2. God hath given the power of the providential administration of
for the security of Christ, therefore the same things that tend to the glorifying of Christ shall tend to the advantage of the church.
2. God hath given the power of the providential administration of things to Christ, to this very end, for the good of the church. If God had constituted him head over all things to the church, can there be any doubt but that he will manage the government for that which is the principal end of his government, which he hath shed his blood for, and which is chiefly intended by God who appointed him?
(1.) All power of government is given to Christ: Mat. 11:27, 'All things are, delivered to me of my Father.' And, John 5:22, 'The Father judges no man, but hath committed all judgment to the Son,' that is, the whole government and administration of affairs. It is not to be understood of the last judgment, for then it would be a limitation of that word all; not that the Father lays aside all care of things, but as the Father discovers himself only in him, so he governs things only by him. All this power was committed to him upon his interposition after the fall of man. He was made Lord and Christ, that is, anointed by God to the government of the world; for, upon the fall, God as a rector, had overturned all. Man could not with any comfort have treated with the Father, had not Christ stepped in and pleaded for the creation, whereupon God commits all judgment to the Son, that he might temper it. It was by Christ as a covenanting mediator, that the earth was established, Isa. 49:8. He had this government anciently, and it was confirmed to him upon his death: Heb. 1:3,
'Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power.' Calvin understands the first word not only of the deity of Christ, but of the discovery the Father made of himself in and through him as a mediator. The latter words some understand both of his providential and mediatory kingdom: 'by the word of his power:' this, say some, is referred to the Father, whose image Christ is, as acting by a delegated authority and commission from his Father; others, to Christ, as, that Christ upholds or bears up all things by his own powerful word.
Calvin thinks both may be taken, but embraceth the second as being more generally received.
I may offer, whether it may not be meant also of the powerful interposition of Christ as mediator, whose interest in God was so great, that he kept up the world by his powerful intercession, when all was forfeited; and God put it, upon that interposition, into his hands, as 'heir of all things' (who having a hand with him in creation, understood both the rights of God and the duty of the creature), upon the condition of 'purging sin' by his death, which he did, and thereupon went to heaven to take possession of the government, at the right hand of God; 'sat down,' took his seat at the right hand of the Majesty on high, as due to him by covenant and articles agreed on between them. I know nothing at present against such an interpretation of the words; but I will not contend about it. All this honour was confirmed unto him upon his death. For having performed the condition requisite on his part, God deputes him, and entrusts him with the government of things, that he might order all things so as to see the full travail of his soul.
(2.) All this power was intended by God for this end, the good of the church. As God appointed Christ a priest for his church to sacrifice for them, a prophet to teach them, so the other office of king is conferred upon him for the same end, the advantage of the church.
God acquaints us of this end, aimed at him, in the promise of the government to him: Jer. 33:15, 16, 'In those days, and at that time, will I cause the branch of righteousness to grow up to David; and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land.' What is the end? 'In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely.' He should execute judgment, that is, administer the government for the salvation of Judah, and security of Jerusalem. It was his office both to build the temple, and to bear the glory, and to rule upon his throne; to be a priest upon his throne, to rule as king and priest: Zech. 6:12, 13, 'He shall build the temple of the Lord, even he shall build the temple of the Lord.' The erecting a church is the sole work of Christ by God's appointment; and he was to bear up the
glory of it. He should rule to this end, 'for the counsel of peace shall be between them both.' If by both be meant, the Lord, and the man whose name is the Branch, it then chiefly aims at our reconciliation, as wrought by covenant between them. If by both be meant the two offices of king and priest, and that the counsel of peace be between them, it will extend to all the blessings of the church, to the good and glory of the church, which is the fruit of his kingly, as well as the first reconciliation was the fruit of his priestly, office. By peace, in Scripture, is meant the confluence of all blessings; so that the intent of God in bestowing those offices upon Christ, and so great a rule, was for the good and advantage of that church or temple, which he appointed him only to build. And in Isa. 11:9, where the prophecy of the government of Christ is, the end is expressed to be, that 'none should hurt or destroy in all his holy mountain.' And certainly, since
God set him at his right hand, and confirmed this power unto him, after he had purged our sins, it was certainly out of the high value
God had for him, and therefore must be the intent of God, that he should govern all things in reference to the design of that death, and for the good of those whose sins he had by himself purged. For the possessing this government was the very end why Christ died and rose again: Rom. 14:9, 'For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of dead and living.' If this were Christ's end in dying and rising, it was his Father's end too, who appointed him to death, and raised him by his mighty power. And since he was 'delivered for our offences, and rose again for our justification,' Rom. 4:25, the government he is invested with, being
Lord of the dead and of the living, must be for the sakes of those for whom he was delivered, and for whom he rose. His regal power, which was one end of his death, cannot cross the other main end, the constituting a church, and carrying on the good of them that believe.
The government, being in the hands not of God as creator, but in and through the hands of a mediator, and that mediator which both died and rose again peculiarly for them, therefore it cannot in the least be for their hurt, but advantage. The whole management of Christ's kingly office in relation to the church, is prescribed unto Christ by God. God reveals to him what shall be done in the world, what acts
he shall perform for the church, and gives him a history of all that was to be done upon the stage, together with an order to communicate it unto his servants: Rev. 1:1, 'The Revelation of Jesus
Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants' (to be communicated to the whole church), 'things that must shortly come to pass.' Whether this revelation was made to the human nature of Christ at his incarnation, as Tirinus thinks, or rather upon his ascension, is not material. The whole scheme of what was to be done in the world is revealed here by God to Christ; and you find all the motions in the world relating to the church, and the end of all is the good of the heavenly Jerusalem.
(3.) All power thus given, and intended for this end, is actually administered by Christ for this end. Christ, as the head of the church, doth like a natural head. It never sees, nor hears, nor exerciseth any act of sense only for itself, but for the good of the whole body. The eye watches for the body, the tongue speaks for it, the understanding contrives for it; every part of the head is active for the whole body.
Now Christ as head is more bound to act for the church militant than for the church triumphant, because the greatest part of his work for the church triumphant, viz., the bringing them to heaven, is already performed. And they are above the reach of all things in the world, and all the actions and motions in the world cannot touch or disorder them. But the command of God concerning the other part behind is not yet performed, and even they are the members of Christ as well as those in heaven. The apostle, Col. 1:16–18, seems to refer both
Christ's creation, and the preservation of things, to this title of headship: 'All things were created by him, and for him, and by him all things consist, and he is the head of the body the church;' and therefore the conservation and government of all things shall be subservient to the church, which is the body of this governing head.
The chief seat of Christ's sovereignty is the church: Ps. 2:6, 'Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Sion;' and he stands upon mount
Sion, Rev. 14:1. The church is the proper seat and metropolis of his empire, the royal chamber of this great king. All the conquests of princes redound to the advantage of that place where they fix their
residence. He is king of the world, but for the sake of Sion. Christ did manage this charge anciently for his people; when Joshua had passed over Jordan, and first entered upon the conquest of Canaan, he sees a man over against him with a sword drawn in his hand:
Josh. 5:13, 14, 'And Joshua said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries? And he said, Nay; but as captain of the hosts of the Lord am I now come.' This was Christ, that came armed for his people, according to his charge, as their captain and general. It was not an angel, because Joshua worshipped him, ver. 14. An angel did not use to receive any worship from men; and he accepts the worship, and commands him to loose his shoe from his foot, for the place whereon he stood was holy, ver. 15. And the same person, Josh. 6:2, is called
Jehovah; and there he gives him orders how he should manage his war. Christ came here to direct his people in their concerns; he employs his wisdom for his church, as well as his other excellencies.
He is called a Counsellor, Isa. 9:5: it is one of the great letters in his name; and this, as the rest there mentioned, hath a relation to the church. 'For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given.' And the first use he makes of his power, after the confirmation of it to us, upon his resurrection, is for the church: Mat. 28:18, 'All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth; all authoritative power over angels, and the affairs of the world; 'Go you therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them,' &c.; 'and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.' He commands the apostles to gather a church among all nations; and doth, by virtue of this authority committed to him, promise his presence with them, in all such services they should do to this end, even to the end of the world. He promises his Spirit, and his providential presence; as his power should endure to the end of the world, so the exercise of it for this end should run parallel with the continuance of it. There should be no alteration or change in this great end of his, as long as the world lasts. How can Christ be with them, and that to the end of the world, if all the parts of his providential government were not ordered to serve this end, the good of the church? For the church is 'the fulness of him that fills all in all,' Eph. 1:23, that fills all in all places, all in all actions and motions, for the good of his church, which is his body.