It is very striking-and the more striking as we study it- how the thoughts of God's heart, which were before the foundation of the world, come out in connection with the Lord Jesus Christ as a man. He who shared His Father's heart and the secrets of His bosom, came down to earth in the power of divine love, to accomplish all His thoughts and purposes. Not merely had God these thoughts, nor was it enough to reveal them, but Jesus has accomplished them in the midst of sin and ruin, and God has set us in all the delights of His purposes and counsels which were before the world was.
It is striking too that in the New Testament we find the history of the first Adam is completely dropped out. He has had his day, and his day is past. And while the New Testament notices this fact, it connects what God is, and His eternal thoughts and purposes, with Christ, and passes over the history of the first Adam with a brief notice of what it has been and what God has done with him. Tried in innocence, he fails; sins without the law; transgresses the law when given; the revelation of judgment by John the Baptist affects him not; the piping strains of grace in Jesus are unnoticed and his heart unmoved; the Holy Ghost, sent down from heaven with the message of pardon, is resisted; the saints are slain in proclaiming the love which rose above all man's sin; and the Church of God is wasted and persecuted. Such is man! No reciprocity in his heart to the pleadings of divine affection; no receptivity of the truth which proves its power by reaching his conscience, and its fitness for his state by touching his heart. He must be born again!
Now in Pro. 8:22-3122The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old. 23I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was. 24When there were no depths, I was brought forth; when there were no fountains abounding with water. 25Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth: 26While as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the world. 27When he prepared the heavens, I was there: when he set a compass upon the face of the depth: 28When he established the clouds above: when he strengthened the fountains of the deep: 29When he gave to the sea his decree, that the waters should not pass his commandment: when he appointed the foundations of the earth: 30Then I was by him, as one brought up with him: and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him; 31Rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth; and my delights were with the sons of men. (Proverbs 8:22‑31), we find a passage of exceeding beauty which tells us of the thoughts which were in God's heart, and His purposes in connection with His Son, before the world was. Before the foundations of the mountains and hills—before all things which had a beginning, even "from everlasting"—the Son was there. He is presented here as "wisdom," and Christ is the "wisdom of God" (1 Cor. 1:2424But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. (1 Corinthians 1:24)). He was rejoicing always before Him-rejoicing in the habitable parts of His earth before it came into being by the fiat of the Son-and His good pleasure (or delight) was in the sons of men.
I will now trace how this wondrous seeking heart of God has had, and has, its eternal satisfaction conceived, made good, revealed, and accomplished in Jesus and, more wondrous still, to God's glory by us, for all things are for our sakes, and we are Christ's, and Christ is God's.
In Bethlehem of Judea, one night nearly two thousand years ago, the glory of Jehovah shone out from heaven on the darkness which really and morally enveloped the earth, and night was turned into day. The angel of Jehovah appeared to some poor shepherds in the fields, to tell them of the birth of a Savior, Christ the Lord. And suddenly the hosts of heaven joined the angel of the Lord, and proclaimed with bursts of praise, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good pleasure in men." Luke 2:1414Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. (Luke 2:14); J.N.D. Trans.
"How rightly rose the praises
Of heaven that wondrous night
When shepherds hid their faces
In brightest angel light!
"More just those acclamations
Than when the glorious band
Chanted earth's deep foundations,
Just laid by God's right hand!"
The world had come forth from God in all the harmony and beauty of creation, and "the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God [angels] shouted for joy" (Job 38:77When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy? (Job 38:7)), and now its Creator had become a man. Adam had been set at the head of creation and had fallen, and his history was past. Another Adam appeared-the "last"-and the "dayspring" dawned upon the darkened, ruined earth. God's glory now has its highest expression, for His Son has become a babe. Peace was proposed to the ruined earth, and it was refused. Still God has His "glory" in the highest, and His "good pleasure" is now to have its fruition; and the angels praise with unselfish hearts, happy that God is about to have His way. Then they go back to heaven to ascend and descend upon this Son of man.
Thirty years pass on and a lonely Man, in whom all the fullness of the Godhead bodily was pleased to dwell, passed along His lowly path of obedience. A sinless Man was before
God's eye on earth, and the sweet savor of Jesus refreshed His heart. Thirty years were over, and John the Baptist had thundered out his declamations against ungodly sinners, declaring that God now had the ax in His hand, that He would clear the field of unfruitful trees, no matter what were their pretensions. Some hearts are touched and consciences convicted, and they pass down to the waters of Jordan with the only fruit in their hand which God ever did or ever will accept from the hands of a sinner; that is, the confession of their sins.
Among the crowd appears Jesus. He had patiently waited God's time, and He recognizes that God is now at work in men; and He who knew the secrets of His Father's heart above, and the secrets of men's hearts below, at once identifies Himself with this movement of grace in the hearts of repentant sinners, and passes down in tenderest love and lowliness into the waters of the Jordan. But His delight (or "good pleasure") was to do the will of Him that sent Him, and to finish His work; and so He says, "My goodness extendeth not to Thee; to the saints that are on the earth, and to the excellent [Thou hast said], In them is all My delight." Psalm 16:2, 32O my soul, thou hast said unto the Lord, Thou art my Lord: my goodness extendeth not to thee; 3But to the saints that are in the earth, and to the excellent, in whom is all my delight. (Psalm 16:2‑3); J.N.D. Trans. The lines had fallen unto Him in pleasant places indeed; His goodly heritage was filling His heart in the foretaste of God's good pleasure or delight being fulfilled.
The instant He is there according to God's thought, the heaven is opened on Him-fit object of heaven, as of God. The Holy Ghost descends and seals Him for His service here. And now the Father must have His word; He cannot (so to speak) withhold His satisfaction, and His voice is heard proclaiming, "Thou art My beloved Son, in Thee I have good pleasure." (I may remark that the word is really or substantially the same all the way through in the passages I quote in this paper from the New Testament. The verbal or the noun form of the same word is used in them all, and the literal translation is given.) And here, as has been remarked, we find the first revelation of the Trinity; the Son is there, and the Holy Ghost seals Him as a man, and the Father's voice proclaims His good pleasure in Him.
Time passes on, and after confronting the devil, and binding the strong man in obedience, He comes forth to serve in obedience still, but with a power that could remove every ill that had entered the world and brought men into misery. If they are sick, He heals; if dead, He raises them; if afflicted, He comforts; if hungry, He feeds; if possessed, He breaks the chains in which the strong man bound his victims, and sets them free. He reveals the Father's heart on earth in grace-brings the light of God to detect the conscience of sinners, and yet with a love which attracts their heart. But man would not have Him. He might feed the hungry, heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, drive out Satan from man; but it brought God too near to men for them to enjoy their own wills and their own ways; they will not have God on any terms, but beseech Him to depart from their midst.
At last comes the inquiry, "Whom say the people that I am?" The answer discloses that, as said the poet, "None cared His name to know." Men speculated; some said one thing and some another, but a few hearts confessed Him as "the Christ of God." (See Matt. 16:13-1613When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? 14And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. 15He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? 16And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. (Matthew 16:13‑16); Mark 8:27-2927And Jesus went out, and his disciples, into the towns of Caesarea Philippi: and by the way he asked his disciples, saying unto them, Whom do men say that I am? 28And they answered, John the Baptist: but some say, Elias; and others, One of the prophets. 29And he saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Peter answereth and saith unto him, Thou art the Christ. (Mark 8:27‑29); Luke 9:18-2018And it came to pass, as he was alone praying, his disciples were with him: and he asked them, saying, Whom say the people that I am? 19They answering said, John the Baptist; but some say, Elias; and others say, that one of the old prophets is risen again. 20He said unto them, But whom say ye that I am? Peter answering said, The Christ of God. (Luke 9:18‑20).) But this was no more to be preached, for the "Son of man" was now about to suffer, and here He first speaks definitely of His death. Then in each gospel which gives the scene, He goes to the mount of transfiguration and, while transfigured before His wondering disciples, the Father's voice is again heard through the stillness of the night, which is again, as at the incarnation, turned into day. (Compare Luke 9:3737And it came to pass, that on the next day, when they were come down from the hill, much people met him. (Luke 9:37).) "This is My beloved Son, in whom I have good pleasure." This is as if to say, Men have refused My heart and My Son when I have spent it and given Him in seeking theirs; but My heart has not changed in Him. Thus a rejected Christ receives His Father's heart's expression, In Thee "I have good pleasure."
He leaves the mountain and turns to meet the cross and shame which awaited Him at the end of His pathway, with "not where to lay His head" (Luke 9:5858And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head. (Luke 9:58)). His heart thinks afresh of the deeper need of man, and He sends out the seventy on this last journey. When they return (chap. 10:17, etc.) with the news that to their faith even the power of casting out devils through His name was given, He bids them "rejoice not," for another thought presses itself from His heart-their "names are written in heaven." God was writing down in heaven the names of those who followed Him in whom was all His "good pleasure," and Jesus was revealing to them the Father. "In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said, I thank Thee, 0 Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes: even so, Father; for thus was the good pleasure before Thee." No purpose of His heart would be frustrated or turned aside, and while blindness and darkness was coming on earth and man, the light of these eternal counsels was falling on the hearts of the babes by the Father's "good pleasure" to reveal them.
We still follow this unfrustrated purpose of His heart, and in the midst of Luke 12 we find these "babes" instructed for their pathway, while passing through an adverse world, with girded loins like men that wait for their Lord. To them He says, "Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." There is no change in His love, and He will act as a father. He will not merely put you, into it, but He will give it to you.
But in all this pathway He was alone. The corn of wheat must fall into the ground and die, or He would abide alone; and so He passes down to the cross, meets His people's need as to their sins, Satan's power of death, and the judgment of God. He takes up our sins and bears them as His own, and blots them out forever. He meets and destroys Satan's power of death, by death, and bears the judgment and all the demands of God's righteousness as to sin. Sins, death, and judgment, are passed for him who believes His testimony, and sets to his seal that God is true. And God seals with His Spirit him who does so.
Then He bows the head for which He had no place here below, and gives up the ghost. He dies and rises again-tells His disciples that His Father is now their Father, and His God their God, and ascends as man to glory. Then come out all those wonderful counsels and purposes of God's heart. The orbit of the "good pleasure" of God is described, and His people are blessed "with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: according as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world" (Prov. 8), "that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love: having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He bath made us accepted in the beloved." Eph. 1:3-63Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: 4According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: 5Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, 6To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. (Ephesians 1:3‑6). The circle is complete, and we are brought into all these delights of God's eternal purposes, and the thoughts of His heart which were before the foundation of the world!
Thus we have the eternal bosom revealing this "good pleasure" which was there before the world was made (Prov. 8). The angels praised as the infant Jesus was laid in the manger at Bethlehem-the first expression of this wondrous "good pleasure" in the sons of men (Luke 2).
The Father's voice expressed His "good pleasure" as Jesus entered His path of service, at the Jordan, at the moment when He was working in the hearts of men (Luke 3).
On the mountain of transfiguration this "good pleasure" is again expressed as Jesus, rejected by men, unveils His glory before the eyes of Peter, James, and John (Matt. 17; Luke 9).
His own voice tells us, raised in thanksgiving, of the Father's purposes in revealing Him to the babes according to the "good pleasure" which was ever before Him (Luke 10).
And again, He teaches to this "little flock" the purposes of the Father's heart concerning them, in giving them the kingdom; but a work was yet to be accomplished before all could be made known, and the saints set in all these delights of God; and His heart was straitened until it was accomplished (Luke 12:5050But I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished! (Luke 12:50)).
But this work is over, and the "good pleasure of His will" is brought to fruition, and we are set in its fullest expression in heavenly places in Christ (Eph. 1).
But there is an age to come in which the preface of this eternal purpose is seen-the millennial glory. And still the "good pleasure" is expressed. He unfolds to us "the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He bath purposed in Himself" to gather all things in heaven and earth in one in Christ; and in Him we also have obtained this inheritance in the age to come, where we shall reign with Him until He puts down all authority and power. Then He gives up the kingdom after the perfection of His administration, and becomes, in the eternal age, in the new heavens and the new earth, the Son, subject as man again to His Father, and we with Him in that scene where God's delights are fully expressed and fulfilled according to His good pleasure in the sons of men forever.
But between this calling into the orbit of the good pleasure of God and its fruition in the ages to come, is God to have no "good pleasure"? We turn to Phil. 2:1212Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. (Philippians 2:12) and we find a feeble people always obedient when the Church had apostolic care, but now when it was gone, much more in its absence; and God was working in them "to will and to do of His good pleasure" still.
If the broad line of unsullied light tracked itself before God's eye in Jesus' path on earth, a tiny streak of light is found in the path of those who have, with broken wills and hearts subject to Him, sought and found in the obedient, will-less footprints of Jesus the "good pleasure" expressed in doing the will of His Father, in those who seek to yield themselves to Him who works in their weakness to will and to do of that good pleasure.
What can we say then, beloved, to these things? Shall we not say, "Amen" to the Apostle's prayer in 2 Thess. 1:11, 1211Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfil all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith with power: 12That the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and ye in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Thessalonians 1:11‑12)? "Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfill all the good pleasure of His goodness, and the work of faith with power: that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and ye in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ."