THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST

by
Scott Jones
 

These words were spoken by Jesus Christ to his disciples so as to clarify the meaning of a parable he had told earlier. Notwithstanding the simplicity of the Lord's words, the disciples nevertheless did not understand Jesus in the slightest. It is recorded that even his closest men "questioned one with another what the rising from the dead should mean." (Mark 9:10). It was not until ten days after the Lord's ascension, when that seminal day of Pentecost was fully come, that the Lord's words were fully comprehended by his apostles. Then - and not till then - did they truly understand Christ's words.

Wherein we may observe several particulars from the text:

We will combine these several headings for brevity's sake and then open them in Gospel order - the first last, and the last first.

First, then, behold the double-edged commandments of the Father, two individual commandments, one opposite the other, each with two blades, yea, each a double-edged commandment in its own right, namely, that Christ should die, that he should live again, and that he should accomplish both - and each individually - by his own power.

Ah! Here is a Saviour indeed! Here is a Saviour fit for the task, commended by the Father Himself, and that because of his merit. Were he a mere servant, he would have no merit, and thus he would be unqualified for the matter at hand. But he is not a servant, he is a Son, yea, the only-begotten Son, eternally begotten, from everlasting to everlasting. Although he would later humble himself and become a servant in his human nature, his divine nature nevertheless remained inviolate. And therein lies the numinous: a mere servant, even if perfect in all his ways, can offer no payment, for he has no payment to offer. A servant does what he is bound to do because it is his duty to do it, and thus there is not a shred of merit involved. None whatsoever.

Not so with the Son of God, for in the first channel of merit, the Son of God has POWER, yea, POWER to lay his life down, and POWER to take it up again. Here is merit enough and to spare, for there is no constraint here, no compulsion. This is a freewill offering sanctified by POWER, thereby increasing the value of the sacrifice offered, because offered freely, and thus brimming with merit. Yea, this is a double merit, for this power is a double power, and necessarily so, for this power of the Son of God must needs perform a double duty, for the Son of God must engage two parties at once with this power - God and men - and not only so, but in this precarious engagement, this power must lay hold of each party securely, yea, unfailingly, and thus this power of the Son of God runs in two veins -

First, he has innate power by virtue of his hypostatic union in the Godhead, and therefore this power flows through him by means of his divine nature. But he also has another vein of power, a vein which is peculiar to his human nature, and which is distinct by imputation from that innate power that accrues to him by virtue of his divine nature, for this power in his human nature came by way of means. That is, he received this power in his human nature by way of commandment, not by right of divine title, and therefore he is justly called the Son of God and the Son of Man at once and together, and this inheres primarily by virtue of his two-edged power, for the kingdom of God is first and foremost a kingdom of POWER, as it is written - "For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in POWER." 1 Corinthians 4:20

No attribute is safe if power is wanting. When God manifests his love, which is his being, he manifests it by his power. Likewise, when God inflicts his wrath, it is once again effected by his power. When God moves on his elect to save them by regeneration, by making them a new creature in Christ Jesus, he does so by his power, and not only so, but power (an experiential power) is the very thing that God gives to all he regenerates so that they can become the sons of God (John 1:12). In short, there is nothing that God does apart from his power, which is what the Holy Ghost declared when he revealed that God, through his Christ, upholds "all things by the word of his power." Hebrews 1:3

Thus constituted, so he reigns. That is, Jesus Christ reigns in both offices as the Son of God and the Son of Man principally by virtue of his double yet undivided power - mark it - a double power but nevertheless an undivided power, because consolidated in ONE CHRIST - "Christ the POWER of God" 1 Corinthians 1:24 - yea, in actual fact a two-edged power, a power that "turns not" and yet can cut both left and right, a power which is actuated in one Christ, yet distributable through his divine and human natures as he wills -

"And declared to be the SON OF GOD WITH POWER, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead." Romans 1:4
"And they shall see the SON OF MAN coming in the clouds of heaven WITH POWER and great glory." Matthew 24:30

Only the true Son of God can produce the birthright. All imposters will have Esau for their companion. Ergo, the true Son of God must be as holy as God, must be able to match God's own holiness stroke for stroke, for as the true Son of God is consubstantial, and as God is infinite both in his being and his holiness, so must the true Son of God be, and thus if he cannot manifest a consubstantial holiness, a consubstantial holiness that runs to infinity, he cannot claim the birthright.

Jesus Christ, even under the burden of flesh, yet demonstrated himself to be the true Son of God by his exceedingly wondrous spirit of holiness - oh! what incomparable power for him to maintain this holiness in the tabernacle of his flesh, even though assaulted from every side, and from above and below as well, oh what a wonder and a power!!! - yea, and without this holiness, without a holiness equal to God's own holiness, that is, without an infinite holiness, the resurrection from the dead would have been impossible.

But here stands the true Son of God, even the Lord Jesus Christ, validated by his resurrection from the dead, according to the spirit of holiness - yea, "the firstborn from the dead" Colossians 1:18 - a holiness and a resurrection that revealed him to be the true Son of God, revealed him to be the very centerpiece of the Godhead itself - hypostatically joined and hypostatically inseparable - revealed him to be the very locus by which the Godhead communicates itself to creation, yea, revealed him to be the very Son of God in truth, both to men and angels alike, for even the angels found, and still do find, the act of redemption - an act in which they are not essentially concerned, as is the nature of man, but nevertheless an act by which they have greatly benefited (to the enormous surprise of both themselves and devils alike, aye, an act which brought additional and utterly unexpected everlasting benefit to the elect angels, and an act which simultaneously brought additional and utterly unexpected everlasting torment to the devils, greatly amazing them both - but more of this anon) - yea, even the angels found, and still do find, the act of redemption as accomplished in Jesus Christ to be a mighty mystery indeed, and thus according to the spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead Jesus Christ revealed himself to be the true Son of God to both men and angels alike, and thereby to be declared, openly declared, in full view of heaven and earth and hell - "THE SON OF GOD WITH POWER" - a declaration which signifies nothing less than GOD AND MAN IN ONE ESSENTIAL PERSON - yea, the very fulness of the Godhead dwelling in him bodily, thereby unveiling the very mystery of godliness itself, which is again nothing less than the fact that "GOD WAS MANIFEST IN THE FLESH..." 1 Timothy 3:16

Thus Jesus Christ was declared to be the Son of God with POWER.

As was the case with the true Son of God, so with the true Son of Man. Like the true Son of God, only the true Son of Man can produce the birthright - albeit, if you have one, you have the other, for the two are the same essentially in one Person, which is why he is revealed as the seed of David immediately antecedent to his divine title - "Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead." Romans 1:3-4

Although there are varieties of manifestation, the Son of God and the Son of Man can nevertheless be separated only by distinction of title, not in essence of being, for it is written - "I am the Lord, I change not." Malachi 3:6

In short, the Son of God and the Son of Man coalesce in the same Person, even ONE CHRIST, and just as Jesus Christ demonstrated himself to be the Son of God according to the spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead, so he demonstrated himself to be the Son of Man according to like means, although in different manifestations of power, and while the manifestations are many, there are principally but two, under which all the others can be comprehended - first, he demonstrated himself to be the true Son of Man by showing himself in very substance to be the Son of God, for only the true Son of Man can be the true Son of God, thus mandating his hypostatical union in ONE CHRIST, both in his two natures, yet each nature distinct, and in his unbroken and uninterrupted hypostatical union in the Godhead - "even the Son of Man WHICH IS IN HEAVEN" John 3:13 - and secondly, he demonstrated himself to be the true Son of Man by his obedience unto death, yea, even the death of the cross, whereby - and herein is the ultimate proof - whereby he was judged by the Father for the sin of the world, according as it is written - "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." 2 Corinthians 5:21

Aye, the very judgment of the Father descending wholly upon Jesus Christ testified that Jesus Christ was the true Son of Man, for it was the only begotten Son - and him only - that the Father purposed to punish as a substitute for man's sin. Even had someone managed to impersonate the Son of Man all the way to the cross, and even to be lifted up in concordance with all the prophecies, it is nevertheless just here that his impersonation would unravel, for the Father - who can be deceived by no one - would not inflict judgment for the sin of the world upon an imposter. That judgment was reserved for the Lamb of God - the true Lamb of God. Aye, the judgment of the Father for the sin of the world could fall upon no one but the only begotten Son. Thus, the very judgment of the Father against Jesus Christ was the Father's own testimony that Jesus Christ was the true Son of Man.

And so in spite of the manifold heresies that have plagued every age, including this one, whereby in one form or another, either explicitly - as in the early ages of the church, or implicitly and subtly - as in our present age, whereby apostates have attempted to separate the historical Jesus from either the Son of God or the Son of Man, or both, yea, in spite of this, Jesus Christ nevertheless demonstrated himself to be the true Son of God and the true Son of Man, not divided, but undivided, yea, ONE CHRIST, both the Son of God and the Son of Man simultaneously, a divine nature and a human nature in ONE CHRIST, very God and very man - that is, GOD manifest in flesh, the very mystery of godliness - or as the Westminster Confession accurately puts it - one person without conversion, composition, or confusion - yea, ONE CHRIST existing as the second member of the Godhead from eternity, even from everlasting to everlasting, as the scripture testifies - "But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, FROM EVERLASTING." Micah 5:2

Hereupon was drawn the very blueprint of redemption itself, covenanted between Father and Son in eternity before the world was, namely - the true Son of God must reach down from heaven and lay hold on man, yea, and the true Son of Man must likewise reach up to heaven and lay hold on God. Upon these two pillars the entire edifice of redemption rested, its integrity maintained by nothing less than nail-scarred hands fastened to the horns of the altar in heaven and royal hands simultaneously wielding the sceptre of Judah on earth - the man Christ Jesus in the middle - lifted up, one hand on the throne, one hand on the footstool. Break either grip, redemption itself is undone. Sever the connection on either end, and the whole structure collapses into Tophet. Force the Son of God to let go of man, redemption fails. Force the Son of Man to let go of God, redemption likewise fails. This union, which began in the bosom of God before the world was, must not be broken, as even the Lord Jesus himself testified, "And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man WHICH IS IN HEAVEN." John 3:13

Here is the foundation, not only of all true spiritual warfare, but the foundation of very redemption itself. Cause the Son of Man to fall from heaven for one moment only - by sin, by premature death, even by merely the slightest diminution of his holiness, or a thousand other ways - yea, cause the Son of Man to fall from heaven for one moment only, not just redemption, but the Godhead itself dissolves into anarchy.

Aye, but let all the saints shout Hosanna in the highest, for it was not the Son of Man that fell from heaven; in no wise. Rather, it was the angel of darkness and his own malignant collaborators, who said, "we will not have this man to reign over us " - yea, who disdained the Son of Man from the very beginning, and who, like their human counterparts that would later follow, "saw no form nor comeliness" in the glorious Son of Man in heaven, for his glory was veiled and hidden from them from the very beginning, yea, until in the fulness of time God made the mystery of his only begotten Son known, at which time the wisdom of God, which is Jesus Christ Himself, caused his glory to explode into view by the manifestation of his POWER, yea, even the POWER of his RESURRECTION!

Aye, it wasn't the very glory of God, which is the Son of Man, that fell from heaven; rather, it was the angel of darkness and his own malevolent conspirators that fell from heaven, every one of them that disdained the Son of Man from the beginning, and who have no excuse, for the elect angels did not disdain the Son of Man, even though his glory was hidden from them as well, yea, the elect angels kept their first estate, for the grace of God within them spoke of more glorious things to come. Indeed, it was not the glorious Son of Man that fell from heaven, but Satan, the very angel of darkness, who was a liar and a murderer from the beginning, who was consumed by his own beauty, who was filled with violence by the multitude of his merchandise, and within whom there is no truth at all. Thus, let all the saints shout Hosanna in the highest, for the Son of Man was ever faithful, and it was not he who fell from heaven - at no time - rather, it was that profane cherub who fell from heaven, even Satan who "as lightning fell from heaven." Luke 10:18

And it is Satan who continues this day to fall from heaven under the persevering prayer of the regenerate, even those who live by the faith of the Son of God, and who thus take the kingdom of heaven by force, by pulling down strongholds and casting down imaginations, who come boldly unto the throne of grace, and who intercede by the POWER of the Holy Ghost both for and against that which the Mighty Father decrees, yea, who intercede for the kingdom of Jesus Christ by the POWER of the Spirit of Christ, and who intercede against the kingdom of darkness by the same POWER of the Spirit of Christ, and who thus prevail solely by the unbroken POWER of their Federal Head, EVEN THE SON OF MAN WHICH IS IN HEAVEN.

Consequently, redemption - in the hands of the Son of Man - was kept always safe, yea, always and at all times, for he had POWER - POWER to lay his life down, and POWER to take it up again, and that by commandment, yea, even the commandment of the Father, "who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will." Ephesians 1:11

Yet, even the POWER of the Son of God was not meritorious in and of itself. Rather, it was the instrument of merit, and in fact, was imbued with merit by its object. Yea, it was that which the power acted upon that sanctified the whole. The Son of God had POWER indeed - POWER to lay down, and POWER to take up again, but that upon which the power acted was the very cornerstone of it all, and that upon which the power of the Son of God acted was nothing less than his LIFE! "I LAY DOWN MY LIFE... I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again."

O Unspeakable grace!

In this manner was the power of God - who was willing "to make his power known" - magnified beyond all conception. No creature - not the wisest seraph or the most cunning devil - could have ever conceived of such a glorious way for God to reveal his power.

Set the case, whereby a pebble is offered you, and you are told that you are hereby given power to lay this pebble down, and power to take this pebble up again. Perform this act as often as you will, no rational being will be too impressed with your power. However, set the case again, whereby this time you are offered a massive boulder, and you are told once more that you are hereby given power, only this time you are given power to lay this boulder down, and power to take this boulder up again. I say, perform this act by your own inherent power even once, and your power will be impressive indeed, for that which makes your power impressive, is the very object upon which your power is exerted. The greater the object, the greater must be the power, and the greater the power, the greater the manifestation of the worth of the very object that caused the power to be exerted in the first place.

It took a greater power to make the Son of God live again after laying down his LIFE than it did to make the worlds, for the Son's LIFE is so much greater than the worlds that a string of worlds stretching out to infinity would be as a drop in the bucket compared to the LIFE of the Son of God, who is himself the very Author of LIFE. Yea, it took a far greater power for the Son of God to live again after laying down his LIFE, and yet it is a power (O grace upon grace!) which every regenerate Christian has experienced in the new birth.

Poets and philosophers from time immemorial have styled the greatest conflict that ever took place as that conflict which occurred between God and the devil, or between good and evil, or between light and dark, or between virtue and license, and so forth. Christian philosophers - a veritable oxymoron - have asserted that the greatest conflict that ever took place was between Christ and Satan, or that the greatest of all conflicts is yet to be, that it will yet take place between Christ and Satan in that final great conflagration.

They are all wrong.

The greatest conflict that ever took place, or ever will take place, was that conflict that erupted between Father and Son. The greatest battle in all of eternity took place on the cross of Jesus Christ when the Father poured out his wrath without mixture upon his only begotten Son. This was - and will ever be - the mightiest conflagration in eternity, swallowing all other conflagrations of whatever nature whole, and the full intensity of it cannot be comprehended by mere creatures. We can only get a glimpse, and yet that glimpse carries enough firepower to destroy this world and ten thousand like it in a moment of time.

Behold then the POWER of the Son of the Living God -

The wrath of the Father descends in billowing waves of thunder upon that which has now been pronounced a curse, pounding the soul and the conscience with unabated fury, thunderclap after thunderclap, rolling in incessantly one after another without the slightest interval between waves, pouring into the soul as if the floodgates were off their hinges, stabbing the conscience as many times in a moment as there are stars in the heavens. The Almighty has arisen in his holiness and his wrath to dispense judgment, his sword is bathed in heaven, his eye shall not spare, neither shall he pity. He unleashes his torrents of wrath not virtually, but substantially, historically, both in time and space, and judiciously upon the very object of his fury. He does not turn aside to the right hand or the left. He has wrapped himself in garments of vengeance, he bares his arm to smite, and his eye is single, fixed upon a lone, abandoned, solitary Jesus. He will not moderate, he will not relent, he will not cease - not a jot nor a tittle - until his fury is abated and his justice is vindicated, for he himself is just.

The battered, broken, depleted body of Jesus should already be dead, having been severely beaten and copious amounts of blood lost, but the power of death is not in the body, it is in the man, the man Christ Jesus, who has sovereign control over his own death, and just as the Father will not relent, neither will the Son, for he is faithful. He no doubt longs for death, his body racked with torture and his soul undergoing an onslaught of unbridled wrath, but he will not die defeated. He will not quit the field of battle prematurely. He will not accept the anesthetic offered him. He will not revile his savage mockers. He will not disown his Father, though presently deserted by same. He will not call twelve legions of angels, who must obey him if he hails them as a Sovereign. He will not rebuff the thief, though himself presently rebuffed and in torment by the wrath of an angry God who has arisen in his jealousy to wreak desolation upon this sacrifice for sin.

The guilt of a single sin, if unrestrained, is enough to crush the stoutest of men once conscience is fully awakened. Nevertheless, a great portion of men go to the grave without ever having conscience truly awakened. Certainly, they may have felt guilty many times about various matters, may have even experienced great guilt, severe guilt, but alas, they have never known that particular guilt that can only come when the Spirit of God enlightens them and shines his pure light upon their fallen nature and shows them what and who they truly are, and what it is that they have inherited from Adam, and so the greater part of men go to their grave without ever knowing the true guilt of their sin. Aye, but once death closes about them and their soul departs the body, and is spirited away and deposited next to Dives, the conscience is suddenly set aflame, and every sin that was ever committed barges through the door and comes home to roost, yea, their sin finds them out, and shows them how vast and how deep and how wicked their transgression against an infinitely holy God has been, especially those who possessed the Gospel, yet remained unregenerate, and thus their now awakened conscience is so fully awakened and so profoundly sensitive that it has become insatiable, and with a vitality that would have been inconceivable to them before. But now, yea, now their newly awakened conscience has become that roaring lion, devouring them, the flesh of their conscience, as it were, ever fresh, and every moment freshly devoured by that roaring lion, ever assaulting their newly vitalized conscience with unending torture, for its worm dieth not, and its fire is not quenched. 

The Son of God not only bore the sin of the world, but its guilt, too. The judgment upon him is not virtual; it is real, it is palpable, it is tangible. And it is unabridged. He will drink this bitter cup down to the last bitter drop, and while he has the right to exercise his divine power at any moment, yet he will not lay down his life until this cup is dry, for verily he is faithful. The guilt of every sin - thousands of thousands and myriads of myriads of sins, from Adam to the end of the world - stabs at his conscience, showers and showers of sin without letup, and the guilt is unrestrained, unmitigated, for the Avenger of Sinai is upon him, and he is girded for battle.

Yea, though he made the Law, the Son of God is now under the full force of its penalties, for he has been pronounced guilty, aye, but not for himself, for he is in himself holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, though now standing in the sinner's stead. He is the sinner's surety, not of compulsion, but of his own free will, and he knows that he is the only person qualified for the task, for he has assumed the nature of a man, lived as man, subjected himself to the rule of the very Law he made, and he has proven to be as holy and as righteous and as skillful in the intricacies of that Law as the Law itself, for he has never once departed from its precepts. Yea, he has not broken the Law himself, not a jot nor a tittle; he has fulfilled the Law, every particle of it, not just externally, but internally, too, and therefore he owes the Law nothing, he is not a debtor to the Law, nor is he a debtor to sin, for he alone of men has lived above them both. But the Law has been broken, and it demands payment, for the Law is intractable, the Law is merciless, it is graceless, it has no compassion, it must be satisfied, and there is only one person who is fit for the task, and thus it is this Law that the Father is now prosecuting against his only begotten Son.

The prosecution of this Law against the Son of God is utterly without pity, without restraint, without repentance, without mercy. The Law will not be appeased and it will not spare until the full measure of its transgression is remitted, for the Father is also faithful. Aye, in that eternal covenant, Father and Son and Spirit struck hands, and agreed upon redemption, and to swerve one degree from that eternal pledge would be an unspeakable breach of faith, not to mention a denial of the very Godhead itself, for God is holy and righteous and true. God is not conducting a sham judgment. He is pouring out his wrath as fiercely and as mightily as if his only begotten Son were his arch enemy, aye, and the arch enemy himself is witnessing it, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, along with his host of wicked spirits, all of whom are banking on God aborting his own Law, or lessening the punishment against his Son, so that it is not equivocal, for that will set them free. So are the elect angels watching, and with awe, for redemption itself is still a great mystery outside the Godhead. Nevertheless, the glory of God is now revealed as never before, and the elect angels, who are ravished by the glory of God, are positively thunderstruck by the glory that is now being manifested in the Son of God on the cross, as the fifth chapter of Revelation so majestically discloses.

The cross of Jesus Christ is a cross of divine judgment, and divine judgment is altogether different than any other kind. No creature, whether angel or man, yea, whether all the angels and all the men together, could be equal to this task - even had they been sinless - for the wrath inflicted comes from an infinite being, and only an infinite being can withstand it. Aye, every facet of this judgment contains an infinite quality, because the offence was committed against an infinite Creator, and therefore the payment must be commensurate. The Father, who as the first Person in the Godhead holds the rights to the Godhead, offered up the most valuable treasure he had, yea, a ransom which came from his very own bosom, which had been lodged in his bosom for all eternity, and who was daily his delight, even his only begotten Son, for the Father would not only redeem man, and that explicitly for his Son, but he would also see to it that his only begotten Son, as a reward for the travail of his soul, would be exalted beyond measure in the eyes of all creation. And thus the Father will not relent until the Law is paid off and judgment is done, because it is written, "Righteous art thou, O LORD, and upright are thy judgments." Psalm 119:37

The Son of God is accordingly suspended in a maelstrom of divine wrath. "Therefore he hath poured upon him the fury of his anger, and the strength of battle: and it hath set him on fire round about, yet he knew not; and it burned him, yet he laid it not to heart." Isaiah 42:25

Still, he endures. The wrath of God, incited by the Law, caroms through his soul, accusing, smiting, avenging. The wrath is not human, it is divine. It has divine intensity, divine fury, and it does not recede. It is merciless, for that is the nature of the Law, once abrogated. The full force of this wrath pounds his soul, hammering him relentlessly from every direction, and just as in a violent typhoon, when the wind and the rain are savaging the land, appearing to be so savage that things cannot possibly get any worse, yet suddenly there sweeps in a gale force of such magnitude that it buckles the very horizon and slams down so fiercely it seems to shake the earth to its very foundations, so must it have been in the soul of the Son of God as he bore our sins in his own body on the tree, for what else could make the Son of the Living God cry, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" Matthew 27:46

The Law searches out every corner of his soul, yet it cannot rest, it cannot alight, for it cannot penetrate, yea, it cannot penetrate to the core, for it cannot pierce the innate holiness of the Son of God. The Law traverses his entire being, gobbling up every sin in its path, demanding the strictest judgment for each one it encounters, and inflicting the corresponding wrath, yet every sin it finds is imputed sin; it cannot find inherent sin, nor can it find earned sin. It digs, it probes, it threatens with Sinai's thunder, but it comes up empty on every pass, it can find no hook by which to anchor itself; yea, it pings the depths as it seeks out inherent or earned sin in the soul of the Son of God, but every echo comes back HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD. And finally, after six hours, it departs, for the Law has not only done all it can do, but it has been paid in full. The debt is discharged, and the Law now has no more claim. "When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, IT IS FINISHED: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost." John 19:30

The Son of God descends into hell and conquers it, leaving with the keys. He rises from the dead bodily, for it was not possible for death to hold him; even death must give way to his spirit of holiness. He lassoes captivity and makes it his prisoner when he ascends up on high, yea, even to the highest heaven, and to the highest point in heaven, even above the stars of God, and above the heights of the clouds, where Satan deigned to go, but could not, where the Father sits. Father and Son are reunited as the Son takes his rightful place on the throne.

The elect angels are consumed with marvel and wonder, for now, for the first time, the Son of God is very greatly resplendent in his glory before them, and the act of redemption has been opened so that it can be understood, albeit there is still a great deal of mystery to it, which is why the angels are constantly prying into it, to discover more of its mystery, it is so wondrous. (1 Peter 1:12) Perhaps the wonder of wonders, though, for the angels, is the fact that this redemption reaches even unto them. True, the Son of God did not take on the nature of angels; he took on the nature of man, and it is man that is essentially benefited. However, the angels are not left out altogether.

Prior to the time that God was manifest in the flesh, the angels had as their head only God as he existed in the Trinity. Now - O grace! - now the angels are gathered together with the saints under the mighty, loving arm of Jesus, so that Jesus, the God-Man in his glorified body, has become their head, for now that he is ascended up on high, he is the ruler of all principality and power. And whereas before they beheld God's glory only in the Trinity, now they may behold the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, which is a far greater manifestation of the glory of God than ever was, or ever will be. Jesus Christ is the great mystery of all time, of all eternity. His riches are unsearchable. The entire Godhead is comprehended in him, somehow infused, but not in the least diminished, so that the creatures may behold the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ as he exists in his glorified body. Moreover, the angels now see how their obedience and services have paid off throughout all these centuries, for while they have been ever faithful, and would certainly continue to be, nevertheless, the glory that Jesus Christ has brought about through redemption has elevated all their obedience and services to limitless heights, far above anything that went before, thus exalting them to a far greater glory than that which they enjoyed in the beginning. And there are many more benefits to the angels that flow from the springs of redemption, which they will enjoy from everlasting to everlasting.

But it was not angels that the Son of God debased himself to deliver, as it is written - "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 that had the power of death, that is, the devil; And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham. Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people." Hebrews 2:14-17

However, Reader, all that Jesus won and accomplished for his people will do you not one whit of eternal good unless you be united to Jesus by regeneration. Tis true that I have of necessity been excruciatingly brief on each of the above points, for I suppose it would take volumes upon volumes to scratch even the surface of each these exalted topics; nevertheless, I am certain that there is enough grace and glory in the little that has been offered to ravish the heart of the highest angel, as well as that of any man who is indwelt by the Spirit of God, who is a new creature by means of regeneration.

Furthermore, there is nothing in what has thus far been offered that any common Christian born of the Spirit cannot discover for himself in the Word of God, as a host of scriptures could be produced for every step along the way, and the Holy Ghost pours illumination into each word of the Bible for those he indwells. Yet, the scriptures are too plain for most people, thus reflecting all too often that besotted fruit of blinding or judicial hardening.

While the scriptures are positively overflowing with warnings about how few people are going to be saved, Jesus himself put it as plainly as it can be put - "Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." Matthew 7:14, and again, "For many are called but few are chosen." Matthew 22:14, as well as others.

And as Richard Baxter so eloquently noted, the reprobate will vehemently contend with such plain speaking, but the wise man will take Jesus at his word and thus go about making sure he is one of the few. Which will you do, Reader?

Human wisdom, which is nothing but sinful wisdom, cannot possibly understand how a loving God could save so few. Ah, but the wisdom of God says otherwise, for the wisdom of God, which will appear incomparably just to every creature in the day of judgment, has so ordered things that the glory of God will manifest itself to be infinitely greater when the few are saved as opposed to the many. The judgment seat of Jesus Christ will discover it all in that day, even as the Spirit discovers these truths now, at least in part, to those he indwells.

On that day, a loving look from the Son of God will be worth more than ten thousand worlds with all their riches, for only the redeemed will receive such a look. If you will not believe me, perhaps you will believe these men, everyone of whom could have held his own with the Apostles -

John Bunyan stated in his day that there were scarcely one out of a hundred members of the clergy that were truly born again. That number could be multiplied ten-fold today and still be a gross understatement. Search the corridors of professing Christendom today, search high and low, and yet the case will be rare indeed that you find a truly born again believer occupying the pulpit on Sunday. Extremely rare. Don't look to today's pulpit for guidance, for they are, for the most part, blind leaders of the blind. Moreover, you are going to have to close with Jesus Christ himself if you intend to go to heaven, and no man - not even a regenerate man - can do that for you.

Would you be born again? Would you have your sins washed away by the blood of Jesus Christ? Would you experience eternal life - not sometime in the future - but now? Would you experience the power of the resurrection of Jesus Christ - not later, but today? Would you have absolute, utter, irrevocable assurance that you will spend eternity in the bosom of Abraham with all the angels and saints, in the very presence of the Father, and his only begotten Son, and the eternal Spirit?

The man who gets saved is satisfied with nothing less. The man who gets saved must not only have his sins forgiven, but he must KNOW that his sins are forgiven, and it takes more than one witness to give that assurance. The Word of God alone is not sufficient. The Word of God apart from the quickening of the Holy Spirit is of no value to you in the way of salvation. You must be born again, and that is accomplished by the Spirit of God, not by the will of man, or the will of the flesh, or the right of natural birth.

Biblical faith produces biblical experience. If there is no biblical experience, there is no biblical faith. There is only false faith, counterfeit faith, dead faith, mental faith - none of which is in the slightest degree efficacious. The degree to which the definition of faith has been perverted in our day is astounding. Faith is not a mental affirmation; faith is not a decision; faith is not willing yourself to believe - all of this is mere will worship.

True faith - biblical faith - is supernatural, and it is a gift, given by the Holy Spirit. Until the Holy Spirit enters the picture, there is no such thing as biblical faith. Not in the slightest.

Furthermore, the Holy Spirit doesn't enter the spirit of a man covertly -

It is FEW that get saved, Reader. Will you be one of those few?

Reader, there is one Person only who can give you eternal life, and make you know - infallibly know - that you are saved. I direct your attention to him, for he and he alone can save you -

Aye, as the Son of God had POWER to lay his own life down, and POWER to take his own life up again, then be persuaded that he also has POWER evermore to do the same for you, yea, Jesus Christ has POWER to make you a new creature, no matter how deep and dark your sins, and that in a moment of time!

Farewell.