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.'
