SCOPE OF ATTRIBUTES - 5

GOD IS CHRISTLIKENESS

 

 

This is a distinct idea in the Biblical doctrine of God. It centers in the incarnation. While it is true that other religions have purported to incorporate into their structures so-called incarnations, they are not in any sense in the class with the Biblical doctrine of the incarnation. At this point, however, the incarnation is not the subject of discussion. In this set of articles, the material is designed to answer the question of what God is like. And it is also important, therefore, to understand that the subject at hand is the doctrine of God, not the doctrine of Christ. Later- it will be pointed out that Christ is God, not merely like God.

Since this is the doctrine of God, this investigation is concerned with material that clearly sets forth information concerning God. Inasmuch as the Bible text insists that Christ unfolds truth about God, then this is a legitimate point for consideration. In the fourth Gospel, the writer says, "No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him" (John 1:18). The word "declared" bears on the point at hand. From the Greek word underlying the English text comes the English word ^"exegesis." Literally, this word means to lead out and unfold. The text is therefore affirming that Christ leads out and unfolds God as a teacher does his subject.

On the basis of this declaration, it follows that Christ in His person is like God, and to learn of God all one needs do is look at Christ, for Christ leads out and unfolds the truth about God in His own person. After declaring, "I am... the truth" (John 14:6), it was Philip who addressed a request to Christ. "Shew us the Father and it sufficeth us" (John 14:8). To which Christ replied, "Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?" (John 14:9). On the strength of these clear passages of Scripture, it may be safely affirmed that God is like Christ, and any contemplation of the person of Christ will usher the inquirer into the presence of God and the truth about God.