Eph. v. 30. We are members of his body, of his flesh, and of
his bones.
THAT the eternal Son of God assumed our na- ture, and lived and died for the salvation of men, is doubtless the fundamental truth on which we are to build our hopes. But we shall have a very partial view of that truth, if we consider it merely in refer- ence to our acceptance with God. The Apostles
state it as the strongest of all motives to obedience, and as the pattern which, as far as circumstances will admit of it, we are bound to imitate. To go no further than the context ; St. Paul is stating the duties of husbands and wives : and, having observed that wives are to be as obedient to their husbands, in all lawful things, as the Church is to Christ, he shews, that husbands are not, however, at liberty to act the tyrant; but that they should at all times be influenced by love, and consult the good and happiness of their wives, as much as Christ himself does of the Church, to whom he stands in a similar relation3.
The words before us are, in this view, deserving of the deepest attention ; since they not only unfold a most mysterious and important truth, but tend in the highest degree to meliorate our tempers, and to diffuse universal happiness. Let us consider then,
I. The union which subsists between Christ and his Church —
There is a personal union which Christ has with our nature, by means of his incarnation b, and which was necessary for the executing of the great work which he had undertaken0. But in this the whole human race participate, without any distinction. The union which Christ has with the Church is distinct from that, and is,
1. Legal —
[There is, among men, an union between a debtor and his surety ; insomuch that, if a debt be not discharged, the surety- is as much answerable for it as if he had contracted it himself: and if, on the contrary, it be discharged by the surety, the creditor has no further claim on him that contracted it. Thus it is with respect to Christ and his Church. He is the surety of the new covenant"3 : having undertaken for us, he was charged with our debt ; " it was exacted of him, and he was made answerable e." Having paid the debt, his payment is put to our account; " By his obedience we are made righteous f." In a word, " He who knew no sin, was made sin for us, that
3 ver. 22—30. »» John i. 14. c Heb. ii. 11, 14, 16.
d Heb. vii. 22. e Isai. liii. 7. Bishop Lowth's version.
f Rom. v. 19.