| I
| II
| III
| IV
| V
| VI
| VII
| VIII
| IX
| X
| XI
| XII
| XIII
| XIV
| XV
| XVI
| XVII
| XVIII
| XIX
| XX
| XXI
| XXII
| XXIII
| XXIV
| XXV
| XXVI
| XXVII
| XXVIII
|
| Foundation of Christian Union
| The Kingdom of Heaven
| Remission of Sins
| Regeneration
| Breaking the loaf
| Concluding Addresses
|
CHAPTER XIII
THE LORDSHIP OF THE MESSIAH
I. We are seeking to apprehend the things done for us in the
Christian system. "Christ, our
passover, has been sacrificed for us." As such "not a bone of him
was broken." Yet, "he died for
us." In the second place, he has become our prophet, as well
as our priest; and has
declared to us the will of God, the whole /36/will of God
concerning us. He is our light, as
well as our sin-offering. But in the third place, he has
been made Lord for us. To
make Christ Lord for us, as well as of us - was the
last act of the sublime drama of
man's redemption from sin. The last secret of the mystery of
Christ, which Peter promulgated on
the day of Pentecost, was, "Let all the house of Israel know, that
God has made that same Jesus,
whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ." To make him Lord for us,
was to invest him with
universal authority, that he, might have it in his power to
give eternal life to all his people.
Jesus, in one of his prayers, in anticipation of his investiture,
says, "Thou hast given him power
over all flesh that he might give eternal life to as many as
thou hast given him." But after his
resurrection from the dead, and ascension into heaven, he was
crowned Lord of angels, as well as
Lord of men; and therefore he said, "all authority," or lordship,
"in heaven and on earth is given to
me." He is now the Lord of HOSTS: legions of angels, the armies of
the skies, are given to him: -
for what? That he might be able to do all for us that our condition
needs. It was for us he
became a Prophet, for us he became a Priest, for us
he has been made Lord of
hosts, King of the universe, judge and avenger of all. He is Lord
of life, Lord of the Spirit, Lord of
all.
II. We need sacrifice - and therefore we need a priest. We need a
Leader, a Luminary, a Sun of
Righteousness; and we want one who can always help us in time of
need, when we wrestle not
with flesh and blood, but with the rulers of the darkness of this
world; with wicked spirits living in
the air. If Jesus himself, in one of these conflicts, needed an
angel to minister to him, we need it
more.
III. Three things are done for us: a sin-offering is presented; a
lamp of life is put into our hands;
and all the active powers and energies in the wide universe are
placed at the command of our King
whenever he needs them. These are things already done. Hence, the
Holy Spirit, and all the angels
of heaven are now at the disposal of our Saviour: for in him all
the promises of God are laid up; all
the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, and all the fulness of the
Deity, reside fully and truly in
him. All these things, it is true, might be comprehended in one
gift - the gift of Jesus as our
Mediator; our Prophet, Priest, and King. Still it is expedient to
view the things done for us,
severally and distinctly in the Christian system.
IV. Other things are promised to be done for us: but these
are the things already done for
us, and before we shall speak of the things yet to be done for us,
and done in us, we shall
summarily consider the things to be done by us, before any thing
more can be done for us, or done
in us.
[Back to Chapter XII]
[Up to title page]
[On to Chapter XIV]