“I am now ready for you,” said old Mrs Allan, as little Emma was waiting
anxiously for the time when she might again seat herself by her
grandmother’s chair. “What am I to tell you about to‐night?”
“I have been thinking,” replied Emma, “if you have no more to explain
about the great work in the soul of the believer, that I should like to
hear more of that glorious Being to whom the sinner owes all the
precious blessings you have been telling me of.”
[Sidenote: Of the Person, Offices, and Work of Christ.] “I shall gladly
do so, my dear child. It is a delightful subject to converse upon the
Person, Offices, and Work of the Lord Jesus Christ, who, though He was
rich, yet for our sakes He became poor.”
“I shall hear attentively,” said Emma, “what you have to say, as there
is much about the _Person_ of Jesus I do not rightly understand. He is
called [Sidenote: Christ the Son of God and Son of Man.] both ‘Son of
God’ and ‘Son of Man.’ I often wonder how this can be.”
“This, my child,” replied her grandmother, “is the great mystery of
godliness, ‘God manifest in the flesh,’—but it is a glorious mystery;
and happy shall I be to speak to you upon it.
[Sidenote: Son of God.] “The Lord Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of
God. He was ‘with God, and was God.’ Before this world, or any worlds
were made, He dwelt from everlasting with the Father. He is equal with
Him in power and in glory. If He had been an angel, or an archangel, He
could not have saved us, for the highest archangel is only a
_creature_—and one created being cannot atone for the sin of another. In
one word, if Jesus had not been _God_, He could not have been the
Saviour of man.”
[Sidenote: Son of Man.] “But is he not spoken of,” said Emma, “also as
the Son of Man?”
“Yes, my dear; and I must add, if He had not been man, He could not have
saved us. As our surety, it was necessary for Him to suffer and die in
the nature which had sinned—and besides, you know, that _as God_, He
could not have suffered, because the Divine nature is a spiritual one.
Therefore it is that He says, ‘A _body_ hast thou prepared Me.’”
“I think, too,” said Emma, “it is a blessed thought that our great
Redeemer was a man. If He had been God only, He could not have felt for
us in the way He can do as the ‘Son of Man.’”
“You are right, my dear child. This is one of the most delightful
thoughts about the person of Jesus, that He is our ‘elder brother,’ and
not ashamed to call us ‘brethren.’ He can say to all of us, ‘I know your
sorrows,’ for He was Himself ‘the Man of Sorrows,’ and felt them all.”
[Sidenote: Titles of Jesus.] “Would you explain to me,” said the young
inquirer, “the meaning of some more of the names of the Lord Jesus
Christ?”
[Sidenote: Immanuel.] “He is called,” said her grandmamma, “by that
beautiful word, which tells that He is both God and man, ‘_Immanuel_,’
which means, ‘God with us.’
[Sidenote: Jesus.] “Then He is called ‘_Jesus_,’ because He ‘saves’ His
people—the word Jesus meaning ‘Saviour.’
[Sidenote: Messiah, Christ.] “Then He is called ‘_Messiah_,’ and
‘_Christ_,’ because He is the anointed of God—both words meaning
‘anointed.’ As kings, in ancient times, had anointing oil poured upon
their heads when they were set apart to their royal office, so our
blessed Saviour had the anointing oil of the Holy Spirit poured upon
Him, to qualify Him for His offices as mediator.”
“The _Offices_ of Jesus; dear grandmamma, I have often heard these
spoken of. Will you kindly explain to me what they mean?”
[Sidenote: The Offices of Christ.] “The Lord Jesus Christ, my dear
child, stands in different relations, and performs different acts with
regard to the Church He has redeemed with His precious blood. I shall
mention to you the three under which He is most frequently referred to.
[Sidenote: Prophet.] “Jesus is the _Prophet_ of His Church. He is her
great Teacher. By means of His precious Word, and the influences of His
Spirit, He makes known to us His own will, and the will of God for our
salvation.
[Sidenote: Priest.] “Jesus is the _Priest_ of His Church. A priest, you
know, in former times, offered sacrifices on the altar. Jesus is called
the ‘Great High Priest of our profession.’ He was Himself both the
Priest and the Victim, for ‘He gave Himself for us;’ and just as the
Jewish high priest of old went into the holy of holies and sprinkled on
the mercy‐seat the blood of the slain sacrifice, and prayed to God for
the people, so Jesus has carried the merits of His own blood into
heaven, and, as _our_ High Priest, is there pleading our cause at God’s
right hand. You remember, too, the high priest of old, after being
within the vail, came out to bless the waiting people. So Jesus, our
Great High Priest, will, at His second coming in glory, bless His
assembled Church, saying, ‘Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the
kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.’
[Sidenote: King.] “Jesus also is _King_ of His Church, the ruler _in_
it, and ruler _over_ it. He protects it from its enemies; and though
often, like the bush which Moses saw in the wilderness, it burns with
fire, He will prevent it from ever being consumed. He will continue to
reign over it as King, until all enemies be put under His feet.”
“What a wonderful and complete Saviour, grandmamma!” exclaimed Emma.
“Jesus is so great, and yet so compassionate! I feel as if I can adore
Him as God, and yet love Him as a brother.”
“True, most true, my dear child; He is all you need—the very Saviour you
_do_ need. It is a wonderful thought, His Godhead and His Manhood! As
God, angels and seraphs worshipped Him. As Man, little children smiled
in His arms!”
“I love to think of Him, too,” said Emma, “as my High Priest in heaven.
It does [Sidenote: Christ’s Intercessory Work.] not make me afraid to
approach the Great God, when I have so kind a Saviour to intercede for
me.”
“You are right, my dear,” said the other; “there is no thought more
pleasing and delightful, than that we have in glory ‘a Prince’ that has
‘power with God,’ and must ‘prevail.’ The Apostle Paul rejoiced much in
this truth. It gave him ‘boldness,’ as he calls it, to approach the
throne of grace. And the Apostle John, in his vision on the Isle of
Patmos, beheld Jesus as the Angel of the Covenant, with a ‘censer’ in
His hand. His people on earth put all their prayers into this censer,
and a fragrant cloud ascends from it before the throne.”
“What is the meaning of that?” asked Emma.
“It tells us, my child,” said her grandmother, “that the believer’s
poor, imperfect prayers, when sprinkled and made fragrant with the
incense of Christ’s adorable merits, ascend with acceptance into the ear
of God Himself. God hears the poorest and unworthiest of His saints, for
the sake of the work and merits of Jesus.”
“I can now well understand,” said Emma, “how the Apostle Paul could say
with such a grateful heart, ‘Thanks be to God for His unspeakable
gift!’”
“Yes,” replied the other, “it _is_ unspeakable—and the more you know of
Jesus, the more wonders will you discover in His person, and the more
glories in His work. Oh! seek to love him more and more every day. Let
it be your constant wish, and desire, and prayer—how can I do enough for
this Saviour who has done so much, so very much for me?
“But I can say no more to‐night. May this blessed Saviour, my dear
child, be yours—yours now, and yours for ever!”