I do not believe it would be possible to exaggerate the importance of a true and divinely taught reply to the above question. The truth as to it involves so deeply a holy appreciation of the relations into which the blessed Lord has been pleased to enter as man with regard to men, as well as His glory in connection with them, that I feel the Lord would have His own alive to their precious import and blessedness. In order to promote this I will here transcribe the words of the beloved servant to whom the whole church of God owes so much, though but little recognized, or it may be remembered by many now. The reader will remember that the italics are mine wherever found, except the contrary be stated: There is one other point to which, though I have noticed it, I return, as of vital importance. Dr. W. holds that Christ represented God before men, not men before God.
The first part is most blessedly true, but even that not to the extent of the inferences Dr. W. would draw from it, that there must be identity of operation. The Son did not send the Father, nor not spare Him, but deliver Him up for us. The thought would be utterly anti-Christian. He accepted His part of the work of grace. “Lo I come to do thy will, O God”; and a body being prepared for Him, He took upon Him the form of a servant and was found in the likeness of men. I may return to this point elsewhere; I merely take note of it now, and turn to the question of representing God to men and man to God. Now in His life down here, he that had seen Him had seen the Father, a most precious and sanctifying truth. John 14 is express in stating it, as the whole life of Jesus is the verification and illustration of it. He is moreover, in His Person the image of the invisible God, the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His being, His hypostatis. As to this scripture is plain; and I have no controversy with Dr. W. Further, that He was true God and true man, united in one person, is not in question either; it is believed by both of us. The question is, Did He stand for men before God as well as for God before men. That He does in heaven is quite clear. He is gone into heaven now to appear in the presence of God for us (Heb. 9:2424For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: (Hebrews 9:24)). But was all His life down here only a manifestation of God to men? When He took His place with the godly remnant in Israel, being baptized with John’s baptism, assuredly not confessing sins as they did, but fulfilling righteousness, having emptied Himself and taken the form of a servant and entered upon the path of obedience, ¦< FPZ:"J4 ,ßD,2,ÂH ñH –<2DTB@H (that is, “being found in fashion as a man”), saying to John, “Thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness.” When He was led of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil, did He represent God to men? Was it not, as the first man was tempted and fell, the second man held fast and overcame? Did He not overcome, saying, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God,” and overcome by refusing to go out of the place of a servant which He had taken, though challenged by Satan to do so as being Son of God? Did He not hold the place of man when He said, “Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God”? Did He not, when He dismissed Satan, saying, “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve”? He was always the obedient man before God, as Adam was the disobedient one; and though He abode alone, until redemption was accomplished, the corn of wheat falling into the ground and dying, yet He stood in this world as man before God, as well as God before men. Who was the obedient man, did always such things as pleased His Father, pleased in Gethsemane when His hour was come in the days of His flesh, with strong crying and tears made His supplication unto Him that was able to save Him from death, and was heard in that He feared, "B@ J0H ,L8"$,4"H (that is, for His piety), was this representing man or God?
That He was alone till redemption was accomplished I fully recognize, but alone as the sinless man amongst men, to accomplish what was called for from man for God. If He tasted death for every man, was that as representing God to men, or standing for men before God? When God laid our iniquity on Him, was it representing God before men? When it became Him for whom are all things and by whom are all things, to make the Captain ("DP0(@<) of our salvation perfect through suffering, whom did He represent? When He cried in deep agony, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” did He represent God to man? That He must have been God to be fit and able to do it is most true; but He was not representing God before men, but drinking the cup given to Him. When He was made sin, for whom was He made sin? Did He represent God to man then or stand for men before God when He took up the cause of man (Heb. 2)? He did not represent God to men, but it is written in a certain place, “What is man that thou art mindful of him, or the Son of man that thou visitest him? Thou madest him a little lower than the angels, thou crownedst him with glory and honor.” He was the second man, the last Adam.
He was the "DP0(@< (Captain) of our salvation, the obedient, sinless, suffering man, who overcame Satan as man for men, was made sin for us (italics the author’s), died for our sins, that is, represented us before God, our iniquity being laid upon Him, and drank that dreadful cup, taking it from His Father’s hand, “the curse of wrath.” Was suffering (italics the author’s) the curse of wrath representing God to men or man as made sin under the righteous judgment of God? I add, that though the priesthood of Christ be now in heaven, where He appears in the presence of God for us, yet all His life was in every sense a preparation for it.
He had so taken up man, that it became God to make Him perfect in that heavenly place through suffering; He was tempted, suffering being tempted, that He might succor them that are tempted. Not only so, but He was made like to His brethren in all things, that he might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in all things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. And so in chapter 5 of the same epistle, comparing Him with the Jewish high priest, though showing the difference; and it is clear that the priest represented the people before God, confessed their sins on the scapegoat, and went into the sanctuary for them, as Christ has done into the true sanctuary for us. The priesthood of Christ is no doubt for believers; but to deny that He represented men, stood there as man for them before God, and that on the cross, as in Hebrews 2:1717Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. (Hebrews 2:17), as man, alone indeed but for men, is a ruinous error.
I do not make any apology for the length of this extract, its truth and deep importance at the present moment will be apparent to every soul taught of the Spirit of God. May God our Father, in His rich grace, grant to all who read it the “understanding” which His Spirit alone can give, to apprehend the precious truth it conveys, and its most marked and significant bearing on the times we are now passing through.