The Sacrifice of Christ.
I. A Divine person was absolutely necessary.—1. He who atones must be in possession of infinite worth. Nothing less than the glory of infinity and eternity can atone for transgression. The individual must also be possessed of humanity for this obvious reason: that man hath transgressed, and man must atone. In the person of the Messiah we behold everything God could possibly desire. A Divine person, comprising Deity and humanity in Himself, atones for sin.
2. It was absolutely necessary that the individual who atoned should be wholly at his own disposal.—Now, no finite being is at his own disposal; no finite being can say, “I will do as I please;” but Messiah speaks of Himself in language that finite being could not adopt without insulting God. The doctrine of the Trinity is opposed; but when we peruse Scripture we shall find the absolute necessity of a plurality of persons. A Divine person to present a sacrifice; and if so, a Divine person to receive that sacrifice.
II. Christ’s love in giving Himself.—And here we behold the love of God in all its glory. Christ hath saved us, and given Himself for us. Here we behold the love of Christ; the love of a Divine person embracing God, embracing the law of God, and embracing the sinner in all his shame. Two of the attributes of this love never unfolded their glories before. The intenseness and the holiness of it were never before manifested. Behold God as well as man, a Divine person suffering for us. Here for once, and once only, behold the sovereignty of God in all its glory, in all its lowliness, connected with the justice of God in all its terrors. Messiah is punished, that the transgressor may live for ever.
III. God’s pleasure in the sacrifice of His Son.—1. God is infinitely delighted with His Son, as He is one in essence with Him. The pious Baptist gives his disciples a volume of Divinity in a few words. He traces everything to its source. “The Father loveth the Son.” Surely, then, we must anticipate God’s pleasure in everything the Saviour does. 2. The resurrection and ascension of Christ prove God’s acceptance of the sacrifice. 3. The success of the Gospel another proof.
Lessons.—1. See the evil and danger of unbelief. 2. All spiritual good comes from God; all spiritual evil flows from the creature. 3. Learn the work of faith—to accept Christ.—Howels.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Verses 3–14.
The Children of Darkness and of Light.
I. The children of darkness are known by their deeds (vers. 3–5).—A loathsome and unsightly list! Sin marks its victims. Deeds done in darkness do not escape detection and exposure. The revolting sins of the heathen reveal the depth of wickedness to which man may sink when he abandons God and is abandoned of God. Every single sin, voluntarily indulged, weakens the power of self-control, and there is no deed of darkness a reckless sinner may not commit. Sensuality is a devil-fish—a vampire of the sea—preying upon and devouring the best powers of mind and body.
1. Their deeds exclude them from the inheritance of the good.—They have no “inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God” (ver. 5). The children of darkness can have no company and no place with the children of light; the two cannot co-exist or blend together. The sinner excludes himself, and unfits himself for fellowship with the good. Their purity is a constant reproof of his vileness; he shrinks from their society, and hates them because they are so good. We may well be on our guard against sins that shut us out of the kingdom of grace on earth, and out of heaven hereafter.