thy plan. " By the which will," says tlie Apostle (Ileb. x. 10), " we are sanctified (i. e., cleansed from the guilt of sin), through the offerino- of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." Christ came, therefore, in execution of a purpose of God, to fulfil a work which had been assigned Him. He, therefore, in John xvii. 4, says, " I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do." Tiiis was said at the close of his earthly course. At its beginning, when yet a child. He said to his parents, " Wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?" (Luke ii. 49.) Our Lord speaks of Himself, and is spoken of as sent into the world. He says that as the Father had sent Him into the world, even so had He sent his disciples into the world. (John xvii. 18.) "When the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman." (Gal. iv. 4.) " God sent his only begotten Son into the world." (1 John iv. 9.) God " sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." (Verse 10.)
It is plain, therefore, that Christ came to execute a work, that He was sent of the Father to fulfil a plan, or preconceived design. It is no less plain that special promises were made by the Father to the Son, suspended upon the accomplishment of the work assigned Him. This may appear as an anthropological mode of representing a transaction between the persons of the adorable Trinity. But it must be received as substantial truth. The Father did give the Son a work to do, and He did pi-omise to Him a reward upon its accomplishment. The transaction was, therefore, of the nature of a covenant. An obligation was assumed by the Son to accomplish the work assigned Him ; and an obligation was assumed by the Father to grant Him the" stipulated reward. The infinitude of God does not prevent these things being possible.
As the exhibition of the work of Christ in the redemption of man constitutes a large part of the task of the theologian, all that is proper in this place is a simple reference to the Scriptural state- ments on the subject.
The Work assigned to the Redeemer.
(1.) He was to assume our nature, humbling Himself to be bom of a woman, and to be found in fashion as a man. This was to be a real incarnation, not a mere theophany such as occurred repeat- edly under the old dispensation. He was to become flesh ; to take part of flesh and body ; to be bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh, made in all things like unto his brethren, yet without sin, that He might be touched with a sense of our infirmities, and able to sympathize with those who are tempted, being Himself also
362 PART m. Ch. 11. — THE COVENANT OF GRACE.
tempted. (2.) He was to be made under the law, voluntarily undertaking to fulfil all righteousness by obeying the law of God perfectly in all the forms ni which it had been made obligatory on man. (3.) He was to bear our sins, to be a curse for us, offering Himself as a sacrifice, or propitiation to God in expiation of the sins of men. This involved his whole life of humiliation, sorrow, and suffering, and his ignominious death upon the ci'oss under the hiding of his Father's countenance. What He was to do after this pertains to his exaltation and reward.
The Promises made to the Redeemer.
Such, in general terms, was the work which the Son of God undertook to perform. The promises of the Father to the Son conditioned on the accomplishment of that work, were, (1.) That He would prepare Him a body, fit up a tabernacle for Him, formed as was the body of Adam by the immediate agency of God, uncon- taminated and without spot or blemish. (2.) That He would give the Spirit to Him without measure, that his whole human nature should be replenished with grace and strength, and so adorned with the beauty of holiness that He should be altogether lovely. (3.) That He would be ever at his right hand to support and comfort Him in the darkest hours of his conflict with the powers of darkness, and that He would ultimately bruise Satan under his feet. (4.) That He would deliver Him from the power of death, and exalt Him to his own right hand in heaven ; and that all power in heaven and earth should be committed to Him. (5.) Tliat He, as the Theanthropos and head of the Church, should have the Holy Spirit to send to whom He willed, to renew their hearts, to satisfy and comfort them, and to qualify tliem for his service and kingdom. (6.) That all given to Him by the Father should come to Him, and be kept by Him, so that none of them should be lost. (7.) That a multitude whom no man can number should thus be made par- takers of his redemption, and that ultimately the kingdom of the Messiah should embrace all the nations of the earth. (8.) That through Christ, in Him, and in his ransomed Church, there should be made the highest manifestation of the divine perfections to all orders of holy intelligences throughout eternity. The Son of God was thus to see of the travail of his soul and be satisfied.
§ 5. The Covenant of Grace.
In virtue of what the Son of God covenanted to perform, and what in the fulness of time He actually accomplished, agreeably tc