20
51:12)
(1 Tim. 6:16).
`... turneth wise men backward,
`The immutability of
His
and maketh their knowledge
counsel' (Heb. 6:17).
foolish' (Isa. 44:25).
`If ye then are not able to do that
`With God all things are
thing which is least' (Luke
possible' (Matt. 19:26).
12:26).
`There is none righteous, no, not
`There is none good but One,
one' (Rom. 3:10).
that is, God' (Matt. 19:17).
We refrain from giving any further examples of the teaching which must be patent to every reader of Scripture.
The difference everywhere seen and enforced between God and man is not one merely of degree, but the difference
between the Infinite and the finite, the Eternal and the temporal. The difference is aggravated by reason of the fact
that man is a sinner, but even though we go back to Adam unfallen, still he is of the earth, earthy, the creature, not
the Creator, man and not God.
God has not only repeatedly prohibited man from trusting in man, but he has also declared that He is jealous for
the honour of His name. `Thou shalt worship no other God: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God'
(Exod. 34:14). The Lord declares Himself to be the self-existent one, omnipotent, omniscient, immutable, almighty,
incomprehensible, holy, righteous, the creator, and the upholder of all things in heaven and earth, the searcher of
hearts, and the judge of all. He it is Who alone can redeem, forgive and bless. He it is Who rightly claims our
praise, our admiration, and our wholehearted love. He allows no one to approach to the high dignity which alone
belongs to Him. `I am the LORD (Jehovah): that is My name: and My glory will I not give to another' (Isa. 42:8).
Lucifer, who said, `I will be like the Most High', thereby pronounced his own doom.
What shall we say, then, when we find that every attribute of Deity, every claim to that which is the sole
prerogative of God, is unreservedly given to the Lord Jesus Christ? The jealous God, Who has so fully testified to
the gulf fixed between the nature of man and of God, has given not one word of caution, or warning, when in the
inspired Scriptures He testifies concerning His Son. If the Lord Jesus Christ were a creature (as indeed He must be
if He be not God, for there can be nothing intermediate), we should expect that the Word of the jealous God would
give continually some such warning as, `If thou shouldest feel tempted to worship him (i.e. Christ) do it not, he is
but the instrument of redemption, worship God. Though arrayed in all the majesty of God, beware, he is but a
creature after all; honour God. Beware of idolatry, let your faith, hope, and love be centred in God, not in Christ'.
Do we find anything that even approaches to this? We must all confess that we do not. In the multitude of
passages where Divine titles, honours, and prerogatives are given, claimed or accepted by the Lord Jesus Christ, not
once do we hear from Him anything approaching to the words of the angel, `See thou do it not'. Everywhere the
man Christ Jesus is seen to be more than man, and subsequent studies will demonstrate fully the absolute Deity of
Him Who though He took upon Himself the `form of a servant, and the likeness of men, and being found in fashion
as a man, humbled Himself even unto death', could unhesitatingly accept, in all the fulness of the terms, the belated
confession of a once doubting, but now convicted, apostle, `MY LORD AND MY GOD'.
In John 14:28 there is recorded a statement by Christ, which is often quoted by those who deny His Deity, `My
Father is greater than I'. If the Lord Jesus were only a creature, however high in the scale of life He may be, the gulf
between creature and Creator would still be so immeasurable and so incomparable, that the utterance of the words
quoted above would not only be absurd, but profane. What should we think of anyone standing up in our midst and
declaring with all solemnity that the Almighty Father was greater than he? Should not we reckon him either mad or
grossly irreverent?
This apparent inferiority is really a witness to the eternal distance between the Lord Jesus Christ on the one hand
from all created beings, and on the other to the voluntarily assumed form of a servant, wherein in our room and for
our salvation He humbled Himself even unto death. Upon the authority of this passage, and that of Matthew 11:27,
we would lodge a most emphatic protest against that impious and dishonouring intrusion of human reasoning into