Works of John Bunyan: LIGHT FOR THEM THAT SIT IN DARKNESS. 407

 

HE WAS MADE A CURSE FOR US.

FOURTH. As he was made flesh under the law, and also sin, SO HE WAS MADE A CURSE FOR US—'Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us; as it is written, Cursed is every one that hangs on a tree.' This sentence is taken out of Moses, being passed there upon them that for sin is worthy of death—' And if a man has committed a sin worthy of death. Thou hang him on a tree, his body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in anywise bury him that day, for he that is hanged is accursed of God (Deut 21:22,23). By this sentence, Paul concluded that Jesus Christ was justly hanged because sin worthy of death was upon him; sin, not of his own, but ours. Since, then, he took our sins, he must be cursed of God; for sin is sin wherever it lies, and justice is justice wherever it finds it; wherefore since Jesus Christ will bear our sin, he must be 'numbered with the transgressors,' and counted worthy to die the death.

He that committeth sin is worthy of death. Though Christ did not personally do this, his members, his body, which is his church, did, and since he would undertake for them with God and stand in their sins before the eyes of his justice, he must die the death by the law.

Sin and the curse cannot be severed. Sin must be followed by the curse of God. Therefore, sin, being removed from us to the back of Christ, also goes the curse; if sin be found upon him, he is the person worthy to die—worthy of our sins.

Therefore, Paul here set forth Christ clothed with our sins, taking from us the guilt and punishment. What punishment but the wrath and displeasure of God? 'Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us.'

In this word, 'curse' are two things comprised,

1. The reality of sin; for there can be no curse where there is no sin, either of the person's own or made to be his by his own consent or the imputation of Divine justice. And since sins are made to be Christ's by imputation, they are his, though not naturally, yet really, and consequently the wages due. He hath made him sin; he was made a curse for us.

2. The word 'curse' is comprised, therefore, of the punishment of sin, that punishment properly due to sin from the hand of God's justice, which is a punishment that stands in three things: (1.) In charging sin upon the body and soul of the person concerned, we read that both the body and soul of Christ 'were made an offering for sin' (Isa 53:10; Heb 10:10). (2.) The punishment stands in God's inflicting of the just merits of sin upon him that stand charged in addition to that, and that is death in its own nature and strength; to wit, death with the sting thereof—'The sting of death is sin.' This Christ died because he died for our sins. (3.) The sorrows and pains of this death, therefore, must be undergone by Jesus Christ.

Now, there are divers sorrows in death—such sorrows as brutes are subject to; such sorrows as persons are subject to that stand in sin before God; such sorrows as those who are swallowed up of the curse and wrath of God forever.

Now, so much of all kinds of sorrow as the imputation of our sin could justly bring from the hand of Divine justice, so much of it he had. He had died. He had the sting of death, which is sin. He was forsaken of God but could not by any means have those sorrows they have that are everlastingly swallowed up of them. 'It was not possible that he should be holden of it' (Acts 2:24).

For where sin is charged and borne, there must, of necessity, follow the wrath and curse of God. Now where the wrath and curse of God is, there must of necessity follow the effects, the natural effects—I say, the natural effects—to wit, the sense, the sorrowful sense of the displeasure of an infinite Majesty, and his chastisements for the sin that hath provoked him. There are effects natural and effects accidental; those accidental are such as flow from our weakness while we wrestle with the judgment of God—to wit, hellish fear, despair, rage, blasphemy, and the like; these were not incident to Jesus Christ, he being in his own person every way perfect. Neither did he always endure the natural effects; his merits relieved and delivered him. God loosed the pains of death 'because it was not possible that he should be held of it.'

Christ then was made a curse for us, for he did bear our sin; the punishment, therefore, from the revenging hand of God must fall upon him.

By these four things, we see how Christ became our Saviour—he took hold of our nature, was born under the law, was made to be sin, and the accursed of God for us. And observe it—all this, as I said before, was the handiwork of God. God made him flesh, made him under the law, God made him to be sin, and also a curse for us. The Lord bruised him, the Lord put him to grief, the Lord made his soul an offering for sin (Isa 53:10). Not for that he hated him, considering him in his own harmless, innocent, and blessed person, for he was daily his delight; but by an act of grace to us-ward, were our iniquities laid upon him, and he in our stead was bruised and chastised for them. God loved us and made him a curse for us. He was made a curse for us, 'that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through [faith in] Jesus Christ' (Gal 3:14).

Works of John Bunyan: LIGHT FOR THEM THAT SIT IN DARKNESS. 406

 

Quest. But might Christ not die for our sins, but he must bear their guilt or burden?

Answ. He who can sever sin and guilt, sin and the burden, each from the other, laying sin and no shame, sin and no burden on the person who dies for sin must do it only in his imaginative head. No scripture, reason, sense, understanding, or feeling sin when charged without its guilt and burden.

Here, we must distinguish between sin charged and sin forgiven. Sin forgiven may be seen without guilt or burden, though I think not without shame in this world. Still, sin charged, and that by the justice of God—for so it was upon Christ—this cannot be but guilt and the burden, as inseparable companions, must unavoidably lie on that person. Poor sinner, be advised to take heed of such deluded preachers who, with their tongues smoother than oil, would rob thee of that excellent doctrine, 'God hath made him be sin for us'; for such, as I said, do not only present thee with a feigned deliverance and forgiveness, with feigned heaven and happiness but charge God and the Lord Jesus as mere impostors, who, while they tell us that Christ was made of God to be sin for us, affirm that it was not so really, suggesting this sophistical reason, 'No wrong judgment comes from the Lord.' I say again, this wicked doctrine is the following way to turn the gospel in thy thoughts to no more than a cunningly devised fable (2 Peter 1:16) and to make Jesus Christ, in his dying for our sins, as brutish as the paschal lamb in Moses' law.

Wherefore, distressed sinner, when thou find it recorded in the Word of truth that Christ died for our sins, and that God hath made him to be sin for us, then do thou consider of sin as it is a transgression against the law of God, and that as such it procure the judgment of God, torments and afflicts the mind with guilt, and bind over the soul to answer it. Sever not sin and guilt asunder, lest thou be a hypocrite like these wicked men and rob Christ of his true sufferings. Besides, to see sin upon Christ, but not its guilt; to see sin upon Christ, but not the legal punishment, what is this but to conclude that there is no guilt and punishment in sin, or that Christ bares our sin, but we the punishment? The punishment must be borne because the sentence has gone out from the mouth of God against sin.

Do thou therefore, as I have said, consider sin a transgression of the law (1 John 3:4) and a provoker of God's justice; which done, turn thine eye to the cross, and behold those sins, in their guilt and punishment, sticking in the flesh of Christ. 'God condemned sin in the flesh' of Christ (Rom 8:3). He 'bare our sins in his own body on the tree' (1 Peter 2:24).

I would only give thee this caution—Not sin like sin—sin was not so in the flesh of Christ, but sin in the natural punishment of it—to wit, guilt, and the chastising hand of justice. 'He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed' (Isa 53:5). Look, then, upon Christ crucified to be as the sin of the world, as if he only had broken the law; which done, behold him perfectly innocent in himself, and so conclude that for the transgression of God's people, he was stricken; that when the Lord made him be sin, he made him be sin for us.

Works of John Bunyan: LIGHT FOR THEM THAT SIT IN DARKNESS. 405

 

CHRIST TOOK UPON HIM OUR SINS.

THIRD. But thirdly, CHRIST OUR SAVIOUR TAKES UPON HIM OUR SINS. This is another step in the work of our redemption. 'He hath made him to be sin for us.' Strange doctrine! A fool would think it blasphemy, but Truth hath said it. Truth, I say, hath said, not that he was made to sin, but that God made him to be sin—' He hath made him to be sin for us' (2 Cor 5:21).

This showed us how effectively Christ Jesus undertook the work of our redemption—He was made to be sin for us. Sin is the great block and bar to our happiness; sin is the procurer of all miseries to men both here and forever. Take away sin, and nothing can hurt us, for death temporal, death spiritual, and death eternal are the wages of sin (Rom 6:23).

Sin, then, and man for sin, is the object of the wrath of God. If the object of the wrath of God is the most dreadful, then is his case most dreadful? Who can bear, who can grapple with the wrath of God? Men and angels cannot, and the whole world cannot. All, therefore, must sink under sin, but he who is made to be sin for us; he only can bear sins, he only can bear them away, and therefore were they laid upon him—'The Lord hath laid upon him the iniquity of us all' (Isa 53:6).

Mark, therefore, you shall find that God made him to be sin for us because 'that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.' He took our flesh, he was made under the law, and was made to be sin for us, that the devil might be destroyed, that the captives might be redeemed, and made the righteousness of God in him.

And forasmuch as he saith that God 'hath made him to be sin,' it declares that God's design and the mystery of his will and grace are in it. 'He hath made him to be sin.' God hath done it, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. There was no other way; the wisdom of heaven could find no other way; we could not by other means stand just before the justice of God.

Now, what remains is that we who are reconciled to God by faith in his blood are quit, discharged, and set free from the law of sin and death? Yea, what encouragement to trust in him when we read that God 'made him be sin for us.'

Quest. But how was Jesus Christ made of God to be sin for us?

Answ. Even so, as if he had committed all our sins, they were as really charged upon him as if he had been the actor and committer of them all. 'He hath made him to be sin,' not only as a sinner but as sin itself. As the sin of the world that day, he stood before God in our stead. Some, indeed, will not have Jesus Christ our Lord to be made sin for us; their wicked reasons think this to be wrong judgment in the Lord; it seems, supposing that because they cannot imagine how it should be, therefore God, if he does it, must do it at his peril, and must be charged with doing wrong judgment, and so things that become not his heavenly Majesty; but against this dunces sophistry we set Paul and Isaiah, the one telling us still, 'the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all'; and the other, that 'God made him be sin for us.'

But these men, as I suppose, think it enough for Christ to die under that notion only, not knowing nor feeling the burden of sin and the wrath of God due to it. These make him as senseless in his dying and as much without reason as a silly sheep or goat, who also died for sin, but so as in name, in show, in shadow only. They felt not the proper weight, guilt, and judgment of God for sin. But thou, sinner, who art so in thine own eyes, and who felt guilt in thine own conscience, know thou that Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God in flesh, was made to be sin for thee, or stood sensibly guilty of all thy sins before God, and bare them in his own body upon the cross.

God charged our sins upon Christ, and in their guilt and burden, what remained but that the charge was accurate or feigned? If confirmed, then he hath either perished under them or carried them away from before God; if they were charged but feignedly, then did he but feignedly die for them, then shall we have but feigned benefit by his death, and but feigned salvation at last—not to say how this cursed doctrine charges God and Christ with hypocrisy, the one in saying, He made Christ to be sin; the other in saying that he bare our sin; when, in deed and in truth, our guilt and burden never was really upon him.

Works of John Bunyan: LIGHT FOR THEM THAT SIT IN DARKNESS. 404

 

For, consisting of two natures, and the personality lying in the Godhead, which gave value and worth to all things done for us by the manhood, the obedience takes denomination from thence, to be the obedience of God. The Son's righteousness, the Son's blood; the righteousness of God, the blood of God (Heb 5:8,9; Phil 3:9; Acts 20:28; 1 John 3:16).

Thus, Jesus Christ came into the world under the law to redeem, not simply as God but as God-man, both natures making one Christ. The Godhead, therefore, did influence and give value to the human flesh of Christ in all its obedience to the law, else there would have been wanting that perfection of righteousness which only could answer the demands and expectation of the justice of God to wit, perfect righteousness by flesh.

But the second Person in the Godhead, the Son, the Word, coming under the law for men in their flesh, and subjecting himself by that flesh to every title and demand of the law; all and every whit of what was acted and done by Jesus Christ, God-man, for us, it was and is the righteousness of God; and since it was not done for himself, but for us, as he saith in the text, 'to redeem,' the righteousness by which we are set free from the law is none other but the righteousness that alone reside in the person of the Son of God.

It is essential; thus, it should be evident concerning God and man.

Concerning God, righteousness is demanded by God; therefore, he who comes to redeem must present before God righteousness absolutely perfect; this can be done by none but God.

With respect to man, man was to present this righteousness to God; therefore, the undertaker must be man. Man for man, God for God, God-man between God and man. These days, he can lay his hand upon us and bring God and man together in peace (Job 9:33).

Quest. But some may say, what need is there for the righteousness of one who is naturally God? Had Adam, a mere man, stood in his innocence and done his duty, he would have saved himself and all his posterity.

Answ. Had Adam stood, he had so long secured himself from the wages of sin and posterity as they were in him. But had Adam sinned, yea, although he had not defiled his nature with filth, he could never after that have redeemed himself from the curse of the law, because he was not equal with God; for the curse of the law is the curse of God; but no man can deliver himself from the curse of God, having first transgressed. This is evident because angels, for sin, lie bound in chains and can never give themselves. He, therefore, that redeem man from under the law must not only do all the good that the law requires but bear all the penalty that is due by the law for sin.

Should an angel assume human flesh, and in that flesh do the law, this righteousness would not redeem a sinner; it would be but the righteousness of an angel, and so, far short of such righteousness as can secure a sinner from the wrath of God. But 'thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy soul, with all thy heart, with all thy mind, with all thy strength.' If there were no more required of us now to redeem ourselves, it would be impossible for us to do it because, in the best, there is sin, which will intermix itself with every duty of man. This being so, all the heart, all the soul, all the strength, and all the mind, to the exact requirement of the justice of the law, can never be found in a natural man.

Besides, for this work, a perfect memory is required, always to keep in mind the whole duty of man, the whole of every title of all the law, lest sin come in by forgetfulness; perfect knowledge and judgment, lest sin come in by ignorance; and everlasting unweariedness in all, lest sin and continual temptation tire the soul and cause it to fail before the whole be done.

To accomplish this, he must have—1. A perfect willingness, without the slightest thought to the contrary. 2. Such a hatred of sin as is not to be found but in the heart of God. 3. A total delight in every duty, and that amid all temptations. 4. A continuing in all things to the well-pleasing of the justice of God.

Should the penalty of the law be removed? Should God forgive the penalty and punishment for past sins and only demand good works now? According to the tenor of the law, no man could be saved; that heart, that soul, that mind, and that strength would not be found anywhere in the world.

This, therefore, must cease forever unless the Son of God puts his shoulder to the work; but, blessed be God, he hath done it—' When the fulness of the time has come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law.'

Works of John Bunyan: LIGHT FOR THEM THAT SIT IN DARKNESS. 403

 

HOW JESUS CHRIST ADDRESSED HIMSELF TO THE WORK OF OUR REDEMPTION.

SECOND. BUT, Secondly, CHRIST WAS MADE UNDER THE LAW—' When the fulness of the time came, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law' (Gal 4:4).

Of right, being found in the flesh, he must be under the law, for there is no creature above or without law to God, but this is not to the point in hand. Christ was not therefore under the law because he was found in the flesh, but he took flesh and designedly put himself, or was made under the law; wherefore it is added, He was made under the law to 'redeem,' to redeem them that were under that law. Here is a design, a heavenly contrivance, and a device on foot; Christ is made—that is, by design subjected—under the law, for the sake and upon the account of others, 'to redeem them that were under the law.'

Made under the law—that is, put himself into the room of sinners, into the condition of sinners, made himself subject to the same pains and penalties we were obnoxious to. We were under the law, and it had dominion over us, bound us upon pain of eternal damnation to do completely all things written in the law. This condition Christ put himself into that 'he might redeem'; for assuredly we had else perished.

The law had dominion over us, and since we had sinned, of right, it pronounced the curse and made all men subject to the wrath of God. Christ, therefore, did not only come into our flesh but also into our condition, into the valley and shadow of death where we were and where we are, as we are sinners. He, under the law, is under the axe's edge. When David was to go to visit his brethren and to save them from the hand of Goliath, he was to look how his brethren fared and to 'take their pledge' (1 Sam 17:18). This is true of Jesus Christ when he came to save us from the hand of death and the law; he looked how his brethren fared, took to heart their deplorable condition, and put himself into the same plight—to wit, under the law, that he might redeem them that were under the law.

Christ's sinless entry into the world, his miraculous conception, and his wondrous birth were not mere events but a necessity. He had to be made under the law to redeem; for this, he needed to be sinless and spotless. The law condemns even the slightest fault and requires this perfect obedience.

Without this, there could not have been redemption, nor any sons of God by adoption: no redemption because the death sentence had already passed upon all; no sons by adoption because that is the effect of redemption. 'God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.' Christ, then, by being made under the law, hath recovered his from under the law and obtained for them the privilege of the adoption of sons.

For, as I told you before, Christ was an ordinary person, presenting in himself the whole lump of the promised seed, or the children of the promise; wherefore he came under the law for them, taking upon himself to do what the law required of them, taking upon himself to do it for them.

He began, therefore, at the first title of the law, and going in man's flesh, for man, through the law, he becomes 'the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth.' The END of the law—what is the end of the law but perfect and sinless obedience? That is the end of the law, both concerning its nature and the cause of its being imposed. God gave the law that complete righteousness should be found upon men, but because sin got into man's flesh, we could not complete this righteousness. Now comes Christ the Lord into the world, clothes himself with the children's flesh, addressed himself to the work of their redemption, is made under the law; and going through every part of the law without sin, he becometh 'the end of the law for' justifying 'righteousness to every one that believeth' (Rom 10:4). For he obeyed not the law for himself, he needed no obedience to it; it was we that required obedience, it was we that wanted to answer the law; we wanted it but could not obtain it, because then the law was weak through the flesh; therefore God sent his own Son, and he did our duty for us, even to become the end of the law to every one that believeth. Thus, Christ labored for us; he was made under the law to redeem. Therefore, as I said before, it behooved him to be sinless because the law binds over to answer for sin at the bar of the judgment of God. Therefore did his Godhead assume our human flesh, cleanly and spotlessly, that he might come under 'the law, to redeem them that were under the law.'

Works of John Bunyan: LIGHT FOR THEM THAT SIT IN DARKNESS. 402

 

2. His manner of doing the work of a Saviour called for his taking of our flesh.

He must do the work by dying. 'Ought not Christ to have suffered? Christ must needs have suffered,' or else no glory follows (Luke 24:26; Acts 17:3). 'The prophets testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow' (1 Peter 1:11). Yea, they did it by the Spirit, even by the Spirit of Christ himself. This Spirit, then, did bid them tell the world, yea, testify, that Christ must suffer, or no man be blest with glory; for the threatening of death and the curse of the law lay in the way between heaven gates and the souls of the children, for their sins; wherefore he that will save them must answer Divine justice, or God must lie, in keeping them without inflicting the punishment threatened. Christ, then, must needs have suffered; the manner of the work laid a necessity upon him to take our flesh upon him; he must die, he must die for us, he must die for our sins. And this was effectually foretold by all the bloody sacrifices that were offered under the law—the blood of bulls, the blood of lambs, the blood of rams, the blood of calves, and the blood of goats and birds. What did these bloody sacrifices signify? What were they figures of, but of the bloody sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ? their blood being a shadow of his blood, and their flesh being a shadow of his flesh.

Therefore, when God declared that he took no pleasure in them because they could not make the worshippers perfect as about the conscience, then Jesus Christ offered his sinless body and soul for the sin of the people—' For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sin. Wherefore, when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifices and offering thou would not, but a body hast thou prepared me; in burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come, in the volume of the book it is written of me, to do thy will, O God.' Since burnt offerings cannot do thy will, my body shall; since the blood of bulls and goats cannot do thy will, my blood shall. Then follows, By the will of God, 'we are sanctified, through the offering up of the body of Jesus Christ once for all' (Heb 10:4-10).

3. The end of the work required that Christ if he will be our Saviour, take our flesh upon him.

The end of our salvation is that we might enjoy God and that he, through us, might be glorified forever and ever.

(1.) That we might enjoy God. 'I will dwell in them; they shall be my people, and I will be their God.' This indwelling of God, and consequently our enjoyment of him, begins first in its eminency by his possessing our flesh in the person of Jesus Christ. Hence his name is called 'Immanuel, God with us'; and 'the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.' The flesh of Christ is the tabernacle which the Lord pitched, according to that saying, 'The tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God' (Rev 21:3). Here God begins to discover his glory, and to be desirable to the sons of men.

God could not communicate himself to us, nor take us into the enjoyment of himself, but concerning that flesh which his Son took of the Virgin because sin stood betwixt. Now this flesh only was the holy lump, in this flesh God could dwell; and forasmuch as this flesh is the same with ours, and was taken up with intent that what was done in and by that, should be communicated to all the children; therefore through that doth God communicate of himself unto his people—' God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself' (2 Cor 5:19). And 'I am the way,' saith Christ, 'no man cometh unto the Father but by me' (John 14:6).

That passage to the Hebrews is significant to our purpose. We have boldness, brethren, 'to enter into the holiest,' the place where God is, 'by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh' (Hebrews 10:19, 20).

Wherefore by the flesh and blood of Christ we enter into the holiest; through the veil, saith he, that is to say, his flesh.

(2.) As the end of our salvation is that we might enjoy God, so also it is that he by us might be glorified forever—' That God in all things might be glorified, through Jesus Christ our Lord.'

Here, indeed, will the mystery of his grace, wisdom, justice, power, holiness, and glory inhabit eternal praise. At the same time, we who are counted worthy of the kingdom of God shall admire the mystery and see ourselves, without ourselves, even by the flesh and blood of Christ through faith therein, effectually and eternally saved. Oh, this will be the burden of our eternal joy—God loved us and gave his Son for us; Christ loved us and gave his flesh for our life and his blood for our eternal redemption and salvation!

Works of John Bunyan: LIGHT FOR THEM THAT SIT IN DARKNESS. 401

 

This text gives two reasons why he must take flesh—namely, that he might be their priest to offer sacrifice, to wit, his body and blood for them, and that he might be merciful and faithful, to pity and preserve them unto the kingdom appointed for them.

Mark you, therefore, how the apostle asserted that the Lord Jesus took our flesh and urged why he took it—that he might destroy the devil and death and deliver them. It behooved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be merciful and faithful and make reconciliation for the people's sins. Therefore, the reason he took our flesh is declared—to wit, that he might be our Saviour. Hence, you find it so often recorded. He hath ‘abolished in his flesh the enmity.’ He hath ‘slain the enmity’ by his flesh. ‘And you that were sometimes alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable—in his sight’ (Eph 2:15,16; Col 1:21,22).

How he took flesh.

Second. I now come to the second question—How he took our flesh to wit. This must be inquired into, for his taking flesh was not after the standard way; never any took man’s flesh upon him as he, since the foundation of the world.

1. He took not our flesh like Adam, who was formed out of the ground, ‘which was made of the dust of the ground’ (Gen 2:7, 3:19). 2. He took not our flesh as we do, by carnal generation. Joseph knew not his wife, neither did Mary know any man, till she had brought forth her first-born son (Matt 1:25; Luke 1:34). 3. He took flesh by the immediate working and overshadowing of the Holy Ghost. And hence it is said expressly, ‘She was found with child of the Holy Ghost.’ ‘Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost’ (Matt 1:18). And hence again, when Joseph doubted of her honesty, for he perceived she was with child, and knew he had not touched her, the angel of God himself comes down to resolve his doubt, and said, ‘Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost’ (Matt 1:20).

But again, though the Holy Ghost was that by which the child Jesus was formed in the womb, to be without carnal generation, yet was he not formed in her without, but by, her conception—’ Behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS’ (Luke 1:31). Wherefore he took flesh not only in, but of, the Virgin. Hence he is called her son, the seed of the woman; and therefore it is also that he is called the seed of Abraham, the seed of David; their seed, according to the flesh (Gen 12, 13:15, 22; Luke 1:31, 2:7; Rom 1:3, 9:5; Gal 3:16, 4:4).

And this, the work he undertook, required 1. It required that he should take our flesh. 2. It required that he should take our flesh without sin, which could not be had he taken it because of a carnal generation; for so all children are conceived in, and polluted with, sin (Psa 51). And the least pollution, either of flesh or spirit, had utterly disabled him for the work he came down from heaven to do. Therefore, ‘such a High-priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens’ (Heb 7:26).

This mystery of the incarnation of the Son of God was thus completed, I say, that he might be at all points like we are, yet without sin; for sin in the flesh disabled and maketh incapable to do the commandment. Therefore, he was made, thus made of a woman, and this is what the angel assigned as the reason for his marvelous incarnation. ‘The Holy Ghost,’ saith he, ‘shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee; therefore also that holy thing that shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God’ (Luke 1:35).

The overshadowing of the Holy Ghost and the power of the Highest—the Father and the Holy Ghost—brought this wonderful thing to pass, for Jesus is a wonderful one in his conception and birth. This is a great mystery next to the mystery of three persons in one God. ‘Great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh.’

The conclusion is that Jesus Christ took our flesh and that he might be our Saviour.

That he needed to take our flesh if he would be our Saviour.

Third. I come now to the third thing—namely that he needed to take our flesh if he would be our Saviour.

1. And that, first, from the nature of the work; his work was to save, to save man, sinking man, man that was ‘going down to the pit’ (Job 33:24). Now, he that will save him that is sinking must take hold on him. And since he was not to save a man, but men, he was necessary to take hold, not of one person, but of the common nature, clothing himself with part of the same. He took not hold of angels, ‘but he took on him the seed of Abraham’ (Heb 2:16). For that flesh was the same with the whole lump of the children to whom the promise was made, and comprehended in it the body of them that shall be saved, even as in Adam was comprehended the whole world at first (Rom 5).

Hence, we are said to be chosen in him, to be gathered, being in him, to be dead by him, to have risen with him, and to be set with him, or in him, in heavenly places already (Rom 7:4; Eph 1:4,10; Col 2:12,13, 3:1-3). This was the wisdom of the great God that the Eternal Son of his love should take hold of it and so secure the sinking souls of perishing sinners by assuming their flesh.

Works of John Bunyan: LIGHT FOR THEM THAT SIT IN DARKNESS. 400

 

I come, then, in the next place, to show you how Jesus Christ addressed himself to the work of man’s redemption.

The Scripture saith, ‘He became poor,’ that he made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, that he humbled himself unto death, even the death of the cross. But remarkably, FIRST, He took upon him our flesh. SECOND, He was made under the law. THIRD, He took upon him our sins. FOURTH, He bore the curse due to our sins.

[HE TOOK UPON HIM OUR FLESH.]

FIRST. He took upon himself our flesh. I showed you before that he came in our flesh, and now I must show you the reason for it—namely, because that was the way he addressed himself to the work of our redemption.

Therefore, when the apostle spoke of the incarnation of Christ, he added the reason—to wit, that he might be capable of working out the redemption of men.

There are three things to be considered in this first head. First.

He took our flesh for this reason—that he might be a Saviour.

Second. How he took flesh, that he might be our Saviour. Third.

He needed to take our flesh if indeed he

would be our Saviour.

[He took our flesh, that he might be a Saviour.]

[First.] For the first. That he took our flesh for this reason—that he might be a Saviour: ‘For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God, sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh’ (Rom 8:3).

The sum of the words is, Forasmuch, as the law could do us no good, because of the inability that is in our flesh to do it—for the law, can do us no good until it is fulfilled—and because God had a desire that good should come to us, therefore did he send his Son in our likeness, clothed with flesh, to destroy, by his doing the law, the tendency of the sin that dwells in our flesh. He therefore took our flesh, that our sin, with its effects, might by him be condemned and overcome.

The reason, therefore, why he took flesh is because he would be our Saviour—’ Forasmuch, then, as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage’ (Heb 2:14,15).

In these words, it is asserted that he took our flesh for specific reasons.

1. Because the children, the heirs of heaven, are partakers of flesh and blood—’ Forasmuch, then, as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also took part of the same.’ Had the children, the heirs, been without flesh, he had not taken it upon him; had the children been angels, he had taken upon him the nature of angels; but because the children were partakers of flesh, therefore leaving angels, or refusing to take hold of angels, he took flesh and blood, the nature of the children, that he might put himself into a capacity to save and deliver the children; therefore it follows, that ‘through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil.’

2. This, therefore, was another reason—that he might destroy the devil.

The devil had bent himself against the children; he is their adversary, and goes forth to make war with them—’ Your adversary, the devil.—And he went to make war with the remnant of her seed’ (1 Peter 5:8; Rev 12:17). Now the children could not destroy him, because he had already cast them into sin, defiled their nature, and laid them under the wrath of God. Therefore Christ puts himself among the children, and into the nature of the children, that he might, using his dying in their flesh, destroy the devil—that is, take away sin, his [the devil’s] work, that he might destroy the works of the devil; for sin is the great engine of hell, by which he overthrows all that perish. Now Christ destroyed this by taking on him the similitude of sinful flesh, of which more anon.

3. ‘That he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver them.’ This was the thing in chief intended, that he might deliver the children, that he might deliver them from death, the fruit of their sin, and from sin, the sting of that death—’ That he might deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.’

He took flesh, therefore, because the children had it; he took it that he might die for the children; he took it that he might deliver the children from the works of the devil—’ that he might provide them.’ No deliverance had come to the children if the Son of God had not taken their flesh and blood; therefore, he took our flesh, that he might be our Saviour.

Again, in a Saviour, there must be not only merit but compassion and sympathy because the children are yet to live by faith, are not yet come to the inheritance—’ Wherefore it behooved him in all things to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful High-priest in things about God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people (Hebrews 2:17, 18).

Works of John Bunyan: LIGHT FOR THEM THAT SIT IN DARKNESS. 399

 

QUEST. THIRD. What it was for him to come to be a Saviour.

To further handle this question, I must first show—First. What it is to be a Saviour. Second. What it is to come to be a Saviour. Third. What it is for Jesus to come to be a Saviour. To these three briefly—

First. What it is TO BE a Saviour. 1. A Saviour supposed some in misery, and himself one that is to deliver them. 2. A Saviour is either such a one ministerially or meritoriously.

Ministerially is when one person engaged or is engaged by respect or command from superiors to go and obtain, by conquest or the king's redemption, the captives or persons grieved by the tyranny of an enemy. And thus were Moses and Joshua, and the judges and kings of Israel, saviors—' Thou delivered them into the hands of their enemies, who vexed them: and in the time of their trouble, when they cried unto thee, thou hardest them from heaven; and according to thy manifold mercies thou gave them saviors, who saved them out of the hand of their enemies (Neh 9:27). Thus was Jesus Christ a Saviour; he was engaged by respect and command from God to obtain, by conquest and redemption, the captives or persons grieved. God sent his Son to be 'the world's Savior' (John 4:42).

Meritoriously is when the person engaging shall, at his own proper cost and charge, give a sufficient value or price for those he redeemed. Thus, those under the law were redeemed by the redemption money—' And Moses gave the money of those that were redeemed unto Aaron and to his sons' (Num 3:46-51). And thus was Jesus Christ a Saviour. He paid full price to Divine justice for sinners, even his own precious blood—' Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation, received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ (1 Peter 1:18,19).

And forasmuch as, in man's redemption, the undertaker must have respect, not only to the paying of a price, but also to the getting of a victory; for there is not only justice to satisfy, but death, devil, hell, and the grave, to conquer; therefore hath he also by himself gotten the victory over these. He abolished death (2 Tim 1:10) and destroyed the devil (Heb 2:14,15). He hath been the destruction of the grave (Hosea 13:14). He hath gotten the keys of hell (Rev 1:18). And this, I say, he did by himself, at his own proper cost and charge, when he triumphed over them upon his cross (Col 2:14,15).

Second. What it is TO COME to be a Saviour.

1. To come to be one, one is supposed to be ordained and fore-prepared for that work. 'Then said he, Lo, I come; a body hast thou prepared me (Heb 10).

2. To come to be a Saviour supposed one commissioned or authorized to that work—' The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he hath anointed me,' authorized me, 'to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised' (Luke 4:18). And upon this account, it is that he is so often called Christ, or the Anointed One; the anointed Jesus, or Jesus the Anointed Saviour. 'Thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world.' 'This Jesus whom I preach unto you is Christ.' He 'testified to the Jews that Jesus was Christ,' 'and confounded the Jews which dwelt at Damascus, proving' by the Scriptures 'that this is very Christ' (John 11:27; Acts 9:22, 17:3, 18:5); the very anointed of God, or he whom God authorized and qualified to be the Saviour of the world.

3. To come to be a Saviour, supposed a resolution to do that work before he goes back—' I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction; repentance shall be hidden from mine eyes' (Hosea 13:14).

And as he resolved, so he hath done. He hath purged our sins (Heb 1:3). By one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified (Heb 10:14). He hath obtained eternal redemption for them (Heb 9:12; 2 Tim 1:10; Heb 9:26; Col 2:15; Heb 6:18-20).

Third. I now come to the third question: What is it for Jesus to come to be a Saviour?

1. It is the most significant discovery of man's misery and inability to save himself from that place that ever was made in the world. Must the Son of God himself come down from heaven? Or can there be no salvation? Cannot one sinner save another? Cannot man by any means redeem his brother nor give to God a ransom for him? Cannot an angel do it? Cannot all the angels do it? No, Christ must come and die to do it.

2. It is the most significant discovery of the love of God that the world has ever had, for God so to love the world as to send his Son! For God so to commend his love to the world and send it to them in the blood of his Son! Amazing love! (John 3:16; Rom 5:8).

3. It is the most significant discovery of the condescension of Christ that ever the world had, that he should not come 'to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many' (Matt 20:28). That he should be manifest for this purpose, 'that he might destroy the works of the devil' (1 John 3:8). That he should come that we 'might have life and that we might have it more abundantly' (John 10:10). That the Son of God should 'come to seek and to save that which was lost' (Luke 19:10). That he should not come 'to judge the world, but to save the world' (John 12:47). That 'Christ Jesus should come into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the chief' (1 Tim 1:15). That he should 'love us, and wash us from our sins in his own blood' (Rev 1:5). What amazing condescension and humility is this! (Phil 2:6-9).

Works of John Bunyan: LIGHT FOR THEM THAT SIT IN DARKNESS. 398

 

Again, in their law, it was written that whoever touched the altar of incense should be holy (Exodus 29:37). A woman with a bloody issue touched him and was whole of her plague (Mark 5:28). Yea, they brought him many diseased persons, 'and besought him that they might only touch the hem of his garment; and as many as touched were made perfectly whole' (Matt 14:36).

Thus, he was justified before them out of their own law and had his glory manifest before their faces, to their everlasting confusion and contempt.

Indeed, the Jews did make one objection against Jesus Christ that seemed to them to have weight in it, and that was because he first began to appear and manifest his glory in Cana of Galilee. At this, I say, they stumbled. It was their sore temptation, for still, as some affirmed him to be the Christ, others as fast objected, 'Shall Christ come out of Galilee?' 'Art thou also of Galilee? Search and look; for out of Galilee arises no prophet' (John 2:1,11, 7:40-42,52).

But this stumble might arise either from the cruelty of Herod or from their own not observing and keeping in mind the alarm that God gave them at his birth.

1. It might arise or be occasioned through the cruelty of Herod, for Jesus was born in Bethlehem, the city where David dwelt. But when Herod sent out to kill him, and for his sake killed all the young children in Bethlehem, then was Joseph warned by an angel of God to take the young child and his mother and fly into Egypt, and so he did and was there till the death of Herod (Matt 2:1,13,16). After this, the angel comes to them in Egypt and bids them take the young child and return to the land of Israel, wherefore they arose and went. But hearing that Herod's son that tyrant ruled in his father's room, they were afraid to go to Bethlehem but turned aside into the parts of Galilee, where they remained till his showing to Israel (Matt 2:19-23).

2. This stumble might arise from their not observing and remembering the alarm God gave them of his birth. (1.) God began to provide them with the alarm at the birth of John the Baptist, where it was asserted that he was to go before the face of the Lord Jesus and to prepare his ways. 'And fear came on all that dwelt round about them, and all these sayings were noised abroad throughout Judea's hill country' (Luke 1:65). (2.) Again, what a continuation of this alarm was there also at the birth of Jesus, about three months after John Baptist was born? Now come the angels from heaven. Now comes a strange star over the country to lead the men of the east to the stable where Jesus was born; now was Herod, the priests, the scribes, and also the city of Jerusalem, awakened and sore troubled; for it was noised by the wise men that Christ the King and Saviour was born. Besides the shepherds, Simeon and Anna notified the people of him. Therefore, they should have retained the memory of these things and followed God in all his dark providences until his Sun of Righteousness should arise among them with healing under his wings.

3. I may add another cause of their stumble—they did not understand the prophecies that went before of him. (1.) He was to come to them out of Egypt—' Out of Egypt have I called my Son' (Matt 2:15; Hosea 11:1). (2.) He turned aside into Cana of Galilee and dwelt in Nazareth, 'that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene' (Matt 2:23). (3.) That saying also was to be fulfilled, 'The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles; the people which sat in darkness saw great light, and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up' (Matt 4:15,16; Isa 9:2, 42:7).

They stumbled at these things, and God's judgment upon them was great. Besides, there seemed to be a contradiction in the prophecies of Scripture concerning his coming. He was to be born in Bethlehem and yet to come out of Egypt. How should he be the Christ and yet come out of Galilee, out of which arises no prophet? Thus, they stumbled.

Hence, note that though the prophecies and promises be complete and plain as these were, that he should be born in Bethlehem, yet men's sins may cause them to be fulfilled in such obscurity that instead of having benefit thereby, they may stumble and split their souls thereat. Take heed then; hunt not Christ from plain promises with Herod, but rather from Bethlehem, lest he appear to your amazement and destruction from Egypt or the land of Zabulon! But this is much to the second question: What is it for Jesus to come into the world?

I come now to the third question.