[He has " predestinated his people to be conformed to the image of his Son« :" and this conformity must be in holiness, in sufferings, and in glory. Our blessed Lord has told us, that we must " take up our cross daily, and follow him :" that " the servant cannot expect to be above his Lord :" and that " we must suffer with him, if ever we would reign with him^." Let us be content, then, to fill up the measure of sufferings which he has allotted to us ; and, if it must be so, " through much tribulation to enter into his kingdom." Let us be con- tent, do I say ? Rather, let us " rejoice that we are counted worthy to suffer for his sake," and account it an honour to be "partakers of his sufferings." The Israelites, under Joshua, did not gain possession of Canaan without encountering a foe : nor can we, under " the Captain of our salvation," become victors without a conflict. But let us " war a good warfare," and " endure unto the end." So shall we be not sons only, but heirs also, of our heavenly Father, and be made partakers of his glory for evermore.]
e Rom. viii. 29. f Rom. viii. 17.
THE ENDS OF CHRISt's INCARNATION.
Heb. ii. 14, 15. Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likeivise took part of the same ; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver them tvho through fear of death were all their life-time subject to bondage.
IS it SO indeed, that He who was the brightness of his Father's glory, and the express image of his per- son ; that He who created and upholdeth all things by the word of his power ; that He whom all the angels in heaven adore, became a man, and was made in all things like unto us, sin only excepted ? Yes, " He, who was in the form of God, and thought it not robbery to be equal with God, emptied himself of all his glory, and took upon him the form of a ser- vant :" " the mighty God himself was a child born, and a Son given." And shall God be manifest in the flesh, and we not inquire into the reasons of such a stupendous mystery? Shall we profess to believe
2276.1 THE ENDS OF CHRIST's INCARNATION. 171
this truth ; and yet pay no more attention to it, than if it was a cunningly-devised fable ? Let us inquire what occasion there was for it, and what ends God designed to accomplish by it. These are stated in the words before us. The children, whom he de- signed to redeem from death and hell, were in such a state, that nothing short of this would avail for their final happiness : they were subjected to death, and could be delivered from it only by one dying in their stead : they were in bondage to Satan, and could only be rescued from his dominion by one who should overcome this great adversary, in their na- ture, and in their behalf; in a word, by one who should both suffer what they merited, and gain the victories which they needed.
These are the ends of our Saviour's incarnation, as specified in the text.
I. The more immediate end was to suffer —
Suffer he must, even unto death, if he would effect
the deliverance of his chosen people.
1. The necessities of his own people required it —
[They were reduced by sin to the lowest ebb of misery. Doomed to participate the lot of the fallen angels, they were as incapable as they of effecting their own deliverance. What then must be done ? Must they be left to perish for ever ? or shall an atonement be made for them ? But who can offer an atonement that shall be of sufficient value to expiate their offences ? The blood of bulls and of goats will not suffice : nor if the highest angel in heaven could offer himself, would that be adequate to the occasion ; seeing that his merits, whatever they might be, could never extend to all the millions of our guilty race : the sacrifice, to answer that end, must be of infinite value : it must be offered by a person of infinite value : it must be offered by a person of infinite dignity : he must be God as well as man. He must be man, that he may suffer; he must be God, that his sufferings may be available for the desired end. Hence the necessity for our blessed Lord to become incarnate ; and hence the necessity for him to die. Supposing him to come from heaven, and to teach us both by precept and example, that would not answer the necessities of man : Divine justice must be satisfied for the sins of men: the holiness of the Deity must be displayed in the punishment of sin: the truth of God, which denounced a curse against every transgression