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No.9.
A review of some problematic passages.
pp. 72 - 76
"What and if ye shall see the Son of Man ascend up where He was before" (John 6: 62).
"And now, O Father, glorify Thou Me with Thine own self with the glory which I had
with Thee, before the world was" (John 17: 5).
"For Thou lovedst Me before the foundation of the world" (John 17: 24).
From these wondrous words, we learn that both the Father and the Son, were
together and shared a glory before the world was, and before the foundation of the world.
In I Pet. 1: and in Eph. 1: we can read that Christ was foreordained, before the
foundation of the world, to be the Lamb, and that the believer to whom Ephesians was
addressed was chosen in Him, i.e. Christ, before the foundation of the world.
Let us look at John 6: 62. The title the Son of Man is definitely related to `the flesh';
not only is this generally true, but is specifically indicated in John 6: 53. At the
Ascension, the Saviour ascended up far above all heavens, and sat down at the right hand
of God. Does John 6: 62 teach that the Son of Man, as the Son of Man, i.e. as the One
Who took part of flesh and blood like unto the children for whom He died, occupied that
place in glory before the world was? No Scripture can be found to support such an idea,
and no system of teaching, however crazy, has ever maintained the contradictory
doctrine, that before the Incarnation, before the Son of God was born and became "The
Man Christ Jesus" that He, as the Man of flesh and blood, was there in the glory before
time began. It was the Son of Man Who was speaking, and He was speaking of Himself,
but John tells us that in the beginning, when He was with God, He was the Logos, the
Word, not the Son. When He made all things, Ha had life in Himself, and before the
Word became flesh, He had this place of glory, and to this He was yet to ascend.
There is an inscription in a public building in Glasgow which informs the reader that
King Edward VII laid the foundation stone in a certain year. If the reader took the
trouble he would discover that in the year named, Queen Victoria still lived and reigned,
and Edward VII was, at that date, when he laid that foundation stone the `Prince of
Wales', but seeing that the building was not completed until after Victoria had died, and
the Prince of Wales had become King, no one who knew the facts would have any
difficulty. He who was at the time Prince of Wales, had become at the time of the
announcement, King, so He Who at the time was "The Word", "The Image", "The Form
of God" was, at the time when He uttered the words of John 6: 53 "The Son of Man".
The title "Christ" means "The Anointed" or "The Messiah".
"God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power" (Acts 10: 38).
"The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He hath anointed Me to preach the
gospel" (Luke 4: 18).
"Thy holy child Jesus, whom Thou hast anointed" (Acts 4: 27).
John's gospel focuses the faith of the believer on the fact that Jesus is the Christ, the
Son of God, and Mathew tells us that Jesus Christ is the Son of David and the Son of