^ I confess the word fiecxirrjs is given to Moses, in that Gal. iii. 19, but Moses was but a typical mediator, and you never find that Moses is called a mediator in a way of re- demption, or satisfaction, or paying a ransom ; for so dear Jesus is the only mediator : so the word fjLecirrjs is used in that 1 Tim. ii. 5; Heb. yiii. 6-8, ix. 14, 15, and xiL 22-24.
178 REASONS WHY CHRIST DID
signification of this name fi€aiTrj<;, Jesus Christ is the middle, that is, the second person in the Trinity, betwixt the Father and the Holy Ghost. He is the only middle person betwixt God and man, being in one person God-man ; and his being a middle person fits and capaci- tates him to stand in the midst between God and us. And as he is the middle person, so he is the middle officer, intervening or interpos- ing or coming between God and man by office, satisfying God's justice to the full for man's sins by his sufferings and death, and maintaining our constant peace in heaven by his meritorious intercession. Hence, as one observes, [Gerhard,] Jesus Christ is a true mediator, is still found in medio, in the middle. He was born, as some think, from Wisd. xviii. 14, about the middle of the night ; he suffered, Heb. xiii. 12, in the middle of the world, that is, at Jerusalem, seated in the middle of the earth : he was crucified in the midst, between the two thieves, John xix. 18 : he died in the air on the cross, in the midst between heaven and earth : he stood after his resurrection in the midst of his disciples, John xx. 19 ; and he has promised, that where two or three are gathered together in his name, he will be in the midst of them. Mat. xviii. 20 : and he walks in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks, Eev. ii. 1, that is, the churches: and he as the heart in the midst of the body, distributes spirits and virtue to all the parts of his mystical body, Eph. iv. 15, 16. Thus Jesus Christ is the mediator betwixt God and man ; middle in person and middle in office. And thus you have seen at large what a meet mediator Jesus Christ is, considered in both his natures, considered as God-man. But,
[2.] Secondly, If Jesus Christ he not God, then there is no spiritual nor eternal good to be expected or enjoyed. If Christ be not God, our preaching is in vain, and your hearing is in vain, and your praying is in vain, and your believing is in vain, and your hope of pardon and forgiveness by Jesus Christ is in vain ; for none can forgive sins but a God. Christ hath promised that ' believers shall never perish ; ' he hath promised them ' eternal life,' and that he will ' raise them up at the last day,' he has promised ' a crown of righteousness,' he has pro- mised ' a crown of life,' he has promised ' a crown of glory,' he has promised that conquering Christians shall ' sit down with him in his throne, as he is set down with his Father in his throne :' he has pro- mised that they shall not be hurt of ' the second death.' i And a thou- sand other good things Jesus Christ has promised ; but if Jesus Christ be not God, how shall these promises be made good ? If a man that hath never a foot of land in England, nor yet worth one groat in all the world, shall make his will, and bequeath to thee such and such houses, and lands, and lordships in such a county or such a county ; and shall by will, give thee so much in plate, and so much in jewels, and so much in ready money ; whereas he is not, upon any account, worth one penny in all the world ; certainly such legacies will never make a man the richer nor the happier. None of those great and precious promises, which are hinted at above, will signify anything, if Christ be not God ; for they can neither refresh us, nor cheer us in
1 Mark ii. 7; John iii. 10; John x. 28; 2 Tim. iv. 8; James i. 12; 1 Tct. v. 4; Rev. iii. 21, and ii. 11.
PARTAKE OF BOTH NATURES. 179
this world, nor make us happy in that other world. If Christ be not God, how can he purchase our pardon, procure our peace, pacify divine wrath, and satisfy infinite justice ? A man may satisfy the justice of man, but who but a God can satisfy the justice of God ? ' Will God accept of thousands of rams, or ten thousands of rivers of oil, or the firstborn of thy body for the sin of thy soul ?' Micah vi. 7. Oh, no ! he will not, he cannot. That scripture is worthy to be written in letters of gold : Acts xx. 28, ' Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers ; to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood/ This must needs relate to Christ, and Christ is here called God, and Christ's blood is called the blood of God ; and with- out a peradventure Christ could never have gone through with the purchase of the church, if the blood he shed had not been the blood of God. This blood is called God's own blood, because the Son of God, being and remaining true God, assumed human flesh and blood in unity of person. By this phrase, that which appertaineth to the humanity of Christ is attributed to his divinity, because of the union of the two natures in one person, and communion of properties. The church is to Christ a bloody spouse, an Aceldama or field of blood : for she could not be redeemed with silver and gold, but with the blood of God, 1 Pet. i. 18, 19 : so it is called by a communication of properties, to set forth the incomparable value and virtue thereof. But,