The  total  impression  these  inadequate  explana-
tions make  upon  us  is  that  they  are  themselves  a
wonderful  tribute  to  Jesus  and  almost  amount  to
the  exclamation  of  the  Roman  soldier,  "Truly  this
was  the  Son  of  God."  Yet  however  far  they  go
and  wonderful  they  are,  they  still  fall  short  of  the
reality  and  are  partial  and  inadequate.  The  Fig-
ure is  larger  than  any  of  these  frames  men  have
tried  to  construct  around  it:  the  Person  back  of
them  is  too  transcendent  and  divine  to  be  explained
by  them.  The  fountain  they  give  us  is  still  too
small  for  the  stream,  the  mountain  they  find  is  too
low  for  the  vast  shadows  it  has  cast.  We  are
driven  back  of  these  inadequate  explanations  to
one  that  is  deeper  and  diviner,  and  this  we  find
only  in  Jesus  Christ  as  the  incarnate  Son  of  God.
CHAPTER  XXIII


THE   HOLY   SPIRIT


The  complex  and  rich  inner  life  of  the  Godhead
is  manifested  in  the  three  personal  distinctions  of
Father,  Son  and  Holy  Spirit.  The  order  of  mani-
festation is  from  the  Father  through  the  Son  by
the  Spirit.  The  Father  is  the  creator  from  whom
all  things  proceed,  the  Son  is  the  medium  or  agent
through  whom  the  Father  operates,  and  the  Spirit
executes  the  purpose  and  applies  the  power  of  the
Father  and  the  Son.  The  Holy  Spirit  is  thus  the
executive  of  the  Godhead  and  is  immanent  in  all
its  activities  in  the  world.  Yet  we  are  not  to  think
of  the  Spirit  as  being  separated  from  the  Father
and  the  Son :  all  three  are  present  in  all  their
works  in  their  indissoluble  unity;  but  the  Spirit
is  the  immediate  agent  in  divine  operations.
