“There were diverse presences of Christ before He came.
He was in the ‘bush’ as a sign of His presence.
He was in the ‘ark’ as a sign of His presence.
He was in the prophets and kings as a type of His presence.
He took upon Him the shape of a man as a representation of His presence, when He talked with Abraham and the patriarchs.
But all this was not ‘God with us,’ in our nature. He took it on Him for a time, and laid it aside again.
But when He was Emmanuel, and was called and declared so to be, He took on Him our nature, never to lay it aside again.
He was born in our nature, brought forth in our nature, lived in our nature, died in our nature, was crucified in our nature, became a curse for us in our nature, buried in our nature, rose in our nature, is in heaven in our nature, and forever will abide there in our nature.”
–Richard Sibbes, “Miracle of Miracles,” The Works of Richard Sibbes, Volume 7 (ed. Alexander Balloch Grosart; Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1638/2001), 7: 120.
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