Unspoken Sermons · Chapter
The Child in the Midst explained
This chapter explores the divine childlikeness of God and Jesus, arguing that childhood belongs to the divine nature and that God is perfectly devoted to his creatures.
What happens
This chapter explores the divine childlikeness of God and Jesus, arguing that childhood belongs to the divine nature and that God is perfectly devoted to his creatures. It critiques theological misrepresentations of God as a distant monarch, instead presenting God as a loving, childlike Father who finds blessedness in self-giving love. The chapter also discusses receiving a child in Christ's name as receiving God himself, and emphasizes that true faith involves coming to God even in dearth of feelings.
Themes in this chapter
Divine Childlikeness
Central theme: God and Jesus are inherently childlike; childhood belongs to the divine nature.
God as Loving Father
God is presented as a perfect, devoted Father who finds blessedness in self-giving love, not in self-glorification.
Critique of Religious Legalism
The chapter criticizes theologians who misrepresent God as a grand monarch, contrasting with the childlike God revealed by Jesus.
Characters to notice
- Jesus Christ
Described as divinely childlike, never ceasing to be a child; he is the center of the teaching with a child in his arms.
- God the Father
Portrayed as childlike, devoted, and perfectly loving; the God of little children, not a monarch on a throne.
- Job
Cited as an example of audacious faith, rushing into God's presence like a troubled but faithful child.
- Peter
Mentioned as being shocked at the truth, saying 'That be far from thee, Lord.'
- John Boanerges
Referred to as the beloved disciple with his head on Jesus' bosom, yet not fully understanding him.
- The Child
The child in Jesus' arms represents humanity's divine heart; receiving the child is receiving God.
Key passages
“Our Lord became flesh, but did not become man. He took on him the form of man: he was man already.”
Jesus assumed human form, but he was already human in essence; his incarnation did not change his nature.
Clarifies the distinction between becoming flesh and becoming man, emphasizing Christ's eternal humanity.
“He could never have been a child if he would ever have ceased to be a child, for in him the transient found nothing.”
Jesus was always childlike; he could not have been a child temporarily because his nature is eternal and unchanging.
Highlights the permanence of childlikeness in Christ's divine nature.
“The God who is ever uttering himself in the changeful profusions of nature; who takes millions of years to form a soul that shall understand him and be blessed; who never needs to be, and never is, in haste.”
God reveals himself through the diversity of nature, patiently forming souls over eons, and is never hurried.
Describes God's patient, creative, and unhurried character.
“That man is perfect in faith who can come to God in the utter dearth of his feelings and his desires, without a glow or an aspiration, with the weight of low thoughts, failures, neglects, and wandering forgetfulness, and say to him, 'Thou art my refuge, because thou art my home.'”
True faith is shown when a person approaches God even when feeling empty, burdened by sin and distraction, and still declares God as their refuge and home.
Defines perfect faith as trust in God despite emotional or spiritual barrenness.
