In the previous message we saw that the Man-Savior was conceived of the divine essence with the divine attributes for the content and reality of His human virtues (Luke 1:35; Matt. 1:18, 20). The Lord Jesus was conceived in this way so that the divine attributes might fill the empty human virtues, strengthen, enrich, and sanctify the human virtues, and express God in the human virtues. We have also seen that the Man-Savior was born of the human essence with the human virtues created by God for man (Luke 1:31). In Him the divine attributes and the human virtues are mingled. The divine attributes fill His human virtues, and His human virtues contain the divine attributes.
The Man-Savior was born of the human essence with the human virtues in order to rescue these virtues from man’s fall. Before the Lord Jesus was born, man had become fallen. Therefore, with the exception of the Lord Jesus, the virtues of every human being are fallen. This was true even of the human virtues of Mary and Joseph. We do not agree with the Roman Catholic teaching that Mary did not have a sinful nature. (The doctrine of the sinlessness of Mary became an official teaching of the Roman Catholic Church in 1854). This teaching has no basis in the Scriptures, and we do not believe it.
In the Gospels, we can see the difference between the Man-Savior’s human virtues and those of Mary and Joseph. For example, the record in Luke 2 indicates that the Lord’s virtues are high, pure, and perfect. When the Man-Savior was twelve, He said to His parents, who had been searching for Him, “Did you not know that I must be in the things of My Father?” (2:49). On the other hand, “He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was subject to them” (2:51). This was subjection in His humanity to His human parents. As we read this account, we see how excellent the human virtues of the Lord Jesus were. Mary’s virtues, by contrast, were not that excellent. As we compare these two kinds of human virtues, we see that the Lord’s virtues were uplifted, whereas Mary’s virtues were not strengthened, enriched, and uplifted by the divine attributes. From this we see that it certainly is necessary for the human virtues to be rescued from the fall.
The Man-Savior was born of the human essence with the human virtues also to restore and recover man’s virtues from the damage of man’s fall. Because of the fall, our human virtues have been damaged. For example, the virtue of love has been damaged. A brother may love his wife very much one day, and the next day he may be unhappy with her and even think of divorcing her. This is a strong sign that his human love has been damaged.
The love a girl has for her mother is also a damaged love. A girl may be very loving toward her mother at one moment, but this love is easily broken and may suddenly change. This proves that a girl’s human love for her mother is a fallen and damaged love.
The human virtues of righteousness and holiness have also been damaged by the fall. Our righteousness has so many “holes” in it that it can be compared to a beehive. Can you count how many holes you have in your righteousness? Our love, brightness, righteousness, and holiness have all been damaged.
The Man-Savior’s incarnation was not only to rescue our virtues from the fall; His incarnation was also to restore and recover our virtues from the damage of the fall. Something may be rescued without being restored, or may be restored without being recovered. Our human virtues need to be rescued, restored, and recovered.