We track His wondrous path from the glory to the heirship of all things. What discoveries are made of Him, beloved! Read of Him in Proverbs 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); John 1:1-31In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2The same was in the beginning with God. 3All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. (John 1:1‑3); Ephesians 1:1010That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him: (Ephesians 1:10); Colossians 1:13-2213Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: 14In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: 15Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: 16For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: 17And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. 18And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. 19For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell; 20And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. 21And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled 22In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight: (Colossians 1:13‑22); Hebrews 1:1-31God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, 2Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; 3Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; (Hebrews 1:1‑3); 1 John 1:22(For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;) (1 John 1:2); Revelation 1:1414His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; (Revelation 1:14). Meditate on Him as presented to you in these glorious scriptures. Let them yield to you their several lights, in which to view the One in whom you trust, the One who gave up all for you, the One who has trod, and is treading, such a path; and then tell me, Can you part with either Him or it?
In the bosom of the Father He was. There lay the eternal life with the Father; God, and, yet with God. In counsel He was then set up ere the highest part of the dust of the earth was made. Then, He was the Creator of all things in their first order and beauty; afterward, in their state of mischief and ruin, the Reconciler of all things; and by-and-by, in their regathering, He will be the Heir of all things. By faith we see Him thus, and thus speak of Him. We say, He was in the everlasting counsels, in the virgin’s womb, in the sorrows of the world, in the resurrection from the dead, in the honor and glory of a crown in heaven, and with all authority and praise in the heirship and lordship of all things.
Deprive Him of the bosom of the Father from all eternity, and ask your soul if it has lost nothing of its apprehension and joy of this precious mystery, thus unfolded from everlasting to everlasting? I cannot understand a saint pleading for such a thing. Nor can I consent to join in any confession that tells my heavenly Father it was not His own Son He gave up for me.
If we could but follow the thought with affection, how blessed would it be to see the Lord all along this pathway to the throne of the glory!
And still further. In each stage of this journey, we see Him awakening the equal and full delight of God; all and as much His joy at the end as at the beginning; though with this privilege and glory, that He has awakened it in a blissful and wondrous variety. This blessed thought Scripture also enables us to follow. As He lay in the bosom through eternity, we need not—for we cannot—speak of this joy. That bosom was the hiding place of love, and the joy that attended that love is as unutterable as itself.
But when His Beloved was set up as the center of all divine operations, or the foundation of all God’s counsels, He was still God’s delight. In such a place and character we see Him in Proverbs 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). In that wondrous scripture, Wisdom or the Son is seen as the great Original and Framer and Sustainer of all the divine works and purposes, set up in counsel before the world was; as several scriptures in the New Testament also present Him to us (See John 1:33All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. (John 1:3); Eph. 1:9, 109Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: 10That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him: (Ephesians 1:9‑10); Col. 1:15-1715Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: 16For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: 17And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. (Colossians 1:15‑17)). And in all this He can say of Himself, “Then I was by Him, as one brought up with Him; and I was daily His delight, rejoicing always before Him.”
So, when the fullness of time was come, the Son of God lay in the virgin’s womb. Who can speak the mystery? But so it is. But it is only another moment, and a fresh occasion, of joy; and the angels came to utter it, and tell of it to the shepherds in the fields of Bethlehem.
Then again, in a new form the Son of His love was to run another course. Through sorrows and services as Son of Man, He is seen on earth; but all, and as unmixedly, awakening ineffable delight as in the hidden ages of eternity. “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased;” “Behold My Servant, whom uphold, Mine Elect, in whom My soul delighteth,” are voices of the Father, telling of this unchanging joy, while tracking the path of Jesus across this polluted earth (Matt. 3; Isa. 42).
And that same voice, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased,” is heard a second time; heard on the holy hill, as on the bank of Jordan; in the day of transfiguration, as at the baptism (Matt. 17). The transfiguration was the pledge and type of the kingdom, as the baptism was entrance on His ministry and witness. But the same delight is thus stirred in the Father’s bosom where the Son lay, whether the eye of God track Him along the lonely path of Jesus the Servant, in a polluted world, or on the heights of the King of glory in the millennial world.
It is delight in Him, equal full delight, all along the way from everlasting to everlasting; no interruption, no pause, in the joy of God in Him, though various and changeful joy; the same in its fullness and depth, let the occasions proceed and unfold themselves as they may. The One who awakens the joy is the same throughout, and so the joy itself. It can know no different measures, though it may know different springs.
That One was alike unsullied through the whole path from everlasting to everlasting; as holy in the virgin’s womb as in the Father’s bosom; as spotless when ending His journey as when beginning it; as perfect as a Servant, as a King; infinite perfection marking all, and equal complacency resting on all.
If the soul were but impregnated with the thought that this blessed One (seen where He may be, or as He may be) was the very One who from all eternity lay in the divine bosom,: if such a thought were kept vivid in the soul by the Holy Spirit, it would arrest many a tendency in the mind which now defiles it. He that was in the virgin’s womb, was the same that was in the Father’s bosom! What a thought! Isaiah’s enthroned Jehovah, whom the winged seraphim worshiped, was Jesus of Galilee! What a thought! As spotless as Man, as He was as God; as unstained in the midst of the human vessel, as in the eternal bosom; as unsullied in the midst of the world’s pollutions, as when daily the Father’s delight ere the world was!
Let the soul be imbued with this mystery, and many a rising thought of the mind will get its answer at once. Who would talk, as some have talked, in the presence of such mystery as this? Let this glory be but discovered by the soul, and the wing will be covering the face again, and the shoe will be taken off the foot again.
I believe the divine reasonings in John’s First Epistle suggest, that the communion of the soul is affected by the view we take of the Son of God. For in that epistle, love is manifested in the gift of the Son, and love is our dwelling-place. If, then, I judge that when the Father gave the Son, it was only the gift of the virgin’s seed, the atmosphere in which I dwell is lowered. But if I apprehend this gift to be the gift of the Son who lay in the Father’s bosom from all eternity, my sense of love rises, and hence, also the character of my dwelling-place. The communion of the soul is affected.
I know, indeed, from converse with saints, that many a soul, through simplicity of faith, has a richer enjoyment of a lower measure of truth, than some have of higher measures. But this does not affect the thoughts and reasonings of the Spirit in that epistle. It is still true, that love is our dwelling-place, and that our communion will therefore take its character from the love which we apprehend. And why, I ask, should we seek to reduce the power of communion, and thus hazard our enjoyment in God? The sorrow lies in this (if one may speak for others), we but scantily care for the good things we have in Him.
The Son, the only begotten Son, the Son of the Father, emptied Himself that He might do the divine pleasure in the service of wretched sinners. But will the Father suffer it, that sinners, for whom all this humiliation was endured, shall take occasion from it to depreciate the Son? This cannot be, as John 5:2323That all men should honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He that honoreth not the Son honoreth not the Father which hath sent him. (John 5:23) tells us. Jesus had declared that God was His Father, “making Himself equal with God. It is a question, Will God vindicate Him in that saying? And yet He is scarcely justified in it by the thought of those who deny Sonship in the Godhead. But the Father will not receive honor if it be not rendered to the Son, as we read, “He that honoreth not the Son, honoreth not the Father which hath sent Him.”
(Continued from page 161.)
(To be continued)