state, he was an attribute of Jehovah, and was a created being as Unitarians would have him, then it follows, unavoidably, that God created his attributes! And if he is a substance created by the Father, how could he be God? "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." John 1:1. If the first time in this text, John uses the word God (Theos,) to signify Jehovah, what does it mean in the second use he makes of it? "The Word was God" Is it possible that there is an infinite difference in the sense of this very word, used as it is, twice in the same sentence? There is an infinite difference between God and any of his creatures. So we come to the conclusion, irresistibly, that as Jehovah is immutable or unchangeable, so is the Son also in his divine nature. CHAPTER VIII. The Omnipotence of our Lord Jesus Christ. FEW, we think, in the Christian world would aver that almighty, unlimited power, could be possessed by any being in the universe, but God alone. If there can be more than one omnipotent being, there can be more than one self-existent and eternal being. But the Scriptures assure us that there is only One living and true God. Then, again, if we prove Jesus Christ to have possessed omnipotent power, or that he is almighty, we shall, by so doing, show clearly the fallacy of that doctrine which makes him a creature. It is denied by Unitarians that Jesus Christ is ever called Almighty in the Bible. We will see. But, in the first place, we wish to remark, that no creature is omnipotent. In Isa. 9:6, we read that " he shall be called the mighty,GOD,” and not a mighty god! "I am alpha and omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the ALMIGHTY. Rev. 1:8. Again, “Thus saith the Lord, the king of Israel and his redeemer, the Lord of hosts. I am the first and I am the last, and beside me there is no God." Isa. 44:6. "These things saith the first, and the last, (which was dead and is alive.”) Rev. 2:8. The terms first and last signify one whose existence never began and will never cease. No angel can, in truth, say, that he is the first cause, and in himself is the consummation of all things. No creature is the first and the last, and he who says, HE is himself the first and last, testifies also, that he is THE ALMIGHTY. Our argument, then, from these declarations may be seen in the following syllogysm. The first and the last is ALMIGHTY. JESUS CHRIST is the first and the last; But it may be said, that "there are two persons who declare themselves to be first and last." If that is admitted, these two persons must be one in essence or in nature, or we have two Almighty Beings, which makes two Gods; and the FIRST and the LAST expressly says, that there is no God beside himself. How much better it would be for Unitarians to confess what Christ himself says, that He and his Father are one, than to be driven to the unavoidable extremity of admitting two beings to be God, or two Gods. There are either two Almighty Gods, or Jesus Christ, in his divine nature, is one with the Father, or He and his Father are "And they cease not day nor night, saying; Holy Holy Holy! Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come." Rev. 4:8. Verse 11. "For thou hast created all things." Here: one. The Creator of all things, is the Lord God Almighty. Jesus Christ is the Creator of all things: Therefore, Jesus Christ is the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY. Admitting he has but one nature, this could not be true; that is, it could not be true of his human nature.-Says an apostle, "Ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power." Col. 2:10. If Jesus Christ is the head of ALL principality and POWER, he possesses all power. Here he is represented as not only standing at the head of all power, but of all principality. This conveys the same idea, as that "by him all things consist." Col. 1:17. A few brief remarks may show the evidence of the omnipotence of our blessed Lord. 1. Creation is the work of Omnipotence alone. Creation signifies the production of being, where no being existed prior to such creation. The source of all created existence is the self-moving energy of an unoriginated, infinite, unlimited, and eternal cause; and that cause was evidently Jesus Christ in his divine nature. 2. The Creator is necessarily the first cause; and in respect to all his works he must have exercised his own creative energy, not through a creature, for no creature existed. As he was the only being that then existed, he must have made all things for himself, and by himself; and this the Bible most unequivocally affirms of our Lord Jesus Christ. 8. The works of creation could not have been performed, officially, or by delegated power, because creative power is the sole attribute of Omnipotence. If all things were created by delegated power, there must have been one who delegated that power, and another who received it; and this proves there were two beings in existence before the creation of any; and of course they were self-existent, and consequently two self-existent Gods. Again, He that received the power delegated, could not have had it before, consequently he was not God; and he who delegated it must have ceased to possess it, consequently he ceased to be God. This scheme of Unitarians, then, must amount to this. The infinite, eternal God, ceases to be God; and a finite being-a creature-immediately becomes such. Again, if Jesus Christ created the worlds by delegated power, he did not make them for himself, but for him who delegated and employed him. This contradicts plain declarations of Scripture, which say, that "All things were made BY Him and FOR Him." 4. "Before the mountains were brought forth," there must have been an infinite duration, in which there was no creature in existence; and it is evident that all the existence there could have been was underived and unoriginated, consequently the omnipotent Creator was all the existence there was possibly in the universe. Now, we are expressly told that Jesus Christ "is before all things;" therefore the apostle considered him God. There is, then, the same evidence that Jesus Christ is omnipotent, that there is that he is the Creator of all things; and there is the same evidence of his omnipotence, that there is of any Creator, or any God. Christians may confide in this Almighty Deliverer and Redeemer, who has conquered death, sin, hell |
