Page:The Last Judgement and Second Coming of the Lord Illustrated.djvu/36

 prediction are, "shall conceive and bear a son;" and we are expressly told that this "son" came into being by the birth of Jesus Christ: that event was the fulfilment of the prediction. That which was eternal was not that which was then born, but that principle which was its inmost nature, and which is afterwards spoken of as the Father that dwelt within. It is evident that "the son" treated of under such circumstances ought to be understood in a sense different to that of a filial relationship in the world. It cannot be reasonably contemplated in the sense of a human sire and son. It was an assumption of human nature by the Divine for ulterior purposes, but it was no more a personal separation from the Divine, than the body of man is a personal separation from his soul. The revealed period of its actual existence was when the angel said to Mary, "The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee; therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God." Here, the Highest, and the Holy Ghost, that is, the Infinite Father and His Divine influence, are spoken of as bringing into existence that humanity which was to be called the Son of God. It, therefore, seems plain that the humanity which "the Highest" assumed, through the instrumentality of a virgin, is that which is called the Son of God. It was God's manifestation in man's nature; in like manner as that which was called "the Angel of Jehovah" was God's manifestation in an angel's nature. In both cases human nature was the medium; but, in the former case, it was human nature as it exists in heaven, and, in the latter, it was human nature as it exists in the world. The apostle forcibly distinguished between these two phenomena, when he said, "Verily He