CHRIST IS GOD:
- As Jehovah
    Isaiah 40:3; Matthew 3:3

- As Jehovah of glory
    Ps 24:7,10; 1Corinthians 2:8; Jas 2:1

- As Jehovah, our RIGHTEOUSNESS
    Jer 23:5,6; 1Corinthians 1:30

- As Jehovah, above all
    Ps 97:9; John 3:31

- As Jehovah, the First and the Last
    Isaiah 44:6; Revelation 1:17; Isaiah 48:12-16; Revelation 22:13

- As Jehovah's Fellow and Equal
    Zec 13:7; Php 2:6

- As Jehovah of Hosts
    Isaiah 6:1-3; John 12:41; Isaiah 8:13,14; 1Peter 2:8

- As Jehovah, the Shepherd
    Isaiah 40:11; Hebrews 13:20

- As Jehovah, for whose glory all things were created
    Pr 16:4; Col 1:16

- As Jehovah, the Messenger of the covenant
    Malachi 3:1; Mark 1:2; Luke 2:27

- Invoked as Jehovah
    Joe 2:32; Ac 2:21; 1Corinthians 1:2

- As the Eternal God and Creator
    Ps 102:24-27; Hebrews 1:8,10-12

- As the mighty God
    Isaiah 9:6

- As the Great God and Saviour
    Ho 1:7; Tit 2:13

- As God over all
    Ps 45:6,7; Romans 9:5

- As the true God
    Jer 10:10; 1Jo 5:20

- As God the Word
    John 1:1

- As God, the judge
    Ec 12:14; 1Corinthians 4:5; 2Corinthians 5:10; 2Ti 4:1

- As Emmanuel
    Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23

- As King of kings and Lord of lords
    De 10:17; Revelation 1:5; 17:14

- As the Holy One
    1Sa 2:2; Ac 3:14

- As the Lord from heaven
    1Corinthians 15:47

- As Lord of the Sabbath
    Ge 2:3; Matthew 12:8

- As Lord of all
    Ac 10:36; Romans 10:11-13

- As Son of God
    Matthew 26:63-67

- As the Only-begotten Son of the Father
    John 1:14,18; 3:16,18; 1Jo 4:9

- His blood is called the blood of God
    Ac 20:28

- As one with the Father
    John 10:30,38; 12:45; 14:7-10; 17:10

- As sending the Spirit, equally with the Father
    John 14:16; 15:26

- As entitled to equal honour with the Father
    John 5:23

- As Owner of all things, equally with the Father
    John 16:15

- As unrestricted by the law of the sabbath, equally with the Father
    John 5:17

- As the Source of grace, equally with the Father
    1Th 3:11; 2Th 2:16,17

- As unsearchable, equally with the Father
    Pr 30:4; Matthew 11:27

- As Creator of all things
    Isaiah 40:28; John 1:3; Col 1:16; Hebrews 1:2

- As Supporter and Preserver of all things
    Ne 9:6; Col 1:17; Hebrews 1:3

- As possessed of the fulness of the God head
    Col 2:9; Hebrews 1:3

- As raising the dead
    John 5:21; 6:40,54

- As raising himself from the dead
    John 2:19,21; 10:18

- As Eternal
    Isaiah 9:6; Mic 5:2; John 1:1; Col 1:17; Hebrews 1:8-10; Revelation 1:8

- As Omnipresent
    Matthew 18:20; 28:20; John 3:13

- As Omnipotent
    Ps 45:3; Php 3:21; Revelation 1:8

- As Omniscient
    John 16:30; 21:17

- As discerning the thoughts of the heart
    1Ki 8:39; Luke 5:22; Ezekiel 11:5; John 2:24,25; Revelation 2:23

- As unchangeable
    Malachi 3:6; Hebrews 1:12; 13:8

- As having power to forgive sins
    Col 3:13; Mark 2:7,10

- As Giver of pastors to the Church
    Jer 3:15; Eph 4:11-13

- As Husband of the Church
    Isaiah 54:5; Eph 5:25-32; Isaiah 62:5; Revelation 21:2,9

- As the object of divine worship
    Ac 7:59; 2Corinthians 12:8,9; Hebrews 1:6; Revelation 5:12

- As the object of faith
    Ps 2:12; 1Peter 2:6; Jer 17:5,7; John 14:1

- As God, he redeems and purifies the Church to himself
    Revelation 5:9; Tit 2:14

- As God, he presents the Church to himself
    Eph 5:27; Jude 1:24,25

- Saints live to him as God
    Romans 6:11; Ga 2:19; 2Corinthians 5:15

- Acknowledged by his Apostles
    John 20:28

- Acknowledged by the Old Testament saints
    Ge 17:1; 48:15,16; 32:24-30; Ho 12:3-5; Jud 6:22-24; 13:21,22; Job 19:25-27

CHRIST, CHARACTER OF:
- Altogether lovely
    So 5:16

- Holy
    Luke 1:35; Ac 4:27; Revelation 3:7

- Righteous
    Isaiah 53:11; Hebrews 1:9

- Good
    Matthew 19:16

- Faithful
    Isaiah 11:5; 1Th 5:24

- True
    Joh 1:14; 7:18; 1Jo 5:20

- Just
Zec 9:9; Joh 5:30; Ac 22:14

- Guileless
    Isaiah 53:9; 1Peter 2:22

- Sinless
    Joh 8:46; 2Corinthians 5:21

- Spotless
    1Peter 1:19

- Innocent
    Matthew 27:4

- Harmless
    Hebrews 7:26

- Resisting temptation
    Matthew 4:1-10

- Obedient to God the Father
    Ps 40:8; Joh 4:34; 15:10

- Zealous
    Luke 2:49; Joh 2:17; 8:29

- Meek
    Isaiah 53:7; Zec 9:9; Matthew 11:29

- Lowly in heart
    Matthew 11:29

- Merciful
    Hebrews 2:17

- Patient
    Isaiah 53:7; Matthew 27:14

- Long-suffering
    1Timothy 1:16

- Compassionate
    Isaiah 40:11; Luke 19:41

- Benevolent
    Matthew 4:23,24; Ac 10:38

- Loving
    Joh 13:1; 15:13

- Self-denying
    Matthew 8:20; 2Corinthians 8:9

- Humble
    Luke 22:27; Php 2:8

- Resigned
    Luke 22:42

- Forgiving
    Luke 23:34

- Subject to His parents
    Luke 2:51

- Saints are conformed to
    Romans 8:29

CHRIST, THE HEAD OF THE CHURCH:
- Predicted
    Ps 118:22; Matthew 21:42

- Appointed by God
    Eph 1:22

- Declared by himself
    Matthew 21:42

- As his mystical body
    Eph 4:12,15; 5:23

- Has the pre-eminence in all things
    1Corinthians 11:3; Eph 1:22; Col 1:18

- Commissioned his Apostles
Matthew 10:1,7; 28:19; Joh 20:21

- Instituted the ordinances
    Matthew 28:19; Luke 22:19,20

- Imparts gifts
    Ps 68:18; Eph 4:8

- Saints are complete in
    Col 2:10

- Perverters of the truth do not hold
    Col 2:18,19

CHRIST, THE HIGH PRIEST:
- Appointed and called by God
    Hebrews 3:1,2; 5:4,5

- After the order of Melchizedek
    Ps 110:4; Hebrews 5:6; 6:20; 7:15,17

- Superior to Aaron and the Levitical priests
    Hebrews 7:11,16,22; 8:1,2,6

- Consecrated with an oath
    Hebrews 7:20,21

- Has an unchangeable priesthood
    Hebrews 7:23,28

- Is of unblemished purity
    Hebrews 7:26,28

- Faithful
    Hebrews 3:2

- Needed no sacrifice for himself
    Hebrews 7:27

- Offered himself a sacrifice
    Hebrews 9:14,26

- His sacrifice superior to all others
    Hebrews 9:13,14,23

- Offered sacrifice but once
    Hebrews 7:27; 9:25,26

- Made reconciliation
    Hebrews 2:17

- Obtained redemption for us
    Hebrews 9:12

- Entered into heaven
    Hebrews 4:14; 10:12

- Sympathises with those who are tempted
    Hebrews 2:18; 4:15

- Intercedes
    Hebrews 7:25; 9:24

- Blesses
    Nu 6:23-26; Ac 3:26

- On his throne
    Zec 6:13

- Appointment of, and encouragement to steadfastness
    Hebrews 4:14

- Typified
    Melchizedek
        Ge 14:18-20

    Aaron,
        Ex 40:12-15

CHRIST, THE KING:
- Foretold
    Nu 24:17; Ps 2:6; 45:1-17; Isaiah 9:7; Jer 23:5; Mic 5:2

- Glorious
    Ps 24:7-10; 1Corinthians 2:8; Jas 2:1

- Supreme
    Ps 89:27; Revelation 1:5; 19:16

- Sits in the throne of God
    Revelation 3:21

- Sits on the throne of David
    Isaiah 9:7; Ezekiel 37:24,25; Luke 1:32; Ac 2:30

- Is King of Zion
    Ps 2:6; Isaiah 52:7; Zec 9:9; Matthew 21:5; Joh 12:12-15

- Has a righteous kingdom
    Ps 45:6; Hebrews 1:8,9; Isaiah 32:1; Jer 23:5

- Has an everlasting kingdom
    Da 2:44; 7:14; Luke 1:33

- Has an universal kingdom
    Ps 2:8; 72:8; Zec 14:9; Revelation 11:15

- His kingdom not of this world
    Joh 18:36

- Saints, the subjects of
    Col 1:13; Revelation 15:3

- Saints receive a kingdom from
    Luke 22:29,30; Hebrews 12:28

- ACKNOWLEDGED BY
    The wise men from the East
        Matthew 2:2

    Nathanael
        Joh 1:49

    His followers
        Luke 19:38; Joh 12:13

- Declared by himself
    Matthew 25:34; Joh 18:37

- Written on His cross
    Joh 19:19

- The Jews shall seek to
    Ho 3:5

- Saints shall behold
    Isaiah 33:17; Revelation 22:3,4

- Kings shall do homage to
    Ps 72:10; Isaiah 49:7

- Shall overcome all his enemies
    Ps 110:1; Mark 12:36; 1Corinthians 15:25; Revelation 17:14

- Typified
    Melchizedek
        Ge 14:18

    David
        1Sa 16:1,12,13; Luke 1:32

    Solomon
        1Ch 28:6,7

CHRIST, THE MEDIATOR:
- In virtue of his atonement
    Eph 2:13-18; Hebrews 9:15; 12:24

- The only one between God and man
    1Timothy 2:5

- Of the gospel covenant
    Hebrews 8:6; 12:24

- Typified
    Moses
        De 5:5; Ga 3:19

    Aaron
        Nu 16:48

CHRIST, THE PROPHET:
- Foretold
    De 18:15,18; Isaiah 52:7; Na 1:15

- Anointed with the Holy Spirit
    Isaiah 42:1; 61:1; Luke 4:18; Joh 3:34

- Alone knows and reveals God
    Matthew 11:27; Joh 3:2,13,34; 17:6,14,26; Hebrews 1:1,2

- Declared his doctrine to be that of the Father
    Joh 8:26,28; 12:49,50; 14:10,24; 15:15; 17:8,16

- Preached the gospel, and worked miracles
    Matthew 4:23; 11:5; Luke 4:43

- Foretold things to come
    Matthew 24:3-35; Luke 19:41,44

- Faithful to his trust
    Luke 4:43; Joh 17:8; Hebrews 3:2; Revelation 1:5; 3:14

- Abounded in wisdom
    Luke 2:40,47,52; Col 2:3

- Mighty in deed and word
    Matthew 13:54; Mark 1:27; Luke 4:32; John 7:46

- Meek and unostentatious in his teaching
    Isaiah 42:2; Matthew 12:17-20

- God commands us to hear
    De 18:15; Matthew 17:25; Ac 3:22; 7:37

- God will severely visit our neglect of
    De 18:19; Ac 3:23; Hebrews 2:3

- Typified
    Moses
        De 18:15

CHRIST, THE SHEPHERD:
- Foretold
    Ge 49:24; Isaiah 40:11; Ezekiel 34:23; 37:24

- The chief
    1Peter 5:4

- The good
    John 10:11,14

- The great
    Mic 5:4; Hebrews 13:20

- HIS SHEEP
    He knows
        John 10:14,27

    He calls
        John 10:3

    He gathers
        Isaiah 40:11; John 10:16

    He guides
        Ps 23:3; John 10:3,4

    He feeds
        Ps 23:1,2; John 10:9

    He cherishes tenderly
        Isaiah 40:11

    He protects and preserves
        Jer 31:10; Ezekiel 34:10; Zec 9:16; John 10:28

    He laid down his life for
        Zec 13:7; Matthew 26:31; John 10:11,15; Ac 20:28

    He gives eternal life to
        John 10:28

- Typified
    David
        1Sa 16:11

CHRIST AS KING, PRIEST, PROPHET:
    See under several titles; also CHRIST, OFFICES OF.

CHRIST, HUMANITY OF:
    See CHRIST, HUMANITY OF.

CHRIST, INTERCESSION OF:
    See INTERCESSION OF CHRIST.

CHRIST, JESUS:
    See JESUS CHRIST.

CHRIST, OFFICES OF:
    of'-is-is.

    General Titles of our Lord

I. CHRIST'S MEDIATION EXPRESSED IN THE SPECIFIC OFFICES

    Historical Review of the Theory

II. THE THREEFOLD OFFICE IN THE OLD TESTAMENT

    The Failure of the Offices to Secure Their Desired Ends

III. THE PROPHET

    The Forecast of the True Prophet

IV. CHRIST THE PROPHET

    1. Christ's Manner of Teaching

    2. Christ as Prophet in His Church

V. THE PRIESTHOOD OF CHRIST

    1. Judaic Priesthood

    2. Sacrificial Relations of Christ in the Gospels

    3. Christ's Ethical Teaching Affected by Sacrificial Ideas

    4. Mutual Confirmations of the Synoptics

    5. The Dual Outgrowth of Sacrifice, the Victim and Sacrificer

    6. Christ's Priesthood in the Apostolic Ministry and Epistles

    7. The Crowning Testimony of the Epistle to the Hebrews

    8. Christ's Relation to Sin Expressed in Sacrificial Terms

VI. CHRIST'S KINGLY OFFICE

    The Breakdown of the Secular Monarchy

VII. THE MESSIANIC BASIS OF THE THREEFOLD OFFICE OF THE LORD

    LITERATURE


General Titles of our Lord:

This term has been used by theologians to describe the various characters of our Lord's redemptive work. Many appellative and metaphorical titles are found in Scripture for Christ, designative of His Divine and human natures and His work: God (John 20:28); Lord (Matthew 22:43,14); Word (John 1:1,14); Son of God (Matthew 3:17; Luke 1:35; Col 1:15; 1John 5:20); Firstborn from the dead (Col 1:18); Beginning of the Creation of God (Revelation 3:14); Image of God (2Corinthians 4:4); Express Image of His Person (Hebrews 1:3 the King James Version); Alpha and Omega (Revelation 1:8; 22:13); Son of Man (Matthew 8:20; John 1:51; Ac 7:56); Son of David (Matthew 9:27; 21:9); Last Adam (1Corinthians 15:45,47); Captain of Salvation (Hebrews 2:10 margin) ; Saviour (Luke 2:11; John 4:42; Ac 5:31); Redeemer (Isaiah 59:20; Tit 2:14); Author and Perfecter of Faith (Hebrews 12:2); Light of the World (John 8:12); Lamb of God (John 1:29,36); Creator of all things (John 1:3,10); Mediator (1Timothy 2:5); Prophet (De 18:15; Luke 24:19); Great High Priest (Hebrews 4:14); King (Luke 1:33; Revelation 17:14; 19:16); Way, Truth and Life (John 14:6). These and many others express the mediatorial office of the Lord. As mediator, He stands between God and Man, revealing the Father to man, and expressing the true relation of man to God. The term (Greek mesites), moreover, signifies messenger, interpreter, advocate, surety or pledge in Ga 3:19,20, where a covenant is declared to be assured by the hand of one who intervenes. Thus the covenant is confirmed and fulfilled by Him who secures that its stipulations should be carried out, and harmony is restored where before there had been difference and separation (1Timothy 2:5; Hebrews 8:6; 9:15; 12:24). Thus is expressed the purpose of God to redeem mankind by mediation.

I. Christ's Mediation Expressed in the Specific Offices.

In presenting a systematic idea of this Redemptive Work of Christ by Mediation, Christian thought gave to it a harmonious character by choosing the most general and familiar titles of the Lord as the most inclusive categories expressive of the mode of Redemption. These were prophetic, priestly and regal.

Historical Review of the Theory:

The first trace of this division is found in Eusebius, Historia Ecclesiastica, I, 3, and his Demonstratio Evangelica, IV, 15. It was accepted very largely in the Greek church, and continues to be used by Russian ecclesiastical writers. The Roman church has not so generally followed it, though it is found in the writings of many Roman theologians. The earlier reformers, especially Lutheran, ignored it. But Gerhard employed it and the Lutheran theologians followed his example, although some of these repudiated it, as Ernesti, Doderlein and Knapp. Calvin employed the division in his Institutes, II, 15. It was incorporated in the Heidelberg Catechism and has been adopted by most theologians of the Reformed church and by English and American divines. In Germany most theological writers, such as De Wette, Schleiermacher, Tholuck, Nitzsch, Ebrard, adopt it, affirming it as expressive of the essential quality of the work of redemption, and the most complete presentment of its contents. The justification of this position is found in the important place occupied in the progress of revelation by those to whom were entrusted the duties of teaching and leading men in relation to God in the offices of priest, prophet and king. Even the modern development of Christian thought which extends the view of Divine dealing with man over the entire race and its religious history, not excluding those who would find in the most recent conditions of the world's life the outworking of the will of God in the purposes of human salvation, cannot discover any better form of expressing Christ's relation to man than in terms of the prophetic, the priestly and the governmental offices. The prophet is the instrument of teaching: the priest expresses the ethical relation of man to God; while the king furnishes the typical form of that exercise of sovereign authority and Providential direction which concerns the practical life of the race.

II. The Threefold Office in the Old Testament.

From the close relation which Jesus in both His person and work bore to the Old Testament dispensation, it is natural to turn to the preparatory history of the early Scriptures for the first notes of these mediatorial offices. That the development of the Jewish people and system ever moved toward Christ as an end and fulfillment is universally acknowledged. The vague and indeterminate conditions of both the religious and national life of Israel manifest a definite movement toward a clearer apprehension of man's relationship to God. Nothing is more clear in Israel's history than the gradual evolution of official service both of church and state, as expressed in the persons and duties of the prophet, the priest and the king. The early patriarch contained in himself the threefold dignity, and discharged the threefold duty. As the family became tribal, and the tribe national, these duties were divided. The order of the household was lost for a while in the chaos of the larger and less homogeneous society. The domestic altar was multiplied in many "high places." Professional interpreters of more or less religious value began to be seers, and here and there, prophets. The leadership of the people was occasional, ephemeral and uncertain. But the men of Divine calling appeared from time to time; the foundation work of Moses was built on; the regular order of the worship of Yahweh, notwithstanding many lapses, steadily prevailed. Samuel gave dignity to his post as judge, and he again beheld the open vision of the Lord; he offered the appointed sacrifices; he established the kingly office; and although he was not permitted to see the family of David on the throne, like Moses he beheld afar off the promised land of a Divinely appointed kingdom. With the accession of the Davidic house, the three orders of God's service were completely developed. The king was seated on the throne, the priest was ministering at the one altar of the nation, the prophet with the Divine message was ever at hand to teach, to guide and to rebuke.

The Failure of the Offices to Secure Their Desired Ends:

Notwithstanding this growth of the special institutions--prophet, priest and king--the religious and national condition was by no means satisfactory. The kingdom was divided; external foes threatened the existence of the nation; idolatry was not extinguished, and the prophets who were true to Yahweh were compelled to warn and rebuke the sins of the rulers and the people, and even to testify against the priests for their unfaithfulness to the truth and purity of the religion which they professed. The best hopes of Israel and the Divine promises seem thus to be contradicted by the constant failure of the people to realize their best ideals. Hence, slowly arose a vague expectation of reform. The idea of the better condition which was coming grew ever more distinct, and settled down at length to Israel's Messianic hope, expressed in various forms, finally converging to the looking for of one who should in some mysterious way gather into himself the ideas which belonged especially to the three great offices.

III. The Prophet.

In this article we are concerned only with the offices as they tend to their fulfillment in Christ. For the more general treatment of each office, reference must be made to the special articles.

The Forecast of the True Prophet:

The first appearance of the idea of the special prophet of Yahweh is in De 18:15. Moses had been sent by the people to hear the Lord's words on their behalf (Ex 20:19; De 5:27); and this incident in the later passage of De 18:15-22 is connected with the promise of a prophet, while at the same time reference is made to the general fact of prophecy and the conditions of its validity and acceptance. Here we find the germ of the expectation of the Prophet, which occupied so large a place in the mind of Israel. In the act of the people sending Moses to receive the word, and Yahweh's promise to send a prophet whom they would accept, we see also the suggestion of a distinction between the first dispensation and the latter. The Divine promise was to the effect that what was given by Moses God would consummate in a prophetic revelation through a person. The conception of this personality is found in the second part of Isaiah (40-66). Isaiah's mission was vain, Isaiah 49:4, but the coming one shall prevail, 49-53 (passim). But the success of this servant of Yahweh was not to be only as a prophet, but by taking on himself the penalty of sin (Isaiah 53:5), and by being made an offering for sin; and as Mighty Victor triumphing over all foes (Isaiah 53:10-12), the dignities of whose kingship are set forth in various parts of the prophetic writings. Thus the general effect of the course of the earlier revelation may be summed up in this prophetic ministry with which has been combined a priestly and a royal character. It was an ever-advancing manifestation of the nature and will of God, delivered by inspired men who spake at sundry times and in divers manners, but whose message was perfected and extended by Jesus Christ (Hebrews 1:1), who thus became the Prophet of the Lord.

IV. Christ the Prophet.

Christ's ministry illustrates the prophetic office in the most extensive and exalted sense of the term. He was designed and appointed by the Father (Isaiah 61:1,2; compare Luke 4:16-21; Matthew 17:5). In 1Corinthians 1:30, Christ is declared to be made to us wisdom. His intimate knowledge of God (John 1:18; Matthew 11:27; John 16:15), the qualities of His teaching dependent upon His nature, both Divine and human (John 3:34); His authority (John 1:9,17,18; Luke 4:18-21); His knowledge of God (Mark 12:29; John 4:24; Matthew 11:25; John 17:11,25; Matthew 18:35)--these all peculiarly fitted Christ to be the Revealer of God. Besides His doctrine of God, His ministry included the truth concerning Himself, His nature, claims, mission, the doctrine of the Holy Spirit, and the religious life of man. He taught as none other the foundation of religion, the facts on which it was based, the essence of Divine service, the nature of sin, the grace of God, the means of atonement, the laws of the kingdom of God and the future state. By the acknowledgment of even those who have denied His Divine nature and redemptive work, He has been recognized as the Supreme Moral Teacher of the world. His claim to be the Prophet is seen in that He is the source of the ever-extending revelation of the eternal. His own words and works He declared were only part of the fuller knowledge which would be furnished by the system which He established (Luke 9:45; 18:34; John 12:16; 14:26; 15:26; 16:12,13,14).

1. Christ's Manner of Teaching:

How remarkable was His method of teaching! Parable, proverb, absolute affirmation, suggestion, allusion to simple objects, practical life--these all made His teaching powerful, easily understood, living; sometimes His action was His word--and all with a commanding dignity and gracious winsomeness, that was felt by His hearers and has ever been recognized (Matthew 7:29). So perfect and exalted was the teaching of Jesus that many have supposed that revelation ceased with Him, and the immediate followers whom He especially inspired to be His witnesses and interpreters. Certainly in Him the prophetic ministry culminated.

2. Christ as Prophet in His Church:

An important aspect of Christ's prophetic office is that of His relation to the church as the source, through the instrumentality of His Spirit, of ever-enlarging knowledge of Divine truth which it has been able to gain. This is the real significance of the claim which some churches make to be the custodians and interpreters of the tradition of faith, with which has also gone theory of development--not as a human act but as a ministration of the Lord through His Spirit, which is granted to the church. Even those who hold that all Divine truth is to be found in the sacred Scriptures have yet maintained that God has much truth still to bring out of His word by the leading and direction of the Spirit of Jesus. The Scripture itself declares that Christ was the light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world (John 1:9). He Himself promised that the Spirit which He would give would guide His followers into all truth (John 16:13). The apostles claimed to receive their teaching and direction of the church from the Lord (1Corinthians 11:23). The testimony of Jesus is definitely declared to be the spirit of prophecy (Revelation 19:10). Indeed, all the apostolic writings in almost every line affirm that what they teach is received from the Spirit, who is the Spirit of the Lord.

V. The Priesthood of Christ.

1. Judaic Priesthood:

For the history of the development of the priesthood of Israel on which our Lord's High-Priesthood is ideally based, reference must be made to the article especially dealing of with that subject. The bearings of that institution upon the work of Jesus as Redeemer alone fall under this section. Judaism like all religions developed an extensive system priestly service. As the moral sense of the people enlarged and became more distinct, the original simplicity of sacrifice, especially as a commensal act, in which the unity of the celebrants with each other and with God was expressed, was expanded into acts regularly performed by officials, in which worship, thanksgiving, covenant and priestly expiation and atonement were clearly and definitely expressed. The progress of sacrifice may be seen in the history of the Old Testament from Cain and Abel's (Ge 4:3,4), Noah's (Ge 8:20), Abraham's covenant (Ge 15:9-18), etc., to the elaborate services of the Mosaic ritual set forth in Lev, the full development of which is found only in the later days of Israel. When Christ appeared, the entire sacerdotal system had become incorporated in the mind, customs and language of the people. They had learned more or less distinctly the truth of man's relation to God in its natural character, and especially in that aspect where man by his sin had separated himself from God and laid himself open to the penalty of law. The conception of priesthood had thus grown in the consciousness of Israel, as the necessary instrument of mediation between man and God. Priestly acts were performed on behalf of the worshipper. The priest was to secure for man the Divine favor. This could only be gained by an act of expiation. Something must be done in order to set forth the sin of man, his acknowledgment of guilt, the satisfaction of the law, and the assurance of the Divine forgiveness, the restored favor of God and finally the unity of man and God.

2. Sacrificial Relations of Christ in the Gospels:

That the work of Christ partook of the nature of priestly service is already indicated by references in the Gospels themselves. He was called "Jesus; for it is he that shall save his people from their sins" (Matthew 1:21). Salvation from sin, in the habit of thought at which the Jew had arrived, must have expressed itself most clearly in the symbolic signification of the sacrifices in the temple. Thus in the very name which our Lord received His priesthood is suggested. The frankincense of the Magi's offering is not without its mystical meaning (Matthew 2:11). Some may find in the Baptist's words, "baptize you in the Holy Spirit and in fire" (Matthew 3:11), a suggestion of priestly action, for the understanding of John's declaration must be found in the conventional ideas of the Jewish thought of the period, determined as they undoubtedly were by the history of priestly service in the past and the fully developed ritual of the temple. The baptizing of the proselyte was not necessarily a priestly act, as indeed we cannot be certain that the baptism was always necessary at the introduction of a proselyte into the Jewish church. But the association of circumcision with the initiation of the proselyte certainly introduced the priest, and the sprinkling of the congregation by the priest was a familiar part of his official duties. It is quite probable therefore that John's use of the expression carried with it something of the sacerdotal idea.

3. Christ's Ethical Teaching Affected by Sacrificial Ideas:

The spirit of our Lord's teaching, as seen in the Sermon on the Mount, etc., as it reflects the thought of the Galilean ministry, may be regarded as prophetic rather than priestly. Still the end of the teaching was righteousness, and it was impossible for a Jew to conceive of the securing of righteousness without some reference to priestly administration and influence. The contrast of the effect of Christ's teaching with that of the scribes (Matthew 7:29) keeps us in the vicinity of the law as applied through the sacerdotal service of which the scribes were the interpreters and teachers, and surely therefore a hint of our Lord's relation to priesthood may have found its way into the minds of His immediate hearers. He was careful to recognize the authority of the priest (Matthew 8:4). The doctrine of sacrifice emerges somewhat more distinctly in the reference to the cross, which our Lord associates with the thought of finding life by losing it (Matthew 16:24,25), and when the taking up the cross is interpreted by following Christ, and this hint is soon followed by Christ's distinct reference to His coming sufferings (Matthew 17:9,12), more definitely referred to in Matthew 17:22,23. Now the object of the work of the Lord takes clearer form. The Son of Man is come to save that which was lost (Matthew 18:11 the American Revised Version, margin). As the time of the catastrophe drew nearer, the Lord became still more distinct in His references to His coming death (Matthew 20:18,19), and at length declares that "the Son of man came .... to give his life a ransom for many" (Matthew 20:28). our Lord's quotations (Matthew 21:42; 23:39) concerning the rejected "corner stone," and the Blessed One "that cometh in the name of the Lord" (Ps 118:22,26), are drawn from a psalm filled with the spirit of the priestly service of the temple, and in their reference to Himself again illustrate the ever-increasing recognition of His priesthood. He also uses the official term "Christ" (Messiah, the anointed one) more frequently (Matthew 24:5,23,14). On the eve of the betrayal and trial the crucifixion is clearly foretold (Matthew 26:2); and the death (Matthew 26:12). The full significance of the death is asserted at the institution of the Lord's Supper. The bread is "my body," the wine is "my blood of the new covenant," and it is declared to be "poured out for many unto remission of sins" (Matthew 26:26-28 margin).

4. Mutual Confirmations of the Synoptics:

A similar succession of ideas of our Lord's priestly work may be found in the other gospels (see Mark 1:8,44; 8:29; see below on the significance of the term Christ; Mark 8:31,34; 9:9,10). The inability of the disciples to understand the life that was to follow death here is indicated--the truth of the gospel of death and resurrection so closely bound up with the conception of sacrifice, where the blood is the life which given becomes the condition of the new union with God, being thus revealed by Christ as the initial doctrine to be continuously enlarged (Mark 9:31; 10:21,33,14,45; 11:9; 12:10; 13:21,22; 14:8,22-25,61,62). In Luke the priestly "atmosphere" is introduced in the earliest part of the narrative, the history of Zacharias and Elisabeth giving emphasis to the setting of John's own mission (Luke 1). The name Jesus (Luke 1:31); the special relation of the new kingdom to sin, necessarily connected with sacrifice in the mind of a priest, found in Zacharias' psalm (Luke 1:77,78); the subtle suggestion of the Suffering One in the "also" of Luke 2:35 the King James Version (the American Standard Revised Version omits) shows that the third Gospel is quite in line with the two other Synoptics (see also Luke 3:3; 5:14). The claim to forgive sins must have suggested the sacrificial symbol of remission (Luke 5:24; 9:23; 13:35; 14:27; 18:31; 20:14; 22:19,20; 24:7,26,46,47). In the Fourth Gospel, we have the word of the Baptist, "Behold, the Lamb of God" (John 1:29,36), where Christ's relation to sin is distinctly expressed (see LAMB OF GOD)--the baptism in the Spirit (John 1:33). It is highly probable that the apostle John was the "other" of the two disciples, (John 1:40) and, having heard the Baptist's words, is the only evangelist who records them, thus introducing from his personal knowledge the sacrificial idea earlier into his history than the Synoptics. Christ declares that He will give His life for the life of the world (John 6:51). The entire passage (John 6:47-65) is suffused with the conception of "life for life," one of the elements constituting the conception of the sacrificial act. In John 8:28 (compare John 3:14; 12:32) Christ predicts His crucifixion. The Good Shepherd gives His life for the sheep (John 10:15). In John 10:17,18, Christ claims the power to lay down His life and to take it again. He is the sacrifice and the Sacrificer.

5. The Dual Outgrowth of Sacrifice, the Victim and Sacrificer:

Here appears for the first time the double relation of Christ to the sacrificial idea, worked out in the later thought of the church into the full significance of our Lord's priestly office. In John 11:25,26 Christ is the source of life, and life after death. It is hardly possible that this conception should not have, even if remotely suggested, some reference to the significance of sacrifice; for in the sacrifices the Divine claim for the blood, as specially to be set apart as the Divine portion, was ever present. God ever claimed the blood as His; for to Him the life was forfeited by sin. And moreover He alone possesses life and gives it. Of that forfeit and that Divine sovereignty of life, sacrifice is the expression. This is fully realized and made actual in Christ's life and death for man, in which man shares by His unity with Christ. Man at once receives the penalty of sin in dying with Christ, and rises again into the new life which our Lord opened, and of which He is the ceaseless energy and power through the spirit of God. The emergence of this idea is illustrated by the evangelist in the sayings of Caiaphas, where as the high priest of the nation he gives, though unconsciously, a significant expression to the truth that it was "expedient" that Jesus `should die for the nation and for the children of God everywhere scattered' (John 11:47-52). Here the symbolic significance of sacrifice is practically realized: death in the place of another and the giving of life to those for whom the sacrifice was offered. The vitalizing power of Christ's death is asserted in the discourse following the visit of the Greeks (John 12:24-33). The idea of life from the dying seed is associated with the conception of the power of attraction and union by the cross. The natural law of life through death is thus in harmony with the gift of life through sacrifice involving death. That sacrifice may be found much more widely than merely in death, is shown by the law of service illustrated in the washing of the disciples' feet (13:14-17); and this is declared to spring out of love (John 15:13). For the priestly ideas of our Lord's prayer (John 17) see INTERCESSION; INTERCESSION OF CHRIST; PRAYERS OF CHRIST.

6. Christ's Priesthood in the Apostolic Ministry and Epistles:

Christ's priestly office finds illustration in the Ac of the Apostles, in the apostolic declaration of Christ's Messianic office, not only Lord, but also Christ the Anointed One (Ac 2:36). Peter's reference to the stone which completed the temple, the service of which was essentially sacrificial, as the Symbol of Christ, the Crown of that Spiritual Temple (Ac 4:11); Philip's application of the passage in Isaiah of the sheep led to the slaughter (Isaiah 53:7,8) to our Lord (Ac 8:32,35); Peter's discourse to Cornelius, culminating in the remission of sins through Christ (Ac 10:43)--all indicates the steady growth in the apostolic ministry of the conception of our Lord's priestly office. The idea takes its most distinct form in Paul's sermon at Antioch (Ac 13:38,39). The necessity of Christ's death and resurrection was the essence of Paul's message (Ac 17:3). And in the address to the elders, the church is declared to have been purchased by God with His own blood (Ac 20:28).

As the epistles express the more elaborated thought of the apostolic ministry, the sacrifice of our Lord naturally finds more definite exposition, and inasmuch as He was both active and passive in the offering of Himself, the conception of sacrifice branches into the twofold division, the object offered, and the person offering. It must never be forgotten, however, that the thought of Christ's sacrifice even when thus separated into its two great divisions necessarily involves in each conception the suggestion of the other: God setting Him forth as a propitiation through faith in His blood (Romans 3:25). He was delivered for our offenses and raised for our justification (Romans 4:25). Through Him we have access to the conditions of justification and peace (Romans 5:2). Christ died for the ungodly, and we are justified by His blood (Romans 5:8,9). The conception of life both as forfeit from man and gift by God, expressed by sacrifice, runs through the reasoning of Romans 8 (see especially Romans 8:11,32-34, where Christ who died for man rises from the dead, and becomes the intercessor; the victim and the High Priest are thus united in the Lord, and thus He becomes full expression and supplier of the love of God which is the perfect life). In 1Corinthians 1:23 Paul affirms the preaching of the cross as the center of his message. The subject of his teaching was not merely Christ, but Christ and Him crucified (1Corinthians 2:2). In 1Corinthians 5:7 Christ is declared to be the Passover, and sacrificed for us (1Corinthians 10:16-18). The manifestation of the death of the Lord by the bread and wine is given in the account of the institution of the Supper (1Corinthians 11:26). In 1Corinthians 15:3 Christ is said expressly to have died for our sins. Christ's sacrifice lies at the basis of all the thought of the Galatian epistle (Gal 1:4; 2:20; 3:13). In Eph we have the definite statement of redemption through the blood of Christ (Eph 1:7). Christ's humiliation to the cross is given in Php 2:8; community with Christ's death, one of the important elements of sacrifice, in Php 3:10,11. Forgiveness, the essence of redemption, is declared to be through the blood of Christ (Col 1:14). Peace is secured through the blood of the cross, and reconciliation (Col 1:20); the presentation of us in Christ's flesh through death, holy and unblamable and unreprovable to God (Col 1:22). The community of sacrifice sets forth the oneness of believers with Christ (Col 3:1-4). Christ is declared to be the one Mediator between God and man, who gave Himself a ransom for all (1Timothy 2:5,6).

7. The Crowning Testimony of the Epistle to the Hebrews:

The chief source of the priestly conception of our Lord is the Epistle to the Hebrews. Christ is declared to have by Himself purged our sins (Hebrews 1:3); to taste of death for every man (Hebrews 2:9); that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest to make reconciliation for the sins of the people (Hebrews 2:17; compare Hebrews 3:1); the community of sacrifice (Hebrews 3:14); our great High Priest has passed into the heavens (Hebrews 4:14); His pitifulness (Hebrews 4:15); the authority and power of Christ's priesthood fully set forth (Hebrews 5). Christ was made a High Priest after the order of Melchizedek (Hebrews 5:6). The priesthood of Christ being of the order of Melchizedek is more excellent than the Aaronic priesthood (Hebrews 7). Christ's priesthood being eternal, that of the Aaronic is abolished (Hebrews 8). Christ's high-priesthood is made effectual by His own blood; and He entered once for all into the holy place, and has become the Mediator of a New Covenant (Hebrews 9:11-15). Christ is forever the representative of man in heaven (Hebrews 9:24-28). Christ by the sacrifice of Himself forever takes away sin, and has consecrated the new and living way to God (Hebrews 10). He is the Mediator of the New Covenant (Hebrews 12:24). The entire Epistle is steeped in the conception of Christ's priesthood.

In 1Peter 1:2 the sacrificial element appears in the "sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ." The sufferings of the Lord were prophesied, the spirit of the Anointed One signifying what the prophets desired to know (1Peter 1:11); the redemption by the precious blood of Christ is of "a lamb without blemish and without spot" (1Peter 1:19); the priesthood of believers was through Christ (1Peter 2:5), who carried up our sins in his body to the tree (1Peter 2:24 the Revised Version, margin).

In the Johannine writings we have the cleansing from sin by the blood of Jesus Christ (1Jo 1:7). Christ is said to have laid down His life for us (1Jo 3:16). The sacrifice as well as the teaching of Christ is insisted on in the coming by blood as well as by water (1Jo 5:6).

The appearance of Christ in Revelation 1:13 is high-priestly; His robe is the talar, the high-priestly garment. The sacrificial place of Christ is indicated by "a Lamb .... as though it had been slain" (Revelation 5:6,9,12). The repeated title of Christ throughout the Apocalypse is The Lamb.

8. Christ's Relation to Sin Expressed in Sacrificial Terms:

This review of the Scripture teaching on priesthood clearly indicates the development of thought which led to the affirmation of our Lord's priestly office. He came to put away sin. The doctrine of sin was intimately associated with the priestly service of the temple. The sacrifices were in some cases sin offerings, and in these there ever appeared, by the function of the blood which is the life, the fatal loss of life by sin, the punishment of which was the withdrawal of the Divine gift of life. The life was always in the sacrifice reserved for God. It was natural therefore when Christ appeared that His work in taking away sin should have been interpreted in the light of sacrificial thought. We find the idea steadily developed in the New Testament. He was the sacrifice, the Lamb of God. The question as to who offered the sacrifice was answered--Himself. Then He became in the conception of apostolic teaching, especially emphasized in the Epistle to the He, the priest as well as the sacrifice. This was at length completely defined in theology of the church, and has generally been accepted as setting forth an important aspect of our Lord's redemptive work.

VI. Christ's Kingly Office.

The Breakdown of the Secular Monarchy:

The association of rule with the redemption of mankind was early found in Divine revelation. It is in the Protevangelium of Ge 3:15; the covenant with Abraham contains it (Ge 22:17,18); the blessing of Jacob reflects it (Ge 49:10). After the successive attempts to establish a visible and earthly monarchy, its settlement in the family of David was associated with Divine premonitions of continued and gracious royalty (2Sa 7:18-29; 23:1-7; Psalms 2; 45; 72; 110). The failure of the earthly monarchy and the fatal experiences of the kingdom turned the thought of the devout, especially guided by prophetic testimony, to a coming king who should restore the glory of the Davidic house and the people of Israel. Here and there the conception appears of the more extended reign of the Coming One, and the royal authority finds a growing place in the prophetic Scriptures (Isaiah 2:1-4; 9:6,7; 11:1-10; 42:1-4; 52:13-15; 53:12; 60:1ff; Jer 23:5,6; 30:18-24; Da 2:44; 7:9-14,27; Mic 5:1-4; Zec 3). The postexilic conception of the king became one of the supreme and most active ideas in the Jewish mind. The reign of the Messiah was to be earthly, and all nations were to be subject to the Jew. The Jews of Palestine seem to have retained the more patriotic and the more material form of the idea (see 1 Macc 14:41), while the Egyptian and dispersed Jews began to regard the more spiritual character of the coming Messiah. References to the future blessedness of Israel under the restored royalty do not appear so largely in the Apocrypha writings which it must be remembered reflect chiefly their Egyptian-Jewish sources. Still there are some passages of interest (Baruch 4:21-5; Tobit 13; Ecclesiasticus 35:18,19; 36:11-16; 47:11,22). In the New Testament we have references to the strong ex pectation of the restored royalty and kingdom (John 1:49; 6:15; 12:12-15; Ac 1:6). Christ's kingship was speedily recognized by those who saw His works of power, and acknowledged His authority. He Himself clearly claimed this authority (Matthew 22:43-45; John 18:36,37). It was however not a kingdom based upon material and external power and rule, but on the foundation of truth and righteousness. The Kingdom of Heaven or of God is familiar to every reader of the words of Jesus. It was thus He described the new order which He had come to establish, of which He was to be the Lord and Administrator; not an earthly dominion after the fashion of this world's kingdoms; it was to be the rule of mind and of spirit. It was to be extended by ethical forces, and the principle of its authority was centered in Christ Himself. It was to be developed on earth but perfected in the future and eternal life. Some divines have distinguished Christ's regal power as that of nature, that of grace, that of glory. Many believe that there is to be a personal visible reign of Christ upon the earth. Some hold that this will be produced by His advent prior to an age of millennial glory. Other views regard the advent as the close of earthly conditions and the final judgment.

VII. The Messianic Basis of the Threefold Office of the Lord.

That the developments of Jewish thought centered round what may conveniently be called the idea of the Messiah is plain to any student of the Old Testament and other Jewish writings. They sprang from the ethical and theological ideas of this people, interpreted by and expressed in their political and religious forms, and continually nurtured by their experiences in the varied course of their national life. The essence of Messianic belief was a personal deliverer. Jewish history had always been marked by the appearance and the exploits of a great man. The capacity of the production of exceptional and creative individuals has been the characteristic of the race in all its ages. A judge, a lawgiver, a teacher, a seer, a king--each had helped, or even saved the people in some critical period. Each had added to the knowledge of God, whether received or rejected by the people. The issues of such service had remained, enshrined in a growing liturgy, or made permanent in a finally centralized and unified ritual, recorded in chronicle and lyric. The hope of Israel at one time did not take the completely personal form; indeed, it is probably easy to exaggerate the Messianic element as we look back from the perfect realization of it, in the Christian revelation and history. Much that has been called Messianic has been the result of reading into the Old Testament what has been derived from Christian thought and experience. Zephaniah has been described as a picture of Israel's restoration and triumph. Yet apparently it has no reference to the personal element. Still the "Messiah" begins to appear in the prophetic writings (see above), especially in the royal elements of His office. It is at this point that the meaning of the term is to be considered. "Yahweh's anointed" is found as applied to a king, and is familiar in this use in the Old Testament. But anointing belonged to the priesthood and to the prophetic order, if not actually, at least metaphorically, as sett ing apart (see 1Ki 19:16; Ps 105:15; Isaiah 61:1). And the word Messiah (Christ) the Anointed, came to be used for that conception of a person, perhaps first employed definitely (Da 9:24-26), who should be the Deliverer of the Jews and even still more widely, a Redeemer. In the age immediately preceding the Christian, the idea had taken possession not only of the Jews, but also of the Samaritans (John 4:25); and was not altogether unknown in Gentilethought; e.g. Sib Or, iii.97; Virgil Ecl. iv. It involves certainly the prophetic and royal offices and, in the idea of a Suffering Servant, was closely allied to the objects of the sacrificial order.

The claim of Jesus to be the Christ, and the recognition of this claim by His followers and apostles, gave a new meaning to the teaching of the Old Testament, and the writings lying outside the canon, but which were familiar to the people. Especially was the suffering and death of the Lord and its relation to sin the occasion of a new Understanding of the Mosaic and later-developed sacrificial system. Jesus as the Offerer of Himself perfected the function of the priest, as He became the Lamb of God who t aketh away the sins of the world. He thus completed the threefold ministry of the Messiah as the Prophet who reveals, the Priest who offers and intercedes, the King who rules. In Him the offices are commingled. He rules by His sacrifice and His teaching; He reveals by His Kingship and His offering. The offices spring from both His person and His work, and are united in the final issue of the salvation of the world.

See also EXALTATION OF CHRIST; INTERCESSION OF CHRIST.

LITERATURE.

Euseb., HE, I,3; Aug., De civ. Dei, x. 6; Catech. Council of Trent; Calvin, Instit., II, 15; Heidelb. Catech. Ans. 31 and Reformed Liturg; Thanksgiving aft. Inft. Bapt.; J. Gerhard, Loci Theolog; Spener, Catechism.; Ernesti, De officio Christi triplici; Knapp, Theology, section 107; Ebrard, Herzog Realencyc., under the word Further discussion is found in the standard theologies, as Pye Smith, First Lines, and Scrip. Teatim. to the Messiah; Hodge, Shedd, Weiss, Biblical Theol. of the New Testament, Van Oosterzee, Christian Dogmatics. See also Higginson, Ecce Messias; Moule's brief but suggestive statement in Outlines of Christian Doctrine; Ritschl, A Critical History of the Christian Doctrine of Justification and Reconciliation, especially Introduction; Dorner, The Development of the Doctrine of the Person of Christ.

L. D. Bevan

CHRIST, PERSON OF:
    See PERSON OF CHRIST.

CHRIST, TEMPTATION OF:
    See TEMPTATION OF CHRIST.

CHRIST, THE EXALTATION OF:
    egz-ol-ta'-shun:

I. THE RESURRECTION

    1. Its Glorification of Christ

    2. Resurrection Body--Identity, Change, Present Locality

    3. The Agent of the Resurrection

II. ASCENSION OF OUR LORD

    1. Its Actuality

    2. General Doctrine of the Church

    3. Lutheran Doctrine

    4. Theory of Laying Aside the Existence-Form of God

    5. Necessity

III. EXALTATION TO THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD

    1. Its Significance

    2. Its Essential Necessity

V. THE SECOND ADVENT

    1. Reality

    2. Judgment

This term is given to that condition of blessedness, glory and dominion into which our Lord entered after the completion of His earthly career of humiliation and suffering, and which is to be regarded as the reward of His meritorious obedience, and the issue of His victorious struggle, and at the same time the means of His prosecution and completion of His work as Redeemer and Saviour of the world. The classic passage of Scripture, rich in suggestion, and the source of much controversy in the development of Christian theology, is Php 2:5-11. The word "exalted" of Php 2:9, huperupsoo, occurs only in this place in the New Testament and, like its Latin representative, is limited to ecclesiastical use. Compare Romans 14:9; Eph 1:19-23; 1Peter 3:21,22.

Christ's Exaltation includes His Resurrection, Ascension, Session at the right hand of God, and Advent as Judge and Consummator of the world's redemption.

I. The Resurrection.

1. Its Glorification of Christ:

The historic place and validity of this event will be found under other heads; our concern is with the event as it relates to the glorification of our Lord.

(1) It revealed His power over death.

(2) It confirms all His claims to Divine Sonship.

(3) It attests His acceptance and that of His work by God.

(4) It crowns the process of the redemption of the world.

(5) It forms the beginning of that new creation which is life eternal, and over which death can have no power.

(6) It is the entrance of the Son of God into the power and glory of the New Kingdom, or the restored Kingdom of the Sovereign Ruler of the Universe.

The following Scriptures among many others may be consulted: Revelation 1:18; Ac 2:24; Romans 1:4; 1Corinthians 15:20; John 5:25; Romans 4:25; Romans 6:4,5; Col 2:12; Php 3:10; Romans 6:9.

2. Resurrection Body--Identity, Change, Present Locality:

An interesting and important question arises in connection with Christ's exaltation, relating to the nature of the body of the risen Lord. It was clearly identical with that of His natural life. It was recognized by the marks which were upon it: Luke 24:39,40; John 20:24-29. It received food: Luke 24:43 (compare Luke 24:30; John 21:12,13; Ac 10:41). Nevertheless it was changed. After the resurrection, it was not at once recognized: John 20:15; 21:7; Luke 24:31. It appeared under apparently new conditions of relation to material substance: John 20:19; Luke 24:36. It suddenly became visible, and as suddenly vanished. These facts suggest what reverently may be surmised as to its exalted condition. The apostle's declaration as to the resurrection-body of the redeemed furnishes some hints: 1Corinthians 15:35-49; compare Php 3:21. We may cautiously, from the history of the resurrection and the Pauline doctrine, conclude, that our Lord still possesses a human body. It is of material substance, with new properties. It occupies space. It was seen by Paul, by Stephen, by the seer of the Apocalypse. It is glorious, incorruptible, spiritual.

3. The Agent of the Resurrection:

By whom was the resurrection effected? It is referred by some Scriptures to God. See Ps 16:10 (compare Ac 2:27,31); and the distinct affirmation by Peter (Ac 2:32). Paul declares that Christ was "raised .... through the glory of the Father" (Romans 6:4). In Eph 1:19,20, it was the mighty power of God which was wrought in Christ "when he raised him from the dead." Elsewhere it is ascribed to Christ Himself. He declared: "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up" (John 2:19). In John 10:17,18, our Lord declares: "I lay down my life, that I may take it again. No one taketh it away from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again." The efficient agent is said, according to the generally received reading of Romans 8:2, to have been the Spirit of God, and thus the resurrection is referred to each person of the Godhead. The doctrine of the Lutheran church refers the act to the human power of the Lord Himself, which by incarnation had been endowed with attributes of Deity. This view consists with their teaching of the omnipresence of the body of Jesus (see below on the section "Ascension").

II. The Ascension of our Lord.

1. Its Actuality:

The exaltation of Christ consisted further in His ascension. Some have held that the resurrection and ascension of Jesus ought to be regarded as aspects of the same event. But Mary saw the risen Lord, though she was forbidden to touch Him, for "I am not yet ascended unto the Father: but go unto my brethren, and say to them, I ascend," etc. (John 20:17). This, compared with the invitation to Thomas to touch Him, eight days later, suggests something in the ascension added to that which the resurrection implied, and the general thought of the church has consistently regarded the latter as a further step in the exaltation of the Lord.

2. General Doctrine of the Church:

The fact of ascension is recorded in Mark 16:19, and Luke 24:50,51, and with greater detail in Ac 1:9-11. According to these accounts, the ascension was seen by the disciples, and this suggests that heaven is a locality, where are the angels, who are not ubiquitous, and where Christ's disciples will find the place which He declared He was going to prepare for them (John 14:2). Heaven is also undoubtedly referred to as a state (Eph 2:6; Php 3:20), but Christ's body must be in some place, and where He is, there is Heaven.

3. Lutheran Doctrine:

This is certainly the doctrine of the church in general, and seems to be consistent with the Scriptural teaching. But the Lutherans have maintained that the ascension of the Lord merely involved a change of state in the human nature of Christ. He possessed during His life on earth the Divine attributes of omnipresence, omnipotence and omniscience, but He voluntarily abstained from their exercise. But at His ascension He returned to the full use of these powers. The ascension is Christ's return to immensity. The community of natures gave these Divine qualities to the humanity of Jesus, which Luther declared involved its ubiquity, and that as He was at the right hand of God, and God was everywhere, so Christ in His human personality was in no specific place but everywhere. This omnipresence is not of the infinite extension of the body of the Lord, but He is present as God is everywhere present in knowledge and power.

4. Theory of Laying Aside the Existence-Form of God:

Another theory of the ascended humanity-of the Lord depends upon the conception of the Son of God laying aside at incarnation the "existence-form of God," and while affirming that Christ's body is now in a definite place, it proceeds to hold that at the ascension the accidental and variable qualities of humanity were laid aside, and that He dwells in heaven as a glorified man. Ebrard says: "He has laid aside forever the existence form of God, and assumed that of man in perpetuity, in which form by His Spirit He governs the church and the world. He is thus dynamically present to all His people." This form of doctrine seems to involve as the result of the incarnation of the Son of God His complete and sole humanity. He is no more than a man. The Logos is no longer God, and as the ascension did not involve the reassumption of the "existence-form of God," Christ in glory is only a glorified man.

5. Necessity:

The ascension was necessary, in conformity with the spiritual character of the kingdom which Christ founded. Its life is that of faith, not sight. A perpetual life of even the resurrected Christ on earth would have been wholly inconsistent with the spiritual nature of the new order. The return of Christ to the special presence of God was also part of His high-priestly service (see CHRIST, OFFICES OF) and His corporal absence from His people was the condition of that gift of the Spirit by which salvation was to be secured to each believer and promulgated throughout the world, as declared by Himself (John 16:7). Finally, the ascension was that physical departure of the Lord to the place which He was to prepare for His people (John 14:2,3). The resurrection was this completion of the objective conditions of redemption. The ascension was the initial step in the carrying out of redemptive work in the final salvation of mankind.

III. Exaltation Completed at the Right Hand of God.

1. Its Significance:

The term "the right hand of God" is Scriptural (Ac 7:55,56; Romans 8:34; Eph 1:20; Hebrews 1:3; 10:12; 12:2; 1Peter 3:22) and expresses the final step in the Lord's exaltation. Care must be taken in the use of the expression. It is a figure to express the association of Christ with God in glory and power. It must not be employed as by Luther to denote the relation of the body of Christ to space, neither must it be limited to the Divine nature of the Logos reinstated in the conditions laid aside in incarnation. Christ thus glorified is the God-man, theanthropic person, Divine and human.

2. Its Essential Necessity:

This exaltation is based upon the essential glory of the Son of God, who "being the brightness of his glory and the express image of his person .... sat down on the right hand" (Hebrews 1:3 the King James Version). It is the claim which the Lord makes for Himself in His prayer (John 17:4,5), and is thus specifically declared in Php 2:6-11: "God highly exalted Him." But in His glory Christ received the power universal and Divine. In Eph 1:20-22 His supreme dignity and power are affirmed "far above .... every name," "all things .... under His feet" (compare Hebrews 2:8; 1Corinthians 15:27; 1Peter 3:22). Christ at the "right hand of God" is the highly suggestive picture of His universal dominion asserted by Himself (Matthew 28:18): "All authority hath been given unto me in heaven and on earth." It is vain to speculate upon the relation of Christ's nature in this exalted state. We cannot distinguish between the human and Divine. We can only believe in, and trust and submit to the One Glorified Person who thus administers the kingdom in perfect harmony with its Divine laws in all the ages, and His own revelation of the will of God, as given to man in His own earthly career: pitiful, tender, serving, helping, restoring, saving, triumphant. The exaltation is for His mediatorial and finally saving work. He is the Head of His church; He is the Lord of angels and men; He is the Master of the ages.

IV. The Second Advent.

The exaltation of Christ is to be completed by His coming again at the close of the dispensation, to complete His redemptive work and judge the world, and so to establish the final Kingdom of God. This belief has found a place in all the ecumenical symbols. Theology has ever included it in its eschatology. It is clear that the apostles and the early church expected the second coming of the Lord as an immediate event, the significance of which, and especially the effect of the nonfulfillment of which expectation, does not fall within the province of this article to consider. The various theories of the Parousia, the different ideas as to the time and the form of the second Advent, do not concern its relation to the exaltation of the Lord. Whenever and however He may return; whether He is ever coming to the church and to the world, His visible or His spiritual presence, do not affect the fact that He has been exalted to the position of ultimate Lord and final judge of men. We may therefore define this crowning condition of exaltation as:

1. Reality:

An advent, real, personal and visible. We must guard against the extremes of limiting this advent on the one side to a final particular event, on the other to those critical and catastrophic movements in world history which have led to the extension of God's kingdom and a virtual judgment of men. The Lord is ever coming, and also He will return. See Ac 1:11; Luke 17:24; Matthew 24:30; 25:31; Luke 19:12; Matthew 13:40,41,49; Luke 18:8; John 5:28,29; 6:40,54; 21:22; Ac 3:20; 2Th 1:10; Hebrews 9:28; Jas 5:8; Jude 1:14; 1Jo 2:28; Revelation 1:7. The reality and visibility of the advent depend upon the personal and abiding relation of the Lord to the world-redemption. Christianity is not merely a spiritual dynamic drawn from a series of past events. It is the living relation of the complete humanity of the redeemed to the God man, and must therefore be consummated in a spiritual and material form. The ultimate of Christianity is no more docetic than was its original. A reverent faith will be satisfied with the fact of the glory whenever it shall arrive. The form and time are unrevealed. Preparation and readiness are better than speculation and imaginary description.

2. Judgment:

The Judgment is clearly taught by Scripture. our Lord declares that He is appointed Judge. (John 5:22; 9:39). Paul teaches that we must "all stand before the judgment- seat of God" (Romans 14:10). Here again there is the suggestion of the judgment which is ever being made by the Lord in His office as Sovereign and Administrator of the kingdom; but there is also the expectation of a definite and final act of separation and discernment. Whatever may be the form of this judgment (and here again a wise and reverent silence as to the unrevealed is a becoming attitude for the believer), we are sure that He who will make it, is the glorified Word incarnate, and it will be the judgment of a wisdom and justice and love that will be the complete glory of the Christ.

See also ASCENSION; JUDGMENT; PAROUSIA; RESURRECTION.

L. D. Bevan

CHRIST:

Anointed, a Greek word, answering to the Hebrew MESSIAH, the consecrated or anointed one, and given preeminently to our blessed Lord and Savior. See MESSIAH and JESUS.

The ancient Hebrews, being instructed by the prophets, had clear notions of the Messiah; but these became gradually depraved, so that when Jesus appeared in Judea, the Jews entertained a false conception of the Messiah, expecting a temporal monarch and conqueror, who should remove the Roman yoke and subject the whole world. Hence they were scandalized at the outward appearance, the humility, and seeming weakness of our Savior. The modern Jews, including still greater mistakes, form to themselves ideas of the Messiah utterly unknown to their forefathers. The ancient prophets had foretold that the Messiah should be God, and man; exalted, and abased; master, and servant; priest, and victim; prince, and subject; involved in death, yet victor over death; rich, and poor; a king, a conqueror, glorious-and a man of grief, exposed to infirmities, unknown, in a state of abjection and humiliation. All these contrarieties were to be reconciled in the person of the Messiah; as they really were in the person of Jesus.

It is not recorded that Christ ever received any external official unction. The unction that the prophets and the apostles speak of is the spiritual and internal unction of grace and of the Holy Ghost, of which kings, priests, and prophets were anciently anointed, was but the figure and symbol.

The name CHRIST is the official title of the Redeemer; and is not to be regarded as a mere appellative, to distinguish our Lord from other persons named Jesus. The force of many passages of Scripture is greatly weakened by overlooking this. We may get the true sense of such passages by substituting for "Christ," "the Anointed," and where Jews were addressed, "THE MESSIAH." Thus in Matthew 2:4, Herod "demanded of them," the priests and scribes, "where Christ should be born," that is, the Old Testament Messiah. Peter confessed, "thou art the Messiah," Matthew 16:16. The devils did the same, Luke 4:41. In later times the name JESUS was comparatively disused; and CHRIST, as a proper name, was used instead of JESUS.

When we consider the relation of Christ’s person, as God and man, to his official work as our Prophet, Priest, and King, and to his states of humiliation and glory; when we consider how God is in and with him-how all the perfections of God are displayed, and all the truths of God exemplified in him; when we consider his various relations to the purposes, covenants, word, and ordinances of God, and to the privileges, duties, and services of saints, in time and to eternity, we have a delightful view of him as ALL and IN ALL, Col 3:11.

CHRIST: anointed, the Greek translation of the Hebrew word rendered "Messiah" (q.v.), the official title of our Lord, occurring five hundred and fourteen times in the New Testament. It denotes that he was anointed or consecrated to his great redemptive work as Prophet, Priest, and King of his people. He is Jesus the Christ (Acts 17:3; 18:5; Matthew 22:42), the Anointed One. He is thus spoken of by Isaiah (61:1), and by Daniel (9:24-26), who styles him "Messiah the Prince." The Messiah is the same person as "the seed of the woman" (Gen. 3:15), "the seed of Abraham" (Gen. 22:18), the "Prophet like unto Moses" (Deut. 18:15), "the priest after the order of Melchizedek" (Ps. 110:4), "the rod out of the stem of Jesse" (Isa. 11:1, 10), the "Immanuel," the virgin's son (Isa. 7:14), "the branch of Jehovah" (Isa. 4:2), and "the messenger of the covenant" (Mal. 3:1). This is he "of whom Moses in the law and the prophets did write." The Old Testament Scripture is full of prophetic declarations regarding the Great Deliverer and the work he was to accomplish. Jesus the Christ is Jesus the Great Deliverer, the Anointed One, the Saviour of men. This name denotes that Jesus was divinely appointed, commissioned, and accredited as the Saviour of men (Heb. 5:4; Isa. 11:2-4; 49:6; John 5:37; Acts 2:22). To believe that "Jesus is the Christ" is to believe that he is the Anointed, the Messiah of the prophets, the Saviour sent of God, that he was, in a word, what he claimed to be. This is to believe the gospel, by the faith of which alone men can be brought unto God. That Jesus is the Christ is the testimony of God, and the faith of this constitutes a Christian (1 Cor. 12:3; 1 John 5:1).

CHRIST:
    anointed

CHRIST:
    -See JESUS, THE CHRIST

CHRIST:
    [Jesus]

CHRIST ATTRACTIVE:
    Matthew 8:1; Mark 5:6,21; Luke 9:37; John 12:32

    -SEE Christ Thronged, POPULARITY

CHRIST JESUS:
    (For complete alphabetical list of topics relating to "Christ" see Index)

    (A) ANOINTED ONE, Christ the
        Ps 45:7; Isaiah 61:1; Da 9:24; Luke 4:18; Ac 4:27; 10:38

--SEE Christ King, SOVEREIGNTY
    (B) ASCENSION OF
        Ps 68:18; Mark 16:19; Luke 24:51; John 6:62; 20:17; Ac 1:9 Eph 4:8; Hebrews 4:14; 9:24; 1Peter 3:22

--SEE Departure Foretold, CHRIST'S DIVINITY

    (C) BLOOD OF, the Atoning
        Matthew 26:28; John 6:56; 19:34; Ac 20:28; Romans 5:9; Col 1:20 Hebrews 9:14; 1Peter 1:18,19; 1Jo 1:7; Revelation 1:5; 5:9; 7:14; 12:11

--SEE Blood (6), BLOOD
Redemption (2), REDEMPTION
Atonement, ATONEMENT
Christ's Death, SAVIOUR
Cross of Christ, CROSS OF CHRIST

    (D) CREATOR, Christ as
        John 1:3; 1Corinthians 8:6; Eph 3:9; Col 1:16; Hebrews 1:1,2

    (E) CRIES OF
        Luke 8:8; John 7:28,37; 12:44; Matthew 27:46,50

--SEE 687

    (F) THE GLORIFIED CHRIST
        Seen at the Transfiguration
            Mark 9:2,3

        As Portrayed by Himself
            John 1:51

        Appeared at Paul's Conversion
            Ac 9:3-5

        Described by the Revelator
            Revelation 1:13-16; 14:14; 19:11,12

--SEE Christ's Personal Appearance, CHRIST JESUS

    (G) THE GLORY OF CHRIST
        Manifested at His Second Coming
            Matthew 16:27

        Shared by his Believers
            Matthew 19:28; 24:30

        Beheld upon the Mount
            Luke 9:32

        Revealed in the Incarnation
            John 1:14

        Possessed before the Foundation of the World
            John 17:5,24; Hebrews 3:3

        Ascribed by the Heavenly Host
            Revelation 5:12

--SEE Christ King, SOVEREIGNTY
CHRIST'S DIVINITY
CHRIST'S DIVINITY

    (H) MISCELLANEOUS TOPICS relating to
        (1) His Mission
            Matthew 5:17; 20:28; Luke 4:43; 12:49; 19:10; John 3:17; 9:39 John 10:10; 12:47; 18:37; 1Timothy 1:15

        (2) His Oneness with the Father
            John 10:30,38; 14:10; 17:11,22

        (3) Our Righteousness
            Romans 10:4; 1Corinthians 1:30; Php 3:9

--SEE Substitution, SAVIOUR
    Christ's Perfection, PERFECTION

        (4) Seven Last Sayings of, on the Cross
            Luke 23:34,43; John 19:27; Matthew 27:46; John 19:28,30; Luke 23:46

        (5) Transfiguration of
            Matthew 17:2; Mark 9:2; Luke 9:29; 2Peter 1:18

        (6) A Witness to the Truth
            Isaiah 55:4; John 3:11,32; 8:14; 18:37; 1Timothy 6:13; Revelation 1:5

---the Saviour. SEE SAVIOUR
---Sufferings of. SEE SUFFERINGS OF CHRIST

        (7) His Personal Appearance figuratively Described
            Ps 45:2; So 5:16; Isaiah 52:14; 53:2; Da 7:9; Matthew 17:2 Revelation 1:14; 4:3

--SEE Christ Glorified, CHRIST JESUS

(I) NAMES APPLIED TO
    (1) A Branch
        Isaiah 4:2; 11:1; Jer 23:5; 33:15; Zec 3:8; 6:12

    (2) A Corner-stone
        Ps 118:22; Matthew 21:42; Ac 4:11; Eph 2:20; 1Peter 2:6

--SEE Foundation, Spiritual, SECURITY

    (3) Master
        Luke 5:5; 8:24,45; 9:33,49; 17:13

    (4) Messenger, Divine
        Matthew 21:37; John 6:38; 7:29; 8:42; 9:4; 10:36; 17:8,21

--SEE Mission of Christ, CHRIST JESUS

    (5) Messiah
        Matthew 11:3; 16:16; 26:63; Luke 2:11,26; 4:41; 24:26; John 1:41 John 4:26; 6:14,69; 7:41; 8:28; 11:27; Ac 9:22; 17:3; 1Jo 5:1

CHRIST'S DIVINITY
    (6) Morning Star
        Nu 24:17; 2Peter 1:19; Revelation 2:28; 22:16

--SEE Christ the Light, LIGHT

    (7) Prophet
        De 18:18; Matthew 21:11,46; Mark 6:15; Luke 7:16; 13:33; 24:19 John 4:19; 6:14; 7:40; 9:17; Ac 3:22

    (8) Rock of Offence
        Isaiah 8:14; Matthew 11:6; 13:57; Mark 6:3; Romans 9:32; 1Corinthians 1:23; 1Peter 2:8

--SEE Rejection, REJECTION of God and truth

    (9) The True Vine
        John 15:1-27

    (10) The "Word"
        John 1:1,14; 1Jo 1:1; 5:7; Revelation 19:13

---for other Names and Titles, SEE Titles, TITLES AND NAMES

CHRIST'S COMPOSURE:
    Matthew 26:50; Mark 4:39; John 19:11

--SEE Peace, REST

CHRIST'S DIVINITY-HUMANITY:
    (A) SCRIPTURAL TESTIMONY concerning his divinity

        (1) His Own Words
            Luke 22:69,70; John 10:30,37,38; 12:45; 14:7-10; 16:15

        (2) Testimony of the Apostles
            Matthew 16:16; John 1:1,2; Romans 1:4; 9:5; Col 1:15; 2:9 1Timothy 3:16; 6:15; Hebrews 1:3; Revelation 19:16

        (3) The Father Bears Witness
            Matthew 3:17; 17:5; John 5:32,37; 8:18; 1Jo 5:9

        (4) Seven Scriptural Witnesses to
            John the Baptist
                John 1:34

            The Works of Christ
                John 5:36

            The Father
                John 5:37

            The Old Testament
                John 5:39

            Jesus Christ Himself
                John 8:14

            The Holy Spirit
                John 15:26

            Believers
                John 15:27

        (5) Evil Spirits Confess His Divinity
            Matthew 8:29; Mark 1:24; 3:11; Luke 4:41; Ac 19:15

    (B) DIVINE NAMES ascribed to Christ
        (1) Beloved Son
            Matthew 12:18; 17:5; Mark 1:11; Eph 1:6; Col 1:13; Hebrews 5:5

        (2) Son of God
            Matthew 2:15; 3:17; 8:29; 14:33; 17:5; Mark 1:1; Luke 1:35; John 1:34 John 3:18; 9:35; 10:36; 11:27; Ac 9:20; Hebrews 10:29; 1Jo 4:14

        (3) King of Kings
            1Timothy 6:15; Revelation 1:5; 17:14; 19:16

--SEE Glory of Christ, CHRIST JESUS
        Christ Exalted, CHRIST'S DIVINITY

---For other titles relating to his Divinity SEE Titles, TITLES AND NAMES

    (C) SPECIAL MARKS OF DIVINITY
        (1) His Pre-existence
            Mic 5:2; John 1:1; 8:58; 17:5,24; Col 1:17; Hebrews 7:3; Revelation 22:13

--SEE Immutability, IMMUTABILITY

        (2) His Authority
            Matthew 7:29; 28:18; Mark 1:27; John 5:27

        (3) His foreknowledge
            (a) General References to
                John 6:64; 13:1,11; 18:4; 19:28

            (b) Predicts his own Sufferings
                Mark 8:31; Luke 9:22; 12:50; 22:37; 24:7,26,46; John 3:14

            (c) Foretells his Departure
                John 7:33; 13:33; 14:28; 16:5,10,16,28; 17:11

        (4) His Lordship
            Luke 6:5; Ac 2:36; 5:31; Romans 10:9; 1Corinthians 1:9; 8:6; 12:3; Eph 4:5

        (5) His Pre-eminence
            Matthew 3:11; John 3:31; 13:13; Ac 2:36; Romans 14:9; Col 1:18 Hebrews 1:4; 3:3; 8:6; Revelation 1:11

--SEE Divine Image, MAN

        (6) His Dominion
            Eternal
Isaiah 9:6,7; Da 7:14

            Universal
                Zec 9:10

            Over Nature
                Matthew 8:27; Mark 1:27; John 3:35

            Over the Church
                Eph 1:22

            Over Heavenly Powers
                1Peter 3:22

--SEE Christ's Power, POWER

        (7) His Exaltation, to Heavenly Places
            Mark 16:19; Luke 22:69; Ac 2:36; 5:31; Eph 1:20; Php 2:9 Hebrews 1:9; 1Peter 3:22; Revelation 5:12

Head of the Church, CHURCH, THE
    Christ Honoured, HONOUR

    (D) HUMANITY OF CHRIST
        (1) General References to
            Matthew 1:1; Ga 4:4; Php 2:8; 1Timothy 2:5

        (2) Manifested in the Incarnation
            Isaiah 7:14; 9:6; 11:1; Luke 1:31; 2:7; John 1:14; Ac 2:30 Romans 1:3; 8:3; Php 2:7; 1Timothy 3:16; Hebrews 2:14; 1Jo 4:2; 2Jo 1:7

--SEE Divine Condescension, CONDESCENSION, DIVINE

        (3) He had the Common Experiences of Humanity
            --Sorrow
                Matthew 26:37

            --Natural growth
                Luke 2:40

            --Hunger
                Luke 4:2

            --Sleep
                Luke 8:23

            --Poverty
                Luke 9:58

            --A Physical body
                Luke 24:39

            --Weariness
                John 4:6
        
        (4) Called "The Son of Man"
            Matthew 8:20; 9:6; 11:19; 16:13; 18:11; 20:28; 24:27; Mark 8:38 Luke 18:8; John 1:51; 5:27; 6:53; 12:23; 13:31; Ac 7:56; Revelation 1:13

--SEE Incarnation, CHRIST'S

        (5) Son of David
            Matthew 1:1; 12:23; 15:22; 21:9; Mark 10:48; 12:35; John 7:42 Romans 1:3; 2Ti 2:8; Revelation 5:5

CHRIST'S TASK:
    to finish the Father's Work
        John 4:34; 5:36; 9:4; 17:4; 19:30

-SEE Christ's Mission, CHRIST JESUS

CHRIST, LIBERATOR:

    Luke 11:14; Romans 8:2; Ga 5:1

-SEE Spiritual Liberty, LIBERTY