(1.) An authoritative imposition of the office of Mediator, which Christ closed withal by his voluntary susception of it, willingly un- dergoing the office, wlierein by dispensation the Father had and ex- ercised a kind of superiority, which the Son, though " in the form of God," hum])led himself unto, Phil. ii. 6-8. And of this there may conceived two parts: —
[1.] The purposed imposition of his counsel, or his eternal coun- sel for the setting apart of liis Son incarnate to this office, saying unto him, " Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I shall give thee the nations for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession," Ps. ii. 7, 8. He said unto him, " Sit thou at my right hand until I make thine enemies
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thy footstool ;" for " the LoRD sware, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melcliizedek/' Ps. ex. 1, 4. He appointed him to be " heir of all things," Heb. i. 2, having " ordained him to be Judge of quick and dead," Acts x. 42 ; for unto this he was "ordained before the foundation of the world,"! Pet. i. 20, and "deter- mined, bpiakig, to be the Son of God with power," Rom. i. 4, " that he might be the first-born among many brethren," chap. viii. 29. I know that this is an act eternally established in the mind and will of God, and so not to be ranged in order with the others, which are all tem- poi'ary, and had their beginning in the fulness of time, of all which this first is the spring and fountain, according to that of James, Acts XV. ] 8, " Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world;" but yet, it being no unusual form of speaking that the purpose should also be comprehended in that which holds out the accomplishment of it, aiming at truth and not exactness, we pass it thus.
[2.] The actual inauguration or solemn admission of Christ into his office; "committing all judgment unto the Son," John v. 22; " making him to be both Lord and Christ," Acts ii. 36; "appointing him over his whole house," Heb. iii. 1—6 ; — which is that "anointing of the most Holy," Dan. ix. 24 ; God " anointing him with the oil of gladness above his fellows," Ps. xlv. 7: for the actual setting apart of Christ to his office is said to be by unction, because all those holy things which were types of him, as the ark, the altar, etc., were set apart and consecrated by anointing, Exod. xxx. 25-28, etc. To this also belongs that public testification by innumerable angels from heaven of his nativity, declared by one of them to the shepherds. " Behold," saith he, " I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be unto all people ; for unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord," Luke ii. 10, 11 ; — which message was attended by and closed with that triumphant exulta- tion of the host of heaven, " Glory be to God on high, on earth peace, towards men good-will," verse 14: with that redoubled voice which afterward came from the excellent glory, " This is my be- loved Son, in whom I am well-pleased," Matt. iii. 1 7, xvii. 5 ; 2 Pet, i. 1 7. If these things ought to be distinguished and placed in their own order, they may be considered in these three several acts: — First, The glorious proclamation which he made of his nativity, when he " jarepared him a body," Heb. x. 5, bringing his First-be- gotten into the world, and saying, " Let all the angels of God Avor- ship him," chap. i. 6, sending them to proclaim the message which we before recounted. Secondly, Sending the Spirit visibly, in the form of a dove, to light upon him at the time of his baptism, Matt. iii. 16, when he was endued with a fulness thereof, for the accomplishment of the work and discharge of the office whereunto
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he was designed, attended with that voice whereljy he owned him from heaven as his only-beloved. Thirdly, The " crowning of him with glory and honour," in his resurrection, ascension, and sitting down '' on the right hand of the Majesty on high,'' Heb. i. 3 ; setting " him as his king upon his holy hill of Zion," Ps. ii. 6 ; when " all power was given unto him in heaven and in earth," Matt, xxviii. 18, " all things being put under his feet," Heb. ii. 7, 8 ; himself highly exalted, and "a name given him above every name, that at," etc., Phil. ii. 9-11. Of which it pleased him to appoint witnesses of all sorts ; — angels from heaven, Luke xxiv. 4, Acts i. 10 ; the dead out of the graves, Matt, xxvii. 52; the apostles among and unto the living, Acts ii. 32 ; with those more than five hundred brethren, to whom he appeared at once, 1 Cor. xv. 6. Thus gloriously was he inaugu- rated into his office, in the several acts and degrees thereof, God saying unto him, "It is a light thing that thou shouldestbe my ser- vant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth," Isa. xlix. 6.