CHRIST THE YEA AND THE IMAGE OF GOD (ADDRESS)
[p. 368] CHRIST THE YEA AND THE IMAGE OF GOD (ADDRESS)
2 Corinthians 3:1-18; 2 Corinthians 4:1-7
It is very helpful for us to have distinctly before our hearts what God is working for. He has been pleased to lay His hand upon us in sovereign mercy, and to bring us to the knowledge of His grace; and it is well that we should be exercised as to the object and purpose in view of which we have obtained mercy. I do not refer now to God’s purpose as to the future, but to His present purpose. There is great power and stability in the apprehension of what God is working for.
The scriptures we have read suggest very plainly that God is working in order that Christ may be inscribed upon and enshrined within our hearts. The saints at Corinth were “manifested to be Christ’s epistle ministered by us, written, not with ink, but the Spirit of the living God; not on stone tables, but on fleshy tables of the heart”. Then the apostle could say, “God who spoke that out of darkness light should shine who has shone in our hearts for the shining forth of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the surpassingness of the power may be of God, and not from us”. The latter scripture, no doubt, refers to the apostle, but it is true in principle of all those who have received the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
God has a definite object before Him, and it is a great thing when God’s definite object becomes ours, for then [p. 369] we are sure to get on. Everything around us is passing away, but God has called us to know the blessedness of things which abide. Everything that pertains to that circle subsists in Christ. Our blessing is set forth in Him, and the glory of God shines forth in Him. God would have our hearts to be impressed and enriched with that which now subsists in Christ, things which are eternal in their nature and which are capable of filling our hearts with the deepest satisfaction.
I do not think the believers at Corinth had entered into what is here presented. They were scarcely prepared to appreciate it, and it is a principle with God not to cast pearls before swine. They were carnal, and Paul had only been able to feed them with milk and not with meat. Milk is, I think, a figure of christian blessings looked at from our side, that our sins are forgiven, we are justified, we are assured of the grace of God and know that we shall be in eternal glory with Christ. This is milk. A young believer delights to hear of all the blessings which divine grace has secured to him, and such food is proper for babes. One of the first distinct signs of growth is when a desire is awakened in the soul to look at things from God’s side. Meat is a figure of christian blessings viewed from the divine side. That is, we think not only of what is for us, but of what is for God.
The Corinthians had been greatly hindered by their condition and by their associations. As to their condition they were carnal; they were self-important and man was prominent with them (1 Corinthians 3: 1 - 7). They had not really known in power “the word of the cross” — the complete setting aside of man in the flesh in the death of Christ. Man was so big at Corinth that there was very little room for Christ. A carnal people can never expect an enlarged ministry, and consequently cannot be spiritually enlarged themselves. There are two conditions required [p. 370] for spiritual prosperity, self-judgment and separation. The first epistle was intended to bring about self-judgment, and the second to produce holy separation. The Spirit of God dealt first with their condition before He touched their associations, and this is ever the divine way. If our condition is right we can bear to have our associations put right, but not otherwise.
The Corinthians, instead of judging themselves, had been gratifying themselves in every way and even using divine gifts for self-exaltation. Along with this they were giving religious prominence to men, good men no doubt but still men, and attaching themselves to their favourite ministers. In connection with this it may be said that the broad distinction between the carnal believer and the spiritual one is that the former has man before him and the latter God. The spiritual believer recognises the necessity for the cross as that in which man after the flesh is completely set aside. When the Lord spoke of the cross to His disciples Peter was indisposed to accept it, and he had to be told that he savoured not the things that be of God, but those that were of men (Matthew 16: 21 - 23).
The ministry of righteousness has to do with the setting aside of man in the flesh, and this is in view of the ministry of the Spirit wherein is set forth all that subsists in Christ. If we do not receive the ministry of righteousness we are certainly not prepared for the ministry of the Spirit.
Paul had spoken to them at Corinth “the word of the cross”, but it had not become effective in them by the Spirit. Therefore, though the apostle’s heart was full of God’s blessed things, he could not speak of them. They were not in a condition to know “the depths of God”. A carnal condition is often the reason why believers are not able to apprehend divine things, so that they complain of things being over their heads which would be perfectly [p. 371] simple to them if they were walking in self-judgment and separation. Many have small enjoyment of spiritual things because they are held by so many links and associations here. They are like balloons tied down to the earth; the ropes need to be cut before they can rise into their true blessings as saints.
There is One in whom all God’s thoughts with reference to man have been brought to pass and who is at the same time the Image of God. I hope to be able to show you how all that is in that blessed Person is ministered to us by the Spirit to bring our hearts into divine satisfaction, and that, in result, we may be changed into His image.
Let us read 2 Corinthians 1: 19 - 21: “For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, he who has been preached by us among you (by me and Silvanus and Timotheus), did not become yea and nay, but yea is in him. For whatever promises of God there are, in him is the yea, and in him the amen, for glory to God by us. Now he that establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, is God”. I call your attention to the expression “in him is the yea”. The fact that it was said of Jesus Christ, the Son of God that yea is in Him suggests the greatest conceivable contrast with Adam and his race. It was all nay until He came. It has often been remarked that Scripture gives the history of two men — one man in whom everything is nay, and Another in whom everything is yea. Wherever we look at man in the flesh — and his character is set forth in Scripture in many details as well as in general principles — we see the constant negation of God’s will. In the garden of Eden, before the flood, under government, promises, law, in connection with judges, kings, prophets, in the presence of Christ in this world, or as brought into contact with the testimony of the Holy Spirit to risen and glorified Christ, it is always the same thing. Man in the flesh ever answers ‘Nay’ to the mind and thought of God. Indeed from Genesis 3 it was all over with man after the order of Adam. God might continue to test him and prove him in a variety of ways for four thousand years, but he was under death as the judgment of God from the moment of the fall.
From Genesis 1: 26, 27, we see what was in the mind of God as to man, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness”. It was God’s thought that man should be representative of Himself; that is what is suggested by being in God’s image. “After our likeness” gives the idea of moral similitude. If we think of this we cannot but see how man has given the nay to God’s thoughts concerning him. And this comes out in detail all through Scripture. See Genesis 6: 6; Genesis 9: 20, 21; Exodus 32: 7; Psalm 53: 2, 3; Isaiah 5: 7; Mark 7: 20 - 23; Acts 7: 51 - 53; Romans 7: 18.
But not only do we see this in Scripture; we have found it to be so in ourselves: “For I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, good does not dwell”, Romans 7: 18. We may have been good as men think of goodness, but there is no true good in us because we do not find in ourselves any answer or response to the will of God. We cannot even make ourselves answer to God’s mind when we have the strongest desire to do so. The flesh will not be subjected to God; it knows not how to answer ‘Yea’ to Him. The effect of finding this out is that we “do not trust in flesh”, Philippians 3: 3. This is good preparation for the ministry of righteousness by which we learn how the flesh has been condemned and removed in the death of Christ. We see God’s action with respect to the flesh at the cross. He has condemned sin in the flesh in Christ’s death. Then the believer’s attitude towards the flesh is that he does not trust in it.
How blessed it is to be able to turn to another Man, and to find that in Him is the yea! And it is of the greatest [p. 373] importance that we should see that Christ was in view long before Adam was created. Adam was not first in the mind of God but Christ. In the actual history of things here Adam was first, but in the mind and counsel of God Christ was first.
Psalm 40: 6 - 8 says, “Sacrifice and oblation thou didst not desire: ears hast thou prepared me. Burnt-offering and sin-offering hast thou not demanded; Then said I, Behold, I come, in the volume of the book it is written of me — To do thy good pleasure, my God, is my delight, and thy law is within my heart”. I understand “the volume of the book” to be the sum of God’s thoughts and purposes with reference to man. I do not mean with reference to Adam, but with reference to man in Christ.
And we get this voice coming out of eternity, “Behold, I come ... To do thy good pleasure, my God”. Who but the Son could take up such language as this, and engage Himself to bring to pass everything that was in the mind of God, to bring out all that was hidden in the depths of God before the ages of time?
In connection with this let us read Revelation 21: 5, 6, “And he that sat on the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he says to me, Write, for these words are true and faithful. And he said to me, It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end”.
Here we get a voice out of eternity to come when all that was in view from eternity past shall be accomplished.
The One who devoted Himself in the obedience of love to do the will of God according to Psalm 40: 7, 8, will “make all things new” and be able to say, “It is done”. He is “the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end”; in Him is the Yea. It is in time that things have become “old” by reason of sin, and it is in time that all these “old” things have passed away in the death of Christ, so that all things may be made new in a universe [p. 374] of bliss to the glory of God for ever; and all this is accomplished by One capable of giving effect to all the counsel of God, even the Son of God in whom is the Yea.
Then, if we come into time, we find Him born into this world as the virgin’s Son, and His first recorded utterance — indeed the only recorded utterance of the first thirty years of His life on earth — is expressive of entire devotedness to His Father, “Did ye not know that I ought to be occupied in my Father’s business?”, Luke 2: 49. God has preserved this utterance for us that we may see what characterized Him through the period of His hidden and private life. He came into humanity at its lowest point, and in every circumstance and responsibility that attached to human life from infancy to manhood He answered perfectly to God. In the midst of a vast moral desert He was as a bright and fruitful oasis. So that when the moment arrived for Him to be manifested to Israel a voice from the opened heaven said, “Thou art my beloved Son, in thee I have found my delight”, Luke 3:22. The Father delighted to single Him out, if we may so say, from all other men, to greet Him in the excellence and moral glory that attached to Him as answering perfectly to God in man’s condition and circumstances here. He was the Holy One of God.
Then in the presence of the temptation by the devil (Luke 4) we see Him still answering perfectly to God. In Him was the Yea to all God’s will for man, and nothing could move Him from His obedience of love.
Again, on the mount of transfiguration we see Him in His pre-eminence. Peter with mistaken zeal would have conferred equal honours upon Jesus and Moses and Elias. But neither Moses nor Elias (representing the raised and changed saints) could have been in glory with Jesus except on the ground of “his departure which he was about to accomplish in Jerusalem”, Luke 9: 31. His [p. 375] death was the theme on which these saints in glory conversed with Him. All that they were as in the flesh must needs be removed sacrificially by His death, and they must derive everything from Him in order to be His companions in glory. It is a blessed thing for us if we get in our hearts by the Spirit the light of a scene where everything is of Christ. Moses and Elias as servants of God were very highly honoured by Him and they obtained mercy to be faithful to an uncommon degree. But “Yea” was not in them; it was in Christ. And all their grace and fidelity as saints and servants was by the Spirit of Christ in them; it in no way sprung out of what they were as in flesh. So at the present day if divine gifts are in the assembly it is not that men may become eminent in the world by those gifts, but to constitute them vessels for the presentation and ministry of Christ. It was of Christ the Father spoke and it was He who received from God the Father honour and glory when a voice out of the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son: hear him”.
One more scene from the Gospels we may think of for a moment: “And he was withdrawn from them about a stone’s throw, and having knelt down he prayed, saying, Father, if thou wilt remove this cup from me: — but then, not my will, but thine be done”, Luke 22: 41, 42. This scene in Gethsemane must ever be most affecting to the hearts of saints. I need hardly say that we do not get atonement here — that was on the cross alone — but it was the unspeakable moment when all that was involved in the accomplishment of God’s will was pressed upon the holy soul of the Lord Jesus. The drinking of the cup, the being made sin, the terribleness of death as the wages of sin, the power of Satan, and the judgment of God were all before Him. But in the presence of all this, and knowing it all as none other ever could, He answered perfectly to God, “Not my will, but thine be done”.
[p. 376] Then at the cross all that had been anticipated in the garden actually came upon Him. He was in the place of sin and judgment and death, but in that place He gave a perfect answer to the glory of God. As the forsaken One He exclaims, “And thou art holy”, Psalm 22: 3; He justifies the One who forsook Him in that solemn hour of atonement. He, and He alone, could take up the whole question of sin and sins in such a way as to maintain the divine glory in the highest possible degree, and open a way for divine grace and love to come out in blessing to men. How wondrous to see such a Person in such a place, giving a perfect answer to God even in the place of sin and death! There is a mighty power of sanctification in this if our hearts apprehend it aright.
Then when all the work of atonement was accomplished, “Christ has been raised up from among the dead by the glory of the Father”, Romans 6: 4. He is outside the whole course of things here which are characterized by the presence of sin and death. He is risen from the dead and glorified at the right hand of God.
Having thus briefly traced the way by which He has reached the right hand of God as Man, I come back to 2 Corinthians 1: 19, 20. “For whatever promises of God there are, in him is the yea, and in him the amen, for glory to God by us”. The promises of God were the outcome of His purpose, and in that purpose infinite thoughts of blessing for man were treasured, in the accomplishment of which all God’s attributes and His nature of holy love have been fully manifested. Whatever promises there are, Christ is the Yea and Amen of them. That is, all God’s thoughts of blessing for man are set forth in Christ. If we take the law as expressive of all that is good in man as a creature of God, where did it find its answer? Nowhere but in Christ. It was in His heart. In a coming day God will have saints on earth with His law [p. 377] written in their hearts, but even they will be a failing people, and will need sin-offerings. They will have to find their blessing set forth in its proper excellence in Christ. The “Yea” will be in Him even for them.
As to ourselves we cannot learn the character or the extent of our blessings by our feelings, experiences, apprehensions, growth, or anything of that kind. Nor can we learn our blessings from Scripture in the same way as we might learn a science from a text book. Scripture leads us to Christ, and we find all our blessing set forth in Him.
Hence the gospel of God is concerning His Son (Romans 1: 1 - 3) and the full blessing of God is set forth in Him (Romans 8: 29). He is the Yea and the Amen, the Alpha and the Omega, of all God’s thoughts of blessing for man. And He did not take that place as risen and glorified until He had removed by His death everything about us that was unsuited to God. Our sins and ourselves as in the flesh are gone. We are sanctified by God’s will through His offering, and perfected for ever. As I said before, the ministry of righteousness unfolds how all that we were as in the flesh was removed by His death. Then we get the ministry of the Spirit to bring our hearts into the blessedness of all that is established in a glorified Christ. God’s thoughts are brought into actual accomplishment in one Man alone, but by the Spirit He ministers of that Man to our hearts so that we may be in the present light and joy of His purpose before the moment of actually being conformed to the image of His Son.
What is established in Christ is “for glory to God by us”. It is “by us” that God gets the glory of all that He has effected. The saints are necessary to the display of God’s glory in the carrying out of His purposes. If His purpose was for the blessing of men it is certain that the glory of His purpose could only be secured by men being [p. 378] brought into the good of it. Hence we read, “To him be glory in the assembly” (Ephesians 3: 21), and when the holy city, Jerusalem, descends out of heaven from God she has the glory of God (Revelation 21: 10).
God has brought all His thoughts to pass in Christ, and soon we are going to be brought into it all actually, but in the meantime God works in us to establish us in Christ. God would have our hearts to be firmly attached to Christ and to all that is established in Him, so that we may be delivered from carnality and legality and that there may be “glory to God by us”.
It is to this end that all that is established in Christ in glory is ministered by the Spirit to our hearts. This is not a ministry of claim or demand; it is a ministry that enriches the heart with the knowledge of Christ. The demand for what was suited to God in the law began with glory, but the ministry of the Spirit subsists in glory. Nothing can dim it; there can be no failure in the things whereof it speaks. It shines from the right hand of God in undimmed brightness for ever. If we are not in the light and joy of it, let us see to our condition and our associations.
There is a present ministry to our hearts from Christ in glory of all that He is. The brightest glory is the place where we find the greatest gain. We never know the full gain of the gospel until we are in the light and joy of this ministry. It shines in heavenly light for our hearts, the gospel of the glory of Christ. All that is established in that glorified One is ministered to us.
When Moses came down from the mount with his face shining the people could not bear to look upon his face without a veil. They were in the flesh and they could not bear the glory. They were conscious of unsuitability to that which was made known to them of God. But now the light of glory shines after man in the flesh has been set [p. 379] aside, and after everything has been brought to pass for God’s pleasure and glory in Christ. Hence there is no longer need for a veil; glory shines in the unveiled face of Christ to enrich and gladden human hearts. Thus it is a ministry of light and transforming power.
For not only is all our blessing according to God’s purpose set forth in Him, but the effulgence of God shines forth in Him. Every ray of the glory of God can shine now into human hearts, for every perfection of God’s nature and attributes shines out in that glorified Man. The thought of God was to set Himself forth in His universe in His glory and in His moral perfections. Now there is a Man in God’s image and God has achieved His great thought as to man. There is not a single part of God’s blessed character that is not set forth in Christ. Many things which could have no place in connection with Adam even in innocence, love, grace, mercy, holiness and so on, are fully set forth in Christ. He is the Image of God. So that the glad tidings of the glory of Christ shine into hearts to give the full knowledge of God.
All this exercises a most blessed attraction for every heart divinely taught. The glory welcomes one in the fullest possible way; it is the source of infinite blessedness for our souls. God ministers all this to us so that Christ may be written in our hearts, and may become our Treasure. Just as the sun is the light of the material universe so Christ is the Light of the moral universe, and we need to abide in His light. “Wake up, thou that sleepest, and arise up from among the dead, and the Christ shall shine upon thee”, Ephesians 5: 14.
There is wonderful power in light. Flowers are colourless if grown in the dark. Many christians lack the heavenly colour because they are not in the light of Christ in glory. They are not transformed. Why? It must be [p. 380] either because their condition is wrong, they are asleep; or their associations are wrong, they are among the dead. If we were in the light of Christ we should be transformed. The light of God in the face of Jesus Christ must have its effect. If we were more beholding the glory of the Lord we should be more changed into His image. Beholding the glory of the Lord is the most practical thing in christianity. It displaces what is of ourselves and forms us in moral correspondence to Christ. If we are not changed it is a proof that we are not beholding the glory of the Lord.
Then true satisfaction is found in the knowledge of God. The light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ shone into Paul’s heart that it might shine forth for us. If this has become the treasure of our hearts it gives us an apprehension of the blessedness of new creation. God will have a universe of bliss in perfect suitability to Himself, and in which everything will carry the impress of Christ. As yet we have the treasure in earthen vessels, but we shall have “a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens”, 2 Corinthians 5: 1. The vessel will soon be made to correspond with the treasure. “Now he that has wrought us for this very thing is God, who also has given to us the earnest of the Spirit”, 2 Corinthians 5: 5.
May God give us to know more of the blessedness of all this! The man in whom was the nay has gone from before God in the death of Christ, and now we have the Spirit so that our souls may be in the light of the Man in whom is the Yea. As we behold the glory of the Lord we are changed into the same image and are in true liberty. “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty”.