THE PERSON OF CHRIST
"You are fairer than the children of men." Psalm 45: 2
"My meditation of him shall be sweet." Psalm 104: 34
Before we dwell on the melting story of Calvary, or exhibit to you a
crucified Savior, or afford a display of his glorious atonement, let us
advert to the divine person and character of our Immanuel. Let us admire his
glorious perfections. A saving knowledge of Christ will constitute the
foundation of our immortal joys; will lead us to eternal life, and the
highest state of felicity in heaven above. "And this is life; eternal, that
they might know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have
sent."
O, that we might obtain a glimpse of the matchless person of Christ! O, that
we might behold "the King, in his beauty." Surely then would our sight and
eyes be turned away from viewing vanity. If there is an object in the
universe that should attract our attention, excite our admiration, warm our
affections, and demand our love; surely it is the glorious Savior, the
blessed Son of God, who is the brightness of his Father's glory, and the
express image of his person. Christ is the most glorious being in the
universe of God. Blessed Jesus! reveal yourself unto us in all your
transcendent loveliness, in all your surpassing beauty.
"You are fairer than the children of men;" "the chief among ten thousand;"
"yes, you are altogether lovely;" "you are the blooming rose of Sharon, and
the lily of the valleys." Manifest yourself unto us as you do not unto the
world. Gladden our guilty souls with the beams of your mercy and grace.
Unfurl the banner of your wondrous love over us; encircle us in the arms of
your compassion, and lift upon us the light of your gracious countenance.
We can know but little, comparatively, of the excellence and glory of
Christ's person, until we see him on his heavenly throne, in all his
unveiled glory. Then shall we see him as he is, face to face, and forever
behold his matchless beauty. What a glorious sight will that be, to see the
Redeemer shining in the perfection of beauty. What a blessed privilege, to
dwell forever in the presence of the great King, to surround the radiant
throne of heaven, and amid the splendors of the celestial Paradise, to sound
through endless ages the notes of seraphic praise, to him that redeemed us
from eternal misery with his own most precious blood!
Gentle reader, seek Christ now; believe on him; view him with the eye of
faith, as your only Lord and Savior, and in a little while faith shall be
turned into sight, into heavenly vision, and you will enjoy the presence and
society of your beloved Redeemer throughout a glorious eternity. Remember,
young reader, that Christ has said "those that seek me early shall find me."
May the Lord in his mercy grant that you and I may find Him of whom Moses
and the prophets wrote– Jesus, the Son of God. This will prove our
everlasting comfort. Through time and through eternity, Christ will be our
unchanging friend.
To the believer, Christ is all in all. Amid all the vacillating scenes and
heart-rending sorrows of mortality, he is ever with him, manifesting his
grace and sustaining him in every trial; and in the last hour of mortal
existence, when the believer is standing on the verge of the grave, Christ
is by him, cheering his departing soul with the hope of eternal glory", and
guiding him safely through the swellings of Jordan to the promised land, the
everlasting happy home of God's children. In the hour of death, the believer
is enabled to exclaim, "Oh! I would not give up Christ for all the world.
Whom have I in heaven but you? and there is none upon earth that I desire
besides you."
Now, is Christ precious to you? Do you desire to know more and more about
him? Is he formed in you, the hope of glory? If so, we trust you will follow
us with a joyful heart in our presentation of his character and excellence
as they are vividly portrayed in the Holy Scriptures. That blessed Redeemer
who once hung as a bleeding victim on Calvary; who endured the death of the
cross there, is the eternal Son of God, equal with the Father in power and
glory, possessing all the attributes of Deity.
The Scriptures plainly assert that Christ is God, the Creator of the
universe. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the
Word was God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing
made that was made." Christ bears the very image of the everlasting Father.
Yes, the eternal Son of God, our blessed Savior, is the brightness of his
Father's glory, and the express image of his person. "The Son is the
radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being,
sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided
purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in
heaven."
Again, it is declared that "Christ is the visible image of the invisible
God. He existed before God made anything at all and is supreme over all
creation. Christ is the one through whom God created everything in heaven
and earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can't see—kings,
kingdoms, rulers, and authorities. Everything has been created through him
and for him. He existed before everything else began, and he holds all
creation together. Christ is the head of the church, which is his body. He
is the first of all who will rise from the dead, so he is first in
everything. For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ."
What a fullness of grace and glory dwells in the blessed Jesus! And what
divine power has he displayed in the works of creation! By his word, were
all things made. He spoke and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast.
He only gave the command, and this world, with all its inhabitants, sprung
into being. Such is his illimitable power, that he has created and sustained
for ages, millions of fixed and moving worlds of light and glory. With
unerring precision, he guides the planets in their revolutions, and directs
the comets in their flaming march. With an arm of omnipotence, he has
bespangled the midnight sky with its glowing luminaries; and that same
mysterious personage who endured the ignominious death of Calvary, has
created this beautiful, green earth on which we tread; formed the moon in
her silvery brightness, and kindled up the sun in all his glory. "By the
word of the Lord, were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the
breath of his mouth." He has "measured the waters in the hollow of his hand,
and meted out heaven with a span, and determined the dust of the earth in a
measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance."
Christ is the second person in the glorious Trinity, and is of equal power
with God the Father, and God the Spirit. Yes he "thought it not robbery to
be equal with God," and as the Creator of the universe, he reigns, the
omnipotent Lord of heaven and earth. All power is entrusted to him, and all
worlds are the offspring of his almighty fiat, the product of his creative
skill. This is the same blessed Savior who bled and died on earth. "He alone
has spread out the heavens and marches on the waves of the sea. He made all
the stars—the Bear, Orion, the Pleiades, and the constellations of the
southern sky. His great works are too marvelous to understand. He performs
miracles without number."
Christian, go out and gaze upon the clear, blue sky, when the solemn
stillness of night pervades a slumbering world; survey the countless glories
of the starry firmament; view the numberless suns that shine above you;
think of the innumerable planets that revolve around these suns; contemplate
the mighty systems of worlds that move in celestial harmony and majesty
through boundless space. Your Savior made them all.
Then think of his power, wisdom, and goodness as manifested in all his
works. Think of his original glory and blessedness; but above all, think of
his amazing condescension and infinite love for you. He who hung out these
brilliant orbs, once stooped from his celestial throne of glory to assume
human nature, and bleed and die for you! yes, to die the death of the cross!
"He made himself nothing; he took the humble position of a slave and
appeared in human form. And in human form he obediently humbled himself even
further by dying a criminal's death on a cross." Wonderful condescension.
Amazing love! Was there ever love like this, that led Christ to Calvary,
there to lay down his precious life for sinners! No! the annals of time do
not furnish a parallel; neither is it to be found in the records of
eternity!
Christ, the only begotten Son of God, lay in the bosom of the Father from
all eternity; possessing untold glory with him. But out of infinite
compassion and boundless love for his children, his redeemed, he consented,
for a time, to veil that glory in humanity, and bleed upon the accursed
tree. He became partaker of flesh and blood. "Because God's children are
human beings—made of flesh and blood—Jesus also became flesh and blood by
being born in human form. For only as a human being could he die, and only
by dying could he break the power of the Devil, who had the power of death."
He gave his blessed body to be broken, and his precious blood to be shed for
sinners. For you, dear believer, did the Lord of glory suffer. That he might
redeem you from the curse of a broken law, and thus rescue you from eternal
misery in the regions of darkness and despair, he assumed your nature. "We
all know that Jesus came to help the descendants of Abraham, not to help the
angels. Therefore, it was necessary for Jesus to be in every respect like
us, his brothers and sisters, so that he could be our merciful and faithful
High Priest before God. He then could offer a sacrifice that would take away
the sins of the people."
In Christ, the divine and human natures are admirably united in one glorious
person. He is truly God and truly man. He is our Creator, our Preserver, our
bountiful Benefactor; and yet he is bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh.
He is our near kinsman; our elder brother; our gracious friend, who loves at
all times; our glorious Redeemer.
In our nature, Christ suffered and died for us; in our nature he rose
triumphant from the grave; and he now wears it before the throne of God. O
how highly has Christ exalted human nature! He has elevated it to the right
hand of God, to the greatest honors and the brightest state of felicity in
the heaven of heavens. In glory, the redeemed shall be made like Christ;
their bodies shall shine like his glorious body. Says an Apostle, "we know
that when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he
is." At his glorious appearing on the resurrection morning, Christ shall
call forth our sleeping dust. "He will take these weak mortal bodies of ours
and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same mighty
power that he will use to conquer everything, everywhere."
Then shall we be with him, and be entirely like him to all eternity. Then
shall we see him face to face in his heavenly kingdom, yes, we shall look
into the very face of the blessed Jesus, and behold in that countenance the
expressions of tenderest love for us, his redeemed. Then shall we see what a
lovely Savior we have! And through eternal ages we shall be contemplating
the glorious person of our Redeemer. Then shall we discern those
excellencies in the person of Christ, which are now obscured by the veil of
mortality. "Now we see things imperfectly as in a poor mirror, but then we
will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and
incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God knows me
now."
Precious Savior! Your name is as ointment poured forth. You are all our
salvation and desire. We love you, because you have first loved us. Whom
have we in heaven but you, and there is none upon earth that we desire
besides you. You are our way to the Father, the way in which the redeemed
journey through a wilderness world to the heavenly Canaan. You are the
blessed day-star which illuminates our path through a bewildering world, and
guides it safely over life's tempestuous ocean into the harbor of eternal
glory. Blessed Redeemer, may I love and prize you more and more on earth,
until, prepared for those happy mansions above, I bid adieu to this sinful,
sorrowful world, enter into the joy of my Lord, and raise a never-ending
song of praise in glory to you my Almighty Savior.
"Almighty Jesus, make me thine;
Oh! wash me in your blood divine,
Preserve my soul from every sin,
And reign the sovereign Lord within.
Oh! for a heart of faith and love,
To taste the Savior's richest grace,
To emulate the choirs above,
Who ever see his blissful face.
Blest spirit! beautify my soul
With humble joy and holy fear;
Your power can make the wounded whole,
And bring each gospel blessing near.
Descend and dwell within my heart;
The Savior's image let us bear;
Then bid me hence with joy depart,
And angels' bliss forever share."
What a precious Savior we have to choose as ours. One who is so amiable and
excellent in his person. One who is infinitely able to save us. One who
delights in our salvation; and rejoices over us to do us good. Concerning
his people, Christ says, "And I will make an everlasting covenant with them,
promising not to stop doing good for them. I will put a desire in their
hearts to worship me, and they will never leave me. I will rejoice in doing
good to them and will faithfully and wholeheartedly replant them in this
land."
What mercies flow from the Savior of sinners! When we look at what our
Redeemer has accomplished for us, well may we, with wonder and astonishment,
exclaim, "Oh how great is your goodness, which you have laid up for those
who fear you; which you have wrought for those who trust in you; before the
sons of men." How deeply impressed with the divine goodness was the prophet,
when, borne along and overwhelmed with the sublimity of his rapturous theme,
he breaks forth into this lofty song: "Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout
aloud, O Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O daughter of
Jerusalem! For the Lord your God has arrived to live among you. He is a
mighty savior. He will rejoice over you with great gladness. With his love,
he will calm all your fears. He will exult over you by singing a happy
song."
There is none like Christ. He spoke as never man spoke. When he sojourned in
this valley of tears, he went about doing good; words of compassion flowed
from his gracious lips; he comforted the afflicted, healed the diseased, and
raised the dead. At his omnipotent voice, "the eyes of the blind were
opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; the lame man leaped as a deer,
and the tongue of the mute sung."
How compassionate was the blessed Jesus, to the sons and daughters of
affliction, to the perishing multitudes around him, when he trod this earth,
clothed with the garb of humanity. And now that he is in heaven, invested
with all his original glory, he has the same eye of pity, and the same heart
of love for dying sinners on earth. Though he reigns in glory, yet he now
says, "To this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite
spirit, and trembles at my word."
One compassionate look from Christ, which draws out the soul in love after
him, and kindles up the affections in holy desires after sweet communion
with him, is worth more than all the treasures of the world. A saving
interest in the glorious Redeemer, will put us into the possession and
enjoyment of those "unsearchable riches" which will endure when this
bewildering world, with all its fascinations, with all its grandeur, shall
have passed away.
Does your heart pant after these durable riches? Then look up to Christ,
admire him! contemplate his adorable, mysterious person. Open the blessed
volume of inspiration and read his glorious character. "Search the
scriptures," says the Savior, "for in them you think you have eternal life,
and they are they which testify of me." Trace him in his wonderful
transition from heaven to earth. He veils his glory in humanity. He assumes
human nature, and becomes an infant of days, a man of sorrow through life; a
bleeding victim on Calvary. For you, sinner, he yields to the stroke of
death; and is laid in a tomb. But see him bursting the fetters of the grave,
and ascending to glory! There follow him. On the wings of faith soar to the
heavenly Canaan! Your Divine Redeemer is there, radiant in glory. Before
him, all the redeemed bow in token of humble adoration and praise. While
they gaze upon his wondrous bright form, one song, "worthy is the Lamb that
was slain, "employs them all. In heaven, all are admiring and praising the
"Lamb that stands on Mount Zion."
There, every redeemed sinner desires to know more and more about the
adorable Savior. O believer, the more you study Christ the more will you
admire and praise him. Wonderful in his nature, glorious in his person, and
dear in those relations in which he stands to you, he demands your whole
heart, your affections, all your grateful thoughts. While you walk by faith
through a wilderness world, you should constantly keep Christ in your view-
in your thoughts- in your mind; until in the full blaze of heaven's glory,
you behold him, in the midst of the celestial throne, as "a Lamb that had
been slain," and eternally admire his matchless person, and his boundless
grace.
O blessed Jesus! may the desire of our soul now be to your name, and to the
remembrance of you. May we remember you upon beds, and meditate on you in
the night-watches. And through all our earthly pilgrimage may we ever think
of you, and of your great goodness.
Christian, let your love for an unseen Savior increase more and more. "You
love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him, you
trust him; and even now you are happy with a glorious, inexpressible joy."
"Unto you therefore who believe, he is precious." In the mean time, may your
eye- that eye of faith which views the eternal world, and those glorious
"things which are not seen," ever be directed to the bleeding Lamb of God,
who takes away your sins; who takes away the sin of the world! Be always
longing and "look forward to that wonderful event when the glory of our
great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be revealed. He gave his life to
free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us his very own
people, totally committed to doing what is right."
How sweet the Name of Jesus sounds
In a believer's ear!
It soothes his sorrows, heals his wounds,
And drives away his fear.
It makes the wounded spirit whole,
And calms the troubled breast;
'Tis manna to the hungry soul,
And to the weary, rest.
Dear Name, the Rock on which I build,
My Shield and Hiding Place,
My never failing treasury, filled
With boundless stores of grace!
By You my prayers acceptance gain,
Although with sin defiled;
Satan accuses me in vain,
And I am owned a child.
Jesus! my Shepherd, Husband, Friend,
O Prophet, Priest and King,
My Lord, my Life, my Way, my End,
Accept the praise I bring.
Weak is the effort of my heart,
And cold my warmest thought;
But when I see You as You art,
I'll praise You as I ought.
Till then I would Your love proclaim
With every fleeting breath,
And may the music of Your Name
Refresh my soul in death! (John Newton)