Glory of Christ by John Owen (Available from Amazon or free here) - Read Chapters 9 (The glory of Christ in his intimate conjunction with the church) and 10 (The glory of Christ in the communication of himself unto believers).
In Chapter 9 we read of the glory of Christ that is shown in the intimate conjunction he has with the church. Firstly Owen premises that:
(i) it was right for Jesus to suffer for the sins of others;
(ii) Jesus' suffering was for certain persons;
(iii) the conjunction between Christ and the church is natural, mystical and federal.
Thus Christ is glorious in his suffering for the church by showing:
(i) the righteousness of God in the forgiveness of sin;
(ii) that the law of God was perfectly fulfilled.
Then in Chapter 10 Owen speaks of the glory of Christ in the communication of Himself unto believers. We are taught:
(i) about the communication of God in the old creation;
(ii) the communication of God in the new creation through Christ;
(iii) that the foundation of our receiving Christ is through the grace of the Father;
(iv) that the acts of Christ himself communicate him to us (he gives us the Spirit and a new nature).
I liked how Owen showed that Christ is glorified through his fulfillment of the law: 'He is glorious in that the law of God in its preceptive part, or as to the obedience which it required, was perfectly fulfilled and accomplished. That it should be so, was absolutely necessary, from the wisdom, holiness, and righteousness of him by whom it was given. For what could be more remote from those divine perfections, than to give a law which never was to be fulfilled in them unto whom it was given, and who were to have the advantages of it? This could not be done by us; but through the obedience of Christ, by virtue of this his mystical conjunction with the church, the law was so fulfilled in us by being fulfilled for us, as that the glory of God in the giving of it, and annexing eternal rewards unto it, is exceedingly exalted. See Rom. viii. 3, 4.'
There was no way we were going to fulfill the law. Which just makes Christ's fulfillment of it even more glorious!
Next week's reading
Read Chapter 11 (The glory of Christ in the recapitulation of all things in Him).
Please post your own notes and thoughts in the comments section below.
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