The Gospel of Christ in Humiliation and in Glory

John Nelson Darby

As to the difference in emphasis between the gospel of the glory and the gospel of the humiliation, the latter is pure grace in God manifested in Christ here. John’s writings show God revealing Himself in Christ to man in His life down here. What we have habitually in Paul is man manifested in righteousness before God.

The gospel of humiliation is perfect grace; it is God coming down here to man where he is, visiting him in his condition as such a one on earth. The gospel of the glory takes this treasure and unfolds it.

In Philippians 2:5–8 we have the whole line from the time when Christ was in the form of God until He was on the cross, when, being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death. There is the manifestation of God down here among men as sinners.

Well, I say, here is God come right down to me in love, and if I cannot trust anybody in the world, I must trust God now. The woman who was a sinner loved much; she did not know her sins were forgiven, nor could she have explained it theologically, but she trusted Christ, and loved much (Luke 7:36–47); and that is the bearing of the humiliation.

But in the gospel of the glory, man is looked at as the old man totally set aside, yet man is in glory in virtue of the complete work that redeems us and justifies us, and gives us a place in the glory. The glory is the testimony to the efficacy of the work; the humiliation is the testimony to the greatness of the love. Of course, it is all the same gospel.

The gospel is both the gospel of the glory of Christ, and the gospel of the grace of God. It was grace to put the best robe on a man, and to bring him into the house. After all, it is not that Christ is in glory merely, but in the riches of His grace God visits me as a sinner. If one sees a poor vile sinner blessed, then it would be the riches of the grace that would be conspicuous.

Adapted from: The Bible Monthly (1932) vol. 12 p. 12 where it appears to be adapted from comments on 2 Corinthians 5 in The Collected Writings of JND vol. 26 (expository no. 5) ps. 333–334. 

From: Truth and Testimony, 2024