Thiidly, It is wondrous in regard of the fruit we have by this service of Christ, the work of oui* redemption, to be translated from the kingdom of Satan to the glorious liberty of the sons of God, Rom. viii. 21, to be brought oiit of darkness into marvellous light. It is a marvellous matter of wonder, the good we have by this abasement of Christ, ' Behold what love the Father hath shewed us, that we should be called the sons of God ! ' 1 John iii. 1. Now, all this comes from Christ's being a servant. Our liberty comes fi'om his service and slavery, our hfe from his death, our adoption and sonship and all comes from his abasement. Therefore it is a matter of wonderment for the great things we have by it, 0 the depth, 0 the depth, saith St Paul, Rom. xi. 33. Here are all dimensions in this excellent work that Christ hath wrought by his abasement, by his incania-
8 A DESCRIPTION OF CHRIST.
tion, and taking upon him the form of a servant, and dying for us ; here is the height and breadth, and length and depth of the love of God in Christ. 0 the riches of God's mercy ! The apostles they stand in a wonder and admiration of this, and indeed, if anything be to be admired, it is Clii'ist, that wondrous conjunction, the wondrous love that wrought it, and the wondrous fi'uit we have by it.
It is the baseness of our nature we can wonder at shallow things. There cannot be fooler}', but there will be many about it presently, and stand ad- miring every empty idle thing that the nature of man is carried away with ; whereas indeed there is nothing worthy of admiration but the wonderful love of God. 0 how wonderful are thy works, saith David, of the works of creation, Ps. viii. 1. The work of creation and of providence whereby God guides the world are wonderful, and the psalmist cries out of the folly of men, that do not regard the work of the Lord, ' Fools regard not this ' Ps. xiv 1 ; ' The works of the Lord are worthy to be considered, they are known of all that delight in them,' Ps. csi. 2. But if these things be so wonderful, and to be regarded and delighted in, alas ! what is all the work of redemption ! Great is the mystery of godliness, God manifested in the flesh, &c., 1 Tim. iii. 16. There are mysteries, matters of admiration, but carnal men think these trival matters, they can hear matters of more rai'ity; and when they speak of these things, alas ! they are too wise to wonder, tush, they know the gospel well enough, whereas indeed, as we see here, they are things that deserve the admiration of angels ; and as they deserve it, so the angels pry into these excellent secrets in Jesus Christ, 1 Pet. i. 12.
Christ was a servant by office and by condition. We must not rest in this base condition ; for he took upon him the form of a servant that he might be an excellent servant. There is both baseness and excellency in the word servant ; for his humiliation was a degree of his exaltation, and a part of his advancement. If we regard his human nature, it was an ad- vancement for man's nature to be gi-afted into God by conception and incar- nation ; but if we regard his Godhead, for him to conceal liimself, and lay aside the beams and rays of majesty, and clothe himself with man's flesh, this was the first degree of humiliation. It was an advancement to his flesh, but it was a concealing and hiding to his Godhead. For God to be- come a servant this was an abasement : but then consider the excellency of the service, how God dehghted in it, and how useful it was to us, and we shall see that he was a servant by way of excellency. There was first in Christ human flesh, abased flesh, and then glorious flesh. Abasement was first necessaiy for Christ ; for he could not have performed the office of a servant, unless he had undertaken the condition of a sen^ant. He must first be abased and then glorious, our iU must be his before his good could be ours ; and how could he undergo our ifl, our sin and misery, and the curse due to us, but he must be abased ? Our sins must be imputed to him, and then his righteousness and whatsoever is good is ours ; so here is both the abasement of his condition, and the excellency of his oftice to be a king, priest, and prophet to his church, as we shall see afterwards.
Is the Lord Christ a servant ? This should teach us not to stand upon any terms. If Christ had stood upon terms, if he had refused to take upon him the shape of a servant, alas ! where had wc and our salvation been ? And yet wretched creatures, we think ourselves too good to do God and our brethren any service. Christ stood not upon his greatness, but, being equal A\'ith God, he became a servant. Oh ! we should dismoimt from the tower of our conceited excellency. The heai-t of man is a proud creatm'e, a