Chapter 8 (continued, part 9)
(3.) Thirdly, As the attribute of God's omniscience is ascribed to Christ, so the attribute of God's OMNIPRESENCE is ascribed to Christ; Mat. 18:20, "Where two or three are gathered together in my name—there am I in the midst of them;" and chapter 28:29, "I am with you always, even to the end of the world." He is not contained in any place—who was before there was any place, and did create all places by his own power. Proverbs 8:22, and John 1:1, 3.
While Christ was on earth in respect of his bodily presence, he was in the bosom of his Father, which must be understood of his divine nature and person. He did come down from heaven, and yet remained in heaven. [John 1:18, 3:13; Psalm 139:7-11.] Christ is universally present, he is present at all times and all places, and among all people; he is universally everywhere, inclusively nowhere. Diana's temple was burnt down when she was busy at Alexander's birth, and could not be at two places together
—but Christ is present both in paradise and in the wilderness at the same time. Where he is not by his gracious influence, there he is by his vindictive power. Empedocles could say that God is a circle, whose center is everywhere, whose circumference is nowhere. The poor blind heathens could say that God is the soul of the world; and thus, as the soul is, so is he, that his eye is in every corner, etc. To which purpose they so portrayed their goddess Minerva, that whichever way one cast his eye, she always beheld him. But,
(4.) Fourthly, As the attribute of God's omnipresence is ascribed to Christ, so the attribute of God's OMNIPOTENCY is ascribed to Christ, and this speaks out the Godhead of Christ, "All power is given unto me, in heaven and in earth," Mat, 28:18; John 5:19. "Whatever things the Father does, these also does the Son," Phil. 3:21. He is called by a metonymy "the power of God," 1 Cor. 1:24. "He is the Almighty," Rev. 1:8. "He made all things," John 1:3. "He upholds all things," Heb. 1:3. "He shall change our vile body," says the apostle, "that it may be like unto his glorious body, according to the mighty working whereby he is able to subdue all things to himself," Phil. 3:21.
Now from what has been said we may thus argue, He to whom the incommunicable properties of the most high God are attributed, he is the most high God. The incommunicable properties of the most high God are attributed to Christ, consequently, Christ is the most high God. [See Col. 1:16-17, Psalm 102:26, compared with Heb. 8, 10, John 1:10.] But,
5. Fifthly, Christ's eternal deity, co-equality, and con-substantiality with the Father, may be demonstrated from his DIVINE WORKS. The same works which are peculiar to God, are ascribed to Christ. Such proper and peculiar, such divine and supernatural works as none but God can perform—Christ did perform. As,
[1.] Election. The elect are called his elect, Mat. 24:31; John 13:18. "I know whom I have chosen," John 15:16. "I have chosen you, and ordained you, that you should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain;" verse 19, "But I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hates you."
[2.] Redemption. O sirs, none but the great God could save us from wrath to come, none but God blessed forever could deliver us from the curse of the law, the dominion of sin, the damnatory power of sin, the rule of Satan, and the flames of hell. [1 Thes. 1:10; Gal. 3:13; Romans 6:14, and 8:1; Luke 1:68-80.] Ah, friends, these enemies were too potent, strong, and mighty for any mere creature, yes, for all mere creatures, to conquer and overcome. None but the most high God could everlastingly secure us against such high enemies.
[3.] Remission of sins. Mat. 9:6, "The Son of man has power to forgive sins." Christ here positively proves that he had power on earth to forgive sins, because miraculously, by a word of his mouth, he causes the palsy man to walk, so that he arose and departed to his house immediately. Christ forgives sin authoritatively. Preachers forgive only declaratively, John. 20:23, as Nathan to David, "The Lord has put away your iniquity," 2 Sam. 12:7. I have read of a man who could move mountains—but none but the man Christ Jesus could ever remit sin. All the persons in the Trinity forgive sins—yet not in the same manner. The Father bestows forgiveness, the Son merits forgiveness, and the Holy Spirit seals up forgiveness, and applies forgiveness.
[4.] The bestowing of eternal life. John 10:28, "My sheep hear my voice, and I give unto them eternal life." Christ is the prince and principle of life, and therefore all out of him are dead while they live, Col. 3:3, 4. Eternal life is too great a gift for any to give, but a God.
[5.] Creation. John 1:3, "All things are made by him;" and verse 10, "The world was made by him." Col. 1:16, "By him were all things created which are in heaven, and which are in the earth, visible and invisible." Now the apostle tells you "he who built all things is God;" Christ built all things, consequently, Christ is God. The argument lies fair and undeniable. The all things that were created by Christ, Paul reduces to two heads—visible and invisible; but Zanchius adds a third branch to this distinction, and makes it more plain by saying that all things that were made are either visible or invisible, or mixed. Visible, as the stars and fowls and clouds of heaven, the fish in the sea, and beasts upon the earth; invisible things, as the angels, they also were made; then there is a third sort of creatures which are of a mixed nature, partly visible in regard of
their bodies, and partly invisible in regard of their souls, and those are men.
Eph. 2:9, "Who created all things by Jesus Christ." Heb. 1:2, "He has, in these last days, spoken to us by his Son, whom he has appointed heir of all things; by whom also he made the worlds." This may seem somewhat difficult, because he speaks of worlds, whereas we acknowledge but one— but this seeming difficulty you may easily get over if you please but to consider the people to whom he writes, which were Hebrews, whose custom it was to style God Rabboni, the Lord of the worlds. They were accustomed to speak of three worlds—the lower world, the higher world, and the middle world. The lower world contains the elements, earth and water and air and fire; the higher world that contains the heaven of the blessed; and the middle world that contains the starry heaven. They now being acquainted with this language, and the apostle writing to them, he says that God by Christ made the worlds—those worlds which they were accustomed to speak so frequently of. And whereas one scruple might arise from that expression in the Ephesians, "God created all things 'by' Jesus Christ," and this to the Hebrews, "by whom he made the worlds," as if Christ were only an instrument in the creation and not the principal efficient; therefore another place in this chapter will clear it, which speaks of Christ as the principal efficient Creator of all things. Heb. 1, compare the 8th and 10th verses together, "To the Son he says, Your throne, O God, is forever and ever;" then Christ is God. Then, "You, Lord," verse 10, "have laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of your hands." Namely "your," that is, the Son, which he spoke of before. Christ is the principal efficient of the creation; and in this sense it is said, "By him were all things made," not as by an instrument—but as by the chief efficient.
[6.] The preservation and sustentation of all things. Col. 1:17, "By him all things are held together." They would soon fall asunder, had not Christ undertaken to uphold the shattered condition thereof by the word of his power. All creatures which are made, are preserved by him in being, life, and motion. Heb. 1:3, "He upholds all things by the word of his power." Both in respect of being, excellencies, and operations, sin had hurled confusion over the world, which would have fallen about Adam's
ears—had not Christ undertaken to uphold the shattered earth. "He keeps the world together," says one, "as the hoops do the barrel." Christ bears up all things, continuing to the several creatures their being, ordering and governing them, and this he does by the word of his power. By this word he made the world. "He spoke, and it was done." And by this word he governs the world—by his own mighty word, the word of his power. Both these are divine actions, and being ascribed unto Christ, evidence him to be no less than God.
Now from what has been said we may thus argue, he to whom those actions are ascribed, which are proper to the most high God—he is the most high God—but such actions or works are ascribed to Christ, consequently, he is the most high God. But,
6. Sixthly, Christ's eternal deity may be demonstrated from that divine HONOR and WORSHIP that is due to him; and by angels and saints given unto him. The apostle shows, Gal. 4:8, that pious worship ought to be performed to none but to him who is God by nature; and that they are ignorant of the true God who worship those who are no gods by nature; and therefore, if Christ were not God by nature, and consubstantial with the Father, we ought not to perform worship to him. [This is a clear and full evidence that Jesus Christ is, and must be more than mere man, or yet a divine man.] Divine worship is due to the second person of this coessential Trinity—to Jesus Christ our Lord and God. There is but one immediate, formal, proper, adequate, and fundamental reason of divine worship or adorability, as the schools speak, and that is the sovereign, supreme, singular majesty, independent and infinite excellency of the eternal Godhead; for by divine worship we do acknowledge and declare the infinite majesty, truth, wisdom, goodness, and glory of our blessed God. We do not esteem anything worthy of divine honor and worship which has but a finite and created glory, because divine honor is proper and peculiar to the only true God, who will not give his glory to any other who is not God. God alone is the adequate object of divine faith, hope, love, and worship, because these graces are all exercised, and this worship performed, in acknowledgment of his infinite perfection and independent excellency; and therefore no such worship can be due to any creature or thing below God.
There is not one kind of divine honor due to the Father and another to the Son, nor one degree of honor due to the Father and another to the Son; for there can be no degrees imaginable in one and the same excellency, which is single because infinite; and what is infinite does excel and transcend all degrees and bounds. And if there are no degrees in the ground and adequate reason of divine worship, there can be no reason or ground of a difference of degrees in the worship itself. The Father and the Son are one, John 10:30—one in power, excellency, nature—one God, and therefore to be honored with the same worship, "that all men should honor the Son even as they honor the Father," John 5:23.
Every tongue must confess that Jesus Christ, who is man, is God also, and therefore equal to his Father, Phil. 2:6, 11-12; and it can be no robbery, no derogation to the Father's honor, for us to give equal honor to him and his co-equal Son, who subsists in the form of God, in the nature of God. Thus you see the divine nature, the infinite excellency of Jesus Christ, is an undeniable ground of this co-equal honor; and therefore the worship due to Christ as God, the same God with his Father, is the very same worship, both for kind and degree, which is due to the Father. But, for the further and clearer opening of this, consider,
(1.) First, that all INWARD worship is due to Christ. As,
[1.] Believing on him. Faith is a worship which belongs only to God, enjoined in the first commandment, and against trusting in man there is a curse denounced, Jer. 17:5-6. But Christ commands us to believe in him, John 14:1, "You believe in God, believe also in me." John 3:16, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish—but have everlasting life." Verse 36, "He who believes in the Son has everlasting life, and he who believes not the Son, shall not see life—but the wrath of God abides on him." John 6:47, "Truly, truly, I say unto you, he who believes on me has everlasting life." The same respect that Christians give unto God the Father, they must also give unto the Son, believing on him; which is an honor due only to God. Other creatures, men and angels, may be believed—but not believed on, rested on. This were to make them gods; this were no less than idolatry.
[2.] Secondly, Loving of Jesus Christ with all the heart, commanded above the love, nay, even to the hatred, of father, mother, wife, children, yes, and our own lives! Luke 14:26. He who is not disposed, where these loves are incompatible, to hate father and all other relations, for the love of Christ, cannot belong to Christ. I ought dearly and tenderly to love father and mother—the law of God and nature requiring it of me—but to prefer dear Jesus, who is God blessed forever, before all, and above all, as Paul and the primitive Christians and martyrs have done before me. "Your house, home, and goods, your life, and all that ever you have," says that martyr, "God has given you as love-tokens, to admonish you of his love, to win your love to him again." Now will he try your love, whether you set more by him or by his tokens, etc. When relations or life stand in competition with Christ and his gospel—they are to be abandoned, hated, etc. But,
(2.) Secondly, All OUTWARD worship is due to Christ. As,
[1.] First, Dedication in baptism is in his name. Mat. 28:19, "Baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit:" into the name, by that rite initiating them, and receiving of them into the profession of the service of one God in three persons, and of depending on Christ alone for salvation. Baptizing them into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, is the consecrating of them unto the sincere service of the sacred Trinity.
[2.] Secondly, Divine invocation is given to Jesus Christ. In Acts 7:59, Stephen calls upon the Lord Jesus to receive his spirit. 1 Cor. 1:2, "All who in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord." 1 Thes. 3:11, "Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus clear the way for us to come to you." Eph. 1:2, "Grace be to you, and peace from God our Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ." It is the saints' character that they are such as call on the Lord Jesus, Acts 2:21; Acts 9:14. [Ponder upon these scriptures: 2 Cor. 12:8, 9; 1 Thes. 1:1; 2 Thes. 1:1-2; 2 Cor. 1:2.] But,
[3.] Thirdly, Praises are offered to our Lord Jesus Christ: Rev. 5:9, "You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and
language and people and nation." Verse 11-12, "Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. In a loud voice they sang: "Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!" [This is taken out of Daniel, chapter 7:10, whereby the glory and power of God and Christ is held forth, they being attended with innumerable millions of angels, which stood before the fiery throne of God, etc.] Verses 13-14, "Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing: 'To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, forever and ever!' The four living creatures said, 'Amen!' and the elders fell down and worshiped." Here you have a universal confession of Christ's divine nature and power. All the creatures, both reasonable and unreasonable, do in some sort set forth the praises of Christ, because in some sort they serve to illustrate and set forth his glory. Here you see that Christ is adored with pious worship by all creatures, which does evidently prove that he is God. Since all the creatures worship him with pious worship, we may safely and boldly conclude upon his deity. Here are three parties that bear a part in this new song: 1. The redeemed of the Lord; and they sing in the last part of the 8th verse, and in the 9th and 10th verses. Then, 2, the angels follow, verses 11th and 12th. In the third place, all creatures are brought in, joining in this new song, verse 13. That noble company of the church triumphant and church militant, sounding out the praises of the Lamb, may sufficiently satisfy us concerning the divinity of the Lamb. But,
[4.] Fourthly, Divine adoration is also given to him: Mat. 8:2, "A leper worshiped him." Mark says he kneeled down, and Luke says he fell upon his face, Mark 1:40; Luke 5:12. He showed reverence in his gesture. "Lord, if you will, you can make me clean." [So that he touched Christ's feet, as the word signifies; not kneeled, as the word is translated, Mark 1:40. This leper came to know Christ was God, 1. By inspiration; 2. By the miracles which Christ did.] He acknowledged a divine power in Christ, in that he says he could make him clean if he would. This poor leper lay at Christ's feet, imploring and beseeching him, as a dog at his master's feet, as Zanchy renders the word, which shows that this leper looked upon
Christ as more than a prophet or a holy man; and that believing he was God, and so able to heal him if he would, he gave him pious worship. He does not say to Christ, "Lord, if you will pray to God, or to your Father for me, I shall be whole." He says, "Lord, if you will, I shall be whole." He acknowledges the leprosy curable by Christ, which he and all men knew was incurable by others, which was a plain argument of his faith; for leprosy, physicians acknowledge incurable.
As Avicenna observes on Mat. 2:11, "Though the wise men of the east, who saw Herod in all his royalty and glory, worshiped him not—yet they fell down before Christ." No doubt but that by divine instinct they knew the divinity of Christ, hence they worshiped him, not only with civil worship, as one born king of the Jews—but with divine worship; which was, it is like, the outward gesture of reverence, and kneeling, and falling down, for so the Greek words signify. Is it probable that they would worship a young babe, that by reason of his infancy understands nothing, except they did believe some divine thing to be in him? and therefore not the childhood—but the divinity in the child, was worshiped by them, (Chrysostom.) Certainly if Christ had been no more than a natural child, they would never have undertaken so long, so tedious, and so perilous a journey to have found him out; principally, considering, as some conceive, they themselves were little inferior to the kings of the Jews. It is uncertain what these wise men, who were Gentiles, knew particularly concerning the mystery of the Messiah—but certainly they knew that he was something more than a man, by the internal revelation of the Spirit of God, who by faith taught them to believe that he was a king though in a cottage, and a God though in a cradle; and therefore as unto a God they fell down and worshiped him, etc. But,
[5.] Fifthly, When Jesus Christ was declared to the world, God commanded even the most glorious angels to worship him, as his natural and co-essential Son, who was begotten from the days of eternity, in the unity of the Godhead; for, when he brought in his first-begotten and onlybegotten Son into the world, he said, "And let all the angels of God worship him," Heb. 1:6—the glorious angels who refuse divine honor to be given to themselves: "No, don't worship me!" says the angel to John, when John fell at his feet to worship him, "I am your fellow-servant," etc.,
Rev. 19:10, and 22:9—yet they give, and must give, divine honor unto Christ, Phil. 2:9. The manhood of itself could not be thus adored, because it is a creature—but as it is received into unity of person with the Deity, and has a partner agency therewith, according to its measure in the work of redemption and mediation. All the honor due to Christ, according to his divine nature, was due from all eternity; and there is no divine honor due to him from and by reason of his human nature, or any perfection which does truly and properly belong to Christ as man. He who was born of Mary, is to be adored with divine worship—but not because he was born of Mary—but because he is God, the co-essential and eternal Son of God. From what has been said we may thus argue—He to whom pious worship is truly exhibited, is the most high God. But pious worship is truly exhibited unto Christ, consequently, Christ is the most high God. But,
7. Seventhly, Christ's eternal deity may be demonstrated from Christ's oneness with the Father, and from that claim that Jesus Christ does lay to all that belongs to the Father, as God. [Never did any mere creature challenge to himself the honor due to God—but miscarried and were confounded. Witness the angels that God cast out of heaven, 2 Pet. 2:4; and Adam whom he cast out of paradise, Gen. 3:22-24; and Herod, whom the angel smote with a fatal blow, Acts 12:23; and those several Popes that we read of in ecclesiastical histories; and therefore had Jesus Christ been but a mere creature, divine justice would have confounded him for making himself a God.] Now, certainly, if Jesus Christ were not very God, he would never have laid claim to all that is the Father's, as God.
John 16:15, "All things that the Father has," as God, are mine. "The Father has an eternal godhead, and that is mine. The Father has infinite power and wisdom, and that is mine. The Father has infinite majesty and glory, and that is mine. The Father has infinite happiness and blessedness in himself, and that is mine," says Christ. The words are very emphatic, having in them a double universality. [1.] "All things:" there is one note of universality; [2.] "Whatever:" there is another note of universality. Well, says Christ, there is nothing in the Father, as God—but is mine. "All that the Father has is mine;" the Father is God, and I am God; the Father is life, and I am life; for whatever the Father has is mine.
John 10:30, "I and my Father are one;" we are one eternal God, we are one in consent, will, essence, nature, power, dominion, glory, etc. "I and my Father are one;" two persons—but one God. He speaks this as he is God, one in substance, being, and deity, etc. As God, he says, "I and my Father are one;" but, in respect of the form of a servant, his assumed humanity, he says, John 14:28, "My Father is greater than I." John 10:37, "If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not." Verse 38, "But if I do, though you believe not me, believe the works," etc. The argument of itself is plain. No man can of himself, and by his own power, do divine works, unless he is truly God. I do divine works by my own power, yes, "I do the works of my Father;" not only the like and equal—but the same with the Father. Therefore I am truly God; neither deserve I to be called a blasphemer, because I said I was one with the Father.
1 John 5:7, "And these three are one," one in nature and essence, one in power and will, and one in the act of producing all such actions, as without themselves any of them is said to perform. Look, as three lamps are lighted in one room, albeit the lamps be different—yet the lights cannot be severed; so in the godhead, as there is a distinction of persons, so a simplicity of nature. From the scriptures last cited we may safely and confidently conclude that Christ has the same divine nature and godhead with the Father, that they both have the same divine and essential titles and attributes, and perform the same inward operations in reference to all creatures whatever.
To make it yet more plain, compare John 17:10 with John 16:15. "All things that the Father has are mine," John 16:15; "Father, all mine are yours, and yours are mine," John 17:10. That is, whatever belongs to the Father, as God, belongs to Christ; for we speak not of personal but essential properties. Christ does lay claim to all that is natural, to all that belongs to the Father, as God, not to anything which belongs to him as the Father, as the first person of the blessed Trinity. "All things that the Father has are mine." This he speaks in the person of the mediator, "Because of his fullness we all receive grace for grace," John 1:16; and herein shows the unity of essence in the holy Trinity, and community of power, wisdom, sanctity, truth, eternity, glory, majesty. Such is the strict union of the persons of the blessed Trinity, that there is among them a
perfect communion in all things, for "all things that the Father has are mine." And let thus much suffice for the proof of the godhead of Christ.
Concerning the MANHOOD of Christ, let me say, that as he is very God, so he is very man. 1 Tim. 2:5, "the man Christ Jesus." Christ is true man—but not mere man. The word is not to be taken exclusively, as denying the divine nature. Christ is both God and man; sometimes denominated from the one nature, and sometimes from the other; sometimes called God, and sometimes man—yet so as he is truly both, and in that respect fitly said to be a mediator between God and men, having an interest in and participating of both natures. This title, "the Son of man," is given to Christ in the New Testament eighty-eight times, the design being not only to express Christ's humanity, who was truly man, in all things like unto us, sin only excepted; nor only to intimate his humility, by calling himself so often by this humble name—but also to tell us to what a high honor God has raised our nature in him, and to confute their imaginations who denied him to be very man, flesh, blood, and bones, as we truly are; and who held, that whatever he was, and whatever he did, and whatever he suffered, was only seeming and in appearance, and not real; and to lead us to that original promise, the first that was made to mankind, "The seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent's head," Gen. 3:15, so that he might intimate, that he himself was the party meant, intended, and foretold of by all the prophets, who was to come into the world, to all nations in the world.
Jews and Gentiles originally alike descended of the woman, who both had a like interest in the woman and her seed, though the Jews did and might challenge greater propriety in the seed of Abraham than the Gentiles could, Romans 3:1-2. But they having been a long time, as it were, God's favorites, a selected people, a chosen nation, did wholly appropriate the Messiah to themselves, and would endure no co-partners, Exod. 19:6; 1 Pet. 2:9; nor that any should have any right, title, or interest in him but themselves; and therefore they would never talk otherwise than of the Messiah, the King of Israel, the son of David, never naming him once, as the light of the Gentiles, the expectation of the Gentiles, the hope and desire of the eternal hills, the hope of all the ends of the earth, the seed of
the woman, the Son of man, as descending from Eve, extracted from Adam, and allied unto all mankind. [Isaiah 42:6; Hab. 3:6; Psalm 65:5; Gen. 3:15; Luke 3:23, to the end.]
And it is observable that the evangelist Luke, at the story of Christ's baptism, when he was to be installed into his ministry, and had that glorious testimony from heaven, derives his pedigree up to the first Adam, the better to draw all men's eyes to that first promise concerning the seed of the woman, and to cause them to own him for that seed there promised, and for that effect that is there mentioned of dissolving the works of Satan. And as that evangelist gives that hint when he is now entering this quarrel with Satan, even in the entrance of his ministry, so does he very frequently and commonly by this very phrase give the same intimation for the same purpose. No sooner had Nathanael proclaimed him the Son of God in John 1:49, "Nathanael answered, and said unto him, Rabbi, you are the Son of God, you are the King of Israel," but he instantly titles himself the Son of man, verse 51; not only to show his humanity, for that Nathanael was assured of by the words of Philip, who calls him Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph, verse 45—but also to draw the thoughts of the hearers to the first promise, and to work them to look for a full recovery of all that by the second Adam which was lost in the first. Though the gates of heaven were shut against the first Adam by reason of his fall—yet were they open to the second Adam: verse 51, "And he said unto him, Truly, truly, I say unto you"—this double asseveration, "Truly, truly," puts the matter beyond all doubt and controversy —"hereafter you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man,"—the Jacob's ladder, the bridge that joins heaven and earth together—as Gregory has it. This 51st verse does greatly illustrate Christ's glory, and further confirm believers' faith, that Christ is Lord of angels even in his state of humiliation, and has them ready at his call, as he or his people shall need their service, to move from earth to heaven, and from heaven to earth. This title, "the Son of man," shows that the Son of God was also the Son of man; and that he delighted to be so, and therefore does so often take this title to himself, "the Son of man."
Now concerning the manhood of Christ, the prophet plainly speaks:
Isaiah 9:6, "Unto us a child is born, and unto us a son was given." Parvulus, a child, that notes his humanity; Filius, a Son, that notes his deity. Parvulus, a child, even man of the substance of his mother, born in the world, Mat. 1:25; Filius, a Son, even God of the substance of his Father, begotten before the world, Proverbs 8:22 to the end. Parvulus, a child: behold his humility, "she brought forth her first-born son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger," Luke 2:7; Filius, a Son: behold his dignity; when he brings his first-begotten Son into the world, he says, "And let all the angels of God worship him," Heb. 1:6.
To prove that he was man, it is enough to say, that he was born, he lived, he died. God became man by a wonderful, unspeakable, and inconceivable union. Behold God is offended by man's affecting and coveting his wisdom and his glory—for that was the devil's temptation to our first parents, "You shall be as gods," Gen. 3:5. And man is redeemed by God's assuming and taking his frailty and his infirmity. Man would be as God, and so offended him; and therefore God becomes man, and so redeems him. Christ, as man, came of the race of kings. As man he shall judge the world, Acts 17:31. As man, he was wonderfully born of a virgin, Mat. 1:23; Isaiah 7:14; called therefore by a peculiar name, Shiloh, intimating that Christ is he who has brought us peace and tranquility; and that he might be our peacemaker, it was necessary that he should be Shiloh, born of the sanctified seed of a woman without the seed of man.
The apostle expounds the name where he says of Christ, that he was "made of a woman," not of a man and woman both—but of a woman alone without a man, Gal. 4:4. Christ as man was foretold of by the prophets, and by sundry types. Christ as man was attended upon at his birth by holy angels, and a peculiar star was created for him, Luke 2:1314; Mat. 2:1-2. Christ as man was our sacrifice and expiation; he was the redemption price, such as we could never have paid—but must have remained, and even rotted in the prison of hell forever. Christ as man was conceived of the Holy Spirit, Mat. 1:18. Christ as man is ascended into heaven, Acts 1:9-10. Christ as man sits at the right hand of God, Col. 3:1.
Now what do all these things import—but that Jesus Christ is a very precious and most excellent person, and that even according to his
manhood? Christ had the true properties, affections, and actions of man. He was conceived, born, circumcised; he did hunger, thirst; he was clothed; he did eat, drink, sleep, hear, see, touch, speak, sigh, groan, weep, and grow in wisdom and stature, etc., as all the four evangelists do abundantly testify. But because this is a point of grand importance, especially in these days, wherein there are risen up so many deceivers in the midst of us, it may not be amiss to consider of these following particulars—
(1.) First, Of these special scriptures that speak out the certainty and verity of Christ's body. John 1:14, "And the Word was made flesh;" 1 Tim. 3:16, "Without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness, God manifested in the flesh." Christ is one and the same, begotten of the Father before time, the Son of God without mother; and born of the Virgin in time, the Son of man without father; the natural and consubstantial son of both; and, oh! what a great mystery is this! Heb. 2:14, 16, "Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same, that through death he might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil. For truly he took not on him the nature of angels—but he took on him the seed of Abraham." According to the Greek, He assumed, caught, laid hold on, as the angels did on Lot, Gen. 19:16; or as Christ did on Peter, Mat 14:31; or as men use to do upon a thing they are glad they have got, and are loath to let go again.
O sirs! this is a main pillar of our comfort—that Christ took our flesh, for if he had not taken our flesh, we could never have been saved by him!
Romans 1:3, "Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was made of the seed of David according to the flesh." Rom, 9:5, "Whose are the fathers, and of whom, as concerning the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen." This is a greater honor to all mankind, than if the greatest king in the world should marry into some poor family of his subjects. Christ's flesh was flesh indeed; as true, real, proper, very flesh as that which any of us carry about with us.
Col. 1:22, "In the body of his flesh through death;" Heb. 10:5, "Therefore when he comes into the world he says, Sacrifice and offering you would
not—but a body have you prepared me." It is a metaphor taken from mechanics, who skillfully fit one part of their work to another, and so finish the whole. God fitted his Son's body to be joined with the deity, and to be an expiatory sacrifice for sin. 1 Pet. 2:24, "Who his own self bore our sins in his own body on the tree," etc. The word himself, has a great emphasis, and therefore that evangelical prophet Isaiah mentions it no less than five times in Isaiah 53:4-5, 7, 11-12. Christ had none to help or uphold him under the heavy burden of our sins and his Father's wrath, Isaiah 63:3. It is most certain, that Christ accomplished the work of man's redemption alone. He who did bear our sins, that is, the punishments that were due to our sins, in his own body on the tree; he did assume flesh, cast into the very mold and form of our bodies, having the same different parts, members, lineaments, the same proportion which they have. Christ's body was no specter or ghost, as if it had no being but what was in appearance and from imagination—as the Marcionites, Manichees, and other heretics of old affirmed, and as some men of corrupt minds do assert in our days. His body was as real, as solid a body as ever any was.
And therefore the apostle calls it a body of flesh, Col. 1:22—a body, to show the organization of it; and a body of flesh, to show the reality of it, in opposition to all aerial and imaginary bodies. Christ's body had all the essential properties of a true body—as all the evangelists do abundantly witness. Take a few instances for all: Luke 24:39, "Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself, handle me and see, for a spirit has not flesh and bones as you see me have." Christ here admits of the testimony of their own senses to assure those who it was no vision or ghost—but a true and real body risen from the dead, which they now saw. Certainly whatever is essential to a true glorified body, that is yet in Christ's body.
Those stamps of dishonor which the Jews had set upon Christ by wicked hands—those scars he retained after his resurrection, partly for the confirmation of his apostles, and partly to work us to a willingness and resoluteness to suffer for him when we are called to it.
1 John 1:1, "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the word of life." He alludes to the sermons which he and the other apostles heard from Christ's own mouth, and also to the
glorious testimony which the Father gave once and again from heaven to Christ. He alludes also to the miracles that were wrought by Christ, and to that sight that they had of his glory in the mount, and to his resurrection and visible ascension into the highest heaven, Mat. 17, Acts 1. He alludes to the familiar conversation which the apostles had with Christ for about three years, and also to that touching, when after the resurrection Christ offered himself to the apostles who believed not in him, to touch him, Luke 24. The truth of these things were confirmed to them by three senses—hearing, seeing, handling; the latter still surer than the former; and this proves Christ to be a true man, as his being from the beginning sets out his deity.
Christ had also those natural affections, passions, infirmities, which are proper to a body—such as hunger. Mat. 4:2, "When he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he afterwards became hungry." All Christ's actions are for our instruction, not all for our imitation. Matthew expressly makes mention of nights, lest it should be thought to be such a fast as that of the Jews, who fasted in the day, and did eat at the evening and in the night, (Chemnitius.) He would not extend his fast above the term of Moses and Elijah, lest he should have seemed to have appeared only, and not to have been, a true man. He was hungry, not because his fasting wrought upon him—but because God left man to his own nature, (Hilary.) It seems Christ felt no hunger until the forty days and forty nights were expired—but was kept by the power of the Deity, as the three Hebrew children, or rather champions, from feeling the heat of the fire, Dan. 3:27. Christ fasted forty days and forty nights, and not longer, lest he might be thought not to have a true human body; for Moses and Elijah had fasted thus long before—but never did any man fast longer. When Christ began to be hungry the tempter came to him, not when he was fasting. The devil is cunning, and will take all the advantage he can upon us. During the forty days and forty nights the devil stood doubtful, and dared not assault the Lord Jesus, partly because of that voice he heard from heaven, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased," Mat. 3:17, and partly because his forty days and forty nights' fast did portend some great thing—but now, seeing Christ to be hungry, he impudently assaults him. Christ was not hungry all the forty days—but after, he was hungry, to show he was man.
Some think that Christ by his hunger did objectively allure Satan to tempt him, so that he might overcome him, as soldiers sometimes feign a running away, that they may the better allure their enemies closely to pursue them, so that they may cut them off, either by an ambush or by a facing about: so the devil tempted Christ as man, not knowing him to be God; or if he did know him to be God, Christ did as it were encourage his cowardly enemy, who dared not set upon him as God, showing himself to be man.
And as Christ was hungry, so Christ was thirsty. John 4:7, "There came a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus said unto her, Give me drink." Here you see that he who is rich and Lord of all—became poor for us, that he might make us rich, 2 Cor. 8:9; and he who gives to all the creatures their food in due season, Pa. 104:27, he begs water of a poor woman to refresh himself in his weariness and thirst. John 19:28, "Jesus said, I thirst." Bleeding breeds thirsting.
Sleeping. Mat. 8:24, he was asleep, to show the truth of the human nature, and the weakness of his disciples' faith. Christ was in a fast and dead sleep, for so much the Greek word signifies: his senses were well and fast bound, as if he had no operation of life, and therefore the disciples are said to raise him, as it were from the dead. The same Greek word is used in many places where mention is made of the resurrection, as you may see by comparing these scriptures together. [John 2:19; Mat. 27:52; 1 Cor. 15:12.]
He was asleep, [1.] By reason of his labor in preaching and journey he slept; [2.] To show forth the truth of his human nature. Some think the devil stirred up the storm, hoping thereby to drown Christ and his disciples, as he had destroyed Job's children in a tempest before, Job 1:18-19. But though Satan had the malice and will enough to do it—yet he had not the power; yes, though Christ slept in his human nature—yet was he awake in his deity, that the disciples being in danger might cry unto him more fervently, and be saved more remarkably.
And as Jesus slept, so he was also weary. John 4:6, "Jacob's well was there; and Jesus, tired from the long walk, sat wearily beside the well about noontime." In the heat of the day Christ was weary. Christ took on
him not only our nature—but the common infirmities thereof, and he is to be as seriously eyed in his humanity, as in the glory of his Godhood. Therefore it is recorded that he was weary with his journey before half the day was spent.
But, in a word—he was conceived, retained so long in the virgin's womb, born, circumcised, lived about thirty years on earth, conversed all that time with men, suffered, died, and was crucified, buried, rose again, ascended, and sat down with his body at the right hand of God, and with it will come again to judge the world. Now what do all these things speak out—but that Christ has a true body? and who in their wits will assert that all this could be done in, and upon, and by, an imaginary body? But,
(2.) Secondly, The several names which are given to Jesus Christ in Scripture, do clearly evidence the verity and reality of his human nature. He is called:
(1.) The son of the virgin, Isaiah 7:14.
(2.) Her first-born son, Luke 2:7.
(3.) The branch, Zech. 3:8 and 6:12.
(4.) The branch of righteousness, Jer. 33:15, and 23:5.
(5.) A rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch out of his roots, Isaiah 11:1.
(6.) The seed of the woman, Gen. 3:15.
(7.) The seed of Abraham, Gen. 22:18.
(8.) The fruit of David's loins, Psalm 80:36, and 132:11; Acts 2:30.
(9.) Of the seed of David according to the flesh, Romans 1:3; 2 Sam. 7:2.
(10.) The lion of the tribe of Judah, Rev. 5:5.
(11.) The seed of Jacob, Gen. 28:14.
(12.) The seed of Isaac, Gen. 26:4.
(13.) A son born to us, a child given to us, Isaiah 9:6.
(14.) The son of man, Mat. 8:20, and 17:13; Rev. 1:13; Dan. 7:13; John 3:13.
(15.) He is called the man Christ Jesus, 1 Tim. 2:5; 1 Cor. 15:21, "Since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead." God's justice would be satisfied in the same nature that had sinned.
(16.) God's Son made of a woman, Gal. 4:4.
(17.) Man, 1 Tim. 2:5; the man Christ Jesus.
(18.) The son of David, Mat. 1:1; Mark 12:35. "How say the scribes, that Christ is the son of David?" In that the scribes and Pharisees knew and acknowledged, according to the Scripture, that Christ should be the son of David—that is, should be born and descend of the stock and posterity of David according to the flesh—hence we may easily gather the truth of Christ's human nature, that he was ordained of God to be true man as well as God, in one and the same person; for else he could not be the son of David. Now, that he must be the son of David, even the scribes and the Pharisees knew and acknowledged, as we see here; and this was a truth which they had learned out of the Scriptures; and not only they—but even the common sort of Jews in our Savior's time.
John 7:42, "some of the common people spoke thus, Has not the Scripture said that Christ comes of the seed of David?" And the Messiah was then commonly called the son of David, Romans 1:3. Just so, then, Christ being of the seed of David after the flesh, he must needs be true man as well as God; for which cause he was incarnate in the due time appointed of God; that is to say, he being the Son of God from everlasting, did in time become man, taking our nature upon him, together with the infirmities of our nature, sin only excepted, John 1:14.
Now thus you see that the eighteen names which are given to Christ in the blessed Scriptures, do abundantly demonstrate the certainty of Christ's
human nature. But,
(3.) Thirdly, Christ took the whole human nature. He was truly and completely man, consisting of flesh and spirit, body and soul; yes, that he assumed the entire human nature, with whatever is proper to it. Christ took to himself the whole human nature, in both the essential parts of man, soul and body. The two essential and constitutive parts of man are soul and body; where these two are, there is the true man. Now Christ had both, and therefore he was true man.
[1.] First, Christ had a true human and reasonable SOUL. The reasonable soul is the highest and noblest part of man. This is that which principally makes the man, and has the greatest influence into his being and essence. If, therefore, Jesus Christ had only a human body without a human soul, he had lacked that part which is most essential to man, and so he could not have been looked upon as true and perfect man. O sirs! Christ redeemed and saved nothing but what he assumed. The redemption and salvation reach no further than the assumption. Our soul then would have been never the better for Christ, had he not taken that as well as our body. Hence said Augustine, "Therefore he took the whole man, without sin, that he might heal the whole of which man consists, of the plague of sin." And Fulgentius, to the same purpose: "As the devil smote by deceiving the whole man, so God saves by assuming the whole man." "If he will save the whole man from sin, he will assume the whole man without sin," says Nazianzen.
The Scriptures do clearly evidence that Christ had a real human soul: Mat. 26:38, "My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death." Every word is emphatical: "My soul;" his sorrows pierced his soul, and "sorrowful round about," even to death,—that is, "heavy round about," Psalm 22:16. Look, as the soul was the first agent in transgression, so it is here the first patient in affliction. "To death;" that is, this sorrow will never be finished or intermitted but by death. "My soul is exceeding sorrowful." Then Christ had a true human soul; neither was his deity to him for a soul, as, of old, men of corrupt minds have fancied; for then our bodies only had been redeemed by him, and not our souls, if he had not suffered in soul as well as in body. The sufferings of his body were but the body of his sufferings; the soul of his sufferings were the sufferings of his
soul, which was now beset with sorrows, and heavy as heart could hold.
John 12:27, "Now is my soul troubled, and what shall I say?" The Greek word signifies a vehement commotion and perturbation; as Herod's mind was troubled when he heard that a new king was born, Mat. 2:3; or as the disciples were troubled when they thought they saw a ghost walking on the sea, and cried out for fear, Mat. 14:26; or as Zacharias, Luke 1:12, was troubled at the sudden sight of the angel. The rise and cause of Christ's soul-trouble was this: the Godhead hiding itself from the humanity's sense; and the Father letting out, not only an apprehension of his sufferings to come—but a present taste of the horror of his wrath, due to man for sin. He is amazed, overwhelmed, and perplexed with it in his humanity; and no wonder, since he had the sins of all the elect, laid upon him by imputation, to suffer for. And so this wrath is not let out against his person—but against their sins which were laid on him.
Now though Christ was here troubled, or jumbled and puzzled, as the word imports—yet we are not to conceive that there was any sin in this exercise of his, for he was like clean water in a clean vessel, which, being ever so often stirred and shaken—yet still keeps clean and clear. Neither are we to think it strange that the Son of God should be put to such perplexities in this trouble as not to know what to say; for considering him as man, encompassed with our sinless infirmities, and that this heavy weight of wrath did light upon him suddenly, it is no wonder that it did confound all his thoughts as man. O sirs! look, that as sin has infected both the souls and bodies of the elect, and chiefly their souls, where it has its chief seat, so Christ, to expiate this sin, did suffer unspeakable sorrows and trouble in his soul, as well as torture in his body; "for my soul is troubled," says he. Though some sufferings of the body are very exquisite and painful, and Christ's in particular were such—yet sad trouble of mind is far more grievous than any bodily distress, as Christ also found, who silently bore all his outward troubles—but yet could not but cry out of his inward trouble, "Now is my soul troubled."
Isaiah 53:10, "You shall make his soul an offering for sin," Isaiah 53:7; 1 Pet. 2:24. When Christ suffered for us, our sins were laid upon him, verse 5-6, as by the law of sacrificing of old, the sinner was to lay his hands upon the head of the animal, confessing his sins, and then the animal was
slain, and offered for expiation, Lev. 8:14, 18, 22; thus having the man's sins as it were taken and put upon it, and hereby the sinner is made righteous. The sinner could never be pardoned, nor the guilt of sin removed—but by Christ's making his soul an offering for sin. What did Christ in special recommend to God, when he was breathing out his last gasp—but his soul? Luke 23:46, "When Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, he said, Father, into your hands I commend my spirit; and having said thus, he gave up the Spirit;" that is, "To your safe custody and blessed wisdom I commend my soul, as a special treasure or jewel, most carefully and tenderly to be preserved and kept.
Luke 2:52, "He increased in wisdom and stature;" here is stature for his body, and wisdom for his soul. His growth in that speaks the truth of the former, and his growth in this the truth of the latter: his body properly could not grow in wisdom, nor his soul in stature, therefore he must have both.
There are two essential parts which make up one of his natures, his manhood, namely, soul and body—but both of these two of old have been denied. Marcion divests Christ of a body, and Apollinaris of a soul; and the Arians held that Christ had no soul—but that the deity was to him instead of a soul, and supplied the office thereof, that what the soul is to us, and does in our bodies, all that the divine nature was to Christ, and did in his body. And are there not some among us, that make a great noise about a light in them, that dash upon the same rock? But the choice scriptures last cited may serve sufficiently to confute all such brain-sick men. But,
[2.] Secondly, As Christ had a true human and reasonable soul, so Christ had a perfect, entire, complete BODY, and everything which is proper to a body; for instance,
(1.) He had blood Heb. 2:14, "He also took part of the same flesh and blood." Christ had in him the blood of a man. Shedding of blood there must be, for without it there is no remission of sin, Heb. 9:22. The blood of brute creatures could not wash away the blots of reasonable creatures, Heb. 10:4-5, 10; wherefore Christ took our nature, that he might have our blood to shed for our sins. There is an emphasis put upon Christ as man,
in the great business of man's salvation, "The man Christ Jesus," 1 Tim. 2:5; the remedy carrying in it a suitableness to the malady, the sufferings of a man to expiate the sin of man.
(2.) He had bones as well as flesh: Luke 24:39, "A spirit has not flesh and bones, as you see me have."
(3.) Christ had in him the affections of a man, Phil. 2:8, which affections he fully expressed when he was on earth, Mat. 12:18-20; nay, he retains those affections now he is in heaven; in glory he has a fellowfeeling of his people's miseries: Acts 9:4, "Saul, Saul, why persecute you me?" See Mat 25:35, to the end of that chapter. Though Christ in his glorified state be freed from that state of frailty, mutability, mortality—yet he still retains his sympathy and pity.
(4.) He had in him the familiarity of a man; how familiarly did Christ converse with all sorts of people in this world, all the evangelists do sufficiently testify. Man is a sociable and familiar creature; Christ became man who he might be a merciful high priest, Heb. 2:17; not that his becoming man made him more merciful, as though the mercies of a man were more than the mercies of God—but because by this means mercy is conveyed more suitably and familiarly to man. But,
(4.) Fourthly and lastly, Our Lord Jesus Christ took our infirmities upon him. When Christ was in this world he submitted to the common accidents, adjuncts, infirmities, miseries, calamities, which are incident to human nature. For the opening of this, remember there are three sorts of infirmities:
(1.) There are sinful infirmities: James 5:7; Psalm 77:10. The best of men are but men at the best. Witness Abraham's unbelief, David's security, Job's cursing, Jonah's passion, Thomas's unbelief, Peter's lying, etc. Now these infirmities Jesus Christ took not upon him; for though he was made like unto us in all things—yet without sin, Heb. 4:15.
(2.) There are personal infirmities, which from some particular causes befall this or that person; as leprosy, blindness, dumbness, palsy, dropsy, epilepsy, stone, gout, sickness. Christ was never sick. Sickness arises from
the unfit or unequal temperature of the humours, or from intemperance of labor, study, etc.—but none of these were in Christ. He had no sin, and therefore no sickness. Christ took not the passions or infirmities which were proper to this or that man.
(3.) There are natural infirmities which belong to all mankind since the fall; as hunger, thirst, wearisomeness, sorrowfulness, sweating, bleeding, wounds, death, burial. Now these natural infirmities which are common to the whole nature, these Jesus Christ took upon him, as all the evangelists do abundantly testify. Our dear Lord Jesus lay so many weeks and months in the Virgin's womb; he received nourishment and growth in the ordinary way; he was brought forth and bred up just as common infants are; he had his life sustained by common food, as ours is; he was poor, afflicted, reproached, persecuted, tempted, deserted, falsely accused, etc.; he lived an afflicted life, and died an accursed death; his whole life, from the cradle to the cross, was made up of nothing but sorrows and sufferings; and thus you see that Jesus Christ did put himself under those infirmities which properly belong to the common nature of man, though he did not take upon him the particular infirmities of individuals. Now what do all these things speak out—but the certainty and reality of Christ's manhood?
QUESTION. But why must Christ partake of both natures? was it absolutely necessary that he should so do?
ANSWER. Yes, it was absolutely necessary that Christ should partake of both natures; and that both in respect of God, and in respect of us:
(1.) First, in respect of US; and that,
[1.] First, Because man had sinned, and therefore man must be punished. By man came death, therefore by man must come the resurrection of the dead, 1 Cor. 15:21. Man was the offender, therefore man must be the satisfier; man had been the sinner, and therefore man must be the sufferer. It is but justice to punish sin in that nature, in which it had been committed. By man we fell from God, and by man we must be brought back to God. By the first Adam we were ruined, by the second Adam we must be repaired, Romans 5:12. The human nature was to be redeemed,
therefore it was necessary that the human nature should be assumed. The law was given to man, and the law was broken by man, and therefore it was necessary that the law should be fulfilled by man. But,
[2.] Secondly, That by this means the justice of God might be satisfied in the same nature which had sinned, which was the nature of man. Angels could not satisfy divine justice, because they had no bodies to suffer. The brutish sensible creatures could not satisfy the justice of God, because they had no souls to suffer. Therefore man, having body, soul, and sense, must do it; for he had sinned in all, and he could suffer in all.
(2.) Secondly, There are reasons both in respect of GOD and in respect of ourselves, why Jesus Christ should be God, and God-man also; and they are these five—
[1.] First, That he might be a meet mediator between God and man. Christ's office, as mediator, was to deal with God for man, and to deal for God with man. Now that he might be fit for both these transactions, for both parts of this office, he must partake of both natures. That he might effectually deal with God for man, he must be God, "If a man sins against the Lord, who shall entreat for him?" says Eli to his sons, 1 Sam. 2:25. And that he might deal for God with man, he must be man. He must be God, that he may be fit to transact, treat, and negotiate with God; and he must be man, that he may be fit to transact, treat, and negotiate with man. When God spoke unto Israel at Mount Sinai at the giving of the law, the people were not able to abide that voice or presence, and therefore they desired a mediator, a man like themselves, who might be as a mediator to go between God and them, Exod. 20:18-19.
Now upon this very ground, besides many others that might be mentioned, it was very requisite that Jesus Christ should be both God and man, that he might be a meet mediator to deal between God and man, Heb. 12:18. Jesus Christ was the fittest person, either in that upper or in this lower world, to mediate between God and us. There was none fit to umpire the business between God and man—but he who was God-man. Job hit the nail on the head, when he said, "If only there were someone to arbitrate between us, to lay his hand upon us both," Job 9:33. There was a double use of the arbitrator, and his laying his hand upon them: (1.) To
keep the dissenting parties asunder, lest they should fall out and strike one another; (2.) To keep them together, and compose all differences, that they might not depart from each other. The application is easy.
Man is not fit to mediate, because man is the person offending; angels are not fit to mediate, for they cannot satisfy divine justice, nor pacify divine wrath, nor procure our pardon, nor make our peace, nor bring in an everlasting righteousness upon us. God, the Father, was not fit for this work, for he was the person offended; and he was as much too high to deal with man, as man was too low to deal with God. The Holy Spirit was not fit for this work, for it is his work to apply this mediation, and to clear up the believer's interest in this mediation. Just so, then there is no other person fit for this office but Jesus Christ, who was a middle person, between both, that he might deal with both. Christ could never have been fit to be the mediator in respect of his office, if he had not first been a middle person in respect of his natures; for, says the apostle, Gal. 20, "Now a mediator is not a mediator of one—but God is one." "A mediator is not a mediator of one," that is, of one party—but is always of two differing parties to unite them; "not of one;" that is,
(1.) Not of one person, because mediation implies more persons than one; it necessarily supposes different parties between whom he does mediate. Christ, to speak after the manner of men, lays his hand upon God, the Father, and says, "O blessed Father, will you be at peace with these poor sinners? will you pardon them? and will you lift up the light of your countenance upon them? If you will, then I will undertake to satisfy your justice, and to pacify your wrath, and to fulfill your royal law, and to make good all the wrong they have done against you." And then he lays his hand upon the poor sinner, and says, "Sinner, are you willing to be changed and renewed? are you willing to come under the bond of the covenant? are you willing to give up your heart and life to the guidance and government of the Spirit? Then be not discouraged, for you shall certainly be justified and saved."
(2.) Not of one nature—the mediator must necessarily have more natures than one—he must have the divine and human nature united in his single person, or else he could never suffer what he was to suffer, nor never satisfy what he was to satisfy, nor never bring poor sinners into a state of
reconciliation with God. It is further observable that the text last cited says, "God is one," 1 Tim. 2:5; namely, as he is essentially considered, and therefore as so he cannot be the mediator—but Christ, as personally considered, he is not of one, that is, not of one nature, for he is God and man too, and therefore he is the only person that is fitted and qualified to be the mediator; and it is observable that, when Christ is spoken of as mediator, his manhood is brought in, that nature being so necessary to that office.
1 Tim. 2:5, "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus." Jesus Christ was God and man; as man he ought to satisfy—but could not; as God he could satisfy—but ought not. But consider him as God and man, and so he both could satisfy and ought to satisfy, and accordingly he did satisfy, according to what was prophesied of him.
Dan. 9:24, "He did make reconciliation for iniquity, and brought in everlasting righteousness." He did not begin to do something and then faint and leave his work imperfect—but he finished it, and that to the glory of his Father.
John 17:4, "I have glorified you on the earth, I have finished the work which you gave me to do." And it is good to observe the singularity and oneness of the person mediating; not many, not a few, not two—but one mediator between God and man. There was none with him in his difficult work of mediatorship—but he carried it on alone. Though there are many mediators among men—yet there is but only one mediator between God and men: and it is as high folly and madness to make more mediators than one, as it is to make more Gods than one, Isaiah 63:3. "There is one God, and one mediator between God and men." For look, as one husband satisfies the wife, as one father satisfies the child, as one master satisfies the servant, and one sun satisfies the world—so one mediator is enough to satisfy all who desire a mediator, or who have an interest in a mediator. [I confess the word Mesites is given to Moses, in that Gal. 3:19 —but Moses was but a typical mediator, and you never find that Moses is called a mediator in a way of redemption, or satisfaction, or paying a ransom; for so dear Jesus is the only mediator: so the word is used in that 1 Tim. 2:5; Heb. 8:6-8, 9:14-15, and 12:22-24.]
The true sense and import of this word a mediator, is a middle person, or one who interposes between two parties at variance, to make peace between them. Though a mediator is rendered variously, sometimes an umpire or arbitrator, sometimes a messenger between two people, sometimes an interpreter imparting the mind of one to another, sometimes a reconciler or peace-maker—yet this word does most properly signify a mediator or a middler, because Jesus Christ is both a middle person and a middle officer between God and man, to reconcile and reunite God and man. This of all others is the most proper and genuine signification of this name. Jesus Christ is the middle, that is, the second person in the Trinity, between the Father and the Holy Spirit. He is the only middle person between God and man, being in one person God-man; and his being a middle person fits and capacitates him to stand in the midst between God and us.
And as he is the middle person, so he is the middle officer, intervening or interposing or coming between God and man by office, satisfying God's justice to the full for man's sins by his sufferings and death, and maintaining our constant peace in heaven by his meritorious intercession. Hence, as Gerhard observes, "Jesus Christ is a true mediator, is still found in the middle. He was born, as some think, about the middle of the night; he suffered, Heb. 13:12, in the middle of the world, that is, at Jerusalem, seated in the middle of the earth: he was crucified in the midst, between the two thieves, John 19:18: he died in the air on the cross, in the midst between heaven and earth: he stood after his resurrection in the midst of his disciples, John 20:19; and he has promised, that where two or three are gathered together in his name, he will be in the midst of them, Mat. 18:20: and he walks in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks, Rev. 2:1, that is, the churches: and he as the heart in the midst of the body, distributes graces and virtue to all the parts of his mystical body, Eph. 4:15-16." Thus Jesus Christ is the mediator between God and man; middle in person and middle in office. And thus you have seen at large what a fit mediator Jesus Christ is, considered in both his natures, considered as God-man. But,