312

After His Ascension.

[Ess. x. sages, it must, I think, be confessed, by all who acknowledge the divine authority of the Old Testament, that the great person whose character and circumstances are thus unfolded is he whom, from the tenor and language of these very prophecies, the Hebrews have so long been accustomed to denominate the Messiah. Now, the Christian, who is thus far accompanied by the Jew, is of course prepared to advance a step farther, and to allow that the Anointed King of Israel, of whom the prophets have so explicitly testified, is no other than Jesus Christ, the head of his own church -"the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords," Rev. xix, 16; and in this conclusion he is amply confirmed, not only by that internal evidence which so powerfully bespeaks for these predictions an evangelical interpretation, but by the direct application of many of them to our Saviour, in the inspired volume of the New Testament: see Matt. xxi, 5; xxii, 44; Acts xiii, 33, 34; Heb. i, 5, 8, 9, 13; Rev. ii, 27, &c.; comp. Luke i, 30–33.

If, then, it be admitted that Jesus Christ is the true subject of all these descriptions, the inquiry immediately suggests itself, to what period of his recorded history they are more especially to be understood as applying; and the answer to this inquiry I conceive to be very plain. Although the Word, or Son of the Father, was the spiritual king of Israel before his incarnation, and although his divine authority over his people was sometimes exerted even during his abode on earth, yet, on a general view of the annals of evangelical truth, we can scarcely fail to perceive, that the precise application of these glowing predictions is to that part of the history of the Son of God which commenced with his ascension,-which still continues, -and which, as far as relates to the mediatorial economy, (and so far only) is represented as terminating in the great day of final and universal retribution.

Ess. x.]

Jesus Christ in his Reign

313

After the Lord Jesus had conversed with his disciples, for many days, subsequently to his resurrection, "he was taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight:" Acts i, 9. Then it was, as we learn from other passages of Holy Writ, that he entered into glory unsearchable and eternal. The "everlasting doors" of heaven were opened to receive their "King." Having triumphed over all his spiritual enemies, and trodden on the serpent's head, the Son of God resumed his station "far above all heavens, that he might fill all things:" Eph. iv, 10. "Being the brightness of (the Father's) glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had, by himself, purged our sins, (he) sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on High:" Heb. i, 3. Then did the Father highly exalt him, and give him " a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess, that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father:" Phil. ii, 9—11.

These and other passages in the writings of the evangelists and apostles, descriptive of the power and exaltation of the Messiah, admit of a close comparison with the prophecies already cited; and thus are we placed in possession of the corresponding testimony of the two constituent parts of the Bible to the same branch of Divine Truth-to the same part of the revealed history of the Son of God. Although, therefore, the accomplishment of these prophecies respecting the universal and unbounded reign of Jesus is to be regarded as progressive, and may be very far at present from its full completion, yet the commencement of that accomplishment is obviously to be fixed at the glorious period when he quitted the sphere of

P

314

Is Mediator between God and Man; [Ess. x,

his personal humiliation,—when he "ascended up on high" and "led captivity captive."

Having premised these observations respecting the part of our Lord s history to which the predictions cited above are most properly applicable, we may proceed to examine the information which may be derived from the scriptural descriptions of the Messiah's reign in glory respecting the nature and character of the Messiah himself; and this examination will be the more interesting, because it relates to a period still continuing; and will therefore be the means of instructing us in what point of view we are ourselves to regard the Saviour of Mankind, and what are the dispositions and duties towards himself, which he is actually now requiring at our hands.

In the first place, then, I would observe, that the Messiah, in his reign, as well as in the preceding divisions of his history, is declared in Scripture to be the Mediator between God and Man. As God has redeemed, so he also governs, the world, through Jesus Christ; and, in this respect, as well as in many others, Christ is the Way through whom alone we are brought near to God: John xiv, 6. All things in the Christian dispensation are described as being from, or of, and unto, the Father, and by, through, or in, the Son, "For, though there be that are called gods," says the apostle Paul," whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be gods many, and lords many) but to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in (or unto) him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him :" 1 Cor. viii, 5, 6. And, "in the dispensation of the fulness of times," the Father will "gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are in earth, even in him:" Eph. i, 10; comp. iv, 4-6.

8 εἰς αὐτὸν,

and is subject to the Father,

315

Ess. x.] Now, Christ, the Mediator between God and man, is to be regarded as bearing the office, and as acting in the capacity, of a viceroy. The dominion which he exercises over the creatures of God is committed to him. The Father has highly exalted him, has given him a name above every name, Phil. ii, 9; has put all things under his feet, Eph. i, 22; has bestowed upon him those gifts and graces which Jesus is himself described as shedding forth upon mankind: Ps. lxviii, 18; Acts ii, 33. And, as Christ has thus received his kingdom, and all the powers by which he conducts it, at the hands of the Father, so also to him he is subject—to him he belongs. The Father is frequently represented as the God of our Lord Jesus Christ: Eph. i, 17; 1 Pet. i, 3. Jesus himself, in the Revelation, calls him "My God:" iii, 12. "The head of every man is Christ....and the head of Christ is God:" 1 Cor. xi, 3. "Ye are Christ's," says the apostle to his converts," and Christ is God's:" 1 Cor. iii, 23.

These and other statements respecting the subjection of Christ, even during his reign in glory, to the Father who sent him, and from whom his kingdom was received, are rendered perfectly intelligible by the unquestionable fact, that our Saviour not only lived and died, but rose from the dead and ascended into heaven, a man. If we admit that Jesus of Nazareth was endued with a human soul, (and where is the unsophisticated reader of the four Gospels who will question the fact?) we must also admit, on principles already recognized, that, after he had expired on the cross, his soul continued to exist; and, continuing to exist, that soul was presently reunited to his body, which was raised on earth and glorified in heaven: Luke xxiv, 31–53; Acts i, 9—11; 1 Cor. xv, 44— 49; Phil. iii, 21; Rev. i, 5, 7, 13, &c. "There is one God, and one Mediator between God and men,

316

Because He is Man.

[Ess. x. the man Christ Jesus, 1 Tim. ii, 5; and this man Christ Jesus, the Son of Mary the rod out of the stem of Jesse,"was dead and is alive:" Rev. ii, 8. He is the "first-born from the dead," Col. i, 18; the "first-born among many brethren," Rom. viii, 29; "the first fruits of them that slept," 1 Cor. xv, 20; "the Captain of our salvation” made “perfect through sufferings:" Heb. ii, 10. Herein, therefore, the children of God, who are led by his Spirit, may rejoice with unspeakable joy, even that Christ is "not ashamed to call them brethren," Heb. ii, 11; that they are "heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ," Rom. viii, 17; and finally, that they have a merciful and faithful High Priest, who is "touched with the feeling of their infirmities," and who, having himself, "suffered being tempted," is able to "succour them that are tempted:" Heb. ii, 18; iv, 15.

But, while we acknowledge that Jesus, in his reign, is still clothed with the human nature, and that he is therefore in all things subject to God the Father, "of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named," yet, on the other hand, from a variety of particulars recorded in Scripture, in connexion with this glorious division of his revealed history, it will by no means be difficult to prove that Christ, the head of the Church and the Lord of all things, is also GOD. The analogy of divine truth, and the comparison of Scripture with Scripture, will be found, I believe, very plainly to evince, that no one can possess the authority, exercise the powers, or rightly receive the honours, which are severally attributed to Christ in his reign, who does not himself participate in the nature and essence of the Supreme Being.

I shall now proceed to unfold these evidences of the deity of Christ our King, in the order which, after due consideration, I deem to be the clearest.