testament church, in waiting for his coming, and thereby glorified his sovereignty, who hath the times and seasons of his bestowing all blessings in his own power.—Again, it was at that time when the measure of the iniquity of the world was abundantly filled, whereby his people might observe the deplorable state into which sin had brought mankind, and the utter impossibility of our recovery without a Mediator, and that the light of nature could not discover any method by which the redemption and salvation of man might be brought about.—Further, it was at that time when the Jewish church was at the lowest ebb. It was, therefore, the most seasonable time; and they were laid under the highest obligations to adore and magnify him. Their political state was broken, the sceptre had departed from Judah; and they were brought under the Roman yoke, which sat very uneasy upon them; nor could they ever expect to make that figure in the world which they once had done. Now, therefore, was the time for the Messiah to come, and erect his kingdom. Besides, they were given up to a very great degree of judicial blindness and hardness, and were disposed to make void the law of God by their traditions; so that religion among them was at a very low ebb. On this account, it was the fittest time for God to display his grace, in reviving his work, and preventing his cause and interest from wholly sinking in the world. This was the time in which the Son of God became Man.
2. Christ shall continue to be God and Man for ever. The union of these two natures is indissoluble. As to his divine nature, he is necessarily eternal and unchangeable; and the human nature shall continue for ever united to it, as the result of the divine purpose, in which God intends that some ends glorious to himself, honourable to the Mediator, and advantageous to his people, should be attained thereby.
If Christ had had a design to lay aside his human nature, he would have done so when he had finished in it his work of obedience and sufferings, and had thereby so far answered the end of his incarnation that nothing more was necessary for the purchase of redemption. But when he rose from the dead, as a conqueror over death and hell, and was declared to have accomplished the work he came into the world to perform, it is certain he did not lay it aside, but ascended visibly into heaven, and shall come again, in a visible manner, in that same nature, to judge the world at the last day.
Again, the eternity of Christ’s human nature appears from the eternity of his mediatorial kingdom. Of this more shall be said under a following Answer, when we come to speak concerning the glory of Christ’s kingly office. It appears, also, from the eternity of his intercession, which, as the apostle states, ‘he ever liveth to make’ for his people.9 This he does, by appearing in the human nature in the presence of God, in their behalf; so that he must for ever have a human nature.
Further, his saints shall abide for ever in heaven, and as the apostle says, ‘shall ever be with the Lord.’10 Their happiness shall continue, both as to soul and body. And, with respect to their bodies, it is said, they shall be ‘fashioned like unto Christ’s glorious body.’11 From these things it follows that his glorious body, or his human nature, shall continue for ever united to his divine Person.
Finally, his retaining his human nature for ever, seems necessary, as it redounds to the glory of God. It is an eternal monument of his love to mankind, and an eternal means to draw forth their love to him, who procured those mansions of glory, which they shall for ever be possessed of, by what he did and suffered for them in that nature.
Ridgley, Thomas. 1855. A Body of Divinity. Vol. 1. New York: Robert Carter & Brothers.
Gal. 4:4.
Dan. 9:24, 25.
Βασιλειαν ὁ καιρος ανεπειθε.
Vid. Sueton. in Vespas. Percrebuerat oriente toto, vetus et constans opinio, esse in fatis; ut eo tempore Judea profecti, rerum potirentur. And Tacit. Histor. lib. v. Pluribus persuasio inerat, antiquis sacerdotum literis contineri, eo ipso tempore fore ut valesceret Oriens, profectique Judea rerum potirentur.
Acts 5:36.
See Lightfoot’s works, vol. i. pages 765, 766.
John 10:8.
Matt. 24:24–26.
Heb. 7:25.
1 Thess. 4:17.
Phil. 3:21