Word Made Flesh
223
great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death
light is sprung up” (
Matthew 4:16
). Here the pre-existence of Christ
and the purpose of His manifestation to our world are presented as
living beams of light from the eternal throne. “Now gather thyself
in troops, O daughter of troops: he hath laid siege against us: they
shall smite the judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek. But thou,
Beth-lehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of
Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in
Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting”
(
Micah 5:1, 2
).
“We preach Christ crucified,” declared Paul, “unto the Jews a
stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness; but unto them which
are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the
wisdom of God” (
1 Corinthians 1:23, 24
).
[249]
A Mystery
That God should thus be manifest in the flesh is indeed a mystery;
and without the help of the Holy Spirit we cannot hope to comprehend
this subject. The most humbling lesson that man has to learn is the
nothingness of human wisdom, and the folly of trying, by his own
unaided efforts, to find out God. He may exert his intellectual powers
to the utmost, he may have what the world calls a superior education,
yet he may still be ignorant in God’s eyes. The ancient philosophers
boasted of their wisdom; but how did it weigh in the scale with God?
Solomon had great learning; but his wisdom was foolishness; for he
did not know how to stand in moral independence, free from sin, in the
strength of a character molded after the divine similitude. Solomon has
told us the result of his research, his painstaking efforts, his persevering
inquiry. He pronounces his wisdom altogether vanity.
By wisdom the world knew not God. Their estimation of the divine
character, their imperfect knowledge of His attributes, did not enlarge
and expand their mental conception. Their minds were not ennobled
in conformity to the divine will, but they plunged into the grossest
idolatry. “Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and
changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like
to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping