Treasures old and new proclaiming the glory and majesty of Jesus Christ…
How utterly the mystery of the union of the divine and human nature in Christ exceeds all our speaking and thinking of it. All comparison breaks down, for it is without equal. But it is, accordingly, the mystery of godliness, which angels desire to look into and the church worshipfully adores.
—Herman Bavinck
Reformed Dogmatics Volume 3
Via: Tolle Lege
Believers all call themselves by the name of Christ and in communion with this Christ they are themselves anointed as prophets, priests, and kings.
Christ is given many other names in Scripture. He is called the Son of God, the only-begotten, beloved Son of God, the Word, the image of God, the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being, the firstborn of all creation, the true God and eternal life, God to be praised above all, Immanuel.
In addition, He is called the Son of Man, the son of Joseph and David, the Nazarene, the Galilean, the holy and righteous one, the second Adam, the Lord of heaven, the firstborn of all creatures, and the firstborn of the dead.
Finally, in terms of His office and work, He is called Prophet, Master, Teacher, Priest, the Great Priest, the High Priest, the Servant of the Lord, the Lamb of God, the King, the King of the Jews, the King of Israel, the King of kings, the Lord, the Lord of glory, the Lord of lords, the head of the church, the bridegroom of the church, the shepherd and guardian of souls, the pioneer and perfecter of the faith, the pioneer of salvation, the way, the truth, and the life, the bread of life, the prince of life, the resurrection and the life, the shepherd of the sheep, the door of the sheepfold, the light of world, the shining morning star, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end, the judge of the living and the dead, the heir of all things by whom, in whom, and for whom all things have been created.
All these names sufficiently prove the incomparable dignity and entirely unique place that belong to Christ. He is the mediator of both creation and re-creation.
—Herman Bavinck
Reformed Dogmatics
Via: Tolle Lege
Before the fall, strictly speaking, there was no conscience in humans. There was no gap between what they were and what they knew they had to be. Being and self-consciousness were in harmony. But the fall produced separation. By the grace of God, humans still retain the consciousness that they ought to be different, that in all respects they must conform to God’s law. But reality witnesses otherwise; they are not who they ought to be. And this witness is the conscience. The conscience … is proof that communion with God has been broken, that there is a gap between God and us, between his law and our state. … The human conscience is the subjective proof of humanity’s fall, a witness to human guilt before the face of God.
—Herman Bavinck
Reformed Dogmatics Volume 3
Update: Justin Taylor also cited this quote from Herman Bavinck and updated the post to include this comment from David Powlison that I thought was very helpful and insightful:
I think that Bavinck and some responders are using the narrowest definition of ‘conscience’: Adam and Eve had no “guilty conscience” pre-Fall. But the actual function of conscience/suneideesis is a creational given, intrinsic to the image of God. It is our entire evaluative capacity, not only about ourselves but about everything we encounter. Is that good or bad? Is that true or false? Is that valuable or worthless? We humans don’t only know things, but we weigh the things we know. We are meant to love what is true, good and beautiful, and to hate what is false, wrong and shameful. When the serpent told lies, their consciences should have said, ‘That is a lie. That’s wrong and deadly.’ This is one of many areas where we need to understand the flexibility of biblical language in capturing both narrower and broader meanings. The Old Testament equivalents to this comprehensive functioning of conscience are such phrases as ‘in my eyes’ (or ‘your eyes’) and ‘the ear tests words as the palate tests food.’ The Bible actually uses the term conscience and its equivalents far more often in the general sense than in the narrow sense.
Via: Tony Reinke