Chapter 8 (continued, part 18)
Christ, as king and priest, was to bring about.
Look, as there was a counsel taken, concerning the creation of mankind, between the persons in the blessed Trinity, "Let us make man after our image," Gen. 1:26; Col. 3:19; Eph. 4:24; so there was a consultation held concerning the restoration of mankind out of their lapsed condition: "The counsel of peace shall be between them both." Certainly there was a covenant of redemption made with Christ; upon the terms whereof he is constituted to be a reconciler and a redeemer, to say to the prisoners, "Go forth, to bring deliverance to the captives, and to proclaim the year of release or jubilee, the acceptable year of the Lord," as it is, Isaiah 61:1-2. But,
(8.) The eighth scripture is that, Psalm 40:6-8, "Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but my ears you have pierced burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not require. Then I said, "Here I am, I have come-- it is written about me in the scroll. I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart." Compared with that, Heb. 10:5-7, "Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said—Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased. Then I said—Here I am--it is written about me in the scroll-- I have come to do your will, O God."
In these two scriptures, two things are concluded:
(1.) The impotency of legal sacrifices, verse 5-6;
(2.) The all-sufficiency of Christ's sacrifice, verse 7.
There is some difference in words and phrases between the apostle and the prophet, but both agree in sense, as we shall endeavor to demonstrate. Penmen of the New Testament were not translators of the Old Testament, but only quoted them for proof of the point in hand, so as they were not tied to syllables and letters—but to the sense of the text alone. That which the prophet speaks of himself, the apostle applies to Christ, say some. This may be readily granted; for David being a special type of Christ, that may in history and type be spoken of David, which, in mystery and truth, is understood of Christ. But, that which David uttered
in the aforesaid text, is without question, uttered by the way of prophecy, concerning Christ, as is evident by these reasons.
First, In David's time, God required sacrifices and burnt-offerings, and took delight therein, 1 Chron. 21:26; 1 Sam. 26:19; for God answered David from heaven by fire, upon the altar of burnt-offering; and David himself advised Saul to offer a burnt-offering that God might accept of it.
Secondly, David was not able so "to do the will of God," as by doing it, to make all sacrifices void; therefore this must be taken as a prophecy of Christ.
Thirdly, In the verse before, namely, Psalm 40:5, such an admiration of God's goodness is premised, as cannot fitly be applied to any other evidence, than of his goodness in giving Christ; in reference to whom, it may be truly said, "That eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man—the things which God has prepared for those who love him," 1 Cor. 2:9.
Fourthly, These words used by the apostle, "when he comes into the world, he says," are meant of Christ; which argue that that which follows was an express prophecy of Christ. These things being premised, out of the texts last cited we may observe these following particulars that contribute to our purpose.
[1.] FIRST, That the Holy Spirit opens and expounds the covenant of redemption, bringing in the Father and the Son, as conferring and agreeing together about the terms of it; and the first thing agreed on between them is the price; and the price that God the Father stands upon is "blood;" and that not "the blood of bulls and goats, but the blood of his Son;" which was the best, the purest, and the noblest blood, which ever ran in veins. [Heb. 10:4, and 9:22; John 10:11, 15, 17, 18, and 1:29; 1 Pet. 1:18-19.]
Now Christ, to bring about the redemption of fallen man, is willing to come up to the demands of his Father, and to lay down his blood. The scripture calls the blood of Christ, precious blood. Oh, the virtue in it, the value of it! Through this red sea, we must pass to heaven; Christ's blood is
heaven's key. "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the blood of the saints," Psalm 116:15, and truly "precious in the sight of the saints is the blood of Christ." One little drop is of more worth, than heaven and earth, [Luther.]
Christ's blood is "precious blood," in regard of the dignity of his person. It is "the blood of God himself," Acts 20:28, it is the blood of that person, who is very God as well as very man. Christ's blood was noble blood, and therefore precious. He came from the race of kings, as touching his manhood; but being always the Son of God. This renders his nobility matchless and peerless. It was Pharaoh's brag, that he was the son of ancient kings, Isaiah 19:11. Who can lay claim to this more than Christ? Who can challenge this honor before him? He is the Son of the ancientest king in the world, he was begotten as a king from all eternity, Dan. 7:9, 13, 27.
The blood of good kings is precious; "You are worth ten thousand of us," said David's subjects to him, 2 Sam. 18:3; and therefore they would not allow him to hazard himself in the battle. The nobleness of his person did set a high rate upon his blood. And whom does this argument more commend unto us, than Christ?
The blood of Christ is precious blood in regard of the virtues of it. By this blood, God and man are reconciled; by this blood, the chosen of God are redeemed. It was an excellent saying of Leo, "The effusion of Christ's blood is so rich and available, that if the whole multitude of captive sinners would believe in their Redeemer, not one of them should be detained in the tyrant's chains." This precious blood justifies our persons in the sight of God, it frees us from the guilt of sin, and it frees us from the reign and dominion of sin, and it frees us from the punishments that are due to sin, it saves us, "from that wrath to come," Acts 13:38-39; Romans 3:24-25; 1 John 1:7; 1 Thes. 1:10.
Now, were not Christ's blood of infinite value and virtue, it could never have produced such glorious effects. The blood of Christ is precious, beyond all account; and yet our Lord Jesus did not think it too dear a price to pay down for his saints. God the Father would be satisfied with no other price; and therefore God the Son comes up to his Father's price, that our redemption might be sure. But,
[2.] SECONDLY, Observe that God rejects all ways of satisfaction by men. Could men make as many prayers as there are stars in heaven and drops in the sea; and could they weep as much blood as there is water in the ocean; and should they "give all their goods to the poor, and their bodies to be burned," 1 Cor. 13:3, as some have done—yet all this would not satisfy for the least sin, not for an idle word, not for a vain thought! Heb. 10:5, "Sacrifice and offering you did not desire;" that is, you will not accept of them for an expiation and satisfaction for sin, as the Jews imagined.
The apostle shows the impotency and insufficiency of legal sacrifices, by God's rejecting of them. The things here set down, as not regarded by God —as sacrifices, offerings, burnt-offerings, and sacrifices for sin, together with other legal ordinances comprised under them—do evidently demonstrate that God regards none of those things in a way of satisfaction; they are no current price, they are no such pay that will be accepted of in the court of heaven. Remission of sin could never be obtained by sacrifices and offerings, nor by prayers, tears, humblings, meltings, watchings, fastings, penances, pilgrimages, etc. Remission of sins cost Christ dear, though it cost us nothing! Remission of sins drops down from God to us, through Christ's wounds, and swims to us in Christ's blood. It was well said by one of the ancients: "I have nothing I may boast in my own works; I have nothing whence I may boast myself; and therefore I will glory in Christ! I will not glory that I am righteous, but I will glory that I am redeemed! I will glory, not because I am without sin, but because my sins are forgiven! I will not glory because I have profited, or because any has profited me, but because Christ is an advocate with the Father for me, but because the blood of Christ is shed for me!"
Certainly the popish doctrine of man's own satisfaction in part, for his sins is most derogatory to the precious blood of Jesus; and to the plenary and complete satisfaction of Jesus Christ. But,
[3.] THIRDLY, Observe that nothing below the obedience and sufferings of Christ, our mediator, could satisfy divine justice. Heb. 10:5, "But a body have you prepared me." Christ having declared what his Father does not delight in, he further shows affirmatively what it was wherein he
rested well pleased, in these words, "But a body have you prepared me." In this phrase, "A body have you prepared me," Christ is brought in, speaking to his Father. By body is meant the human nature of Christ. Body is a synecdoche, put for the whole human nature, consisting of body and soul; the body was the visible part of Christ's human nature. A body is fit for a sacrifice, fit to be slain, fit to have blood shed out of it, fit to be offered up, fit to be made a price, and a ransom for our sins, and fit to answer the types under the law. Applicable therefore, to this purpose, is it said of Christ, "He himself bore our sins in his own body," 1 Pet. 2:24; and those infirmities wherein he was "made like unto us," Heb. 2:9, 14, 17, were most conspicuously evidenced in his body; and hereby Christ was manifested to be a true man. He had a body like ours, a body subject to manifold infirmities, yes, to death itself.
That body which Christ had is said to be "prepared by God;" the Greek word, which is translated prepared, is a metaphor from mechanics, who do artificially 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. The word "prepared" implies that God the Father ordained, formed, and made fit and able, Christ's human nature— to undergo, suffer, and fulfill that purpose for which he was sent into the world. God the Father is here said to have prepared Christ a body; because Christ having received from his Father the human nature out of the flesh and blood of the Virgin Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit, Mat. 1:20; Luke 1:31, 35, here gives up the same unto the service of his Father—to do, to suffer, to die—that he might be a sacrifice of expiation for our sins.
As for the words of the psalmist, Psalm 40:6, "My ear have you opened,"—Heb., "dug open," it is a proverbial manner of speech, whereby there is implied the qualifying or fitting a man unto obedience in service —the ear, or the opening of the ear, being an emblem, or symbol, or a metaphorical sign of obedience, Isaiah 55:5; Job 33:16. Now Paul, following the translation of the Septuagint, and being directed by the Spirit of God, expounds this of God's sanctifying and fitting a body unto Christ, wherein he was obedient, even unto the shameful death of the cross. These words, "You have bored through my ears," import that
Christ, now becoming man, gives up himself to be a willing servant of his Father, to obey him unto the death of the cross. And it is a similitude taken from the servants of the Hebrews, who, after that they had served their masters six years, would not depart out of their masters' service the seventh year, but abide in it continually until death; for a testimony whereof their ear was bored through, on the posts of the door, as may be seen, Exod. 21:6. It is therefore as much as if he should say, You have given me a body that is willing and ready in your service, even unto death.
But to conclude this head, the apostle speaking of disannulling the sacrifice of the law, he uses this word body to set out a sacrifice which would come instead of the legal sacrifices, to effect that which the legal sacrifices could not effect. But,
[4.] FOURTHLY, Observe that Christ, our mediator, freely and readily offers himself to be our pledge and surety. "Then said I, Lo, I come," namely, as surety, to pay the ransom, and to do your will, O God. Every word carries a special emphasis as,
(1.) The time, "then," even so soon as he perceived that his Father had prepared his body for such an end—then, without delay. This speed implies forwardness and readiness; he would lose no opportunity.
(2.) His profession in this word, "said I;" he did not come secretly, timorously, as being ashamed thereof, but he makes profession beforehand.
(3.) This note of observation, "Lo;" this is a kind of calling angels and men to witness, and a desire that all might know his inward intention, and the disposition of his heart; wherein was as great a willingness as any could have to anything.
(4.) An offering of himself without any force or compulsion; this he manifests in this word, "I come."
(5.) That very instant set out in the present tense, "I come;" he puts it not off to a future and uncertain time, but even in that moment, he says, "I come."
(6.) The first person twice expressed, thus, "I said," "I come." He sends not another person, nor substitutes any in his place; but he, even he himself in his own person, comes. All which do abundantly evidence Christ's singular readiness and willingness, as our surety, to do his Father's will, though it were by suffering, and by being made a sacrifice for our sins.
God's will was the rule of Christ's active and passive obedience. Jesus Christ, our only mediator and surety, by free and ready obedience and death, did make a proper, real, and full satisfaction to God's justice for the sins of all the elect. Christ has, by his death and blood, as an invaluable price of our redemption, made sure—the favor of God, the pardon of our sins, and the salvation of our souls! Christ has freed his chosen people from all temporal, spiritual, and eternal punishments, properly so called; so that now the mercy of God may embrace the sinner without the least of wrong to his truth or justice. But,
[5.] FIFTHLY, Observe that Jesus Christ, our surety, does not only agree with his Father about the price that he was to lay down for our redemption, but also agrees with his Father about the persons who were to be redeemed; and their sanctification: Heb. 10:10, "By that will"—that is, by the execution of that will, by the obedience of Christ to his heavenly Father—"we are sanctified, through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all." Jesus Christ agrees with the Father that all those shall be sanctified, for whom he has suffered and satisfied. The virtue, efficacy, and benefit of that which arises from the aforesaid will of the Father and of the Son, is expressed under this word, "sanctified." To pass by the many acceptations of this word "sanctified," let it suffice to tell you it is not here to be taken, as distinguished from justification or glorification, as it is elsewhere taken, 1 Cor. 1:30, and 6:11; but so as comprising under it all the benefits of Christ's sacrifice, Heb. 10:14, and 2:11; Acts 26:18. In this general and large extent it is sometimes taken; only this word, sanctified, here gives us to understand that perfection consists especially in holiness; for he expresses the perfection of Christ's sacrifice under the word "sanctified," which implies "a making holy." This was that special part of perfection wherein man was made at first, Eccles. 7:31; and whereunto the apostle alludes, where he exhorts, "To put on
that new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness," Eph. 4:24; for this end, Christ gave himself even unto death, for his church, "that he might sanctify it," Eph. 5:25.
The principal thing under this word "sanctified" in this place is, that Christ's sacrifice makes perfect. In this respect, Christ's sacrifice is here opposed to the legal sacrifices, which could not make perfect; so that Christ's sacrifice was offered up to do that which they could not do; for this end was Christ's sacrifice surrogated in the place of the legal sacrifices. Now this substitution had been in vain, if Christ's sacrifice had not made us perfect.
If the dignity of his person that was offered up, and his almighty power, and unsearchable wisdom, and other divine excellencies of his, be duly weighed, we cannot but acknowledge, that as his sacrifice is perfect in itself, so it is sufficient to make us perfect also. Christ's body was given up as a price and ransom, and offered up as a sacrifice for our sins; and that we might be sanctified and made holy, Christ, by the offering of his body once for all, has purchased from his Father, grace and holiness for all his redeemed ones. Christ agrees with his Father that he will lay down an incomparable price for his chosen ones; and then he further agrees with his Father that all those shall be sanctified, for whom he has laid down an invaluable price.
The will of God the Father was, that Jesus Christ should have a body, and that that body of his should be offered up, that his elect might be sanctified and saved. Now to this Christ readily answers, "Lo, I come to do your will." From what has been said from Psalm 40, compared with Heb. 10, we may very safely and roundly conclude that it is most clear and evident, that there was a covenant, compact, or agreement, between God the Father and Jesus Christ, concerning the redemption of fallen man. This I shall more abundantly clear up before I have said all I have to say about the covenant of redemption, which is under our present consideration. But,
(9.) The ninth scripture is Psalm 89:28, "My mercy will I keep for him for evermore, and my covenant shall stand fast with him." With whom? why, with our dear Lord Jesus, of whom David was a singular type. There
are many passages in this psalm which do clearly evidence that it is to be interpreted of Christ; yes, there are many things in this psalm that can never be clearly, pertinently, and appropriately applied to any but Jesus Christ. For a taste, see verse 19, "I have laid help upon one who is mighty," mighty to pardon, to reconcile, to justify, to save, to bring to glory; suitable to that of the apostle, Heb. 7:25, "He is able to save unto the uttermost"— that is, to all ends and purposes, perfectly, completely, fully, continually, perpetually. Christ is a thorough Savior, a mighty Savior: Isaiah 63:1, "Mighty to save." There needs none to come after him to finish the work which he has begun. Verse 19, "I have exalted one, chosen out of the people," which is the very title given to our Lord Jesus. Isaiah 42:1, "Behold my servant whom I uphold, my elect," or chosen one, "in whom my soul delights." Verse 20, "I have found David my servant." Christ is very frequently called by that name, as being most dearly beloved of God, and most highly esteemed and valued by God, and as being typified by him both as king and prophet of his church. Verse 10, "With my holy oil have I anointed him;" suitable to that of Christ. Luke 4:18, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor;" and therefore we need not doubt of the excellency, authority, certainty, and sufficiency of the gospel. Verse 27, "I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth." [See Jer. 30:9; Hosea 3:5; Ezek. 34:23.] Christ is the firstborn of every creature, and in all things has the pre-eminence: verse 29, "His seed also will I make to endure forever, and his throne as the days of heaven." [This cannot be understood of David's seed, for Solomon's throne was overthrown.] This is chiefly spoken of Christ and his kingdom. The kingdom of heaven is eternal; and such shall be Christ's seed, throne and kingdom. Verse 36, "His seed shall endure forever, and his throne as the sun before me." "Christ shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hands," Isaiah 53:10. "And his throne as the sun before me;" that is, perpetual and glorious, as the Chaldee explains it, "shall shine as the sun." Other kingdoms and thrones have their times and their turns, their rise and their ruins, but so has not the kingdom and throne of Jesus Christ. Christ's dominion is "an everlasting dominion," which shall not pass away; "and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed," Dan. 7:13-14.
I might give further instances out of this Psalm, but enough is as good as a feast. Now says God, "I have made a covenant with him;" so then there is a covenant that God the Father has made with Christ the mediator; which covenant, the Father engages to the Son, shall stand fast, there shall be no cancelling or disannulling of it. God the Father has not only made a covenant of grace with the saints in Christ, of which before; but he has also made a covenant of redemption, as we call it for distinction sake, with Jesus Christ himself, "My covenant shall stand fast with him;" that is, with Christ, as we have fully and clearly demonstrated. But,
(10.) The tenth scripture is Zechariah 9:11, "As for you also, by the blood of your covenant," or whose covenant is by blood, "I have sent forth your prisoners out of the pit, wherein is no water." Here God the Father speaks to Christ, with relation to some covenant between them both; and what covenant can that be but the covenant of redemption? All the temporal, spiritual, and eternal deliverances which we enjoy, they swim to us through the blood of that covenant which is passed between the Father and the Son. By virtue of the same blood of the covenant, wherewith we are reconciled, justified, and saved, were the Jews delivered from their Babylonish captivity. The Babylonish captivity, thraldom, and dispersion, was that waterless pit, that dirty dungeon, that uncomfortable and forlorn condition, out of which they were delivered by virtue of the blood of the covenant; that is, by virtue of the blood of Christ, figured by the blood that was sprinkled upon the people, and by virtue of the covenant confirmed thereby, Exod. 24:8; Psalm 74:20; Heb. 13:20. Look, as all the choice mercies, the high favors, the noble blessings that the saints enjoy, are purchased by the blood of Christ; so they are made sure to the saints by the same blood; by the blood of your covenant "I have sent forth your prisoners." Whatever desperate distresses, and deadly dangers, the people of God may fall into, yet they are "prisoners of hope," and may look for deliverance by the blood of the covenant.
By these ten scriptures it is most clear and evident that there was a covenant, a compact, and agreement between God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, concerning the work of our redemption. Christ's being called "the surety of the better covenant," Heb. 7:21, shows that there was a covenant between God the Father and him, as there is between a creditor and a surety. Christ gave bonds, as it were, to God the Father, and paid down the debt upon the nail—that breaches might be made up between God and us, and we restored to divine favor forever. But for the further clearing up of the covenant of redemption, I shall, in the second place, lay down these eight propositions.
(1.) The first is this—That the covenant of redemption differs from the covenant of grace. It is true, the covenant of redemption is a covenant of grace, but it is not properly that covenant of grace which the Scripture holds out in opposition to the covenant of works; which I shall thus evidence—
[1.] The covenant of redemption differs from the covenant of grace in regard of the parties. In the covenant of redemption, it is God the Father and Jesus Christ who mutually covenant. But in the covenant of grace the parties are God and believers.
[2.] In the covenant of redemption, God the Father requires of Jesus Christ that he should suffer, shed his blood, die, and make himself an offering for our sins. In the covenant of grace, God requires of us that we should believe and embrace the Lord Jesus.
[3.] In the covenant of redemption, God the Father has made many great, precious, and glorious promises to Jesus Christ. As, "Sit on my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool," Heb. 1:13; and, "He shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hands," Isaiah 53; and, "Ask of me, and I will give you the heathen for your inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for your possession," Psalm 2:8; and, "I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son," Heb. 1:5. But in the covenant of grace, God promises to us grace and glory, holiness and happiness, both the upper and the lower springs, Psalm 84:11; Ezek. 36:26-27.
[4.] The covenant of redemption between God and Christ secures the covenant of grace between God and believers; for what God promises to us, he did, before the foundation of the world, promise to Jesus Christ, Titus 1:2. And therefore, if God the Father should not make good his promises to his saints, he would not make good his promises to his dearest Son, which for any to imagine would be high blasphemy. God will be sure to keep touch with Jesus Christ; and therefore we may rest fully assured that he will not fail to keep touch with us.
[5.] The covenant of redemption is the very basis or bottom of the covenant of grace. God made a covenant with Christ, the spiritual David, that he might make a covenant with all his elect in him, Psalm 89:3-4; Romans 11:26-27. He made this agreement with Christ, as the head, and on this is reared up the whole frame of precious promises comprised in the covenant of grace, as a goodly building upon a sure foundation. But,
(2.) The second proposition is this—God the Father, in order to man's redemption and salvation, stands stiffly and peremptorily upon complete satisfaction. Without full satisfaction, there is no remission, no salvation. God will have satisfaction to the utmost, though it cost Christ his life and blood. Man is fallen from his primitive purity, glory, and excellency; and by his fall he has provoked divine justice, transgressed God's righteous law, and cast a deep dishonor upon his name, Romans 8:32. The case standing thus, God is resolved to have ample satisfaction in the reparation of his honor, in the manifestation of his truth, and in the vindication of his holiness and justice. All the attributes of God are alike dear to him, and he stands as much upon the advance of his justice as he does upon the glory of his grace; and therefore he will not remit one sin, yes, not the least sin, without entire satisfaction. In this, God the Father is fixed, that he will have "an offering for sin," in an expiatory and propitiatory way; "a price and a ransom" he will have paid down upon the nail, or else the captive sinner shall never be released, pardoned, saved, Isaiah 53:10; 1 Tim. 2:6.
Now, lost man being wholly incapable of giving such a satisfaction to divine justice, Christ must give it—or fallen man must perish forever. Sin and sorrow, iniquity and misery—always go hand in hand. "The wages of sin is death," Romans 6:23. Every sinner is worthy of death.
"Those who commit such things are worthy of death," Romans 1:32. If God is a just and righteous God, then sin cannot absolutely escape unpunished; for it is but "a just and righteous thing with God" to punish the sinner, who is worthy of punishment. "It is a righteous thing with God," says the apostle, "to recompense tribulation to those who trouble you," 2 Thes. 1:6. As God must be just--so He must be
faithful. And if He must be faithful--then He must carry out His threatenings against sin and sinners. The word has gone out of his mouth, "In the day that you eat thereof you shall surely die; and the soul which sins shall die," Gen. 2:17.
Look, as there is not a promise of God but shall surely take place; just so, there is not a threatening of God but shall surely take place, Ezek. 18:4. The faithfulness of God, and the honor of God, is as much concerned in making good of his dreadful threatenings, as they are concerned in making good of his precious promises, 2 Pet. 1:4. God has given it in his own hand, that "he will by no means clear the guilty;" and that "the soul that sins, shall surely die;" and that "the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him;" and that "he will render to every man according to his deeds," Exod. 34:7; Ezek. 18:20; Romans 2:6. And will God abrogate his own laws, or will he dare men to sport and play with his threatenings? Will not every wise and prudent prince look to the execution of their own laws? and shall not that God, who is wonderful in wisdom, and whose understanding is infinite, see all his laws put in execution against offenders? Isaiah 40:28; Psalm 147:5. Surely yes!
Thus you see that God stands upon full satisfaction, and will admit of no treaty of peace with fallen man without it. Now sorry man is never able, either by doing or suffering, to compensate and make God amends for the wrong and injury that he has done to God by his sin; and therefore one who is able, by doing and suffering, to give complete satisfaction, must undertake it, or else we are lost, cast out, and undone in both worlds. Concerning that full and complete satisfaction that Jesus Christ has given to God's enraged justice, I have in part discovered already, and shall say no more to it before I close up the covenant of redemption. But,
(3.) The third proposition is this—The business transacted
between those two great and glorious persons, God the Father, "whose greatness is unsearchable," Psalm 145:3, and Jesus Christ, "who is the prince of the kings of the earth," Rev. 1:5, was the redemption and salvation of the elect. Our everlasting blessedness was now fresh in their eyes, and warm upon their hearts. How lost man might be found, and how fallen man might be restored, and how miserable man might be made happy, how slaves might be made sons, and how enemies might be made friends, Luke 15:30, and how those who "were afar off might be made near," Eph. 2:12-17, without the least harm to the honor, holiness, justice, wisdom, and truth of God—was the grand business, the thing of things—which lay before them. Upon the account of the covenant, compact, and agreement that was between the Father and the Son, it is that Christ is called "the second Adam," 1 Cor. 15:25; for as with the first Adam God pledged a covenant concerning him and his posterity, so also he agreed with Jesus Christ, concerning that eternal redemption, that he was to obtain and secure for his seed, Heb. 9:12. For the clearing of this, let us a little consider of the excellent properties of that redemption which we have by Jesus Christ.
[1.] First, It is a GREAT redemption. The work of redemption was a great work. The greatness of the PERSON employed in this work, speaks out the work to be a great work. This was a work too high, too hard, too great for all the angels in heaven, and all the men on earth to undertake. None but that Jesus who is "mighty to save," Isaiah 63:1, was ever able to bring about the redemption of man. Hence Christ is called the Redeemer, Romans 11:26: "And their redeemer is mighty," Proverbs 23:11; Isaiah 44:6, "And his redeemer, the Lord Almighty;" Isaiah 47:4, "As for our redeemer, the Lord Almighty is his name;" Isaiah 49:26, "And your redeemer, the mighty one of Jacob;" Jer. 50:34, "Their redeemer is strong, the Lord Almighty is his name."
Again, the great and invaluable price that was paid down for our redemption speaks it out to be a great redemption. The price that we are bought with is a price beyond all computation. 1 Pet. 1:18-19, "Forasmuch as you know that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation; but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot," 1 Cor. 6:19-20,
and 7:23. Christ was a lamb:
(1.) for harmlessness;
(2.) for patience and silence in afflictions;
(3.) for meekness and humility;
(4.) for sacrifice.
This lamb was "without blemish," Isaiah 53:7, that is, free from actual sin, and "without spot," that is, free from original sin, Jer. 11:19, (Aquinas.) That the most absolute and perfect purity of Christ—prefigured in the lambs of the Old Testament, which were to be sacrificed—might be better expressed, the apostle calls him "a lamb without blemish, and without spot," Eph. 5:27. The price that this lamb without a spot has laid down is sufficient to pay all our debts; it is a price beyond all computation. All the silver, gold, pearls, jewels in the world, are of no value—compared with this price; a price in itself infinite, and of infinite value. [Neither God nor Christ could lay down a greater price. All things in heaven and earth are not to be compared to this blood, to this price.]
Among the Romans, the goods and estates which men had gotten in the wars, with hazard of their lives, were called peculium castrense, or a field-purchase. Oh how well then may the elect be called Christ's peculium castrense, his purchase, gotten not only by the jeopardy of his life, but with the loss of his life and blood, John 10:11, 15, 17-18, and Acts 20:28.
Again, if you compare the work of redemption with other great works, you must necessarily conclude that the work of redemption is a great work.
The CREATION of the world was a great work of God, but yet that did but cost him a word of his mouth, a "let it be;" he spoke the word, and it was done; "He said, Let there be light, and there was light," etc., Gen. 1:36, 9, 11, 14, 20, 24. But the work of redemption cost Christ's dearest blood. Much matter of admiration does the work of redemption afford us.
The work of creation is many ways admirable, yet not to be compared with the work of redemption, wherein the power, wisdom, justice, mercy, and other divine attributes of God do much more shine forth; and wherein the redeemed reap much more good than Adam did by his creation, which will evidently appear by observing these particular differences:
First, In the creation God brought something out of nothing. But in the work of redemption, out of one contrary he brought another; out of death he brought life. This was a work of far greater power, wisdom, mercy. Death must first be destroyed, and then life brought forth.
Secondly, In creation there was but a word; and thereupon the work followed; in redemption there was doing and dying. But the work of redemption could be brought about by none but God. God must come down from heaven, God must be made man, God must be made sin, God must be made a curse, 2 Cor. 5:21; Gal. 3:13.
Thirdly, In the creation God arrayed himself with majesty, power, and other like properties, fit for a great work. But in the work of redemption he put on weakness, he assumed a nature subject to infirmities, and the infirmities of that nature. He did as David did when he fought against Goliath, he "put off all armor, and took his staff in his hand, and drew near to the Philistine," 1 Sam. 17:39-40.
Fourthly, In the work of creation there was nothing to withstand God, to make opposition against God. But in the work of redemption there was justice against mercy, wrath against pity. Death, and he who had the power of death, was vanquished, Heb. 2:14-15; Col. 2:14-15.
Fifthly, By creation man was made after God's image, like him, Gen. 1:26-27. But by redemption, man was made a member of the same mystical body "whereof Christ is the head," Eph. 1:22, 23.
Sixthly, By creation man received a natural being. But by redemption man received a spiritual being.
Seventhly, By creation man received a possibility to stand. But by
redemption man received a certainty of standing and impossibility of falling, John 10:28-31; 1 Pet. 1:5; Jer. 32:40-41.
Eighthly, By creation man was placed in an earthly paradise. But by redemption he is advanced to a heavenly paradise.
Thus you see how the work of redemption transcends the work of creation.
Again, the works of PROVIDENCE are great, very great, in the eye of God, of angels, of men; but what are the works of providence, compared to the works of redemption? For in order to the accomplishment of that great work, Christ must put off his royal robes, take a journey from heaven to earth, assume our nature, do and die, etc.
Again, the work of redemption by Christ will be found a great work, if you will but compare it with those redemptions that were but types of this. Israel's redemption from their Egyptian bondage, and from their Babylonish bondage, were very great redemptions, which were brought about by a strong hand, a mighty hand, and an outstretched arm, as the Scripture speaks. But, alas! what were those redemptions, compared to our being redeemed from the love of sin, the guilt of sin, the dominion of sin, the damnatory power of sin, and to our being redeemed from the power of Satan, the curse of the law, hell and wrath to come? 1 Thes. 1:10.
Lastly, the great things that are wrapped up in the womb, in the belly, of redemption, speak out our redemption by Christ to be a very great redemption. In the womb of this redemption you shall find reconciliation, justification, adoption, eternal salvation, etc. Are not these great, very great, things? Surely yes! But,
[2.] A second excellent property of that redemption that we have by Christ is this, that it is a FREE and GRACIOUS redemption. All the rounds in this ladder of redemption are made up of free, rich, and sovereign grace. Though our redemption cost Christ dearly, as has been before hinted, yet as to us it is most free: Eph. 1:7, "In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;" that is, according to his exceeding great and
abundant grace: "Being justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." [This word properly signifies a deliverance, which is brought to pass by paying of a ransom and price. See Mat. 20:28; 1 Cor. 6:20; 1 Pet. 1:18.] Our redemption is from the free love and favor of God. It was free grace which put God the Father upon finding out a way for the redemption of lost sinners. It was free grace that put God upon providing of such a surety, as should undertake the work of redemption, as should carry on the work of redemption, and as should accomplish and complete the work of redemption; and it was free grace that moved God the Father to accept of what Christ did and suffered, in order to the bringing about of our redemption; and it is free grace that moves God to make an application of this redemption to the souls of his people. Ah, poor souls! the Lord looks not, neither for money nor money's worth from you, towards the purchase of your redemption, and therefore always look upon your redemption as the mere fruit of rich grace, Isaiah 52:3. But,
[3.] The third excellent property of that redemption that we have by Jesus Christ is this, it is a FULL and PLENTEOUS redemption: Psalm 130:7, "Let Israel hope in the Lord; for with the Lord there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption." Christ redeems us from all sin, and from all the consequences of sin. He redeems from death, and from the power of the grave; he redeems us from the law, and from the malediction of the law. Christ took that off; he was made a curse for all that believe on him. [Hosea 13:14; Titus 2:14; Romans 7:6; Gal. 4:6, and 3:18.] He did not only stand in the place of eminent believers, but he stood in the place of all believers, and endured the wrath of God to the uttermost for everyone who believes on him. Every believer is freed from a cursed estate by the least faith. Every degree of true faith makes the condition to be a state of life, and passes us from death and condemnation: "There is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus."
And Christ redeems us from this present evil world, and from the earth, and from among men, and from wrath to come, and from "the hands of all our enemies." [Romans 8:1; Gal. 1:4; Rev. 14:3, 4; 1 Thes. 1:10; Luke 1:71, 74.] Jesus Christ has completely done the work of our redemption.
Christ does not his work by halves; all his works are perfect; there is no defect or flaw in them at all. Christ does not redeem us from some of our sins, and leave us to grapple with the rest; he does not work out some part of our redemption, and leave us to work out the rest; he does not bear the heat and burden of divine wrath in part, and leave us to wrestle with other parts of divine wrath. Oh, no! Christ makes most complete work of it. He redeems us from "all our iniquities; he delivers us out of the hands of all our enemies," Heb. 7:25. He pays all debts, he cuts all scores, he delivers from all wrath, he takes off the whole curse, he saves to the uttermost, and will settle us in a state of full and perfect freedom, when grace shall be turned into glory. In heaven our redemption shall be entire and perfect.
[4.] The fourth excellent property of that redemption which we have by Jesus Christ, is this, it is an ETERNAL, a permanent, a lasting, yes, an everlasting redemption! Heb. 9:12, "Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood, he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us." Redemption is in general a freeing one out of thraldom, Exod. 6:6. Now this is done three ways—
(1.) By interceding and pacifying wrath. Thus the prophet Oded, 2 Chron. 28:9, etc., procured redemption for the captives of Judah by his intercession.
(2.) By force and might. Thus Abraham redeemed his brother Lot, and the people that were captives with him, by overcoming their enemies, Gen. 14:16.
(3.) By ransom, or paying a price. Thus a Hebrew that was sold a slave to a stranger might be redeemed by one of his brethren, Lev. 25:48-49. The last of these is most agreeable to the notation of the several words, which in the three learned languages do signify to redeem, though the last be especially intended. In that, mention is made of a price, namely, Christ's blood; yet the other two are not altogether exempted, for Christ has all those three ways redeemed his people. This will more clearly appear if we duly weigh the distinct kinds of bondage in which we were by reason of sin—
(1.) We were debtors to divine justice, Mat 6:12;
(2.) We were children of wrath, Eph. 2:3;
(3.) We were slaves to Satan, Heb. 2:14-15.
(1.) As debtors, Christ has paid a ransom for us;
(2.) As children of wrath, Christ makes intercession for us;
(3.) But though divine justice be satisfied and divine wrath pacified, yet the devil will not let his captives go; therefore Christ by a strong hand wrests us out of Satan's power, "and destroys him that had the power of death, that is, the devil," Heb. 2:14-15.
The ransom which Christ paid was the ground of man's full and eternal redemption, for by satisfaction of justice way was made to pacify wrath; both which being accomplished, the devil lost his right and power over such as he held in bondage. This redemption is a full freedom from all misery, and comprises under it— reconciliation, justification, sanctification, and salvation. By this redemption divine justice is satisfied, wrath pacified, grace procured, and all spiritual enemies vanquished. The perfection of this redemption is hinted in this word eternal. The eternity here meant has a special respect to the continual duration thereof without end, yet also it respects the time past, so as it looks backward and forward. It implies a virtue and efficacy from the beginning of the world, for Christ was "a lamb slain from the foundation of the world," Rev. 13:8.
Christ himself is, Rev. 1:8, "Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending—who is, and who was, and who is to come." Now that which is spoken of the person of Christ may very well be applied to our redemption by Christ. This epithet eternal is here added to redemption, in opposition to the legal purifications, which were momentary and temporary. They had a day, and endured no longer than the "time of reformation." On this ground, by just and necessary consequence, it follows that the redemption wrought by Christ is absolutely perfect, and that there is no need for any other. Redemption being eternal—all who
have been, all who shall be redeemed, have been and shall be redeemed by it; and they who are redeemed by it need no other means. The liberty whereinto Christ Jesus brings the elect, is permanent and lasting, it abides unmoveable and unchangeable to all eternity. The Jews which had sold themselves to be servants were to be set free at the jubilee, yet the jubilee lasted but for one year; therefore the same persons might afterwards become bondmen again, Lev. 25. But this "acceptable year of the Lord's redeemed," Isaiah 61:2, and 63:4, is an everlasting year, it shall never end; therefore they shall never be subject to bondage any more.
It is observable that when the Lord would comfort the Jews with hopes of a return from Babylon, he usually annexed evangelical promises respecting the deliverance of poor sinners from the slavery of Satan, whereof that captivity was a type, some of which promises do plainly express the perpetuity of that spiritual freedom which they shall enjoy. Take a taste: [See also Jer. 32:39; Ezek. 37:25-28, and 39:29.] Isaiah 35:10, "And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away." Isaiah 51:6, "Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath; for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and those who dwell therein shall die in like manner: but my salvation shall be forever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished." Isaiah 60:19-20, "The sun shall be no more your light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto you: but the Lord shall be unto you an everlasting light, and your God your glory. Your sun shall no more go down; neither shall your moon withdraw itself: for the Lord shall be your everlasting light, and the days of your mourning shall be ended." Jer. 31:11-12, "For the Lord has redeemed Jacob, and ransomed him from the hand of him that was stronger than he. Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and their soul shall be as a watered garden, and they shall not sorrow any more at all." But,
[5.] The fifth excellent property of that redemption that we have by Jesus Christ is this—namely, it is an ENRICHING redemption; it is a redemption which makes men rich in "spiritual blessings in heavenly places," Eph. 1:3. There are many choice and rare spiritual benefits which
attend on redemption, which go hand in hand with redemption: as reconciliation, remission of our sins, justification of our persons, adoption, sanctification, full glorification, Romans 5:1, and 3:24-25. We have some foretastes of it in this life. Here we have the "first-fruits of the Spirit," Romans 8:23, 30; but in the morning of the resurrection, we shall reap the whole harvest of glory. It is called, by way of eminency, the salvation of our souls, 1 Pet. 1:9. Redemption, and the noble benefits attending on it, are salvation begun; but in heaven this shall be salvation consummate. Redemption is a rich mine, containing a mass of treasure which cannot be valued. Could we dig into it, could we pry into it, we might find a variety of the choicest jewels and pearls, in comparison whereof all the riches of the Indies, all the gold of Ophir, and all the precious jewels and most orient pearls that are in the world, are no better than dross.
I have read of Tiberius the emperor, that passing by a place where he saw a cross lying in the ground upon a marble stone, and causing the stone to be dug up, he found a great treasure under the cross. But what was this treasure, but a great nothing—compared to that treasure which is wrapped up in our redemption by Christ! What the Lord said once to his anointed Cyrus, a temporal deliverer of his people, the same he has spoken, and much more, to his anointed Jesus, the greater Savior and Redeemer of his church: "I will give you the treasures of darkness, the hidden riches of secret places," Isaiah 43:3. There are "unsearchable riches" in Jesus Christ. In him are riches of grace, of all grace; in him are riches of justification, and riches of sanctification, and riches of consolation, and riches of glorification. Would you share in the best of riches, would you share in the most durable riches, would you share in soul riches, would you share in heavenly riches? Oh, then, secure your interest in the redemption that is by Jesus Christ. But,
[6.] The sixth, and last, excellent property of that redemption that we have by Jesus Christ is this—namely, it is a redemptionsweetening redemption; it is such a redemption as sweetens all other redemptions. It is redemption by Christ, which sweetens our redemption out of this trouble and that, out of this affliction and that, out of this danger and that, out of this sickness and that, out of this bondage and that.
Redemption by Christ is like that tree which Moses cast into the bitter waters of Marah, which made them sweet, Exod. 15:23. This water became sweet for the use and service of the Israelites for a time only, and remained not always sweet after, as appears by Pliny's Natural History, who makes mention of those bitter waters in his time. But the redemption that we have by Jesus Christ does forever sweeten all the bitter trials and afflictions that we meet with in this world. The Jewish doctors say that this tree was bitter, and they give us this note upon it, "that it is the manner of the blessed God to sweeten that which is bitter by that which is bitter." I shall not dispute about the truth of their notion; but this I may safely say, that it is the manner of the blessed God to sweeten our greatest troubles, and our sharpest trials, by that redemption that we have by Jesus Christ.
And thus you see the excellent properties of that redemption that Jesus Christ, by covenant or compact with his Father, was engaged to work for us. But,
(4.) The fourth proposition is this—That the blessed and glorious titles which are given to Jesus Christ, in the Holy Scriptures, do clearly and strongly evidence that there was a covenant of redemption passed between God the Father and Jesus Christ. He is called a "mediator of the covenant" of reconciliation, interceding for and procuring of it; and that not by a simple entreaty, but by giving himself over to the Father, calling for satisfaction to justice, that reconciliation might go on, for paying a compensatory price sufficient to satisfy divine justice for the elect. "There is one God, and one mediator between God and men"—namely, God incarnate—"the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all"— that is, all his elect children—"to be testified in due time," 1 Tim. 2:5-6.
Let me glance a little upon the words, "one mediator between God and men." In the Greek, it is one mediator of God and men; which may refer either to the two parties between which he deals, pleading for God to men and for men to God, or to the two natures, mediator of God, having the divine nature, and of men, having the human nature upon him. One mediator, not of redemption only, as the papists grant, but of intercession too. We need no other master of requests in heaven, but the man Christ
Jesus, who being so near us, in the matter of his incarnation, will never be strange to us in the business of intercession.
"A ransom," the Greek antilutron, is a counter-price such as we could never have paid, but must have remained and even rotted in prison, but for our all-sufficient surety and Savior. The ransom that Christ paid was a real testimony of his mediatorship between God and men, whereby he reconciled both. "The man Christ Jesus." Paul speaks this, not to exclude his divinity from this office of mediatorship, for he is "God manifested in the flesh," 1 Tim. 3:16, and "God has purchased his church by his own blood," Acts 20:28; but to show that, in his human nature, he paid the ransom for us, and that, as man, he is like unto us, Heb. 2:10; and therefore all sorts and ranks of men have a free access by faith unto him, and to his sacrifice. He is also called a Redeemer, "I know that my Redeemer lives," Job 19:25. The word redeemer in the Hebrew is very emphatic, Goel; for it signifies a kinsman, near allied unto him; one that was bone of his bone, and flesh of his flesh. [Some read the words thus, "I know that my kinsman, or he who is near to me, lives."]
Christ is of our kindred by incarnation, and redeems us by his passion. The words are an allusion to the ceremonial law, where the nearest kinsman was to take the wife and buy the land, Ruth 3:9, 12-13, and 4:45. We were Satan's by nature, but Christ our brother, our kinsman, has redeemed us by the price of his own blood, and will deliver us from hell, and bring us "to the inheritance of the saints in light," John 20:17; and therefore deserves the name of a redeemer, 1 Pet. 1:3-4; Col. 1:12. Jesus Christ is near, very near, yes, nearest of kin to us, Eph. 5:30; he is flesh of our flesh, and bone of our bone, and blood of our blood: "Forasmuch as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself took part of the same," Heb. 14.
Now it is evident, by the old law of redemption, that the nearest kinsman was under a special obligation to redeem; as you may see by comparing Ruth 3:12-13 with 4:4-5. Boaz was a kinsman, and had right to redeem; yet because there was a nearer kinsman, he would not engage himself, but upon his refusal: "If you will redeem it, redeem it; but if you will not redeem it, then tell me, that I may know; for there is none to redeem it besides you, and I am after you." Now Jesus Christ is nearest of kin to us,
and therefore, upon the strictest terms and laws of redemption, he is Goel, our Redeemer. If we consider Jesus Christ as a kinsman, a brother, we must say, that he had not only a right to redeem us; but that he was also under the highest obligation to redeem us. There is a double way of redeeming people:
(1.) By force and power: thus when Lot was taken prisoner by those four kings that came against Sodom, "Abraham armed his servants," and by force and power redeemed them, Gen. 14:14, 16. We were all Satan's prisoners, Satan's captives, but Christ our nearest kinsman, our brother, "by spoiling principalities and powers," Col. 2:15, rescues us out of that tyrant's hand.
(2.) There is a redemption by price or ransom; to redeem is to buy again, 1 Cor. 6:20, "You are bought with a price;" 7:23, "You are bought with a price." The word price is added, to intimate the excellency and dignity of the price wherewith they were bought, which was not "silver or gold; but the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish, and without spot," 1 Pet. 1:18-19. "You are bought with a price;" that is, you are dearly bought, by a price of inestimable value; but of this before.
Again, sometimes Christ is called "the surety of a better covenant." Heb. 7:22, "By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better covenant," so called from the manner of the confirmation of it—namely, by the death of Christ. Look, as Christ was our surety to God, for the discharge of our debt—the surety and debtor, in law, are reputed as one person—so he is God's surety to us, for the performance of his promises. The office of a surety being applied to Christ shows that he has so far engaged himself for us, as that he neither can, nor will, desist from his engagement. You shall as soon remove the earth, stop the sun in his course, empty the sea with a cockle-shell, make a world, and unmake yourselves—as any power on earth, or in hell, shall ever be able to hinder Christ from the performance of the office of a surety.
A perfect fulfilling of all righteousness, according to the tenor of the law, is required of man. Now Christ our surety, by a voluntary subjection of himself to the law, and by being made under the law, he has fulfilled all righteousness, Gal. 4:4; Mat. 3:15; and that he did this for us is evident by
that phrase of the apostle, Romans 5:19, "By the obedience of one shall many be made righteous." The contents of the law must be accomplished by our surety, or else we can never escape the curse of the law, Gal. 3:10, 13; there must be a translation of the law from us in our persons, unto the person of our surety, or we are undone, and that forever. Christ is the end of the law for righteousness, and has made us just by his obedience; "We are made the righteousness of God in him," Romans 10:4. Our surety became subject to the law, that he might redeem us, who were obnoxious to the law, 2 Cor. 5:21.
Again, full satisfaction for every transgression is required of man. Now Christ our surety has made satisfaction for all our sins, "he was made a curse for us," Gal. 3:13; and by that means he has redeemed us from the curse of the law. To exact a debt which is fully satisfied, is a point of injustice. Now Christ our surety having made full satisfaction for all our sins, we need not fear to stand before the face of God's justice. A debtor who has a surety that is able and willing to pay his debt, yes, who has fully paid it, need fear no charge. This title, "a surety of a better covenant," does necessarily import a blessed covenant between Jesus Christ and his dear Father, to whom he freely and readily becomes surety for us; for what is suretyship but a voluntary transferring of another's debt upon the surety, he obliging to pay the debt for which he engages as surety? Thus you see, by the blessed and glorious titles which are given to Jesus Christ in the Scriptures, that there was a covenant of redemption passed between God the Father and Jesus Christ. But,
(5.) The fifth proposition is this—That the work of our redemption and salvation, was transacted between God the Father and Jesus Christ, before the foundation of the world. This federal transaction between the Father and the Son was from eternity. Upon this account the Lord Jesus is said to be "the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world," Rev. 13:8, because it was then agreed and covenanted between God the Father and Jesus Christ, that he should, in the fullness of time, be made flesh and die for sinners; and therefore it was said to be done from the foundation of the world. [God loved his people and provided for them, and contrived all their happiness before they were, yes, before the world was.] Though Christ was not actually
slain, but when he suffered for us upon the cross, yet he was slain from the beginning, in God's purpose, in God's decrees, in God's promises, in the sacrifices, in the faith of the elect, and in the martyrs; for Abel, the first that ever died, died a martyr, he died for religion.
This compact between the Father and the Son bears date from eternity. This the apostle asserts: 2 Tim. 1:9, "Who has saved us and called us with a holy calling; not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus, before the world began." [The grace here spoken of cannot be understood of infused grace, unless we will say that it could be infused into us before either the world was, or we were in it.] Here is grace given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. But what grace was it, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began? Doubtless it was the grace of redemption, which God, in his purpose and decree, had given us in Christ Jesus, before the world began. The scripture last cited does clearly show that God the Father and Jesus Christ dealt together about the redemption of souls, before the world began; and that all our everlasting concernments were agreed on and made sure between them.
Titus 1:2 gives the same sound, "In hope of eternal life; which God, who cannot lie, promised before the world began." How was this life promised before the world began, but in this covenant of redemption, wherein God the Father promised and engaged to Jesus Christ that he would give eternal life to all his seed? So the apostle tells us, "He has chosen us in him," that is, in Christ, "before the foundation of the world." There was an eternal contrivance, compact, covenant, or agreement between God the Father and Jesus Christ, concerning the sanctification, holiness, and salvation of the elect. God agrees with Christ about the everlasting happiness of his chosen people, before the world began. [The whole business of our salvation was first transacted between the Father and Christ before it was revealed to us, John 6:27. The Apostle Peter, speaking of our redemption by the precious blood of Christ, says that Christ was foreordained, thereunto, before the foundation of the world," 1 Pet. 1:20.]
John 10:16, "And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold; them also I must bring." Why must he bring them home? how was he bound, how
was he engaged to bring home his other sheep, that he puts a must upon it? "Them also I must bring." Doubtless it was from this covenant and agreement which he had made with God the Father, wherein he had engaged himself to bring home all his elect. Christ takes a great deal of pains to bring home his sheep; being bound in the covenant of redemption, to present all who are given him by charter, blameless before the Father; therefore, says he, I bring them, and "I must bring them;" the matter not being left arbitrary, even in respect of his obligation to God the Father, Col. 1:22.
Certainly the decree, covenant, and agreement between God the Father and Jesus Christ about the whole way of redemption, about all things belonging to the salvation of the elect, to be brought about in due time, was fixed and settled before the world began. [Psalm 2:7; Acts 15:18, and 2:23; Eph. 1:9; Proverbs 8:22-32.] Ponder seriously on this, it may be a loadstone to draw out your hearts more than ever, to love the Father and the Son, and to delight in the Father and the Son, and to act faith upon the Father and the Son, and to long to be with the Father and the Son, and all your days to admire at the love of the Father and the Son—who have from eternity, by compact and agreement, secured your souls and your everlasting concernments. But,
(6.) The sixth proposition is this—That God the Father had the first and chief hand in this great work of saving sinners, by virtue of this covenant of redemption, wherein he and his Son had agreed to bring "many sons to glory." Heb. 2:10. Weak Christians many times have their thoughts and apprehensions more busied and taken up with the love of the Son, than with the love of the Father; but they must remember, that in the great and glorious work of redemption, God the Father had a great hand, an eminent hand, yes, the first and chief hand. God the Father first laid the foundation-stone of all our happiness and blessedness. His head and heart was first taken up about that heaven-born project, the salvation of sinners: Isaiah 28:16, "Therefore thus says the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner-stone, a sure foundation;" Heb., "I am he who founds a stone in Zion." It is God the Father, who has long since laid Christ as a sure foundation, for all his people to build their
hopes of happiness upon; it is he who first laid Christ, the true cornerstone, whereby Zion is forever secured against death, hell, and wrath.
Hence it is said, "The pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand," that is, God's eternal decree about the work of our redemption and salvation, shall be powerfully, faithfully, and completely executed by Jesus Christ; who, by his word and Spirit, shall communicate unto all his elect the fruit of his atoning death—to life and salvation, Romans 9:33; 1 Pet. 2:6; 53:10.
Again: Job 33:24, "Deliver him from going down into the pit, for I have found a ransom!" The Hebrew word signifies a price paid to redeem a man's life or liberty, "I have found a ransom," or an atonement, a cover for man's sin. "Angels and men could never have found a ransom, but by my deep, infinite, and unsearchable wisdom," says God the Father, "I have found a ransom! I have found out a way, a means for the redeeming of mankind, from going down to the infernal pit, namely, the death and passion of my dearest Son!" But where, O blessed God, did you find a ransom? "Not in angels, not in men, not in legal sacrifices, not in gold or silver, not in tears, humblings, and meltings of my people; but in my own bosom. That Jesus, that Son of my love, who has lain in my bosom from all eternity, John 1:18, he is that ransom, that by my own matchless wisdom and singular goodness, I have found. I have not called a council to inquire where to find a ransom, that fallen man might be preserved from falling into the fatal pit of destruction; but I have found a ransom in my own heart, my own bosom; without advising or consulting with others, I have found out a way how to save sinners without injuring my honor, justice, holiness, and truth!"
Had all the angels in heaven, from the first day of their creation, to this very day, sat in serious council—to invent, contrive, or find out a way, a means, whereby lost man might be secured against the curse of the law, hell, condemnation, and wrath to come, and whereby he might have been made happy, and blessed forever; and all this without the least wrong or harm to the justice and righteousness of God, they could never have found out any way or means to have effected those great things. Our redemption, by a ransom, is God's own invention, and God's only invention. The blessed ransom which the Lord has found out for poor
sinners, is the blood of his own dearest Son—a ransom which never entered into the thoughts or hearts of angels and men, until God had revealed it—which is called "the blood of the covenant," Heb. 10:29, because thereby the covenant is confirmed, and all covenant-mercies assured to us.
Again, "God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son," John 3:16; Hosea 14:4. This signifies the firstness of the Father's love, and the freeness of the Father's love, and the vehemency of the Father's love, and the admirableness of the Father's love, and the matchlessness of the Father's love. Oh! what kind of love is this, for God to give his Son—not his servant; his begotten Son—not his adopted Son; his only Son—and not one son of many; his only Son by eternal generation, and communication of the same essence; to be a ransom and mediator for sinners!