The Lord Jesus had a genuine man’s living by God’s mind, will, and emotion—to express God in God’s attributes. The Lord did not seek His own will but God’s will. He came not to do His own will but to do God’s will. This means that He came to live as a man not by man’s life, but by God’s life. He lived by God’s mind, will, and emotion to express God in God’s attributes. These attributes are contained in and mingled with His human virtues.
In the Gospel of Luke we have many examples of the Man-Savior’s God-man living. Consider the case of the good Samaritan (10:25-37). In the human living of the good Samaritan God was expressed. God was there empowering Him. The love expressed was not simply the Samaritan’s human love; it was a human love strengthened, empowered, and enriched by the divine love. Hence, it was a superior love, a surpassing love.
Consider also the case of Zaccheus (19:1-10). In the Man-Savior’s coming to Zaccheus and His dealing with him we see something divine. It is hard to explain what we see expressed in the man Jesus. Within Him there is something more than the divine omniscience. In Him the excellent divine attributes are present strengthening His human virtues. The Lord Jesus lived in the way of having His human virtues empowered by the divine attributes.
This was true of the Lord Jesus even at the age of twelve. When the Lord Jesus was twelve, He was a human child. But as we read the account in Luke 2, we see that in this child there was the divine element. God’s attributes were expressed in His human living.
The Lord Jesus lived a genuine human life, yet in His life we see the divine element and also certain divine factors. This life did not express man; it expressed God. This is the God-man’s life and living.
In the living of the Lord Jesus, man’s mind, will, and emotion became the organs to contain God’s life. We may compare these organs to the fingers of a glove. Just as the fingers of a glove contain the real fingers, so the Man-Savior’s mind, will, and emotion contain God’s life. The five fingers of a glove are not real fingers but contain the five fingers of a human hand. In a similar way, the Lord’s mind, will, and emotion are organs containing God’s mind, will, and emotion. This was His God-Man living.
In the Man-Savior’s God-man living man’s virtues became a shell, an image, to express God’s attributes so that God may be expressed in man’s living. From this we see that our human virtues—our love, brightness, holiness, and righteousness—are just a shell, the image created by God in Genesis 1:26. God created man in His image so that God may be expressed in man’s living.
If we see this, we shall have the answer to the question raised in the foregoing message concerning why it was necessary for the Lord Jesus to live on earth for thirty-three and a half years before He died to accomplish redemption. If He had lived on earth only a short time, there would have been only a momentary expression of the divine attributes in His living. Such a brief expression could be compared to a rainbow, which appears for a while and then vanishes. The Man-Savior lived a full human life for thirty-three and a half years. During those years He was proved to be without defect or imperfection. He did not fail in any way. His virtues were an image for an expression of God’s attributes. Therefore, God was expressed in His living.
The Lord’s God-man living constituted His qualification to be the Man-Savior. At the same time, this living constituted a prototype to His believers. As we shall see in the next message, this prototype is for the “mass production,” the reproduction, of the God-man in the believers. In a factory, a great deal of time may be spent to produce a prototype. Once the prototype has been produced, it is then used for mass production. In a similar way, the Man-Savior’s God-man living constituted Him a prototype so that He may now be reproduced in us. Praise the Lord for the prototype and for the mass production!