C. G. Pfander, D. D

Ílory for ever and ever" (1 Tim. i. 17). For He, the .iving, the Loving, the Most Merciful God, has, of His infinite love and mercy, offered to us guilty sinners so great a redemption and such a glorious salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ.

CHAPTER IV

THE WAY IN WHICH THE LORD JESUS CHRIST HAS WROUGHT OUT SALVATION FOR ALL MEN

Now, invoking and relying upon the guidance and blessing of Almighty God, we proceed to explain in what manner the Lord Jesus Christ, according to the teaching of both the Old Testament and the New, has wrought out salvation for mankind. There may be much in God's marvellous plan of salvation which may transcend our finite reason, and it is clear that we can­not know anything of His Divine Purpose except what He has been pleased to reveal to us. Yet the fact that He has given us reason shows us that He wishes us to use it to His glory. And, as He has graciously dis­closed to us the method of salvation, it is evident that He wishes us to reflect upon it with reverence and to understand it (i Thess. v. 21), as far as finite creatures can. Nor does our salvation depend upon the keenness of our intellect, but upon the reality of our faith in the Saviour of the world.

That the Most High, out of the fullness of His love and mercy, has vouchsafed to provide salvation for .sinners through the Lord Jesus Christ is clearly taught in the New Testament (for instance in Luke xix. xo; John iii. 16; 2 Cor. v. 19, 21 ; 1 Tim. i. 15; 1 Pet. ii. 21-24; i John ii. 12; iv. 9, 10). The fact that this way of salvation has thus been provided is thus evident. We must now endeavour to explain how salvation can be obtained through Christ, and how it is that such high titles are given Him in these verses and elsewhere. We shall thus in some measure understand His true Nature and Dignity, and learn how He satisfies the conditions mentioned at the end of Chapter III.

The Holy Scriptures inform us that God, in His boundless love and limitless mercy, had from the foundation of the world decided on this way of salva­tion (Eph. iii. ii ; i Pet. i. 18-21; Rev. xiii. 8). Hence by the lips of His Prophets in the Old Testa­ment He declared the tribe and family from which the Saviour should spring, the time and manner of His appearance among men, His Nature and rank, and the manner in which He would accomplish His great and merciful work of redemption. Thus in the ages before His blessed Advent those who knew of these Divine Promises rejoiced in faith and looked forward to the great salvation then to be manifested. Adam, the father of all men, was informed by God concerning the coming Saviour. He was told that the promised Redeemer would be so mighty that He would crush the Serpent's head, that is to say, would overcome Satan and deliver mankind from his thraldom and from sin (Gen. iii. 14, 15).

We have already seen that God Most High pro­mised Abraham that through his seed blessing should come upon all the nations of the earth (Gen. xxii. 18). And the New Testament clearly shows that the person thus indicated was the Lord Jesus Christ (Gal. iii. 16).

Again, God promised through Moses that this Saviour would be a great Prophet who would arise among the Children of Israel (in accordance with Gen. xvii. 19, 21, and Gen. xxviii. 14), and would teach the people the way and will of God (Deut. xviii. 15, 18, 19). That the Prophet thus spoken of was Christ was made plain by a voice from heaven commanding men to hear Him (Matt. xvii. 5 ; Mark ix. 7), just as God had told Moses that men must hear the promised Prophet, under penalty of severe punishment.

The Divine message came also to David, declaring that the Saviour would be of his posterity, and that His Kingdom would have no end (2 Sam. vii. 16 ; Ps. lxxxix. 3,4, 27, 28, 29, 35, 36, 37 ; Isa. ix. 6, 7 ; xi. 1 ; Jer. xxiii.

5. 6; xxxiii. 15, 16, 17, 20, 2i, 25, 26: compare John xii. 34).

In Gen. xlix. 10, we are told that the kingdom would not finally depart from Judah until Shiloh came, this being one of the titles of the promised Messiah.

The Lord Jesus Christ was born of the seed of David (Matt. i. 1 ; Acts ii. 30 ; xiii. 22, 23 ; Rom. i. 3) about four or five years before the time when the Christian era began. Here we must explain that the beginning of the Christian era was erroneously fixed in accordance with the calculations of a monk called Dionysius the Little in the reign of the Emperor Justinian. He made a mistake of a few years, but it is convenient to retain the usual reckoning. Herod the Great, King of the Jews, died 4 b.c., when Christ was less than two years old (compare Matt. ii. 16), and then the kingdom was divided into four parts. Herod's son Archelaus was made ruler of only one of these parts, Judaea : but about a. d. 6 he was deposed by the Romans and banished. Judaea then became a province of the Roman Empire, instead of a separate kingdom subject to Rome. From that time to this the Jews have never had a king of their own. That they had none, that the sceptre had departed from Judah according to Jacob's prediction, they themselves confessed at the time of Christ's Crucifixion, when they said," We have no king but Caesar" (John xix. 15). Therefore it was clear that the promised Messiah had come.

The place where Christ should be born was men­tioned beforehand by the prophet Micah (Micah v. 2), and this passage also taught that he would be no mere man, by describing Him as one " whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting". The fulfil­ment of the prophecy is related in Matt. ii. 1, 5, 6. That He should be born of a Virgin was implied in Gen. iii. 15, and more clearly in Isa. vii. 14, and this was fulfilled (Matt. i. 18-25 ! ^Luke »• 26-38), as the Qur'&n also admits (Sfirahs xxi. 91 ; lxvi. 12). With reference to His teaching, humiliation, suffering, death, and the

Atonement which He would make for the redemption of mankind, there are very many prophecies in the Old Testament, among the principal of which are Isa. xlii. 1-9; lxi. 1-3 (compare Luke iv. 17-21); lii. 13-15 and liii; Ps. xxii. The time at which He should be put to death is clearly stated in the prophecy of Daniel (ch. ix. 24-26). For the decree of King Artaxerxes Longimanus (^jLjlif — o^y j-^ij) of Persia

to restore and to build Jerusalem was promulgated in the seventh year of that king's reign (Ezra vii. 1, 7), that is to say, in 458 b.c. If from that date we reckon seventy weeks of years (Dan. ix. 24), or 490 years, we reach a.d. 32. In Dan. ix. 25 and 26 we are told that the Messiah would be cut off between 483 and 490 years from Artaxerxes' decree, that is between a.d. 25 and a.d. 32. This prophecy was fulfilled, for He was crucified between those dates, probably in a.d. 29 or 30. The predicted destruction of the Temple and of Jeru­salem (Dan. ix. 26, 27) occurred about forty years later, in a.d. 70, when Titus, son of the Roman Emperor Vespasian, destroyed both city and Temple, as Josephus and other historians relate, in accordance with Christ's predictions (Matt. xxiv. 1-28; Mark xiii. 1-23 ; Luke xxi. 5-24). The " tribulation " of those days (Mark xiii. 24) has not yet come to an end, for the Jews are still scattered everywhere without a country, and our Muslim brethren know the tribulation which the Jews still endure not only throughout all the Muhammadan world, but also in such countries as Russia. Nor are the " times of the Gentiles " fulfilled as yet (Luke xxi. 24), since Gentiles still hold possession of Jerusalem.

There are in the books of the Prophets numerous passages which predict such matters as the Resurrection of Christ, His session on God's right hand, His Ascen­sion into the Heavens. Such, for example, are Ps. xvi. 10 (compare Acts ii. 22-36); Ps. ex. 1 ; Dan. vii. 13, 14. That His Kingdom was to be established at the time when the " fourth kingdom " of Dan. vii. 23, i. e. the Roman Empire, still held sway is predicted in Dan. ii.

34. 35. 44. 45 ^v»- 7. 9. i3> H> 2 3, 27. The four Kingdoms or Empires were the Babylonian, the Per­sian, the Macedonian, and the Roman (Dan. ii. 37-45 ; viii. 20, 21).

When the Lord Jesus Christ was about thirty years of age (Luke iii. 23), He began to proclaim the Good News (».»¿I _ i^LLfJl), as the Gospels (j^-biil) inform us. He went about doing good: He wrought many mira­cles, healed the sick, cast out devils, opened the eyes of the blind, the ears of the deaf, cleansed lepers, and enabled the lame to walk, in accordance with the pre­dictions of the Old Testament Prophet Isaiah (Isa.xxxii. 1-5 ; xxxv. 3-6 ; xlii. 1-7 ; Ixi. 1, 2 : compare Matt. xi. 4, 5 ; xii. 17-21 ; xxi.¹14). Yet, though He possessed and exercised such great power, He never wrought a miracle for His own advantage, or to punish His enemies. He lived in poverty and lowliness (Matt. viii. 20), and did not seek any earthly honour and glory. He refused to let people make Him an earthly monarch (John vi. 15). And so blameless were His actions, so evident to all men was the holiness of His life and con­duct, that He could say to His adversaries,^<: Which of you convicteth Me of sin?" (John viii. 46). Thus were the prophecies regarding His first Advent and His conduct accomplished.

The Lord Jesus Christ chose out twelve Apostles from among the Israelites, and trained them, teaching them the truth which He wished them to teach others. The doctrine upon which all else was based was that of His Divine Sonship, and He declared that on this doctrine as on a rock He would build His Church (Matt. xvi. 13-18).

When His Apostles had thus learnt that He was the Messiah promised in the Old Testament, the Lord Jesus began to teach them the next great lesson, i. e. that He must be crucified and rise again for the salvation of mankind (Matt. xvi. 21; Mark viii. 31; Luke ix. 22). When the time of His decease drew nigh, Christ still more clearly informed His disciples of the nature of the sufferings which He was about to undergo (Luke xviii. 31-34). On another occasion He told them plainly that He would endure all these sufferings of His own will and because of His great love for man­kind, in order that He might give new and eternal life to men (John vi. 51; x. 11-18), if they chose to accept this free gift of God (Rom. vi. 23).

Thus, because of His love towards the children of men, and in order to save them from their sins, He permitted the Jews to seize Him, to mock and buffet Him, and to deliver Him up into the hands of the Roman governor of Judaea, Pontius Pilate, to be scourged and crucified (Matt. xxvi. 47-xxvii. 56 ; Markxiv. 43-xv. 41; Lukexxii.47~xxiii. 49; John xviii. i-xix. 37). Thus was fulfilled what had been prophe­sied regarding Him by David (Ps. xxii) and Isaiah (lii. 13-liii. 12), many hundreds of years beforehand.

The Lord Jesus Christ was executed as if He had been a criminal, though His judge, Pilate, acknow­ledged Him to be innocent of any crime (Matt, xxvii. 24). It was customary among the Jews at that time to cast the bodies of criminals into a place called the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, outside the walls of Jerusalem. There they were either burnt or left to be devoured by jackals and worms. Yet in the case of Jesus this did not take place, for His sacred Body was handed over to Joseph of Arimathaea, a secret disciple, a man of wealth and of high rank, who buried it in his own new tomb (Matt, xxvii. 57-61; Markxv. 42-47; Luke xxiii. 50-56; John xix. 37-42). This all took place in exact accord with the prophecy in Isa. liii. 9, where it is said that, though His burial was appointed to be with wicked men, yet at His death He should be " with the rich ".

As Christ had beforehand told His disciples that He would rise again from the dead on the third day (Matt, xvi. 21 ; xvii. 23 ; xx. 19 ; Luke ix. 22 ; xviii. 33 ; xxiv.

7, 46), so it Game to pass (Matt, xxviii. 1-10 ; Mark xvi. 1-8; Luke xxiv. 1-43; John xx ; 1 Cor. xv. 4). This also took place in accordance with David's prophecy (Ps. xvi. 9, 10). After His Resurrection He appeared several times to His disciples during the period of forty days (Acts i. 3), and taught them how completely what had happened to Him had fulfilled the prophecies contained in the Old Testament, and what the object of His Sufferings, Death, and Resurrection really was (Luke xxiv. 27, 44-49). He then gave them the com­mission to make all nations His disciples (Matt, xxviii. 18-20; Acts i. 8). After this He ascended before their eyes into the Heavens (Luke xxiv. 50, 51 ; Acts i. 9), leaving them the promise of His triumphal return to reign for ever and ever, as predicted by Daniel (Dan. vii. 13, 14, 27), and to fill the earth with the knowledge of God (Isa. xi. 1-9). See Matt. xxiv. 30, 31 ; xxv. 31-46; Mark xiii. 26 ; Luke xxi. 27 ; John xiv. 1-3 ; Acts i. 11 ; Rev. i. 7 ; xx. 1 i-xxi. 8.

Since all the promises which God had long before­hand given by the mouth of His prophets in the Old Testament with reference to the first Advent of the Promised Messiah and Saviour of the world, telling the time of His appearing, His work, and the Atonement which He was to make, have thus been fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ, it is clear that He is in truth the Saviour to whom the Prophets bore witness and in whom Abraham believed (John viii. 56). Let it not be overlooked that the fulfilment of the prophecies con­cerning the Messiah is a most convincing proof of the inspiration of the Old Testament. For who, without Divine Inspiration could foretell the future in all

these particulars many hundreds of years before these events happened ? That these things were truly pro­phesied of is clear, because the prophecies are still found in the Hebrew Old Testament, which is in the hands of the Jews as well as of the Christians. The Jews have rejected Christ, yet they have never dared to erase or alter a single word of these prophecies,

L

though their unbelief and hardness of heart are so sternly condemned thereby.

We have already seen that the Promised Messiah's Nature and dignity are clearly set" forth even in the Old Testament; for instance in Ps. ii. 7 ; xlv. 6 ; lxxii; ex. 1; Isa. vi. 1 -10 (compare John xii. 40, 41) ; Isa. ix. 6, 7 ; xxv. 7-9; xl. 10, 11; Jer. xxxiii. 16 ; Micah v. 2 ; Mai. iii. 1 ; iv. 2, and many other passages. From the fact that His " goings forth are from of old, from ever­lasting" (Micah v. 2), we can understand how true was His statement, " Before Abraham was, I am" (John viii. 58), in which He used of Himself the special and peculiar name of God (Exod. iii. 14). Hence we learn that it was He who called Abraham out of Babylonia, who gave Israel the Taur&t, and who sent the Prophets. The New Testament therefore gives Him no higher titles than does the Old. Both agree in what they testify regarding His Nature and dignity. (Compare Matt. iii. 16, 17; xvi. 15, 16, 17; xvii. 1-8; xxvi. 63, 64; xxviii. 18; Luke i. 32, 35; Johni. 1-3,9-18; v. 17-29; viii. 23-29, 42, 56-58 ; ix. 35-37; x. 27-38; xiv. 9-11 ; xvi. 12-15, 28; xvii. 5, 21; Col. i. 12-23; Phil. ii. 5-11 ; Heb. i; Rev. i. 5-18; xxi. 6-8 ; xxii. 13, 16.) When Muslims reject the invitation to accept Christ as their Saviour (John v. 40), one reason why they do so is because they refuse to believe what He said of Himself and what the earlier Prophets said of Him.

We must not forget that it would have been impos­sible for Christ to save the world from sin and from hatred towards God, were He a mere creature, even the highest of all creatures. Hence salvation depends upon perfect trust in Him, as being what He claimed to be and what the Holy Scriptures of both the Old Testament and the New testify that He was. Thus we see that belief in His Deity is no corruption of the Christian faith, but is of the very essence of all true religion. For, were He a creature, His goodness and His sufferings could be no proof of God's love to man.

These things would rather render it difficult to believe in the love and mercy of God Most High, if He caused the highest and best of His creatures to suffer such pain and sorrow. But when we accept the teaching of the Bible, and recognize that " God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself" (2 Cor. v. 19), and perceive that He is One with His Father (John x. 30), then we begin in some measure to understand that, if the doctrine of the Holy Trinity¹ be true, God Most High is merciful, and does care for us. Then we find that the cream of the Gospel (¿,Li-Jl) and the essence of the whole Bible is contained in John iii. 16, and that this appeals to our hearts and draws them in love and devotion to God, who has first loved us (1 John iv. 9).

The fact that in the former of these two verses (John iii. 16) the title " Son of God " is given

to Christ has been a great stumbling-block to Muslims, because they think that this is absolutely contradicted by SOrah cxii. But in reality this is largely due to a misunderstanding of the Christian doctrine. Let it be frankly stated that, in the sense in which the Qur'&n uses the words of that Sfirah, they are un­doubtedly true, and can be employed by all Christians.² In that Stirah the Qur'&n is denouncing and teaching men to repudiate as blasphemous all such carnal ideas of generation as were entertained by the heathen in all lands. Even the Arabs in the Times of Ignorance attributed daughters³ to God Most High in this blas­phemous sense. But Christians have never held any doctrine in the slightest degree similar to that. Hence it is that we do not use the expression Waladu'lldh (¿TiJ>')> but call the Lord Jesus Christ Ibntillah (jof^ji). The difference between the two expressions is very

¹ See Chapter V of this Second Part.

® As can also those of Sfirah vi. 101: "The Originator of the heavens and of the earth, how should He have a child (aJj) ? and He had not a female friend, and He hath created everything."

⁵ SQrahs vi. 100; xvi. 59.

l 2

great, for the word ibn is suitable for use in a meta­phorical sense, which sense is needed in the title " Son of God". But walad is not used metaphorically. Christian writers who lived hundreds of years before the Hijrah repeatedly denounced the carnal ideas of the heathen, and pointed out in what an entirely different sense the title of Ibmtllah, is given to Christ. For instance, Lactantius, writing about a.d. 306, more than 300 years before the Hijrah, says: "He¹ who hears the words ' Son of God' spoken must not conceive in his mind such great wickedness as to fancy that God procreated through marriage and union with any female, —a thing which is not done except by an animal pos­sessed of a body and subject to death. But since God is alone, with whom could He unite ? or, since He was of such great might as to be able to accomplish what­ever He wished, He certainly had no need of the comradeship of another for the purpose of creating."

The fact should be noted that, when philosophical language is used in the Gospel, our Lord Jesus Christ is styled " The Word of God" (¿fi^), as in John i. 1,14; Rev. xix. 13 (compare the title " Word of Life" in 1 John i. 1). The other title, Ibnullah,, has really the same meaning, but it is used for two special reasons : (1) for the benefit of simple people, who are the great majority of the human race, and who could not under­stand the former phrase, and (2) because it enables us to realize the personality of the Word of God (¿f 1;1S } and the love which exists between the Divine Hypo­stases (j^iUiil) of the Holy Trinity (compare John xv. 9,

10 ; xvii. 23, 26). Neither of these latter facts could be expressed by the title " The Word of God ". It is true that no human vocables