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It is fundamentally true. God has purposely fashioned man in this form; and so he is
able to learn by analogy.
A still more wonderful factor enters into the scheme when we remember the method
of the divine revelation in Christ. Not only has God in the first place endowed man with
a "pale shadow" of His infinite personality, but in the fullness of time, "God was
manifest in the flesh":--
"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).
"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" (John 14: 9).
For the believer, Christ sets forth the true analogy. Man, made in the image of God,
sees in Christ, Who is the image of God, the whole person and attributes of the invisible
God.
We have already referred to the revelation of God to Moses, under the title "I AM".
This title immediately followed by another:--
"Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The Lord God of your fathers, the
God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you. This is
My name for the age, and this is My memorial unto all generations" (Exod. 3: 14, 15).
The One Who is the "I AM" condescends to call Himself "Jehovah", His name for the
age. This name enters into the composition of the word "Jesus", and belongs to the Lord
Jesus Christ in all its fullness. The Jehovah of the Old Testament is the Jesus of the New.
He, too, used the title I AM, when He said: "Before Abraham was I AM." But usually
He condescended, and used analogy, revealing Himself by saying, "I am the door";
"I am the true bread"; "I am the good shepherd".
We trust that the reader has been led from Logic to the Logos, and has discovered that
in the person of the Son of God we arrive at true understanding, and that apart from Him,
all reasoning is incomplete, and becomes at best a great "Perhaps".
We now turn our attention to that special department of "understanding" that revolves
around the legitimate place of Figurative Language, and in a series of articles to follow
this one, we hope to give some guidance towards the appreciation of this intricate but
most profitable study.