The Glory of Christ in His Love
In the susception and discharge of the mediatory office by the Son of God, the Scripture doth most eminently represent his love as the sole impelling and leading cause thereof, Gal. ii. 20. ‘Who loved me, and gave himself for me.’ I John iii. 16. ‘Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us.’ Rev. i. 5. ‘Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,’ &c.
Herein is he glorious, in a way and manner incomprehensible; for in the glory of divine love, the chief brightness of glory doth consist. There is nothing of dread or terror accompanying it, nothing but what is amiable and infinitely refreshing. Now, that we may take a view of the glory of Christ herein by Faith, the nature of it must be inquired into.
1. The eternal disposing cause of the whole work wherein the Lord Christ was engaged by the susception of this office, for the redemption and salvation of the church, is the love of the Father. Hereunto it is constantly ascribed in the Scripture. And this love of the Father acted itself in his eternal decrees, before the foundation of the world, Eph. i. 4. ‘According as he hath chosen us in him, before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy, and without blame before him in love;’ and afterwards in the sending of his Son to render it effectual, John iii. 16. ‘God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him, should not perish, but have everlasting life.’ Originally, it is his eternal election of a portion of mankind to be brought unto the enjoyment of himself, through the mystery of the blood of Christ, and the sanctification of the Spirit, 2 Thess. ii. 13. ‘God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation, through sanctification of the Spirit, and belief of the truth, ver. 16. Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation, and good hope through grace,’ &c. Fiph. i. 4 — 9. ‘According as he hath chosen us in him, before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy, and without blame before him in love; having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, accordmgto the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the Beloved; in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; wherein he hath abounded towards us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure, which he hath purposed in himself.’ 1 Pet. i. 2. ‘Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit unto obedience, and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ; grace unto you and peace be multiplied.’
This eternal act of the will of God the Father, doth not contain in it an actual approbation of, and complacency in the state and condition of those that are elected; but only designeth that for them, on the account whereof, they shall be accepted and approved. And it is called his love on sundry accounts.
1. Because it is an act suited unto that glorious excellency of his nature, wherein he is love; for ‘God is love,’ 1 John iv. 8, 9. And the first egress of the divine properties must therefore be in an act of communicative love. And whereas this election, being an eternal act of the will of God, can have no moving cause but what is in himself, if we could look into all the treasures of the divine excellencies, we should find none whereunto it could be so properly ascribed, as unto love. Wherefore,
2. It is styled love, because it was free and undeserved as unto any thing on our part. For whatever good is done unto any altogether undeserved, if it be with a design of their profit and advantage, it is in an act of love, and can have no other cause. So it is with us in respect of eternal election. There was nothing in us, nothing foreseen, as that which from ourselves would be in us, that should any way move the will of God unto this election; for whatever is good in the best of men is an effect of it, Eph. i. 4. ‘According as he hath chosen us in him, before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy, and without blame before him in love.’ Whereas therefore it tends unto our eternal good, the spring of it must be love. And,
3. The fruits or effects of it are inconceivable acts of love. It is by multiplied acts of love, that it is made effectual, John iii. 16. ‘For God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him, should not perish, but have everlasting life,’ Jer. xxxi. 3. ‘I have loved thee with an everlasting love; therefore with loving- kindness have I drawn thee.’ Eph. i. 3 — 6. ‘Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual
56 blessings in heavenly places in Christ; according as he hath chosen ns in him, before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy, and without blame before him in love; having predestinated lis unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.’ 1 John iv. 8, 9. ‘He that loveth not, knoweth not God; for God is love. In this was manifested the love of God towards us, because that God sent his only-begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. ver. 16. And we have known and believed the love that God hath tons. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.’
This is the eternal spring which is derived unto the church, through the mediation of Christ. Wherefore, that which put all the design of this eternal love of the Father into execution, and wrought out the accomplishment of it, was the love of the Son, which we inquire after; and light may be given unto it in the ensuing observations:
1. The whole number or society of the elect, were creatures made in the image of God, and thereby in a state of love with him. All that they were, had, or hoped for, were effects of divine goodness and love. And the life of their souls was love unto God. And a blessed state it was, preparatory for the eternal life of love in heaven.
2. From this state they fell by sin, into a state of enmity with God; which is comprehensive of all miseries, temporal and eternal.
3. Notwithstanding this woful catastrophe of our first state, yet our nature on many accounts was recoverable unto the enjoyment of God, as I have at large elsewhere declared.
4. In this condition, the first act of love in Christ towards us, was in pity and compassion. A creature made in the image of God, and fallen into misery, yet capable of recovery, is the proper object of divine compassion. That which is so celebrated in the Scripture, as the bowels, the pity, the compassion of God, is the acting of divine love towards us, on the consideration of our distress and misery. But all compassion ceaseth towards them whose condition is irrecoverable. Wherefore the Lord Christ pitied not the angels that fell, because their nature was not to be relieved. Of this compassion in Christ, see Heb. ii. 14, 15, 16. ‘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 life-time subject to bondage. For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham.’ Isa. lxiii. 9. ‘In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them; in his love and in his pity he redeemed them, and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old.’
5. As then we lay under the eye of Christ in our misery, we were the objects of his pity and compassion; but as he looketh on us as recoverable out of that state, his love worketh in and by delight. It was an inconceivable delight unto him, to take a prospect of the deliverance of mankind unto the glory of God, which is also an act of love. This is divinely expressed, Prov viii. 30, 31. ‘Then was I by him, as one brought up with him; and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him; rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth, and my delights were with the sons of men.’ As it hath been elsewhere explained.
6. If it be inquired, whence this compassion and delight in him should arise, what should be the cause of them; that he who was eternally blessed in his own self-sufficiency, should so deeply concern himself in our lost forlorn condition? I say it did so, merely from the infinite love and goodness of his own nature, without the least procuring inducement from us, or any thing in us, Tit. iii. 5. ‘Not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost.’
7. In this his readiness, willingness, and delight, springing from love and compassion, the counsel of God concerning the way of our recovery, is as it were proposed unto him. Now this was a way of great difficulties and perplexities unto himself; that is, unto his person as it was to be constituted. Unto the divine nature nothing is grievous, nothing is difficult; but he was to have another nature, wherein he was to undergo the difficulties of this way and work. It was required of him, that he should pity us, until he had none left to pity himself when he stood in need of it; that he should pursue his delight to save us, until his own soul was heavy and sorrowful unto death; that he should relieve us in our sufferings, by suffering the same things that we should have done. But he was not in the least hereby deterred from undertaking this work of love and mercy for us; yea, his love rose on this proposal, like the waters of a mighty stream against opposition. For hereon he says, ‘Lo, T come to do thy will, O God, it is my delight to do it,’ Heb. x. 5, G, 7. Isa. 1. 5, 6, 7. ‘The Lord God hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back. I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair; I hid not my face from shame and spitting.
8. Being thus inclined, disposed, and ready in the eternal love of his divine person, to undertake the office of mediation, and the work of our redemption; a body was prepared for him. In this body or human nature made his own, he was to make this love effectual in all its inclination and actings. It was provided for him unto this end, and filled with all grace in a way immeasurable, especially with fervent love unto mankind. And hereby it became a meet instrument, to actuate his eternal love in all the fruits of it.
9. It is hence evident, that this glorious love of Christ doth not consist alone in the eternal actings of his divine person, or the divine nature in his person; such indeed is the love of the Father, namely, his eternal purpose for the communication of grace and glory, with his acquiescency therein; but there is more in the love of Christ? for when he exercised this love, he was man also, and not God only. And in none of those eternal acts of love could the human nature of Christ have any interest or concern; yet is the love of the man Christ Jesus, celebrated in the Scripture.
10. Wherefore this love of Christ which we inquire after, is the love of his person, that is, which he in his own person acts in and by his distinct natures, according unto their distinct essential properties. And the acts of love in these distinct natures, are infinite, distinct, and different; yet are they all acts of one and the same person. So then, whether that act of love in Christ, which we would at any time consider, be an eternal act of the divine nature in the person of the Son of God; or whether it be an act of the human, performed in time by the gracious faculties and powers of that nature, it is still the love of one and the self-same person, Christ Jesus.
It was an act of inexpressible love in him, that he assumed our nature, Heb. ii. 14. 17. But it was an act in and of his divine nature, only; for it was antecedent unto the existence of his human nature, which could not therefore concur therein. His laying down his life for us, was an act of inconceivable love, 1 John iii. 1 6. ‘Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us.’ Yet was it only an act of the human nature, wherein he offered himself and died. But both the one and the other were acts of his divine person; whence it is said, that God laid down his life for us, and purchased the church with his own blood.
This is that love of Christ wherein he is glorious, and wherein we are by faith to behold his glory. A great part of the blessedness of the saints in heaven, and their triumph therein, consists in their beholding of this glory of Christ,m their thankful contemplations of the fruits of it, Rev. v. 9, 10. And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof; for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood, out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; and hast made us unto our God kings and priests; and we shall reign on the earth, &c.
The illustrious brightness wherewith this glory shines in heaven, the all-satisfying sweetness which the view of it gives unto the souls of the saints there possessed of glory, are not by us conceivable nor to be expressed. Here this love passeth knowledge, there we shall comprehend the dimensions of it. Yet even here, if we are not slothful and carnal, we may have a refreshing prospect of it; and where comprehension fails, let admiration take place.
My present business is to exhort others unto the contemplation of it, though it be but a little, a very little, a small portion of it that I cm conceive; and less than that very little, that I can express. Yet may it be my duty to excite not only myself, but others also unto due inquiries after it; unto which end I offer the things ensuing.
1. Labour that your minds may continually be fitted and prepared for such heavenly contemplations. If they are carnal and sensual, or filled with earthly things, a due sense of this love of Christ and its glory, will not abide in them. Virtue and vice in their highest degrees, are not more diametrically opposite and inconsistent in the same mind, than are an habitual course of sensual worldly thoughts, and a due contemplation of the glory of the love of Christ; yea, an earnestness of spirit, pregnant with a multitude of thoughts about the lawful occasions of life, is obstructive of all due communion with the Lord Jesus Christ herein.
Few there are whose minds are prepared in a due manner for this duty. The actions and communications of the most, evidence what is the inward frame of their souls. They rove up and down in their thoughts, which are continually led by their affections into the corners of the earth. It is in vain to call such persons unto contemplations of the glory of Christ in his love. An holy composure of mind by virtue of spiritual principles, an inclination to seek after refreshment in heavenly things, and to bathe the soul in the fountain of them, with constant apprehensions of the excellency of this divine glory, are required hereunto.
2. Be not satisfied with general notions concerning the love of Christ, which represent no glory unto the mind; wherewith many deceive themselves. All who believe his divine person, profess a valuation of his love, and think them not Christians who are otherwise minded; but they have only general notions, and not any distinct conceptions of it, and really know not what it is. To deliver us from this snare, peculiar meditations on its principal concerns are required of us. As,
(1.) Whose love it is; namely, of the divine person of the Son of God. He is expressly called God, with respect unto the exercise of this love: that we may always consider whose it is, 1 John iii. 16. ‘• Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us.’
(2.) By what ways and means this wonderful love of the Son of God doth act itself; namely, in the divine nature, by eternal acts of wisdom, goodness, and grace proper thereunto; and in the human, by temporary acts of pity or compassion; with all the fruits of them in doing and suffering for us, Eph. iii. 19. ‘And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.’ Heb. ii. 14, 15. ‘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 life-time subject to bondage.’ Rev. i. 5. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,’ &c.
(3.) What is the freedom of it, as unto any desert on our part, 1 John iv. 10. ‘Herein is love, not that we loved Gjd, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.’ It was hatred, not love, that we in ourselves deserved, which is a consideration suited to fill the soul with self-abasement, the best of frames in the contemplation of the glory of Christ.
(4.) What is the efficacy of it in its fruits and effects, with sundry other considerations of the like nature. By a distinct prospect and admiration of these things, the soul may walk in this paradise of God, and gather here and there an heavenly flower, conveying unto it a sweet savour of this love of Christ, Cant. ii. 2, 3, 4. ‘As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters. As the apple-tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste. He brought me to the banqueting-house, and his banner over me was love.’
Moreover, be not contented to have right notions of the love of Christ in your minds, unless you can attain a gracious taste of it in your hearts; no more than you would be to see a feast or banquet richly prepared, and partake of nothing of it unto your refreshment. It is of that nature that we may have a spiritual sensation of it in our minds; whence it is compared by the spouse to apples, and flagons of wine. We may taste that the Lord is gracious; and if we find not a relish of it in our hearts, we shall not long retain the notion of it in our minds. Christ is the meat, the bread, the food of our souls. Nothing is in him of an higher spiritual nourishment than his love, which we should always desire.
In this love is he glorious; for it is such as no creatures, angels or men, could have the least conceptions of, before its manifestation by its effects; and after its manifestation, it is in this world absolutely incomprehensible.