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A Display of Christ - Part II (Christ in His Essential and Primeval Glory)
John Flavel
"Then I was by him, as one
brought up with him: and was daily His delight, rejoicing always before him."
- Prov. 8:30.
THESE words are a part of that excellent commendation of Wisdom, by which
in this book Solomon intends two things: first, grace or holiness; "Wisdom is
the principal thing," Prov. 4:7; secondly, Jesus Christ the fountain of that
grace: and, as the former is renowned for its excellency, Job, 28:14,15, so is
the latter, in this context, wherein the Spirit of God describes the most
blessed state of Jesus Christ, the Wisdom of the Father, from those eternal
delights he had with his Father before his assumption of our nature: "Then was I
by him, as one brought up with him: and I was daily his delight, rejoicing
always before him." That eternity was wholly swallowed up in unspeakable
delights and pleasures. The Father and Son delighted one in another (from which
delights the Spirit is not here excluded) without communicating their joy to any
other; for no creature then existed, save in the mind of God. Verse 30.
"Then was I by him, as one brought up with him:" in his very bosom. "The
only-begotten Son" was "in the bosom of the Father," John, 1:18; an expression
of the greatest dearness and intimacy, as if he had said, wrapt up in the very
soul of his Father -embosomed in God.
"I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him." These delights of the
Father and the Son one in the other, knew not a moment's interruption or
diminution. Thus did these great and glorious persons mutually communicate their
fullest pleasure and delight, each into the heart of the other: they lay, as it
were, embosomed in one another, entertaining themselves with delights and
pleasures ineffable and. inconceivable. Hence we observe,
The state of Jesus Christ before his incarnation was that of the highest and
most unspeakable delight and pleasure in the enjoyment of his Father.
As He was "in the bosom of the Father," John, 1:18, the posture of dearest love,
John, 13:23; so in Isaiah, 42:1, the Father calls him "Mine elect, in whom my
soul delighteth;" and he is said, in this state, to be rich, 2 Cor. 8:9; and to
be "equal with God," and "in the form of God;" Phil. 2:6; that is, to have all
the glory and ensigns of the majesty of God; and the riches which the apostle
speaks of, was no less than all that God the Father hath; "All that the Father
hath is mine," John, 16:15; and what he now hath in his exalted state is the
same that he had before his humiliation. John, 17:5. Now to portray (as we are
able) the unspeakable felicity of that original state of Christ:
I. Let us consider that state negatively, 'by removing from it all the
degrees of debasement and sorrow involved in his incarnation.
He was not then abased to
the condition of a creature, which was a low step indeed; for by this,
saith the apostle, "he made himself of no reputation," Phil. 2:7; it emptied
him of his glory. For God to be made man, is such an abasement as none can
express; but not only to appear in true flesh, but also "in the likeness of
sinful flesh," Rom. 8:3, oh, what is this!
Christ was not under the
law in this state. It was no disparagement to Adam in the state of
innocency, or to angels in their state of glory, to be under law to God; but
it was an inconceivable abasement to the absolute independent Being to come
under law; yea, not only under the obedience, but also under the malediction
and curse of the law: "But when the fullness of time was come, God sent
forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law." Gal. 4:4.
In this state he was not liable to any of those sorrowful consequences and attendants of that frail and feeble state of humanity which he afterwards assumed. There was no sorrowing or sighing in that bosom where he lay, though afterwards he became "a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief." Isa. 53:3. "A man of sorrows," as if he had been constituted and made up of pure and unmixed sorrows; every day conversing with griefs, as with his intimate companions and acquaintance. He was never pinched with poverty and want while he continued in that bosom, as he was afterwards, when he said, "The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head." Matt. 8:20. Ah! blessed Jesus! thou neededst not to have wanted a place to lay thy head, hadst thou not left that bosom for my sake. He never underwent reproach and shame in that bosom: there was nothing but glory and honor reflected upon him by his Father, though afterwards "he was despised and rejected of men." Isaiah, 53:3. His Father never looked upon him without smiles and love, delight and joy, though afterwards he became a reproach of men, and despised of the people. Psa. 22:6. While he lay in that bosom of peace and love, he never knew what it was to be assaulted with temptations, to be besieged by unclean spirits, as he did afterwards: "Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into time wilderness to be tempted of the devil." Matt. 4 :1. It was for our sakes that he submitted to those exercises of spirit, to be "in all points tempted like as we are," Heb. 4 :15, that he might be unto us "a merciful and faithful High Priest." Heb. 2: 17. He was never sensible of pains and tortures in soul or body, though afterwards he groaned and sweat under them. Isa. 53:5. The Lord embraced him from eternity, but never wounded him till be stood in our place and room. There were no bidings or withdrawings of his Father from him; there was not a cloud from eternity upon the face of God, till Jesus Christ had left that bosom. It was a new thing to Christ to cry, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" Matt. 27 :46. There were never any impressions of his Father's wrath upon him, as there were afterwards: God never delivered such a bitter cup into his hands before, as that. Matt.. 26:39. There was no death, to which he was subject, in that bosom. All these things were new to Christ; he was above them all, till, for our sakes, he voluntarily subjected himself unto them.
II. Let us consider Christ's
primeval state positively, and guess (for indeed we can but guess) at the glory
of it.
Consider the intimacy,
dearness, yea, oneness of those great Persons; and the nearer the
union the sweeter the communion. Now Jesus Christ was not only near and dear
to God, but one with him: "I and my Father are one," John, 10:30; one in
nature, will, love, and delight. There is indeed a moral union of souls
among men by love, but this was a natural. oneness: no child is so one with
his father, no husband so one with the wife of his bosom, no friend so one
with his friend, no soul so one with its body, as Jesus Christ and his
Father were one. Oh what matchless delights must necessarily flow from such
a blessed union!
Consider again the
purity of that delight with which the blessed Father and Son embraced
each other. The best of. creature delights are mixed, debased, and alloyed;
if there be something engaging and delightful, there is also something
cloying and distasteful. The purer any delight is, the more excellent. Now,
there are no crystal streams flowing so purely from the fountain, no beams
of light so unmixed from the sun, as the loves and delights of these holy
and glorious persons were: the holy, holy, holy Father embraced the thrice
holy Son with a most holy delight and love.
Consider the constancy of this delight; it was from everlasting, as in verse 23, and from eternity; it never suffered one moment's interruption. The overflowing fountain of God's delight and love never stopped its course, never ebbed: "I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him."
III. Let us consider the glory of that state comparatively either with the choicest delights that one creature takes in another, or that God takes in the creature, or that the creatures take in God. Measure these immense delights, between the Father and his Son, by either of these lines, and you shall find them infinitely short.
The delight that creatures
take in each other, is sometimes a great delight; such was Jacob's delight
in Benjamin, whose life is said to be "bound up in the lad's life, Gen.
44:30, a dear and high expression.; such was that of Jonathan in David,
whose soul was knit with his soul, "he loved him as his own soul," I Sam.
18:1; and such is the delight of one friend in another; there is a friend
that is as a man's own soul, Deut. 13:6. Yet all this is but creature
delight, and can in no particular equal the delights between the Father and
the Son; for this is but a finite delight, according to the measure and
abilities of creatures, but that is infinite, suitable to the infinite
perfection of the Divine Being. This is always mixed, that perfectly pure.
It is confessed that God
takes great delight in some creatures. The Lord takes pleasure in his
saints, he rejoices over them with singing; and resteth in his love. Zeph.
3:17; Isa. 62:5. But yet there is a great difference between his delight in
creatures, and his delights in Christ; for all his delight in the saints is
secondary, and for Christ's sake; but his delights in Christ are primary,
and. for his own sake. We are accepted in the Beloved, Eph. 1:6; he is
beloved, and accepted for himself.
The delight that the best of creatures take in God and Christ, it must be confessed, is a choice delight; and that is a transcendent love, with which they love and delight in him; "Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside, thee." Pan. 73:25. But surely our delight in God is no perfect rule by which to measure his delight in Christ; for our love to God, at best, is still imperfect: that is the burden and constant complaint of saints; but this is perfect: ours is inconstant, ebbing and flowing, but this is constant. So then, the condition and state of Jesus Christ before his incarnation, was a state o the highest and matchless delight, in the enjoyment a his Father.
INFERENCE
What an astonishing act of
love was this, for the Father to give the delight of his soul, out of
his very bosom, for poor sinners! All tongues must needs pause and falter,
that attempt the expressions of his grace, expressions being here swallowed
up: "God so loved the world, that be gave his only begotten Son." John,
3:16. So loved them: how did be love them? nay, here you must excuse the
tongues of angels. Which of us would deliver a child, the child of our
delights, an only child, to death, for the greatest inheritance in the
world? what tender parent can endure parting with such a child? When Hagar
was taking her last leave (as she thought) of her Ishmael, "she went and sat
her down over against him, a good way off: for she said, Let me not see the
death of the child. And she sat over against him, and lift up her voice, and
wept." Gen. 21:16. Though she were none of the best of mothers, nor he the
best of children, yet she could not give up the child. Oh it was hard to
part! What an outcry did David make, even for an Absalom, wishing he had
died for him! What a breach has the death of some children made in the
hearts of some parents, which will never be closed up in this world! Yet
surely, never did any child lie so close to a parent's heart, as Christ to
his Father's; and yet he willingly parts with him, though his only one, the
Son of his delights; and that to death, a cursed death; for sinners, for the
worst of sinners. Oh the admirable love of God to men! matchless love t a
love past finding out! Let all men, therefore, in the business of their
redemption, give equal glory to the Father with the Son. John, 5:23. If the
Father had not loved thee, he had never parted with such a Son for thee.
From one wonder let our
souls turn to another, for they are now in the midst of wonders: adore, and
be forever astonished at the love of Jesus Christ to poor sinners, that ever
he should consent to leave such a bosom, and the ineffable delights
that were there, for such poor worms as we are. Oh the heights, depths
lengths, and breadths of unmeasurable love! See Rom. 5:6-8: read, and
wonder. How is the love of Christ commended to poor sinners! As the Father
loved him; even so, believers, hath he loved you. John, 17 :23. What manner
of love is this! Who ever loved as Christ loves. Who ever denied himself for
Christ, as Christ denied himself for us?
An interest in Jesus Christ is the true way to all spiritual preferment in heaven. Do you covet to be in the heart, in the favor and delight of God? Get interest in Jesus Christ, and you shall presently be there. In heaven, persons are preferred according to their interest in the Beloved. Eph. 1:6. Christ is the great favorite there: his image upon your soul, and his name in your prayers, makes both accepted with God.
How worthy is Jesus Christ of
all our love and delights! You see how infinitely the Father delighteth in him;
and shall not our hearts delight in him? Oh that you did but see this lovely
Lord Jesus Christ! Why do ye lavish away your precious affections upon vanity?
none but Christ is worthy of them. When you spend your precious affections upon,
other objects, what is it but to dig for dross with golden mattocks? The Lord
direct our hearts into the love of Christ. Oh that our hearts, loves, and
delights, did meet and concenter with the heart of God in this most blessed
object! Oh let him that left God's bosom for you, be embosomed by you, though
your love be nothing to God's: he that left God's bosom for you, deserves yours.
If Christ be the beloved of the Father's soul, think what a grievous and
insufferable thing it is to the heart of God, to see his dear Son despised,
slighted, and rejected by sinners: how God will bear this, that parable, Matt.
21 33-41, will inform you: surely he will miserably destroy such wretched
sinners. What a dismal word is that, If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ,
let him be Anathema Maranatha," 1 Cor. 16:22; that is, let the great curse of
God lie upon that man till the Lord come. Oh sinners! you shall one day know the
cost of this sin: you shall feel what it is to despise Jesus that is able to
compel love from the hardest hear Oh that you would slight him no more! Oh that
this day your hearts might fall in love with him! I tell you if you would set
your love to sale, none bids so fair for it as Christ.
If Christ lay eternally in this bosom of love, and yet was content to forsake
and leave it for your sakes, then, Christians, be you ready to forsake all the
comforts you have on earth for Christ. Famous Galleacius left all for this
enjoyment; Moses left all the glory of Egypt; Peter and the other apostles left
all. Luke, 18 :28. But what have we to leave for Christ in comparison with what
he left for us? Surely Christ is the highest pattern of self-denial in the
world. Let this confirm your faith in prayer. If he, that has such an interest
in the heart of God, intercede with the Father for you, then never doubt of
audience and acceptance with him; surely you shall be accepted through the
Beloved. Christ was never denied any thing that he asked. The Father hears him
always. John, 11:42. Though you are not worthy, Christ is, and he ever lives to
make intercession for you. Heb. 7:25. Let this encourage thy heart, O saint, in
a dying hour; and not only make thee patient in death, but in a holy manner
impatient till thou be gone-for whither is thy soul now going, but to that bosom
of love whence Christ came? "Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given
me, be with me where I am, John, 17:24; and where is he but in that bosom of
glory and love where he lay before the world was? verse 5. Oh then let every
believer encourage his soul comfort ye one another with these words, "I am
leaving the bosom of a creature; I am going to the bosom of God,"
Sinners, embrace the bosom-Son of God. Poor fellow-mortals! whatever you
are or have been, under whatever guilt or discouragement you lie, embrace
Christ, who is freely offered to you, and you shall be as dear to God as the
holiest and most eminent believer in the world; but if you still continue to
despise and neglect such a Saviour, sorer wrath is treasured up for you than
other sinners. Heb. 10:28,29. Oh that these discoveries and overtures of Christ
may never come to such a fatal issue with any of your souls, before whom his
glory has been thus opened!
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