Hebrews 1:1-3 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, It is sometimes idly said that our belief in our Lord's divinity rests solely on the teaching of St. John. Centuries ago, Julian, the apostate emperor, exclaimed, "It is John, who with his remark, 'And the Word became flesh,' has done all the mischief." I fear that in these days some at least of the critical attempts to disprove the genuineness of St. John's Gospel are suggested and stimulated by the desire to overthrow our belief in the divinity of Christ. But should the writings of St. John, to our infinite loss, be obliterated altogether from the canon, there is yet not a single book in the New Testament in which the revelation of God in Christ is not directly asserted, or absolutely implied. Set aside St. John altogether and still on almost every page of revelation the truth stands out that Christ was the only begotten Son of the Father, the effulgence of His glory, the express image of His substance, God of God, Light of light, very God of very God. And in whatever way we hold, or explain, or imagine that we explain the blessed mystery of the atonement, this is certain, that its entire efficacy, as revealed to us in Scripture — in the Old Testament, where alone it is foreshadowed, or by the New Testament, where alone it is fully set forth — rests upon the truth that our Lord Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. No man can redeem his brother, or make atonement unto God for him. It cost more to redeem our souls, therefore he must let that alone for ever. (F. W. Farrar, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, |
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