OF THE PART THE SON
OF GOD, THE SECOND
PERSON, HAS
TAKEN IN THE COVENANT
John Gill
The part which the Son of God takes,
and the place and office he has in the covenant of grace, are next to be
considered. Christ has so great a concern in the covenant, that
he is said to be the Covenant itself; "I will give thee for a Covenant of
the people", #Isa 42:6 49:8 his work, that which was proposed to him, and
he agreed to do, is, as has been observed, the grand condition of the covenant,
and he himself is the great blessing of it; he is the Alpha and the Omega, as
of the scriptures, so of the covenant of grace; he is the first and the last in
it, the sum and substance of it; he is everything, ALL in
ALL in it; all the blessings of it are the sure mercies of him, who is David,
and David's Son; he is prevented with all the blessings of goodness, and the
covenant people are blessed with all spiritual blessings in him, as their
covenant head; all the promises are made to him, and are all yea and amen in
him; he sustains various characters and offices in the covenant. He is the
representative Head of his people in it; he is the Mediator,
Surety, Testator, and Messenger of it; of all which, more particularly and
distinctly hereafter. At present I shall only observe Christ's assent to his
Father's proposals, his acceptance of them, and open declaration of his
readiness and willingness to act according to them, which formally constitute
the covenant and compact between them; his consent thereunto is fully expressed in #Ps 40:6-8. "Sacrifice and offering thou
didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering, and sin offering,
hast thou not required. 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! yea, thy law is within my
heart". Which words, though spoken and written by David, yet as
representing the Messiah, as is certain from the application of them to him by the apostle, in #Heb 10:5-10 according to whom, the
time when these words were spoken, was when "he cometh into the
world", that is, at his incarnation, when he came from heaven to earth, by
the assumption of human nature, to do the will and work of his Father, which he
proposed unto him; then he said all the above in fact, what he had before said
in word, in promise; "Lo, I come to do thy will";
for that this was said before is plain, since it was known to David, in his
time, and written by him, as the penman of the Holy Ghost, and as representing
Christ, and was repeated and confirmed by Christ at his coming into the world:
and when could it be said before, but in the covenant of grace? Likewise it
appears, that this was said on the account of the insufficiency of legal
sacrifices to atone for sin; in proof of which the apostle
quotes the words, "It is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats
should take away sin"; wherefore---he saith, "Sacrifice and offering
thou wouldst not", &c. that is, though they were the institutions and
appointment of God, yet he would not have them continued any longer than the
coming of Christ, because of the weakness and unprofitableness of them to take
away sin, and because they were to have, and had, their
accomplishment in him; in the foreviews of which this was said in David's time,
and earlier by Christ, in the covenant of grace; in which, knowing his Father's
will concerning sacrifices, and their continuance, as well as the insufficiency
of them, freely declared that he was ready to come, in the fulness of time, and
give himself an offering for sin; as his Father had proposed to him
he should, #Isa 53:10. This assent and consent of his is first more obscurely
and figuratively expressed; "Mine ears hast thou opened", digged or
bored; expressive of his great attention, hearkening and listening with great
diligence, to what his Father proposed to him; see #Isa 50:4,5 and of his ready
and cheerful obedience to his Father's will, signified thereby: the phrase
seems to be used in allusion to the boring the servant's
ear, who cared not to quit his master's house, but was willing to serve him for
ever, #Ex 21:5,6 the Septuagint, and so the apostle render the words, "A
body hast thou prepared me"; a part being put for the whole; and which is
supposed; for the ear could not be opened, unless a body was prepared; by which
is meant, not a part, but the whole of the human nature, soul and body;
prepared, not only in the purposes and decrees of God, but
in the covenant of grace, where it had a covenant subsistence, by the joint
agreement of the divine Persons; for as the Father proposed it to the Son, that
he should have such a nature, he agreed to assume it, and therefore takes up
these words, to show his ready assent to it; "A body hast thou prepared
me"; as it is thy pleasure I should have one, I am ready to take it, at a proper time; that I might have something to offer, an offering
of more avail, and more acceptable, than the legal ones. This acceptance of his
Father's proposals is more clearly and fully expressed; "Lo, I come to do
thy will"; that is, to assume human nature, to lay down his life in it, to
suffer death, make atonement for the sins of his people, and obtain their redemption
and salvation: his willingness to do all this freely, and
without compulsion; he himself, and not another, and immediately, as soon as
ever it should be necessary; he declares, with a note of admiration, attention,
and asseveration; and his heartiness in it is still more fully signified, by
saying, "I delight to do thy will"; it was with the utmost pleasure
and complacency that be complied with it, and it would be his meat and drink,
as it was, to do it: and it is added; "Yea, thy law is
within my heart"; it is in my heart to fulfil it; I am ready to yield a
cordial and cheerful obedience to it. Now all this was "written"
concerning him "in the volume of the book"; not of the scriptures in
general only, nor of the Pentateuch in particular, the only volume extant in
David's time, en kefalidi, at the head and beginning of which is a declaration
of the grace, will, and work of Christ, #Ge 3:15 nor only of
the book of God's purposes, #Ps 139:16 but of the covenant; alluding to the
writing, signing, and sealing of covenants; the covenant at Sinai is called,
the book of the covenant, #Ex 24:8. Now in this volume, or book, as the
Father's proposal is there written and contained, so is the Son's assent unto
it, and acceptance of it. Add to all this, that the Character in which Christ
here addresses his divine Father, "My God", is a
phrase expressive of covenant relation, and is frequently so used both with
regard to Christ and his people. But, to observe no more, nothing more fully
proves Christ's free and full assent and consent to do the will of his Father,
proposed in covenant, than his actual performance of it. Was it his will that
he should take the care and charge of all his elect, and lose none? he has done it, #Joh 17:12. Was it his will that he should assume
human nature? the Word has been made flesh, and dwelt among men, #Joh 1:14. Was
it his will that he should obey the law? he is become the end of the law for
righteousness, #Ro 10:4. Was it his will that he should suffer death, the
penalty of it? he has suffered, the just for the unjust, to bring them to God,
#1Pe 3:18. Was it his will that he should make himself an
offering for sin? he has given himself to God, an Offering and a Sacrifice, of
a sweet smelling savour, #Eph 5:2. In a word, Was it his will that he should
redeem his people from all their iniquities? Yes, he has obtained an eternal
redemption of them, #Heb 9:12.