To read John Owen is to enter a rare world. Whenever I return to one of his works I find myself asking “Why do I spend time reading lesser literature?”
—Sinclair B. Ferguson
John Owen, Communion with God Part 2, Chapter 3 Contd. (part 2)
The fact that Jesus is both God and man makes him able to be a source of grace to us.
1) He was fit to suffer the punishment that was due to us.
Had he not been man, he could not have suffered;- had he not been God, his suffering could not have availed either himself or us, - he had not satisfied; the suffering of a mere man could not bear any proportion to that which in any respect was infinite. Had the great and righteous God gathered together all the sins that had been committed by his elect from the foundation of the world, and searched the bosoms of all that were to come to the end of the world, and taken them all, from the sin of their nature to the least deviation from the rectitude of his most holy law, and the highest provocation of their regenerate and unregenerate condition, and laid them on a mere holy, innocent, creature; O how they would have overwhelmed him and buried him forever out of the presence of God’s love!
That is why the writer of Hebrews describes Jesus before He speaks of the purging of our sins. He is the Son and heir of all things, by whom the world, the brightness of the Father’s glory- He did it, He alone could do it.
2) Thus he is an endless, bottomless fountain of grace to all who believe. The Father committed the fullness of grace to Christ and all grace becomes to be his.
The real communication of grace is by Christ sending the Holy Spirit to regenerate us, and to create in us all the daily supplies of grace that we partake of.
This, then, is that which I intend by this fullness of grace that is in Christ, from when we have both our beginning and all our supplies; which makes him, as he is the Alpha and Omega of His church, the beginner and finisher of our faith, excellent and desirable to our souls:- Upon the payment of the great price of his blood, and full acquitment on the satisfaction he made; all grace whatever becomes, in a moral sense, his, at his disposal; and he bestows it on, or works it in the hearts o his by the Holy Spirit, according as, in His infinite wisdom, he sees it needful. How glorious is He to the soul on this consideration! That is most excellent to us which suits us in a wanting condition, - that which give bread to the hungry, water to the thirsty, mercy to the perishing. All our reliefs are thus in our Beloved. Here is the life of our souls, the joy of our hearts, our relief against sin and deliverance from the wrath to come.
3) Thus, He is able to be the mediator between us and God- being one with God and one with us, and one in Himself in this oneness.
Herein shines out the infinitely glorious wisdom of God; which we may better admire than express.
What poor, low, perishing things do we spend our contemplations on! Were we to have no advantage by this astonishing dispensation, yet its excellency, glory, beauty, depths, deserve the flower of our iniquities, the vigor of our spirits, the substance of our time; but when, withal our life, our peace, our joy, our inheritance, our eternity, our all, lies herein, shall not the thoughts of it always dwell in our hearts, always refresh and delight our souls?
4) He is excellent and glorious in that He is exalted and invested with all authority.
Acts 2:36
Psalm 2:6
Heb. 2:7-9
Matthew 28:18
John 17:2
Micah 5:4
Psalm 45:5
Oh, how glorious is he in his authority over his enemies! In the world he terrifies, frightens, awes, convinces, bruises their hearts and consciences,- fills them with fear, terror, disquietment, until they yield him feigned obedience and sometimes with outward judgments bruises, breaks, turns the wheel upon them,- stains all his vesture with their blood,- fills the earth with their carcasses: and at last will gather them all together, beast, false prophet, nations, etc. and cast them into that lake that burns with fire and brimstone. Psalm 110:6; Rev. 19:20
Eph. 1:20-22
Phil. 2:9
And what a little portion of his glory is it that we have pointed to! This is the Beloved of the church, - its head, its husband; this is he with whom we have communion.
His head is his government, authority and kingdom. Hence it is said, “A crown of pure gold was on his head,” Psalm 21:3
1) It is a glorious kingdom; he is full of glory and majesty, and in his majesty he rides “prosperously,” Psalm 45:3,4. “His glory is great in the salvation of God: honor and majesty are laid upon him: he is made blessed forever and ever,” Psalm 21:5,6. It is a heavenly, a spiritual, a universal, an unshaken kingdom; all which render it glorious.
2) It is a durable kingdom. “His throne is forever and ever” Psalm 24:6. “Of the increase of his government there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon His kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever,” Isaiah 9:7 “His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom” Dan. 7:27
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