THE passage of Jordan was the fulfillment of the purpose of God announced to Moses (Ex. 3)-that He had come down to deliver His people out of Egypt, and to bring them to a good land, and a large, a land flowing with milk and honey.
It is a great thing to tell a person who is in sorrow because of conscious distance from God, God "gave his Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life"-and that His purpose towards us is that this should be known distinctly now while we are on earth. Many put it off to a future day, but scripture sets forth to us that the favor of God is to be known now, and known best where it is most needed. “God commendeth his love toward us in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." It is not a question of your purpose, but of God's purpose, and Christ has come to carry out that purpose. He says, "Lo I come to do thy will," and He announces to us the delight of the Father's heart in the reception of a returning prodigal. The prodigal may say, "It is too great," and so it is; but Christ's work must not be measured by the need of the sinner, but by the purpose of God.
Look at the poor captives in Egypt. The living God addresses Moses-(type of Christ)-and says, "I know their sorrows." I know how they suffer in their iron bondage, and I am come to deliver them. Let the soul think of that, and ask,-Is that God's thought about me? Does God know my sorrow? Is that His purpose towards me? And who has carried out His purpose? God's Son has carried it out. The last barrier is gone, Jordan is crossed-death is passed, not merely as to my future safety, but an open way is made for me through death, and the soul is brought through grace into the knowledge of the place of rest which God has secured for us in Christ-"a land flowing with milk and honey." Canaan was a figure of the place in which we are now set in Christ.
The Israelites passed the Red Sea, and saw there the death of their enemies. But Jordan had still to be crossed. Jordan is a figure of our dying with Christ. Israel wandered forty years in the wilderness, because they would not go up and possess the land, and, instead of getting in as Abram and Caleb did, without crossing Jordan, they were to pass through the deepest part of it; but there is a way made for them through it. Now, what this type sets forth to me is, that a way through death is accomplished for me according to the mind of God, and which sets me on heavenly ground. The law was weak through the flesh, but, “God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh." Christ has died for me, and opened a way out of the ruin of myself.
Jordan was the last barrier in the way of the blessing God would bring His people to, and in Josh. 3:33And they commanded the people, saying, When ye see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and the priests the Levites bearing it, then ye shall remove from your place, and go after it. (Joshua 3:3) we read, “When ye see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and the priests the Levites bearing it, then ye shall remove from your place, and go after it. Come not near unto it, that ye may know the way by which ye must go, for ye have not passed this way heretofore," and "as they that bare the ark were come unto Jordan, and the feet of the priests that bare the ark were dipped in the brim of the water, the water which came down from above stood and rose up upon an heap ... .and the priests that bare the ark of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the midst of Jordan, and all the Israelites passed over on dry ground, until all the people were passed clean over Jordan." There is a clear and perfect way for the people through the waters, and Joshua calls them to come and survey what has been done. The thing presented to faith is, that the work is accomplished. Christ the true Ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth has gone down to death for us. Before leaving the world He says, "I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. This is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life." Christ has made the way thoroughly open, and if you do not enjoy it, it is because you are not looking at Him. "To as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God." It is a simple thing, when the soul looks at Him, it is taken up with Him. Zacchaeus wanted to see Jesus; the thief on the cross is occupied with Him; the woman in the Pharisee's house came to Him; Saul of Tarsus is overwhelmed with the glory and brightness of a light above the sun, and the only relief to his heart is, that he finds Jesus is in the glory.
If I want to learn what is accomplished, I learn it by seeing the Accomplisher.
It is not that the way will open when you come to it. If a soul does not see that it is open, he does not see how God has dealt with him, and he fears to approach death; he is standing, as the hymn says, "shivering on the brink, and fears to launch away;" but if his eye is on the Ark, he sees the way open, and it is known as definitely to him now on earth, as it was to Saul of Tarsus, or to Stephen. There is not a single barrier on God's side between me and the throne of God. My own self stands in the way, if I have not died with Christ, and am free from judgment; but scripture says I am dead with Him; if not, I could not get to this place of rest! If you say the way is not open till you die, you do not believe that it is open now; you think something has not been accomplished by Christ's death-you do not regard Him as the perfect accomplisher. Perhaps you say, "I am not afraid of judgment, but I fear death-the breaking up of the body." Then you do not see the way through death. Stephen sees the way clear up to glory. Did Stephen make the way? "No, Jesus made it; and if so, death is no king of terrors for him; he can say, if they kill me, I go straight to glory; if I die, the way is open; " and he suffers the most bitter death that ever man was exposed to, without a murmur; on the contrary, he prays for those who inflict the suffering.
The gospel is not merely to deliver us from Egypt; the gospel is the good tidings that God brings us to His own ground-to Himself, where we can rest in the enjoyment of His eternal love, and are set up in the power of Christ, to sustain us here on earth.
You will never really get rest to your soul till you see the wondrous purpose in the heart of God toward you-that out of His own love He sent His Son; He found a Person who was perfectly adequate to carry out every item of that purpose. When you see this you magnify the One who has removed every barrier; He becomes the distinct commanding object of the heart, and you can say with one of old, "My spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior."
The Lord alone can make the soul comprehend the goodness of His grace, but as the eye turns to Him, it sees by faith all He has accomplished. J. B. S.