Here at the very end of the question that we've been looking at for some weeks now, question 35, how is the covenant of grace administered under the New Testament? Under the New Testament, when Christ the substance was exhibited, the same covenant of grace was and still is to be administered in the preaching of the Word and the administration of the sacraments of baptism and the Lord's Supper, in which grace and salvation are held forth in more fullness, evidence, and efficacy to all nations." And we looked last week at an overview of these two sacraments and how they correspond to their Old Testament counterparts of circumcision and Passover, how they hold forth the same truth, but they do stand in New Testament forms in the greater glory of the light of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and the pouring out of the Holy Spirit, those being particularly emphasized in these two sacraments. And so if we look at Matthew 28, this is where we left off, just looking at these passages to see the institution of these things, and this is where we seek to be careful to follow and not run ahead, as John warns, to follow the provision of God's Word. Sacraments are not those things that we find to be meaningful, they're not things that the church has discerned over centuries as powerful symbols, but sacraments are that which the king and head of the church has instituted and commanded. And we see that in the case of each of these so clearly, Jesus speaking in what's known as the Great Commission here in Matthew 28, beginning in verse 16. Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. and when they saw him they worshipped him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always to the end of the age." And so what's important as we look at the scriptures and we seek to understand these sacraments They're designed and instituted by God, they're given in the context of the gospel ministry of the church. As we are to go into the world preaching and teaching, we are to make disciples, we are to baptize them. And this whole matter of baptism, we looked last week at some of the broad meanings of what baptism pictures in terms of this water that is sprinkled and put upon us, of the pouring out of the Holy Spirit upon us, of the cleansing that he accomplishes in bringing the fruit of the Spirit forth in our lives in this new life that we have in Christ, of the empowerment of God coming upon us. But we also have connected with that this understanding of baptism we see in the Scriptures, that it involves being marked out to identify with someone. to be associated with them. We see that in 1 Corinthians chapter 10 in terms of Moses leading the people of Israel through the Red Sea and it's described as them being baptized into Moses. that here this act of God that brought salvation to them set them apart and gave them a very clear indication of God's will that they were to follow Moses. He was the Lord's servant. He was the one that God sent and he stretched his staff out and the sea parted. And so here clearly the Lord was confirming Moses as the leader of his people and calling the people to follow and listen to Moses because he was the Lord's servant in that situation. And Paul, in a negative sense, would deal with this same idea in the Corinthian church when he reproves them for the wicked factions that had grown up in their congregation and how they were forming into teams, if you will, based on who had baptized them. I was baptized by Peter, I was baptized by Paul, I was baptized by Apollos, and so forth. And Paul rebukes them because it's not the man who is sent and puts this sign upon you, but what we see here in the Great Commission is the name. Whose name are we to be baptized in? And that's the significance. It's not just the pouring of water. But Christian baptism is this act of pouring water or sprinkling water upon a person in the name of the Father and the Son and of the Holy Spirit. And so we see here the triune God, all three persons were being baptized into His name We are committing to following Him, and that's why this is so connected to being made disciples. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. It is pledging ourselves to follow after the Lord Himself. He is the Good Shepherd who is leading us, and we are His disciples. And so, this matter of baptism, it is Christ's provision and His command. And this is where the Roman Catholic Church goes afield in the confusion. It's not enough that something could illustrate the gospel. It's not enough even that the scriptures would use something as an illustration of the gospel. We read in Ephesians chapter 5 that marriage is a beautiful picture of the relationship of God with His people, of Christ and His church. And that that is something that we should think of as we look upon a marriage. That's something that we should aspire to in our own marriages in terms of the pattern of Christ and His church and how He laid His life down and how the church gives herself in love to her bridegroom. But that doesn't make it a sacrament. There's just an infinite number of things we could look at. The Lord Jesus describes himself as the bread from heaven. Well, that doesn't make every time we look at bread or eat bread a sacrament. The holy scriptures have given us these two. at the command of the Lord Jesus that we're to do until he comes in this unique way of not only being an illustration of the gospel, being the command of the king and head of the church, and being blessed by him in this way with the work of his Holy Spirit being pictured and promised. And so, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you, and behold, I am with you always to the end of the age. And then, in the Lord's Supper, we see that in Luke chapter 22, we also see it in 1 Corinthians chapter 11, and that's the verse that's listed here, let's turn to 1 Corinthians 11. And notice here by the time Paul is dealing with the Corinthians, decades of gospel preaching have gone by, and what do we see in the life of the church? Well, we see that they have perverted to their own ends. the sacrament of the Lord's Supper that Jesus instituted in Luke 22. And so in verse 17 of 1 Corinthians 11, but in the following instructions, I do not commend you because when you come together it is not for the better but for the worse. For in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you, and I believe it in part. For there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized. When you come together, it is not the Lord's Supper that you eat. For in eating, each one goes ahead with his own meal. One goes hungry, another gets drunk. What? Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I commend you in this? No, I will not. And so what they had done, they had perverted this to the point that Paul says in verse 20, when you come together, it's not the Lord's Supper that you eat. These are not things that we can take and make our own. but they come to us with the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ and they must be administered in accordance with his word and his direction. And so Paul has strong words for these believers in Corinth. Notice in verse 23, for I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you. This is Paul's claim for the correction he's providing. It's not that the Corinthians have just gone too far, but fundamentally they thought that they could tailor this to their own desires. Paul brings them back to the whole mandate for this sacrament is that it was the institution of the Lord's Supper. And when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, this is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me. In the same way also, he took the cup after supper, saying, this cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat the bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. And so what makes this sacred, what makes this such a sin to do other than what we read in the scriptures is that it is the sacrament that the Lord has instituted, that he has designed and appointed and provided. It's his supper and it is his baptism that we are taking upon ourselves when we undergo these sacraments. Now, how do they compare to their Old Testament counterparts? That's the next part of our answer. In which, grace and salvation are held forth in more fullness, evidence, and efficacy to all nations. And so in 2 Corinthians chapter 3, We'll see throughout these passages that it is the pouring out of the Holy Spirit in fullness and the coming in person of the Lord, His Son, that make the sacraments even more full in terms of what they represent. And so first in 2 Corinthians 3 and verse 4, such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God, not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything is coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses' face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end, will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory? For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory. In this case, what once had glory has come to have no glory at all, because of the glory that surpasses it. For if what was being brought to an end came with glory, much more will what is permanent have glory. Since then, we have such a hope, we are very bold. Not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end, but their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the Old Covenant, that same veil remains unlifted because only through Christ is it taken away. Yet, yes, to this day, whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their hearts, but when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all with unveiled face beholding the glory of the Lord are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. And so the Old Testament administration of the covenant of grace as we've seen, it focused on the negative, the lack, what we needed in order to have fellowship with God. That was an emphasis. the giving of the law, God's perfect holiness, the standard that we must attain and yet we don't attain. And so with the giving of the law, the provision of the teaching on atonement that God would cover the sins of his people, there would be provision made of a sacrifice. And so all of the emphasis being upon the condemnation that our sins deserve, that we might look to God for his mercy and his forgiveness, that we wouldn't make the mistake of thinking that we're already ready for a relationship with God. And the point that we must first come to is we must look at God's law and see how holy he is and how fallen we are. and then come to the mercy of God for his forgiveness through Jesus Christ. That is how we enter into a relationship with him. And if you think you understand the gospel and you have life and fellowship with God and you haven't reckoned with your sinfulness and the condemnation that you are under in that sinfulness, then you don't understand the gospel. And so this is why the Lord brings them as the people of God. He describes it as their childhood, as their minority, that they were under teachers and tutors and guides, being the law, teaching them and showing them and pointing them. They cannot trust in themselves. They cannot look to their own righteousness. They are sinful. Their sinfulness is deadly sinfulness. The condemnation is just and real and all of this leads us then to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so Paul uses this illustration then looking back at how Moses had the privilege of standing in the presence of God in a unique role as the representative of God's people to receive this law and to speak to God face-to-face as we read there in the Pentateuch. Moses' face would shine from the glory of God's presence when he would come back down the mountain. And this was a physical manifestation to the people of Israel, testifying to the truth that he was standing in the very presence of God and receiving this word from God himself. Paul then brings us to consider that if that was glorious in the Old Testament, consider now that we have through the Lord Jesus Christ, the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, in verse 18, with unveiled face beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. In other words, we also have an even greater privilege than Moses had. He would stand on the mountain in the presence of God, but then he would have to leave and go down to the people and give them the law and seek to lead them. And the glory would fade from his face. And the Lord instructed him to put a veil over his face so that the Israelites would not remember the fading of the glory, but would remember the glory. It's not a physical reflection of light that we should be seeing in one another, but nonetheless, in no less real way, as we read in verse 18, we, with unveiled face, are privileged to the very presence of God by the Spirit's presence with us. This comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. And so our faces don't shine. but we are to be showing the transforming glory of God more and more in our lives as we are being transformed into His image from one degree of glory to another. And it's not to say that Moses had no experience of the transformative aspect of God's work in his life, of course he did, but this particular instance in the history of Israel, that was an outward physical manifestation of that truth. We have a far greater privilege because in the Lord Jesus Christ we're not just up on a mountain that we'll have to leave. But we stand in the presence of God with no veil by the Spirit who has been poured out upon us. And so, in this sense, grace and salvation are held forth in more fullness in the New Covenant. We have the very presence of God in an even more immediate sense. in an even more powerful and full way than was ever known in the Old Testament. And we see that, for example, in John chapter 7. It's, I think, easy for us to forget this great privilege because we do see the Holy Spirit at work in the Old Testament. We see Him sending the prophets and many other things. And yet, there was something unique that had been held back. until the Lord Jesus would complete His work and make the payment for sin and go up into heaven, the great promise, this is what Peter was speaking about in his sermon on Pentecost, the promise of God was the Holy Spirit that would be poured out. And, here in John chapter 7, in verse 37, on the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, if anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. Now this He said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified." And so even though they had experienced something of the work of God in their hearts, they believed in Jesus. They were his disciples. They would cry out, I believe, help my unbelief, like that father. But they were missing something that was an amazing promise that God had given and that they would experience there on the day of Pentecost. And it would help us, I think, to appreciate the significance of this gift because we have the gift. But the significance of the gift, just read the Gospels and pay attention to the behavior of the disciples and then read the book of Acts and pay attention to these same men. They go from being fearful, anxious, overly concerned. Did you know that the Pharisees were offended? to then being bold and courageous and gracious, and they will stand in the Sanhedrin in the gathering that condemned Jesus to death. And Peter, who was so afraid that a little servant girl cowed him down, is standing there in front of the whole court saying, if you're wanting to know, I'll tell you. That is an evidence of what this gift is and does, how real and transformative the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon His people is. And it's something that we have through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so when we see the sacraments and we participate in the sacraments, here in the New Covenant, we are witnessing even more clearly the work of God's grace and we have this blessing that was promised of the Holy Spirit being poured out upon His church. And so, in terms of evidence then, let's look at Hebrews chapter 8, Hebrews chapter 8, verse 6. But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant He mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second. But he finds fault with them when he says, Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. For they did not continue in my covenant, and so I showed no concern for them, declares the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord. I will put my laws into their minds and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall not teach each one his neighbor, and each one his brother, saying, Know the Lord, for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more. We've looked at this passage recently, but again, as we think about the difference, the contrast between the old covenant administration of the covenant of grace and this new covenant that we read about, What was emphasized through the life and experience of God's people, again, was the power of sin, the corruption of sin, the reality of sin. And they were led to put their hope and faith and trust in a Savior who would come to redeem them. from their sins, to break the power of sin. Daniel, in his prayer and the answer that comes back to him in Daniel 9, he is grieved and heartbroken that even after they've reached the nth degree, if you will, the very end of the catalog of judgments that God had promised would come upon covenant breakers in Deuteronomy 28 and Leviticus 26. They've been exiled. That was the end of the line. What is Daniel's assessment? We're still a sinful people. We're still doing all the same sins. We've not learned. We've not come back into the way. And so he is crying out to the Lord, how will the promises to Abraham be fulfilled? How will this be your covenant people? And the answer comes back in terms of the work of the Messiah who would come and he would put an end to inequity. He would break the power of sin in the lives of His people. And so when we come to the New Testament, here we see what the Lord promises in His promise here to Jeremiah, that there would be a work of Him in His people, and it's connected to this pouring out of the Spirit. that instead of their relationship with the law being dominated by, it shows me that I'm a sinner. It shows me that I'm a lawbreaker. It shows me that I need to look forward to the Savior who's coming. With the coming of that Savior and his sacrifice upon the cross and the gift of his spirit, Our relationship with God's law more and more is to reflect the power of God enables me to walk in obedience to my Father now. And this is the promise that he gives. I will be their God, and they shall be my people. I will write my laws into their minds and write them on their hearts. They shall not teach each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, Know the Lord, for they shall all know me. And of course, it's not a picture of them achieving perfection. We have this very reference in verse 12, for I will be merciful toward their iniquities. I will remember their sins no more. They're very much dependent upon, this is growing out of, this great sacrifice that was so needed and is still needed, and it's the foundation of a new life that we have with God. But it is the next great stage in the covenant dealings of God with his people that he, having sacrificed his own son, who of us in the New Testament could make the mistake of seeing obedience to God in our lives and thinking to ourselves, well, this is how I'll get to heaven. I can rest upon this. This obedience is what will earn the blessings of God for my life. If we do, how blind and short-sighted, because behind us is the cross with the Son of God bleeding on it. and crying out, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? And so we have a much more powerful reminder that we should never forget in terms of the reality of our sin and who it is that has delivered us and paid for our sins and whose righteousness we stand in. And so having accomplished that, the Lord Jesus ascends to heaven and sends his spirit. And now we are seeing, by his grace, more and more conformity to his image, which will be perfected when we enter into glory, but nonetheless is showing the marks of great advance and victory in this new covenant age, or should, and how much little excuse we have when we look back at the struggles of God's people in the Old Testament We should be spurred on much more to give no excuse to ourselves in our sin because we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. And so in Matthew chapter 28, we see that this has been sent to all the nations. And we just read these verses in the institution of baptism being memorialized here in the Great Commission. But notice that Jesus sends his disciples in this commission to all the nations, to make disciples of all the nations. And so that's the last way in which these sacraments and the New Testament administration of the covenant of grace exceeds the old in glory because grace and salvation now are held forth to all nations. The people of Israel, they are joined now by these unnatural, these wild branches, were invited to come to the table where God's people have been fellowshipping with him. And in the work of Jesus Christ, we have this opening up of the kingdom of God to all peoples. through the Lord in fulfillment of that promise to Abraham that in him he would bless all the nations of the world. Well, let's go on to question 36 then and see, this shouldn't come as a surprise to us after what we've seen, but who is the mediator of the covenant of grace? The only mediator of the covenant of grace is the Lord Jesus Christ. who being the eternal Son of God of one substance and equal with the Father, in the fullness of time became man, and so was and continues to be God and man in two entire distinct natures and one person forever. Now, the first thing we shouldn't overlook is, of course, there must be a mediator. This is a covenant of grace. We're still a sinful people and there must be a go-between because we, in our sin, have offended the holiness of God. We cannot abide His presence. in our sin, His holiness, His eyes are too pure to look upon iniquity, and we could have no close fellowship between a sinful man or woman, and a holy God, there is a mediator that is required for there to be a covenant of grace, one who will come from God to us with this overture of peace and forgiveness, and one who will bring our concerns as the representative of us back into God's presence and plead our forgiveness. of his hand and so notice also we might find wide agreement with Jesus Christ being the mediator of the covenant of grace but there's an important word there that we didn't just read, the only mediator. And this is where, again, the Roman Catholic Church has left the teaching of Scripture in a terrible way by inserting many other mediators in the picture who really can't serve as a mediator. And if a person is looking to one who was not sent by God, well, there is no salvation to be found except in the name of Jesus. The church is not a mediator. Mary is not a mediator. The saints cannot be mediators. The Pope is certainly no mediator. No man can be a mediator for another sinful man, but the only mediator of the covenant of grace is the Lord Jesus Christ. Consider again, why do we need a mediator? Well, it's because A sinful person can't come into the presence of God. So that should narrow the field pretty quickly. Why would we be confused to think that the Pope could be a mediator? Or Mary, who herself praised God for His grace to her in being her Savior. Why would we look to her? These all need a mediator. Only one has been sinless, only one can enter boldly into the throne of God. It's Christ's privilege that he extends to us, by the way. He's the only one who can enter boldly into the throne of God because he is the Son of God, equal with the Father. And he can only represent us because he has taken our nature upon himself in an act of incredible grace and humility. The only mediator of the covenant of grace is the Lord Jesus Christ. In 1 Timothy chapter 2, it couldn't be said more plainly, for there is one God in verse 5. For there is one God and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. He is the only mediator, who being the eternal Son of God of one substance and equal with the Father. We can look at John chapter 1. And here we read about the Son. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him. All things were made through Him. And without Him was not anything made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. And then, skipping on down to verse 14, and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. And so we see here that Scriptures plainly teach Jesus was the eternal Son of God. He is one with God, the Word was God, in the beginning with God. There was no time where we would have God without the Son. He was in the beginning with God. In fact, all things were made through Him. Everything else that we see and know in this created world was made by Him and through Him. And without Him was not anything made that was made. He is eternal. He is the Son of God of one substance and equal with the Father. If you look down at verse 14, the Word, this Word became flesh. dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth." Athanasius in his great contest with Arius and what led to the Nicene Creed and the Creed at the Council of Constantinople made many, many many points from the Scriptures. This verse 14 of John chapter 1, he would expound this verse to show that only the Son of God who was God could show us the glory of God. No one else but God himself can know the Father and reveal the Father, but only one who is one with the Father. Glory is of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. In John chapter 10, we have Jesus' claim, for which he was almost stoned. Jesus says in verse 27, my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me. I give them eternal life and they will never perish and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father who has given them to me is greater than all and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one. The Jews picked up stones again to stone him. Jesus answered them, I have shown you many good works from the Father, for which of them are you going to stone me? The Jews answered him, It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you, but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God. And so they clearly understood what this meant, and Jesus didn't spare His own life by clarifying, oh no, that's not what I meant. No, He owns this and defends this. What they refused to consider, of course, was difficult to imagine, was that the eternal Son of God would become man through the assumption of human nature. It was difficult to even conceive of, and yet that was the truth. that Jesus was the very Son of God, eternal with the Father. And in Philippians chapter 2 verse 6, Well, in verse five, have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. It's difficult to put into language what is so mysterious and high and exalted and true, but we see here very clearly in verse 6 that the Lord Jesus was in the form of God. Now, that can't be honestly understood to mean that he just had something of the appearance of God. It's the exact same word that is used to describe him being in human form, being found in human form. And so what is true of Jesus Christ as a man, that He's not just the appearance of a man, He truly is man, is the same with respect to His Godhead. He was in the form of God. He truly was of the essence of God. And He did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped after. Again, Athanasius explains this, that this was not something he had to grasp for because he had it. He truly was God. And he, instead of seeking and striving after that, he had that, and rather he turned and emptied himself, not of who he was, but of all of the privilege and honor and glory and worship that he should have received had he remained in heaven. He emptied himself of all of this, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. and being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. You see, to understand that, again, Athanasius in his exposition, it was never in question. If you were in the presence of the Son of God, you would have no doubt of that. This was similar to the disciples and their experience on the mountain of transfiguration, but it was in this form of a servant where he had cloaked his glory as the child of man that many would be in his very presence to say, you're not God. And what we read here is that at the end of all things, What is true is going to be evident. What was always true is going to be made evident. This isn't a picture of Jesus finally getting the promotion He deserves, but this is God exalting the Son of Man in the presence of all, many of whom had denied who He truly was. and showing that the name of Jesus of Nazareth was the name of his son and that this was the name that every nemesis bowed to. And no one could contest or dispute or argue in the presence of the Lord Jesus on that day. In heaven and on earth and under the earth, every knee will bow, every tongue will confess. No one will be able to deny that Jesus, the son of Nazareth, is in fact who he said he was, the son of God from all eternity, to the glory of God the Father. And so God, this matter of him highly exalting him, and bestowing on him the name that is above every name." This is just making manifest and making clear who the Son of God always was. bestowing on Him, conveying the honor in a public sense in a grand demonstration before all of creation that Jesus, the Son of Mary, was in fact Jesus, the Son of God. And so this is who our mediator is, the eternal Son of God of one substance and equal with the Father, who in the fullness of time became man. And if any of those things weren't true, then we would not have a Savior who could save us. If He wasn't the Son of Man, then He could not take in the place of men, to obey in the place of men, to die in the place of men. And if He was not the Son of God, then He could not go into the presence of God with such boldness and confidence and assurance of His grace and of His salvation for the people that He represented. He could not have borne the guilt of mankind on the cross. had he only been a man and nor would he have had the righteousness to do so. But in the fullness of time he became man. Galatians chapter 4 And we'll begin reading in verse 1. I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything, but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. In the same way, we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son. born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father. So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God. Now, we could make much, and much has been made of that amazing verse, verse 6, about God sending the Spirit of His Son into our hearts. This cry, Abba, Father, it's very rich, doesn't say much about it, but one thing that I think we do need to note about that is just found in the language. that the spirit of his son has been sent into our hearts. And then what we have is two different words in two different languages. The cry of a father from a Hebrew in Aramaic, Abba, and then the cry of a Gentile with the Greek word father. that whether you are of a Jewish background or a Gentile family, God has sent the same Spirit of His Son into your hearts, and this is what we all cry. We cry to him as our father, because we have all received the adoption as sons. So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God. And so the Lord Jesus Christ in the fullness of time, he was the eternal Son of God who became man. And it's something that we know, it's something we remember, especially around Christmas time as we think about that time when Mary gave birth to her son, Jesus. But it is very easy for us to underestimate the true significance of what this was, that the eternal Son of God would become man by the assumption of human nature. It is beyond what anyone could have imagined. in terms of how God would accomplish redemption for his people, and yet it was the only way. It was the only way that we might have a Savior, that mankind might be restored. And not only restored, but forever joined to our God in the person of Jesus Christ, who has both human and divine natures, two entire distinct natures in one person forever. Now we'll have to save these other references and look at that language some more in terms of this last phrase of how important it is to understand the Bible teaching us that he is both God and man, not some blend of the two. not some transformation from God into something else, but he was the eternal Son of God and he still is the eternal Son of God. He had a divine nature, he still has a divine nature, but he took upon himself a human nature. In an act of great humility, the Creator took upon Himself the nature of the creature, a distinct nature that could not share in everything and yet bound forever in eternity in one person. And so we'll look at how this is what qualifies our Lord and Savior to be such a mediator and a high priest and a redeemer for His people. But we'll stop there today and pray before our time of worship begins. Father, we do thank You for the rich truth of Your Word, and we confess, Lord, that Many of the things that we read are very high and would be forever beyond our ability to understand if you had not spoken them to us and explained them to us in our own language and words that we can know and understand by the help of your Holy Spirit. We thank you, Lord, that the gospel does rest upon the person of Jesus Christ and understanding who he is, was the subject of many battles in the early days of your church as the evil ones sought to pervert that truth and so bring mankind back into darkness. Lord, we thank you that your truth prevailed and we thank you that we know and believe these things because your word cannot be conquered, it cannot be destroyed. and it cannot be set aside. We thank you that the evil one will not have the victory, and the darkness has not overcome the light. We thank you, Lord, that we have the privilege to know you and to serve you, and we look forward to an ever-growing knowledge of you and a closeness with you in our relationship that would begin now and continue on into eternity. We pray, Lord, that you would forgive us of our sins and forgive us for our complacency, Lord, as we have many times, all of us, I am sure, have just accepted as the reality of the situation. the sin that so easily entangles us, and yet you call us, Lord, to put on the armor of God and to cast off those cords that so easily entangle us, that we might run with endurance the race that is set before us, that we should keep our eyes fixed on you and look to the Holy Spirit who fills us that we might bear his fruit in our lives and bring honor and glory to you. We thank you for the greater privilege and the greater experience of covenant fellowship and obedience and blessing that you have promised for your people in the new covenant. We pray, Lord, that you would forgive us for having such a low view of that privilege at times. We pray that you would please cause your gospel to go forth as there are so many millions who are languishing in darkness and the slavery of sin. We pray that you would come and that your word would be preached and in the presence of your word, darkness would flee away and the bonds of sin would be broken. We thank you that the truth will set us free. In the hand of your Holy Spirit, there is freedom and power for all those who will come to the Lord Jesus Christ. And so we pray that you would please help us to draw near to you through Christ this day. And bless us as we worship you that we would do so from a deeper sense of the great privilege that we have, how undeserving we are of your grace, and yet you have bestowed it freely upon us. O Lord, may we sing praise to you from a full heart this day and hear your word, eager to believe and follow as you would command. We pray this all in Jesus' name. Amen.