Produced by Carl D. DuBois
THE
WORK OF CHRIST
PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE
BY
A. C. GAEBELEIN
Editor of "Our Hope"
Price 50 Cents Postpaid
PUBLICATION OFFICE "OUR HOPE"
456 FOURTH AVENUE
NEW YORK CITY
PICKERING & INGLIS
GLASGOW, SCOTLAND
COPYRIGHT, A. C. GAEBELEIN, 1913
Printed by
FRANCIS EMORY FITCH, INC.
47 Broad Street
New York
CONTENTS
The Work of Christ......
His Past Work...........
His Present Work........
His Future Work.........
THE WORK OF CHRIST
THE Word of God reveals, that all things were created by and for the Son
of God. "All things were made by Him and without Him was not anything
made that was made" (John i:3). "For by Him were all things created that
are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether
they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things
were created by Him and for Him" (Col. i:16). When this perfect creation
was ruined by the entrance of sin, when man fell and all creation on
account of that fall was brought into the bondage of corruption, the
work of redemption became a necessity. No creature of God was fitted or
fit to do this. Only the Son of God, the Creator Himself, could
undertake this mighty work and accomplish it to the Praise and Glory of
God. To do this great work, He had to appear on this earth in the form
of man.
A Threefold Aspect.
This work of the Son of God has a threefold aspect. It is a past work, a
present work, and beyond the present, there is His future work. His work
and service will terminate when He delivers up the kingdom, so that God
will be all in all (1 Cor. xv:24-28). This threefold aspect of His work
corresponds to His threefold office as Prophet, Priest and King. It has
a special meaning for the church. In Ephesians v:25-27, we read of this.
He loved the church and gave Himself for it; this is His past work.
Since then He is sanctifying the church by the washing of water by the
Word, and in the future He will present it to Himself, a glorious
church. In virtue of this threefold work of our Lord, believers are
saved, are being saved, and will be saved. This threefold work has also
a significance for the people Israel. When He came and went to the
cross, "He died for that nation" (John xi:42). During the present age
His earthly people are not cast away; their miraculous preservation on
earth, their continued, separate existence is due to Himself. In the
future when He appears as their Redeemer and claims the purchased
possession, He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob. And to this we
might also add the relation of His work to creation itself, the nations
of the earth, and to Satan and his rule.
These brief remarks show the importance of distinguishing between this
threefold aspect of His work. A Christian who is ignorant of it must be
confused in his conception of the truth. He is unable to understand the
Word of God, and is unsettled, and even miserable in his Christian
experience. Such, alas! is the present condition of a large number of
professing Christians. Many are ignorant of what the finished work of
Christ on the cross means. On account of this ignorance, they are ever
trying to do what God has done for them. How many more are at sea about
their position in Christ, and know next to nothing of the priestly work
of Christ. The confusion is the greatest in respect to His future work
as King. Our theme is therefore an important one. But even God's people,
who in a measure have laid hold of these truths, need constantly to be
reminded of it and need to have all this through the Spirit's power, as
a greater reality in their lives.
I.
HIS PAST WORK.
His past work was accomplished by Him when he became incarnate. It was
finished when He died on Calvary's cross. We have therefore to consider
first of all these fundamentals of our faith.
I. The Work of the Son of God is foreshadowed and predicted in the Old
Testament Scriptures.
II. The incarnation of the Son of God.
III. His Work on the cross and what has been accomplished by it.
I.
Through the Old Testament Scriptures, God announced beforehand the work
of His Son. This is a great theme and one which needs to be emphasized.
These foreshadowings and predictions were made in different ways. First
we might mention the appearance from time to time on earth of a
supernatural Being. This Being was the Son of God. As soon as sin had
entered, He appeared on the scene seeking those who were lost. He
Himself announced the promise, that the seed of the woman should bruise
the serpent's head. He indicated in Genesis iii:15, His incarnation, His
redemptive work on the cross and His final victory over the enemy of
God. Then He covered the nakedness of His creatures by making them coats
of skin. For the first time in the Word of God, it was made known by
this act what the blessed fruit of His atoning work would be.
Manifestations of Jehovah.
And the same Jehovah appeared in visible form unto Abraham. He came as
traveller accompanied by two angels. He ate in the presence of Abraham,
who worshipped and addressed Him as Lord. This Being was none other than
the Son of God, the same who after His resurrection appeared to the two
disciples on their way to Emmaus as a traveller, and who, at another
occasion, ate of a honeycomb and a piece of fish. In His presence
Abraham interceded. This Lord, who visited Abraham later, made fire and
brimstone fall from heaven upon Sodom and Gomorrah; He executed
judgment. He appeared unto Jacob and was the mysterious man who wrestled
with him at Peniel; later Jacob called Him "The Angel, the Redeemer."
Repeatedly we hear of Him as "The Angel of the Lord," not a created
angel, but an uncreated Being. Moses saw Him in the burning bush, and
heard His voice. And while He is spoken of as the angel of the Lord, He
revealed Himself as Jehovah and made this Name known to Moses. He was
with Israel in the wilderness and dwelled with them in the Glory cloud.
He guided them, supplied their need, protected them, judged them and
overthrew their enemies. To Joshua He appeared and manifested Himself as
"The captain over the Lord's hosts." Manoah and his wife saw Him, and
witnessed His ascension into heaven, in the smoke and fire of the
sacrifice. Isaiah, Ezekiel and Daniel gazed upon His Glory. All these
were but foreshadowings and glimpses of the two great manifestations of
the Son of God on earth, as they are necessitated by His work, His
manifestation in humiliation and His manifestation in power and glory.
Other Foreshadowings of His Work.
But there are other foreshadowings of His work. All the divinely given
institutions and many of the historical events recorded in the Old
Testament foreshadow His work. History, as recorded in the Old
Testament, is the preliminary history of the incarnation. The whole
sacrificial system of the levitical priesthood told out beforehand, in
many ways, what the great redemptive work of the Lamb of God was to be.
Each offering and sacrifice revealed the different phases of His work on
the cross, as well as His holy and spotless humanity. The sufferings of
Christ and their meaning for lost sinners were thus made known. From
Abel's lamb to the last lamb, which died before the true Lamb of God
uttered the never to be forgotten words on the cross, "It is finished,"
the thousands of lambs and bulls and goats, the innumerable herds of
animals slain, were all types of the one great sacrifice, brought on
Calvary's cross. The tabernacle in all its appointments, down to the
minutest details, had I some meaning in connection with the Person of
Him who is "Wonderful" and His wonderful work. And what else could we
say of the historical events, such as the Passover, the passage through
the Red Sea, the brazen serpent hung up in the wilderness. And to this
we might add how men in their experiences, like Isaac, Joseph, David and
others foreshadowed the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should
follow.
Direct Prophecies.
Still more numerous are the direct prophecies announcing the different
phases of the work of Christ. That He should appear as man, how and
where He should be born, His life, His service, His miracles, all was
repeatedly foretold by the Prophets. But the great mass of predictions
concern His sufferings as the sin-bearer and His glories as the King.
None of the details of His sufferings were omitted. Think, for instance,
of the predictions contained in the xxii Psalm. Death by crucifixion was
unknown among the Jewish people. No nation in touch with Israel, living
at that time, put human beings to death in that way. It was reserved for
cruel Rome to invent death; by crucifixion. Yet in this Psalm there is
given by divine inspiration a complete picture of that unknown mode of
death by crucifixion. We read of His hands and feet pierced, the bones
out of joint, the excessive thirst, the tongue cleaving to the jaws. And
so we find His resurrection, His presence with God, His coming again and
His Kingdom of Righteousness and Glory foretold in the Prophets.
The Inspiration of the Old Testament.
We emphasize these facts of divine foreshadowing and prediction, because
in these last days thousands of men have arisen throughout Christendom
who boldly deny the inspiration of the Old Testament. They would have us
believe that all these wonderful predictions are of human origin. They
brand nearly everything as legend, and declare that there are no
Messianic predictions in the Bible, that God did not speak to the
Prophets concerning His Son and His work. Such a denial of the
revelation of God in the Old Testament Scriptures is but the vanguard of
the denial of the Son of God and His work. "Denying the Master that
bought them" (2 Peter ii:1), is the leading phase of apostate
Christendom in the last days. It is Anti-christianity. This denial is
preceded by a denial of the written Word of God. The higher criticism,
so called, is Satan's leaven which leavens the theological institutions
of Christendom and is fully preparing an empty Christian profession for
the reception of the Man of Sin. To believe that these marvelous,
harmonious predictions and fore-shadowings contained in the Old
Testament are the productions of clever men, legends put together by
evil men, who claimed to have received them from God, is far more
difficult than to believe that they are given by divine revelation.
II.
The Incarnation of the Son of God.
And now let us turn to the great truth and fact of the Incarnation of
the Son of God. When the fulness of time had come, that is the appointed
time, the Son of God appeared on earth in the form of man. The Word
which was in the beginning, the Word that was with the Father, the Word
that was God, the Word by whom all things were made, that Word was made
flesh and dwelt on earth. He who subsisted in the form of God, emptied
Himself and took upon Himself the form of a servant, and was made in the
likeness of men. The incarnation is a deep mystery, the depths of which
human reason can never fathom. We must approach it in the spirit of deep
reverence. "Take off thy shoes from thy feet for the ground whereon thou
standest is holy ground!" In the first chapter of the Gospel of Luke, we
have the record of the divine announcement of the incarnation as it was
made to the virgin, who had found favor in the sight of God. As she sat
in the house, perhaps engaged in holy meditation, the angel Gabriel
appeared unto her with the message from the throne of God. Was there
ever such a message given to Gabriel before? Great as the revelation was
which he was commissioned to carry to praying Daniel, the communication
to the Virgin Mary here is far greater.
The Incarnation Announced.
We read in Luke i:35: "And the angel of the Lord said unto her, The Holy
Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall
overshadow thee; therefore also that Holy Thing, which shall be born of
thee, shall be called the Son of God." Let us notice the two great
statements given about His incarnation. "The Holy Spirit shall come upon
thee." From the Gospel of Matthew we learn the full meaning of this
statement. "That which is begotten in her is of the Holy Ghost."
Therefore His human nature was produced in the virgin by the creative
action of the Holy Spirit. Because His human nature was thus produced,
it was a nature without sin; not only did He not sin, but He could not
sin. He was sinless, absolutely holy, because He was conceived by the
Holy Spirit.
The second statement is: "And the power of the Highest shall overshadow
thee." This is not a repetition of the same truth as contained in the
first statement. If this too would mean the Holy Spirit, we would have
to conclude that the Holy Spirit is the Father of Him who became
incarnate. We read at once after this second statement, "Therefore that
Holy Thing, which shall be born of thee, shall be called the Son of
God." The power of the Highest does not mean the power of the Holy
Spirit. It is none other than the Son of God Himself. The eternal Son of
God, He who is God, overshadowed her and this overshadowing meant the
union of Himself with the human nature created by the Holy Spirit in the
Virgin Mary. He is called "that Holy Thing." He is something entirely
new, a Being which cannot be classified. And then we read again, "That
Holy Thing shall be called the Son of God." It does not say "shall be
the Son of God;" such He ever was. Incarnation did not make Him Son of
God. He shall be called Son of God; God manifested in the flesh. Much
time could be spent in adding to these remarks, or in reviewing the
different attempts which have been made to explain the great mystery. We
might also enumerate all the evil teachings and theories which are the
results of attempted explanations. But all this would be but waste of
time. No human mind can fathom the depths of the incarnation, nor fully
grasp the wonderful personality of the God-Man, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Far better it is to abide by these simple declarations of the Word of
God, than to enter into speculations, which can never solve this great
mystery.
A certain American statesman was once asked, "Can you comprehend how
Jesus Christ could be both God and Man?" The great thinker replied, "No,
sir; I cannot. And I would be ashamed to acknowledge Him as my Saviour
if I could, for then He would not be greater than myself."
This is very true indeed. With joyful and grateful hearts we believe the
great revelation given to us in God's holy Word, that God so loved the
world that He gave His only begotten Son and that the Son of God left
Heaven's Glory and came to this earth. He emptied Himself and appeared
in the form of the creature. This, however, does not mean what an evil
theory, by the name of "Kenosis," teaches, that He emptied Himself of
His Godhead. He emptied Himself of His outward Glory. The child which
rested on the bosom of Mary is the One, who ever was in the bosom of the
Father. Listen once more to the language of the xxii Psalm. "I was cast
upon thee from the womb; Thou art my God from my mother's belly. Thou
didst make me hope when I was upon my mother's breasts." What mere human
child could have ever said this truthfully? Nor is this the language of
a poet. The child born in Bethlehem alone could speak thus.
The Foundation of the Gospel.
The incarnation is the great foundation of the whole Gospel. No
incarnation means no Gospel, no Hope and no God. The person who denies
this truth has no right whatever to the name of Christian. At no time
has the denial of this great foundation truth been so pronounced and
widespread as in our times. Men believing themselves wise, in possession
of greater knowledge than former generations, turn their backs upon
revelation. The miracle, including the incarnation, is denied. And this
denial is not from the side of outspoken infidels alone, but those who
profess to be teachers of Christianity are the foremost leaders in it.
We mention Reginald Campbell and his followers in the so-called "New
Theology." And the hundreds of evangelical preachers, who wished this
man Godspeed during his recent visit to America, who passed resolutions
of thanks, after listening to his subtle infidelity, are, in the light
of 2 John 10, partakers of his sin. And then there is that
Anti-christian system, known by the name of Christian Science. In its
so-called philosophical, in reality, satanic utterances, it opposes the
revelation of God and denies that Jesus Christ is come into the flesh.
That evil book, "Science and Health," to which we readily accord
inspiration, not from above, but from below, teaches "The Virgin Mary
conceived the idea of God and gave to her ideal the name of Jesus;" and
again "Jesus was the offspring of Mary's self-communion with God."
It is a comfort to believers in these evil days to remember, that such a
rejection of the doctrine of Christ, His Person and His work, is
predicted in the Bible to take place immediately before the Lord comes.
The end of the age is upon us. These denials will not decrease, but
become more numerous.
The Purpose of the Incarnation. And what was the purpose of the
incarnation? By incarnation the invisible God was made known to man. The
Lord Jesus Christ is the image of the invisible God. No man hath seen
God at any time, the only Begotten, who is in the bosom of the Father,
hath declared Him. As One with the Father, the Lord Jesus Christ could
say, "Whosoever seeth Me, seeth the Father."
The attributes of God were made known by Him in incarnation. We behold
the holiness of God in that holy life, which was lived on earth to
glorify the Father. He manifested omniscience. He knew what was in men
and knew their thoughts. He manifested the power of God in controlling
the forces of nature, commanding the wind and the waves, turning water
into wine. He had power over disease, over the demons and over death. He
revealed the Love and the compassion of God.
By incarnation the Son of God brought likewise the Word of God to man.
"God who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto
the Fathers by the Prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by
His Son" (Hebrews i:1). He confirmed the Law and the Prophets, therefore
all criticism of the Old Testament attacks the authority and
infallibility of the Son of God. He also revealed the will of God, made
known the Father and the fact of eternal life, and the eternal and
conscious punishment of the wicked. He predicted the great future events
concerning Himself and His Kingdom, the end of the age and His visible
Return.
The incarnation was necessary in anticipation of His work as the Priest
of His people. He was to be after His death on the cross and after
resurrection, the merciful and faithful High Priest. Such He is now. He
took part of flesh and blood, we read in the second chapter of Hebrews,
that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest. He was tempted in
all things as we are, with the exception of sin. He suffered in being
tempted so that He might be touched with the feeling of our infirmities
and succour them that are tempted. And all He was to be and is now, the
Second Man, the last Adam, the head of the church, the head of the new
creation, all and much else necessitated His incarnation.
What Incarnation could not Accomplish.
However, the great purpose of the incarnation of the Son of God was His
work of redemption. For this great purpose He came into the world. He
came that, after a life, which completely glorified the Father and
upheld His holy law and vindicated God's rights as the lawgiver, He
might accomplish the great work of atonement. John stated this great
work the Son of God came to do in a brief sentence, "Behold the Lamb of
God, which taketh away the sin of the world." Sin, that accursed thing,
had to be taken out of the way. Propitiation for sins had to be made. A
sacrifice had to be brought which would glorify a holy God and satisfy,
as well as exalt, His righteousness. Peace had to be made. The sins of
many had to be paid and the full penalty of them to be borne.
Incarnation in itself, the marvelous and ever blessed humiliation of the
Son of God by taking on the human form, His holy blessed life, His
loving words, words of life and peace, yea, all He did in deeds of love
and compassion could never accomplish this. Incarnation brought God to
Man, but could never bring man back to a holy God. Incarnation could not
make an end of sin, nor make it possible for a righteous God to show
mercy to the fallen and the lost, in a righteous way. This great work of
redemption could only be accomplished by His death on the cross. For
this He had come. He came to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.
The Author and Prince of Life came that He might give His Life a ransom
for many. The good Shepherd appeared to give His life for the sheep. By
His death alone, the great work of redemption could be accomplished.
III.
His work on the Cross and What has been Accomplished by It.
And now let us consider His work on the cross and what has been
accomplished by it. But who is able to speak worthily of this theme of
all themes? Who can fathom the solemn yet blessed fact, the death of the
Son of God on the cross? What tongue or pen can describe the sad, yet
glorious truth, that the Just One died for the unjust, that Christ died
for the ungodly! He who knew no sin was made sin for us! And what human
mind can estimate the wonderful results of His work on the cross!
Some Christians speak as if the death on the cross, the work
accomplished there, is so fully known to them, that they do not need any
more instruction on it. They tell us that they search for deeper things.
There can be nothing deeper than the death of God's Son on the cross.
Depths are here which are unfathomable. We must ever turn back to the
cross. Always we shall learn something new. With unspeakable Glory upon
us and greater glory before us in eternal ages to come, the cross of
Christ and the Lamb of God which has taken away the sin of the world can
never be forgotten. But we shall never know what that death on the cross
meant for Him and what it meant to God.
Made Sin for Us.
In Hebrews x we read of the sacrifices which were offered by the Jews
year after year. These sacrifices could not take away sin. Then He, the
Son of God, stepped forward and made His great declaration. Coming into
the world He saith, "Sacrifice and offering Thou wouldest not, but a
body hast Thou prepared me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sins
Thou hadst no pleasure" (verses 4-5). The body prepared puts before us
again the fact of incarnation. That body was a prepared body, a holy
body, an undefiled body, a body in which sin could not dwell and on
which death had no claim. But when He took on that body, He likewise
said: "Lo? come to do Thy will, O God." In the tenth verse we read, "By
the which will (the will of God, which dates back before the foundation
of the world), we are sanctified through the offering of the body of
Jesus Christ once for all." Through the eternal Spirit He offered
Himself without spot to God. The holy Lamb of God, with no spot or
blemish upon Him, shed His precious blood on the cross, to procure
redemption. But what it all meant for Him who was as truly Man as He is
God! Here was a Being perfectly holy, One who had always pleased God and
did His will, yea, His meat and drink was to do the will of Him that
sent Him. Sin was the horrible defiling thing to Him. He, too, like the
holy God, hated and hates sin. And yet such a One was made sin for us.
He had to stand in the place of guilty sinners and all the waves and
billowy of divine judgment and wrath had to pass over Him. He drank the
cup of wrath to the last drop. He suffered in a fourfold way.
1. In Himself Before He ever approached the garden of Gethsemane, He was
troubled in His spirit. We hear Him say, "Now my soul is
troubled--Father, save me from this hour, but for this cause came I to
this hour." He looked on towards the cross. And why that agony in the
garden? Why was His sweat as it were great drops of blood? Why the
repeated prayer, "Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me?"
How many dishonoring explanations have been written of the Gethsemane
suffering, as if He was afraid to die or that the devil tried to kill
Him there to prevent his death on the cross, and that He feared the
devil. But what was it? He suffered in Himself. His holy soul shrank
from that which a holy God must hate, that which He hated--SIN. He was
about to be made sin and He knew no sin. What suffering this produced in
the Holy One of God to take all upon Himself and to stand in the
sinner's place before a holy sin-hating God, our poor finite minds
cannot realize.
2. He suffered from men. This he had foretold. When man, guilty man,
cast Himself upon the willing victim, all the wickedness and vileness
and cruelty man is capable of committing was brought out and spent upon
the blessed Son of God. The scourging, the buffeting, the mocking, the
spitting and the shame connected with it, the shame of the cross, He
despised. How that sensitive body must have quivered under it all!
3. He suffered from the devil. He had tempted him. Nothing was left
undone, what this wonderful Being could do. All His cunning and powers
were brought into use, with the one purpose to keep Him from going to
the cross and dying in the sinner's place. And when at last he could not
keep Him from going to the cross, then he cast himself upon the victim
and heaped all his hatred and malice upon Him. He used man in all this
awful work and no doubt the legions of demons. And in all this the Son
of God was as a lamb, which is dumb before the shearers. He opened not
His mouth.
4. But the greatest of all, He suffered from God. With hushed breath, we
must speak of this. It is the Holy of Holies of the great work on the
cross, the impenetrable mystery of the atoning work of the Son of God.
From the darkness which enshrouded the cross and the blessed sufferer on
the accursed tree, there came the mournful cry: "My God, My God, why
hast Thou forsaken me?" It made known the awful suffering, which the
Lamb of God, the substitute of sinners, endured from the hand of a holy
God. He was smitten and afflicted of God. Have you noticed that in the
xxii Psalm this cry of the sufferer on the cross stands first? Man would
have written the sufferings of Christ in a far different way. The
descriptions of the sufferings not written by inspiration would have
been in this wise: The physical sufferings, how they scourged Him, all
the sickening details of that which even cruel Rome called the
intermediate death, would have been pictured. Then would have followed a
description of how the nails were driven into the blessed hands who had
lovingly touched so many weary, sin-laden and disease-stricken bodies.
All the agony of the cross and its shame would have been described first
by man. Then how the multitude mocked and darkness came over the entire
scene--then last of all, it would have been stated, He cried, My God, My
God, why hast Thou forsaken me? But the Holy Spirit in this great
Prophecy puts the cry of deepest agony first. Why? Because in that hour
the great work of atonement, propitiation, sin-bearing, judgment and
wrath enduring, was once and for all accomplished. In this same Psalm we
read what men energized by Satan's power, did unto Him. But man could
not put Him to death. It is written, "Thou (that is God) hast brought me
into the dust of death." God's own hand rested upon Him. "God laid upon
Him the iniquity of us all" (Isaiah liii:6). "It pleased the Lord to
bruise Him; He hath put Him to grief." And elsewhere we read, what
refers to the same atoning work of our Lord when He stood in the
sinner's place.
"All Thy waves and billows go over me" (Ps. xlii:7).
"Thine arrows stick fast in Me" (Ps. xxxviii:2).
"Thine hand presses me sore" (Ps. xxxviii:2).
"Thou hast laid me into the lowest pit" (Ps. lxxxviii:6).
"Thy wrath lieth hard upon me" (Ps. lxxxviii:7).
"Thy fierce wrath goeth over me" (Ps. lxxxviii:16).
"I suffer Thy terrors" (Ps. lxxxviii:15).
But what it all meant for the Son of God! Who can tell out His sorrow
and deep affliction? Never shall we fully discover the greatness of the
price which was paid. The death of the cross, it has been truly said,
stands perfectly alone. It can never be repeated and because of its
eternal efficacy, will never need to be repeated.
_It is Finished._
And this great work He came to do, is finished. "It is finished!" thus
He spoke on the cross and the words assure us that all is done. The rent
veil and the open tomb tell us "It is finished." But what has been
accomplished in this blessed work? We cannot fully grasp it now as long
as we look into a glass darkly. When at last we are brought into His
Presence, transformed into His own image, when we shall have share with
Him in His glorious inheritance, when at last sin and death are no more
and a new heaven and new earth are called into existence, then shall we
more fully know what that work has accomplished. All, ALL we have and
are, all we shall have and shall be as His own, has its blessed source
in the cross of Christ. He died for all. He gave Himself a ransom for
all. He tasted death for every man. He is the propitiation for the whole
world (not for the sins of the whole world, else the whole world would
be saved). It means His work is available to all sinners. Upon that fact
that He died for all, the Gospel is preached to lost and guilty sinners.
Christ died for the ungodly. "Whosoever will"--"Whosoever believeth,"
these are the precious conditions of the Gospel of Grace which sounds
forth from the finished work of Christ on the cross. And all who believe
on Him and accept the Lord Jesus Christ as their Saviour, for them He
bore their sins on the cross. Each believing sinner can look back to the
cross and can say, "He loved me, He gave Himself for me." He paid my
debt. He bore my sins in His own body on the tree. He stood in my place.
He was my substitute. He tasted death for me.
Much of the evil teachings of the present day, such as universal
salvation, larger hope, millennial dawnism, etc., emanate from the fact
that propitiation and substitution are not correctly understood.
Propitiation is the Godward side of the sacrifice of Christ, with this
God is satisfied. The propitiation is for the whole world. This does
not mean that the whole world is therefore to be saved. He bore the sins
of many--not the sins of all. He was the substitute on the cross only
for such who believe on Him.
And what do we possess who have believed on Him, own Him as our Saviour
and our Substitute? Many Scriptures might be read in answer to this
question. We cannot do so, but shall mention briefly a few things which
all believing sinners share on account of the finished work of Christ on
the cross.
We have a perfect justification. All our sins are forever put away,
because they were borne and paid for by His death on the cross. The
Blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all sin. All has been
righteously and forever settled. "Who shall bring any accusation against
God's elect? It is God who justifies, who is he that condemns? It is
Christ who has died." "There is therefore now no condemnation to those
in Christ Jesus." We have perfect Peace with God. Peace has been made in
the blood of the cross. It can never be unmade. We have peace with God
through our Lord Jesus Christ. He is our Peace. So many Christians think
their peace with God depends on their walk and service. If they sin,
they think they have lost their peace and their standing before God and
unless they are restored, they will be lost forever. Not our walk and
service, not anything we have done, we do or shall do, is the ground of
peace with God, but what God has done for us in Christ's atoning on the
cross.
Then we have a perfect acceptance and standing before God; perfect
nearness and access to God. We are made nigh by the blood. With no more
conscience of sins, we can stand in God's own presence, purged and
cleansed, complete in Him, as near to God as He is.
His blessed work on the cross has made an end of the old man. We are
dead to the world, to self, to sin, to the law. The old man was
crucified with Christ. "Sin shall have no more dominion over you." This
is the blessed message from the cross. We have deliverance from the
power of darkness and a perfect title to an eternal inheritance. No
uncertainty is attached to all this. We have salvation, are saved,
forever secure, Sons of God, Heirs of God indwelt by the Holy Spirit,
and much else, on account of the finished work of Christ on the cross.
And to all this we add that on the cross He loved the church and gave
Himself for it. There He died for Israel and as a result the remnant of
that people will some day be delivered from iniquity and perverse-ness,
as Balaam, beheld them, "no iniquity in Jacob and no perverseness in
Israel" (Numbers xxiii:21). Groaning creation will ultimately be freed
from the bondage of corruption and brought into the liberty of the sons
of God, because He shed His blood on the cross. All things in heaven and
on the earth (not things under the earth) will be reconciled in virtue
of the death of Christ on the cross.
Ye are not Your Own.
Let us remember as such who have been reconciled and have redemption
through His blood that we are bought with a price. "Ye are not your own
for ye are bought with a price, therefore glorify God in your body, and
in your spirit, which are God's" (1 Cor. vi:20). Through His death we
are positionally dead; all who believe on Him have died. We are dead to
the law, to the world, to sin. But are we truly living, walking and
acting as such who have died, dead to sin and alive unto God? A child of
God who walks after the flesh practically denies the power and value of
the blessed finished work of Christ on the cross.
Let us exalt in our lives, by our words and deeds, the cross of Christ.
"But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus
Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world"
(Gal. vi:14).
II.
THE WORK OF CHRIST.
The great work which the Lord Jesus Christ, God's well beloved Son, came
to do was to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. This finished
work of the cross is the basis of His present work and His future work.
What mind can estimate the value and preciousness of that work in which
the Holy One offered Himself through the eternal Spirit without spot
unto God! He procured redemption by His death on the cross. In His
present work and much more in the future work, He works out this great
redemption into result.
There is much confusion in the minds of Christians about the present and
future work of Christ. Many speak of the Lord being now the King of
kings and Lord of lords, reigning over the earth. They speak of Him as
occupying the throne of His father David in heaven. The church,
according to this teaching, is His Kingdom, and that kingdom is
gradually being enlarged under His spiritual reign until the whole world
has been brought into this kingdom. All this is wrong. The Lord Jesus
Christ will reign over the earth; He will have a kingdom of glory, of
righteousness and peace on this earth; the nations of the earth will
have to submit to His government, but all this is still to come. It will
be accomplished with His visible Return to the earth, when He will claim
as the second Man the dominion of the earth. His kingly rule is future.
His present work is of another nature.
I. The Bodily Presence of Christ in Glory.
Our blessed Lord gave on the cross the body, which He had taken in
incarnation. That body died. It was the only part of Him, which could
die. But that body so dishonored by man, scourged and nailed to the
cross, could not see corruption. He arose from the dead. The mighty
power of God opened that grave and raised Him from the dead. This mighty
power of God, which brought Him forth is the power which is towards us
who believe. It is on our side (Eph. i:19). And God not alone raised Him
from the dead, but He gave Him glory (1 Peter i:21).
If I were to teach on the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, I would
demonstrate two things. First, that He actually arose; the indisputable
fact, that He who had really died, who was dead bodily, arose bodily,
and, in the second place, the all important meaning of His resurrection.
The Apostle Paul writes in that great chapter in First Corinthians, "If
Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then
they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished" (1 Cor.
xv:18). In other words, if the Lord Jesus Christ came not forth from the
tomb, where His blessed body had been laid and where it rested for three
days, if He did not leave that grave in a bodily form, His death on the
cross would have no more meaning than the death of any other human
being. Then that blood which was shed could never take away our sins and
give the guilty conscience rest. Furthermore, the countless beings, who
passed out of this life trusting in Christ, would have all perished. But
Christ rose from the dead. There can be no doubt about it. The witnesses
for it are simply unanswerable.
His Physical Resurrection.
His resurrection from the dead was God's answer to His prayers with
strong crying and tears.
"Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered prayers and
supplication with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save
him from death, and was heard in that he feared" (Heb. v:27).
This took place in Gethsemane. The answer to His prayers and tears came
from God on the morning of the first day. His resurrection from the dead
was the "Amen" of God to His triumphant shout on the cross, "It is
finished." By raising Him from the dead, God set His seal to the work of
Christ on the cross. God gave His witness by it that the work, which was
demanded by His holiness and righteousness, had been fully accomplished.
Guilty man can now be righteously acquitted from His guilt because God's
eternal righteousness was upheld and satisfied by His own Son in that He
paid the penalty. before God rolled away the stone? He had shown that
the work done was pleasing to Him. It seemed as if God could not wait
for the third day. His hand took hold of the veil, which hid the Holy of
Holies from the eyes of man. He rent that veil from top to bottom. He
showed thereby that He, the Holy God, could now come forth in fullest
blessing to man, and man bought by such a price, can approach into the
presence of God and be at home with Him, a loving Father. Sinners saved
by grace can enter into the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by the new
and living way.
And how did He come forth from the grave? It has already been stated. He
arose with the body He had taken on in incarnation, the body which could
not see corruption. He left the grave in a corporeal form. It was not a
phantom, but a tangible body. The nailprints were still seen in His
hands and in His feet. The side showed the place where the spear had
entered. He appeared in that body in the midst of His disciples and
showed unto them His hands and His side. And when at another time they
cried out for fear, He said, "Behold, my hands and my feet, that it is
myself; handle me and see, for a spirit has not flesh and bones, as ye
see me have" (Luke xxiv:39-40). And while they believed not for joy, He
proved His corporeality by eating a piece of broiled fish and of a
honeycomb. But while it was the same body it was also a glorified body.
Such a body, like unto His own glorious body, we shall receive some
blessed day in exchange for the body of humiliation; for this redemption
of the body we still wait as well as those who have fallen asleep in
Jesus.
Passing through the Heavens.
In this body He left the earth and passed through the heavens into
heaven itself. What a scene that must have been! What must have taken
place after He had been lifted up and disappeared out of sight from the
gazing disciples! They saw Him as He was lifted up, the same Lord Jesus,
until the glory cloud, the Shekinah, took Him up and in that cloud He
was taken into the heavens, where the physical eye could not follow.
What a triumphant entrance into the heavens it must have been! Perhaps
the mighty Archangel accompanied Him, the victor over Sin, Death, the
Grave and Satan; for the Archangel will accompany Him some day in His
descent out of heaven. The Lord went up with a shout (Psalm xlvii:5). He
will return with the victor's shout. When He comes back, He will be
attended by the mighty angels. May not these heavenly hosts have been
present as He ascended on high? And as the Man Christ Jesus passed
upward through the territory, which is still the domain of Satan, the
prince of the power in the air, the wicked tenants of the air fell back
in fear and trembling. The glorified Man passed on, upward, higher and
higher. Nothing could arrest His progress. The mighty power of God
raised Him up. Through the second heaven He passed, where the wonderful
stars, the creation of His own power, describe their great orbits around
their fiery suns. He is still attended by angels, and the angelic hosts
beheld Him, who were also the witnesses of His sufferings, His death and
resurrection. At last a place was reached where every angel had to halt.
Even the Archangel had to cover His face and cry, "Holy! Holy!" Yonder
is the third heaven and there stands the glorious throne of God. The
glorified Man advances alone; He ascended on high into the immediate
presence of His God and our God, His Father and our Father. The
welcoming voice of God Himself bade Him to take His seat on His own
right hand until His enemies are made His footstool. What must it have
been when the only begotten Son returned to His eternal dwelling place
as the First begotten, and God as well as He himself beheld the host of
redeemed sinners brought by Him into that Glory!
The highest place was given to Him, who died on the cross, far above all
principality and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is
named. There He is now the Man in the Glory. Once more let me state it,
the Lord Jesus Christ is corporeally present in the highest heaven.
Everything depends on this. If His physical resurrection and corporeal
presence in the highest heaven is denied, His present work and future
work are an impossibility, and we rob ourselves of every comfort, joy
and peace. Then, too, His atoning work on the cross has no meaning for
us.
A Fundamental Truth Denied.
And too often this great truth of the bodily presence of Christ in
heaven is denied in these days of departure from the faith. They teach,
His resurrection was a spiritual one, that He lives only by His words.
The denial of the literal resurrection of our blessed Lord and His
presence in heaven has become very widespread. Three evil systems
especially deny it.
1. Unitarianism. As a sect this denomination is small, but the leaven of
Unitarianism is leavening Christendom. All this criticism of the Bible,
the new theology, a more liberal religion, but all aiming at the
essential Deity of our blessed Lord, His incarnation and resurrection
from the dead, is the leaven of Unitarianism. At a recent annual service
of the British and Foreign Unitarian Association the chairman observed
that "earnest and thoughtful men, occupying pulpits once dedicated to
the propagation of doctrines strictly orthodox, were now preaching a
Gospel, which for liberality and broadmindedness even surpassed the
Unitarianism of three or four generations ago."
2. Christian Science. This new science is not new, but is the revival,
through satanic powers, of ancient Gnosticism, a denial of every article
of the faith once and for all delivered unto the saints. Prominent in
this system is the denial of the physical resurrection, and the bodily
presence of the Lord Jesus in Glory. It is the masterpiece of Satan. Its
phenomenal growth attracts to its ranks such of the Christian
profession, who were never saved or whose knowledge of the truth of God
is insufficient. There will be no abatement of this great delusion. It
will continue to grow and become more powerful as the Gospel is denied
and God's Word rejected.
3. Millennial Dawnism. This is another great and widespread system. In
it Satan appears even more so than in Christian Science as an angel of
light. It is offered throughout this land as "food for Christians" and
goes by the name of "Bible Study." One meets it everywhere. What is it?
It is an amalgamation of several of the evil theories concerning the
Person of Christ, denying, like Unitarianism and Christian Science, the
absolute Deity of our Lord. "Pastor" Russell in his books also denies
the physical resurrection of Christ. According to this system the body
of our Lord was either dissolved in its natural gases or is preserved as
a memorial somewhere. This, of course, means the denial of His bodily
presence in heaven. But think of it! To say that the body of our Lord
was dissolved in its natural gases, when the Word so clearly states "He
could not see corruption."
II.
The Present Work of Christ; What It Is.
As Man in Glory, crowned with glory and honor, He is occupied in a
present work.
He is in the presence of God as the Heir of all things. He is the
upholder of all and all things consist by Him. This great universe, with
its innumerable stars and suns, is under His control; it belongs to Him.
How man ever since the fall attempts to penetrate the mysterious depths
of the universe! Scientists with their glasses scan the heavens and try
to regain the knowledge of creation, which was lost by the fall of man,
Their discoveries astonish us. How marvelous the heavens are! How they
declare the glory of God and the firmament His handiwork! Often too has
the search of fallen man into the depths of the universe demonstrated
the truth of God given by revelation in His word. And yet the great
questions we ask of astronomers concerning this great universe are
answered with "we do not know." Some day in the twinkling of an eye we
shall know more about this great universe than all the knowledge gained
by fallen man. But this universe rests in the hands of the Man in Glory.
He is the great central sun around which all revolves. We do not know if
there is any work to be done in connection with the great bodies which
we see in the great space about us. We do not know what changes go on
there. But we do know that all is in His hands. All is under His
control.
We must also think of the angels, the heavenly hosts. He has been made,
after His passion, so much better than the angels, as He hath by
inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they (Heb. i:4). What
may go on in this great world above, the world of unseen spirits, who
can tell? But they are all under His control. How He sends them forth
and uses them in His providential dealings with His people on earth, and
how He restrains through these unseen agencies the wrath of the enemy
and the evil work of demons, we do not know fully. "Are they not all
ministering spirits sent forth to minister to them, who shall be heirs
of salvation" (Heb. i:14). This and much else, though not fully
revealed, and hidden from us, belongs also to His present work. We
mention this that we might have a higher estimate of our Lord and
realize anew what a mighty and wonderful Lord we have.
But there is a present work of our Lord in Glory, which is fully
revealed in His Word.
In the first place, He is the Mediator between God and Man, and being
preached as such to the world, He exercises His office as the Mediator
throughout this present age (1 Tim. ii:5-6). Besides this Mediatorship,
He has a service which concerns those for whom He died and who, by
personal faith, have accepted Him as their Saviour.
The Lord Knoweth His Own.
"The Lord knoweth them that are His." What a blessed thought of comfort
and cheer it is, which should forever banish fear and unbelief! The
Lord, the One seated there in the Holiest, knows us personally. He knew
us before we ever were in existence. He saw us before the foundation of
the world. He knew all our vileness and the depths of degradation. He
knew us as we wandered in our sins. His loving eyes followed us then. He
sought us in His love and brought us to Himself. He gave us His life and
dwells in us. Each believing sinner, saved by grace, is one Spirit with
the Lord. "I know my sheep." He calleth each by name, like a Shepherd
calleth his own sheep. Again He said "I know them." What a comfort it
should be to our hearts, that He knows each of us by name. He knows our
circumstances, trials, difficulties and temptations. He knows our
conflicts and our tears. "He knoweth the way which I take."