By Lewis Sperry Chafer
[Conducted by Erling C. Olsen over Station WMCA, New York City, December 27, 1936.]
Mr. Olsen: As we are still in the midst of the Christmas season, I should like to ask some questions regarding the birth of Christ. We all appreciate the student of the Scriptures that you are, so that I am quite interested as to what your reply would be to certain questions that have arisen in my mind. May I first ask regarding this subject, Dr. Chafer, from the Biblical viewpoint, how important is the birth of Christ?
Dr. Chafer: The birth of Christ, Mr. Olsen, is one of the seven major events in the history of the universe; including things future as well as things past. These events are: (1) The creation of the angels; (2) The creation of all material things, including life and man upon the earth; (3) The incarnation or birth of Christ; (4) The death of Christ; (5) The resurrection of Christ; (6) The second advent of Christ, when He comes again to take up His everlasting reign on the earth, and (7) The creation of a new heaven and a new earth.
Mr. Olsen: Since the word incarnation means that a person enters this human sphere who previously abode in some other sphere, Who is this Person Who became incarnate?
Dr. Chafer: This question is far-reaching, indeed. Four Books of the Bible begin by a reference to the dateless past. Genesis speaks of that more recent beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth, but John’s Gospel, in its first verse, takes us farther back into the dateless past than any other portion of the Scriptures. There we are told of a beginning when only the three Persons of the adorable Trinity were in existence; that is, it refers to a time or condition which preceded God’s creative acts. The three Persons were equal in every respect; but the Second Person, whom John calls the Logos, was, as that title implies, the eternal manifestation of God. He it was Who, before His incarnation, manifested God, when He appeared as the Angel of Jehovah, and it was to be expected that when the final manifestation of God would be made it would be this same Logos or Second Person Who would do this thing. We read in John 1:14 that the Logos “was made flesh, and dwelt among us...” And, again, in John 1:18: “No man hath [fully] seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.” It was, therefore, none other than the Second Person of the Godhead Who came into this human form.
Mr. Olsen: You have referred to the opening verse of the Gospel according to St. John, which reads: “In the beginning was the Word...,” Who, you pointed out, is the Logos—the Greek term used in that connection. Could you tell us, Dr. Chafer, what beginning is referred to in that passage?
Dr. Chafer: It seems clear that John refers to the earliest conditions in the universe, which obtained as far back into the past as the finite mind can ever penetrate; that is, before anything was created.
Mr. Olsen: Did the Logos begin His existence then?
Dr. Chafer: This passage in John, chapter one, like all the Scriptures related to the preëxistence of Christ, declares that He was at that time. That is, He was as old and mature then as He is now or ever will be. In the beginning He was. He never began to be.
Mr. Olsen: Was this incarnation to last more than the 33 years of His life here on earth?
Dr. Chafer: Yes. He became a part of this human family, for all time and eternity to come. That is the significance of the resurrection of His body and the ascension of a glorified Man into the Heaven where He is now seated.
Mr. Olsen: What, then, is the difference between the incarnation and the virgin birth of Christ?
Dr. Chafer: The virgin birth is only the way by which he became incarnate. The incarnation contemplated all future time and eternity and all that He will ever have accomplished by thus entering our sphere.
Mr. Olsen: Since Christ is said to indwell every Christian, is incarnation anything more than His indwelling?
Dr. Chafer: This is another far-reaching question. In order that He might secure His own identified human spirit, soul and body, by which He would be Himself and not confused with anyone else, it was imperative that He should enter this human sphere as we all do, by human birth.
Mr. Olsen: Since a human birth requires both a father and a mother, Who, then, was the father of this incarnate Person?
Dr. Chafer: Only the Bible, or God Himself, could answer that question. The Old Testament declares in prophecy that a virgin should conceive and bear a Son, and that a Child should be born and a Son should be given. The New Testament reports the words of the angel to Mary, which revealed that the Holy Spirit would cause the generation to take place in the virgin’s womb. Nevertheless, the First Person, known as the Father, is everywhere in the Bible said to be the Father of this incarnate One, just as the First Person is said to be the Father of Christians, though they become Christians by the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit, the Third Person.
Mr. Olsen: What part, then, did each of these parents contribute to this incarnate Person?
Dr. Chafer: On the human side a Child was born. That accounts for His humanity. On the divine side a Son was given Who had existed from all eternity. But the Holy Spirit caused this eternal Second Person to be thus united to humanity in the virgin’s womb.
Mr. Olsen: Since Christ, being one of the Godhead, could not partake of the sin nature which Mary possessed in common with all the human race, how was He preserved from this pollution?
Dr. Chafer: Again, only the Word of God can answer. It is evident that when the angel told Mary that a “holy thing” was to be born of her, it was an assurance that the fallen human nature which she possessed would not be any part of this incarnate One. We read also, in Hebrews 4:15, that Christ was, while here on earth, in all points tempted as we are, apart from those temptations which arise from a sin nature. He did not partake of that nature. This fact is of greatest importance when we consider His part in redemption.
Mr. Olsen: What, then, was the essential character or nature of this Person Who was thus born into this human family?
Dr. Chafer: He is a theanthropic Person; which means God and man combined in one. He was the undiminished Second Person of the Trinity and also the only perfect Human Being Who ever lived on earth.
Mr. Olsen: Did the humanity mar or injure His Deity?
Dr. Chafer: No. There is nothing in unfallen humanity, such as Christ possessed, that would contaminate Deity.
Mr. Olsen: Did not His death exalt His humanity to a point that would make it superhuman?
Dr. Chafer: No, Mr. Olsen, His humanity was always preserved in its own natural limitations. He was subject to weariness, thirst and even physical death. He also declared that, on the human side, He did not know when a certain great event would occur. On the divine side, He knew all that God knows, since He is God.
Mr. Olsen: How could a person know and not know at the same time?
Dr. Chafer: We are considering a unique Person. There never has been, nor will there ever be, another like Him. We need Him, indeed; but, having Him, we will never need another like Him. He possessed the two natures, God and man, in one incomparable Person. This we are able to believe, though we cannot understand.
Mr. Olsen: Has there ever been any similar combination of things divine and human?
Dr. Chafer: Yes. As Christ is called the Living Word of God, so the Bible is called the Written Word of God; and the Bible is God’s perfect Word in all its parts, yet it was written by men, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The divine element in the Bible does not rob the human authors of their individual characteristics, style or manner of utterance. On the other hand, the human element does not cast any shadow over the infinite perfection of the divine Written Word, as it came forth from God.
Mr. Olsen: When did Christ begin to realize that He was not like other human beings?
Dr. Chafer: There is only one answer to this so common question. The question implies that Christ was first human in His consciousness and later became conscious of His Deity. In reality, He was first and for all eternity conscious of His Deity. The humanity was the new element which was added to His Being. Deity can never be unconscious or restricted in itself. To illustrate this, had He chosen to do so, Christ, while yet in the virgin’s womb, could have spoken one word of command and dismissed all material things back to nothing from whence He had called them forth by creation.
Mr. Olsen: Was His childhood different from that of other children?
Dr. Chafer: Yes, it must have been, for He never sinned.
Mr. Olsen: Could the incarnate Person have sinned?
Dr. Chafer: No. God cannot sin. The Bible is very emphatic about that, and Christ is God just as much as the Father or the Spirit. He could be weary, hungry and thirsty, and, on the human side, He could be limited as to His knowledge, since these experiences would not complicate God with sin; but He could not sin. It was not merely that, because of His infinite wisdom or power, He would not sin. Being very God, He could not sin.
Mr. Olsen: Is it not possible for even unfallen humanity to sin?
Dr. Chafer: Yes. Adam fell by sin from an unfallen state. He had only a human nature; but in the case of Christ, His humanity was never separated from His Deity. A wire might easily be bent when alone, but it cannot be bent when welded into an unbendable bar of steel. The humanity of Christ could not sin, being so vitally related to His Deity. Had He been able to sin on earth, being the same now, He could sin now, and that would ruin every hope of ours which is centered in Him.
Mr. Olsen: What reason does the Bible give for Christ’s incarnation?
Dr. Chafer: There are three reasons, and each of them is a very great subject in itself, (1) He came to manifest God to men. Looking at Christ, we know what God is like. Every act of mercy and goodness, even His sacrificial death, discloses the loving heart of God for men. (2) He came also to fulfill the great prophecies that One would sit on David’s throne and rule over the earth forever. Each of the two greatest passages of Scripture bearing on the incarnation declares that He came thus into the world that He might fulfill the promises of God regarding a world-Ruler. But (3) He came into this human family that He might be our Kinsman-Redeemer. As a type of redemption, the Old Testament declared that when a family in Israel had lost their estate, it could be purchased back by a kinsman, provided he had not suffered in the loss, was able to redeem and willing to redeem. The Book of Ruth is the perfect picture of this redemption. No member of our race could redeem us, for each one has suffered in the loss which sin has caused. Christ was free from sin. He was, therefore, the only One Who could redeem, but He must first become one of our human family if He serves as a Kinsman-Redeemer. This He did in the incarnation, He became a Kinsman. He was willing to redeem, and He alone could pay the price of redemption, which is the blood of the Son of God.
Mr. Olsen: Do we have this redemption, whether we want it or not?
Dr. Chafer: Christ has died for us all and to that extent we do have this great basis of salvation already completed; but salvation is by faith, and that means that we have something to believe about our Saviour. We must choose to be saved in the way God has provided for us in Christ. In other words: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.”
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