A sacrifice is a religious oblation, wherfein something by the ministry of a priest, appointed of God thereunto, is dedicated to God, and destroyed as to what it was, for the ends and purposes of spiritual worship Avhereunto it is instituted. I shall only take notice of that one part of this definition, which asserts that the thing sacri- ficed was to be destroyed as to what it was. This is clear from all the sacrifices that ever were; either they were slain, or burned, or sent to destruction. Now, the person of Christ was not dissolved, but the union of his natures continued, even then when the human na- ture was in itself destroyed by the separation of soul and body. It was the soul and body of Christ that was sacrificed, his body being killed and his soul separated ; so that at that season it was destroyed as to what it was, though it was impossible he should be detained by death.
And this sacrifice of Christ was typified by the two goats: his body, whose blood was shed, by the goat that was slain visibly ; and his soul by azazel, on whose head the .sins of the people were confessed, and he sent away into the wilderness, to suffer there by a fall or famishment.
This also will farther appear in our following consideration of the death of Christ as a punishment, when I shall show that he suffered both in soul and body.
But it may be said, " If only the human nature of Christ was offered, how could it be a sacrifice of such infinite value as to [sa- tisfy] the justice of God for all the sins of all the elect, whereunto it was appointed?"
Ans. Though the thing sacrificed was but finite, yet the person sacrificinsf was infinite, and the aa-orsXsff'i-a of the action follows the agent, that is, our mediator, QiavdpwKog, — whence the sacrifice was of infinite value.
432 VINDICI^ EVANGELlCiE.
And this is the second consideration of the death of Christ, — it was a sacrifice. What is the pecuHar influence of his death as a sac- rifice into the satisfaction he hath made shall be declared afterward.
From what hath been spoken, a brief description of the sacrifice of Christ, as to all the concernments of it, may be taken : —
1. The person designing, appointing, and instituting this sacrifice, is God the Father, as in grace contriving the great work of the sal- vation of the elect. "A l)ody did he prepare him;'' and therein "he came to do his will," Heb. x. 5, 7, in that which he did, which the sacrifices of old could not do. He came to fulfil the will of God, his appointment and ordinance, being his servant therein, made ^payji n, less than the Father, that he might be obedient to death. God the Father sent him when he made his soul an offering.
2. He to whom it was offered was God, God essentially considered, with his glorious property of justice, which was to be atoned : " He gave himself an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour," Eph. v. 2 ; that is, to atone him, being provoked, as we shall see afterward.
8. The person offering was Christ, the mediator, God and man: " He offered himself to God," Heb. ix. 1 4. And because he did it who was God and man, and as God and man, God is said to " re- deem his church with his own blood," Acts xx. 28.
4. The matter of the sacrifice was his whole human nature, body and soul, called " himself," as I have showed in sundry particulars.
5. Tlie immediate efficient cause of his offering, and the destruc- tion of that which he offered unto God, as before described, was his own will: " Lo, I come," saith he, " to do thy will," Heb. x. 7; and, '' No man," saith he, " taketh my life from me, but I lay it down of myself: I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again," John x. 18. What men and devils did to him, or what he suffered from the curse of the law, comes under another considera- tion,— as his death was a penalty; as it was a sacrifice, his own will was all the cause immediately effecting it.
6. The fire that was to set this holocaust on a flame was the Holy Spirit: Heb. ix. 14, "Through the Eternal Spirit." That the fire which came down from heaven and was always kept alive upon the altar was a type of the Holy Ghost might easily be demonstrated. I have done it elsewhere. Now, the Holy Spirit did this in Christ; he was offered through the Eternal Spirit, as others were by fire,
7. The Scripture speaks nothing of the altar on which Christ was offered ; some assign the cross. That of our Saviour is abundantly sufficient to evince the folly thereof. Matt, xxiii. 18, 19. If the cross was the altar, it was greater than Christ, and sanctified him ; which is blasphemy. Besides, Christ himself is said to be an altar, Heb. xiii. 10; and he is said to sanctify himself to be an offering or a
OF THE SATISFACTION OF CHRIST. 433