And so we have briefly demonstrated the first thing cnttnleds in 9 the words, namely, that Christ was the builder of the house, whereof Moses was a part and a member only.
VER. 3-6. ] EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 547
2. The second thing asserted is, that the Lord Christ is worthy of all glory and honour, upon the account of his thus building his church, the house of God.
This also is directly taught by the apostle, and included in the comparison that he makes of him with Moses, and his preference above him. He is worthy of much more glory and honour than Moses. What glory it is that the apostle intends we must first in- quire; and then show both that he is worthy of it and also hath it; which things comprise what remains of the apostle’s intention in this first argument.
First, The Lord Christ hath an essential glory, the same with that of the Father. This he had from eternity, antecedent unto his whole undertaking of building the house of God. He and his Father are ONE, John x. 30. Before his humiliation “he was in the form of God, and counted it not robbery to be equal with God,” Phil. ii. 6,— equal in dignity and glory, because of the same nature with him, which is the fountain of all divine glory and honour. This is “the glory which he had with the Father before the world was;” which being clouded for a season, in his taking on him “ the form of a ser- vant,” Phil. ii. 7, he desires the manifestation of again, upon the accomplishment of his work in this world, John xvii. 5, Rom. 1. 3, 4. But this is not the glory intended; for the reason and cause of it is not his building the house of God, but his divine nature, from which it is absolutely inseparable. Had this house never been built, yet he would have been thus glorious to eternity.
Secondly, There is in Christ the glory and honour of the human nature, as glorified after its obedience and suffering. This nature was rendered glorious by virtue of its union with the Son of God from his incarnation, as it is expressed by the angel, Luke i. 35: “The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee ; therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.” But it received an inconceivable addition of glory, when, being made spiritual and heavenly, and every way glorified beyond what the understanding of man ean reach unto (for whereas “ our vile bodies shall be made like unto his glorious body,” or we shall be made like unto him, “it doth not appear,” is not conceivable, “ what we shall be,” 1 John iii. 2), it was received triumphantly into heaven, Acts i. 9, there to continue “ until the times of the restitution of all things,” chap. iii. 21. Neither is this, as absolutely considered, the glory and honour here intended; for this glory is not merely that which he hath in himself, but that which is due to him from and given to him by the church.
Thirdly, There is the honour and glory which he hath received in his exaltation as the head of the church. What this glory is, and wherein it doth consist, or what are the effects of his exaltation,
548 AN EXPOSITION OF THE [CHAP. III.
have been at large declared on chap. i. 2, 3, ete. See Matt. xxviii. 18, Eph. i. 20-22, Col. i. 15-18. In this last place, both the nature and reason and consequents of it are expressed. The nature of it is in this, that he is “the first-born of every creature,” verse 15, or lord and heir.of the whole creation of God; “the head of the body,” with an absolute pre-eminence in all things, verse 18. And the reason which makes this exaltation reasonable is taken from the dignity of his person absolutely considered, and the infiniteness of his power: for, in his person he is “ the image of the invisible God,” verse 15, or “the express image” of the Father, as Heb. 1 3; and as to his power, “by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth,” verse 16, as is at large declared, Johni. 1-3. This made it equal, that having fulfilled the work assigned unto him, mentioned verses 20—22, he should enjoy all the glory and honour in- sisted on; that is, that after he had built the house of God, he was thus exalted.
What this glory or honour of Christ is, with respect unto the church or the house built by him, shall.be briefly declared, suppos- ing, as was said before, what hath been already taught concerning it on the first chapter. And it may be considered,—
First, In respect of the collation of it upon him. His glory as the eternal Son of God was and is personal and natural unto him, even as it is unto the Father; for each person being possessed “in solidum” of the same nature, each of them being God by nature, and the same God, they have the same glory. But this glory of Christ, as the builder of the church, as mediator, is consequent unto, and bestowed upon him by the will and actual donation of the Father. By him was he designed unto his work, and from him doth he receive his glory. He “ raised him from the dead, and gave him glory,” 1 Pet. i. 21: that is, not only rendered him glorious by his resurrection, as he was “ declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead,” as Rom. i. 4,—that is, made known by that miraculous, divine ope- ration to be the true, real Son of God, and his divine nature thereby manifested; nor only because he was afterwards “ received up into glory,” 1 Tim. ii. 16,—that is, gloriously and triumphantly in his human nature received into heaven; but because it was his will that glory and honour should be yielded, ascribed, and paid unto him. For so he speaks concerning the whole intellectual creation: as first, for angels, he saith, “ Let all the angels of God worship him,” Heb. i, 6; and for men, “The Father hath committed all judgment unto the Son, that all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father,” John v. 22, 23. So that this glory and honour is con- ferred upon the Lord Christ as the builder of the church, by the grant, donation, and will of the Father.