Forgiveness manifested in the sending of the Son of God to die for sin — And from the obligation that is on us to forgive one another.
XII. In the next place we shall proceed unto that evidence which is the centre wherein all the lines of those foregoing do meet and rest, — the fountain of all those streams of refreshment that are in them, — that which animates and gives life and efficacy unto them. This lies in God’s sending of his Son. The consideration hereof will leave no pretence or excuse unto unbelief in this matter.
To make this evidence more clear and legible, as to what is intended in it, we must consider, — First, What was the rise of this sending we speak of. Secondly, Who it was that was sent. Thirdly, How, or in what manner he was sent. Fourthly, Unto what end and purpose.
First, The rise and spring of it is to be considered. It came forth from the eternal mutual consent and counsel of the Father and the Son: Zech. vi. 13, “The counsel of peace shall be between them both.” It is of Christ, the Branch, of whom he speaks. “lie shall build the temple of the Lord; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both;” — that is, between God the Father, who sends him, and himself. There lay the counsel of peace-making between God and man, in due time accomplished by him who is “our peace,” Eph. ii. 14: so he speaks, Prov. viii. 30, 31, “Then I was by him, as one brought up with him: and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him; rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth; and my delights were with the sons of men.” They are the words of the Wisdom, that is, of the Son of God. When was this done? “Then I was by him.” Why, “before the mountains were settled, while as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields;” that is, before the creation of the world, or from eternity, verses 25, 26. But how then could he “rejoice in the habitable part of the earth?” and how could his “delights be with the sons of men,” seeing as yet they were not? I answer, It was the counsel of peace towards them before mentioned, in the pursuit whereof he was to be sent to converse amongst them on the earth. He rejoiced in the fore-thoughts of his being sent to them, and the work he had to do for them. Then, with his own consent and delight, was he “fore-ordained” unto his work, even “before the foundation of the world,” 1 Pet. i. 20, and received of the Father “the promise of eternal life, even before the world began,” Tit. i. 2; that is, to be given unto sinners by way of forgiveness through his blood. So is this whole counsel expressed, Ps. xl. 7, 8, — whence it is made use of by the apostle, Heb. x. 5–7, — “Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me, I delight to do thy will, O my God. Thy law is in the midst of my heart.” There is the will of the Father in this matter, and the law of its performance; and there is the will of the Son in answer thereunto, and his delight in fulfilling that law which was prescribed unto him.
Let us now consider to what purpose was this eternal counsel of peace, this agreement of the Father and Son from eternity, about the state and condition of mankind. If God would have left them all to perish under the guilt of their sins, there had been no need at all of any such thoughts, design, or counsel. God had given unto them a law righteous and holy, which if they transgressed, he had threatened them with eternal destruction. Under the rule, disposal, and power of this law, he might have righteously left them to stand or fall, according to the verdict and sentence thereof. But now he assures us, he reveals unto us, that he had other thoughts in this matter; that there were other counsels between the Father and the Son concerning us; and these such as the Son was delighted in the prospect of his accomplishment of them. What can these thoughts and counsels be, but about a way for their deliverance? which could no otherwise be but by the forgiveness of sins; for whatever else be done, yet if God mark iniquities, there is none can stand. Hearken, therefore, poor sinner, and have hope. God is consulting about thy deliverance and freedom. And what cannot the wisdom and grace of the Father and Son effect and accomplish? And to this end was the Son sent into the world; which is the second thing proposed to consideration.
Secondly, Whom did God send about this business? The Scripture lays great weight and emphasis on this consideration, faith must do so also: John iii. 16, “God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son;” so, 1 John iv. 9, “In this was manifested the love of God towards us, because that God sent his only-begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.” And again, verse 10, “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” And who is this that is thus sent, and called the only-begotten Son of God? Take a double description of him, one out of the Old Testament and another from the New; — the first from Isa. ix. 6, “Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace;” the other from Heb. i. 2, 3, “God hath spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; who 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.” This is he who was sent. In nature he was glorious, even “over all, God blessed for ever;” — in answerableness unto the Father, “the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person,” possessed of all the same essential properties with him, so that what we find in him we may be assured of in the Father also; for he that hath seen him hath seen the Father, who is in him; — in power omnipotent, for he made all things, and “upholding all things,” with an unspeakable facility, “by the word of his power;” — in office exalted over all, sitting “on the right hand of the Majesty on high;” — in name, “The mighty God, The everlasting Father” so that whatever he came about he will assuredly accomplish and fulfil; for what should hinder or let this mighty one from perfecting his design?