Online Bible 1995 March/ROM-1025.iso/olb/gill/d_000.lzh/D_049.TXT

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CHAP. X.                                     OF THE WISDOM OF GOD.                                                                  49

which difficulty infinite wisdom, and almighty power,
have surmounted by Christ's birth of a virgin, under the
Overshadowing of the Holy Ghost; whence what was
born of her was the holy Thing, and so could-be, and
was offered up, without spot to God. Add to this, that
it was not an human person, but an human nature, Christ
assumed; it was flesh he took, the seed of Abraham, and
is called the holy Thing, but not a person; it never sub-
sisted of itself, but from the moment of its production
was taken into union with the person of the Son of God;
which was wisely ordered for our good, and the glory of
God; for had it been a distinct person of itself, the ac-
tions and sufferings of it would have been finite, and of
no benefit to mankind; his righteousness would have
been, though pure and spotless, but the righteousness of
a creature; and could have been of no use, but to itself:
whereas, through the union of the human nature to the
person of the Son of G. od, it became the righteousness of
God, and so imputable to many. Once more, thro-ugh
Christ's being man, he became our near kinsman, flesh
of our flesh, and bone of our bone; and so the right of
redemption belonged to him; hence the same word Goel,
in the Hebrew language, signifies both a redeemer and a
near kinsman.
But then the person pitched upon to be the Redeemer,
is God as well as man; and so as he had pity for men as
man, he had a zeal for God and his glory, as a divine
person; and would be, as he was, concerned for the glo-
rifying all his divine perfections, one as well as another.
Being God, he could put an infinite virtue into his ac-
tions and sufferings, as man, whereby the end of them
would be sufficiently answered. Hence his righteous-
ness is the righteousness of God, and is unto all, and
upon all them that believe; his blood, the blood of
the Son of God, which cleanses from all sin; his sacri-
fice, the sacrifice of his whole human nature, in union
with himself, a divine person; and so sufficient to put
away sin, by a full satisfaction for it; being God, he
could support the human nature, under the weight of all
the sins of his people, and of all the wrath and punish-
ment due unto them; which otherwise must have been
intolerable. Being the mighty God, he-was mighty to
save, and his own arm has wrought oat salvation. The
great God is our Saviour. Now the finding out such a
fit person to be the Redeemer of men, is to be ascribed
solely to the wisdom of God: had all men been sum-
moned together, and this declared unto them, that God
was willing they should be redeemed, could they pitch
upon a proper person to redeem them; and had the
angels been called in to assist with their counsel, after
long consultation, they would never have been able tO
have proposed one fit for this work; for who could have
thought of the Son of God, and proposed his becoming
man, and suffering, and dying in the stead of men, to re-
deem them? this is nodus deo rindice dignus; what God
only could have found out; and he claims it to himself';
I, the only wise God, have found a ransom, Job xxxiii. 24.
See Psalm lxxxix. 19, 20.
2. 'ihe wisdom of God appears in the persons fixed
upon to be redeemed; not all men, but some; partly to
shew the sovereignty of God, in redeeming whom he
pleases; and partly, since all had sinned, and were deserv-
sag of death, to glorify his grace and mercy in the

demption of some, and his justice in the destruction of
others; and in both to shew that he could, in right, have
destroyed them all, if he pleased; and likewise, that it
might appear he was no respecter of persons, he has not
limited the grace of redemption to any particular family
or nation; but has redeemed some out of every nation,
tongue, kindred, and people; and whereas his view
therein is to magnify the riches of his grace, in order to
shew the freehess of it; he sent Christ to die for, and
redeem, not the good and the righteous, who appeared
so to themselves and others, but tingodly sinners, the
worst and chief of sinners, Rom. v. 6, 7, 8, 10.
& The wisdom of God may be observed in the way
and manner in which redemption is obtained; which
being by the price of the blood of Christ, and in a way of
full satisfaction to law and justice; the different claims
of mercy and justice, which seemed to clash with one
another, are reconciled: mercy insisting that the sinner
be pardoned and saved, that it might be glorified; and
justice requiring that the law should take place, its sen-
tence be executed, and punishment inflicted, that so the
rights and honours of law and justice might be main-
tained; which, by this happy method wisdom has pitched
upon, they both agree; "mercy and truth meet together,
righteousness and peace kiss each other." Sin is con-
demned in the flesh of Christ, vengeance is taken on it,
punishment inflicted for it, and yet the sinner saved from
sin, from condemnation, wrath, and ruin. Redemption is
also wrought out in a way most mortifying to Satan.
Through envy he sought the ruin of men; contrived it,
brought it about, and triumphed in it: but what a mor-
tification must it be to that proud spirit, that one of the
woman's seed he had ruined, should bruise his head; that
the Son of God should be manifested in human nature,
to destroy his works, to destroy himself, to spoil his prin-
cipalities, and redeem mankind; and be exalted in the
same nature, to the highest pitch of honour and glory
imaginable; to sit at the right-hand of God; angels, au-
thorities, principalities, and powers, subject to him !
4. The wisdom of God is to be discerned in the time
of man's redemption; which was the most opportune and
seasonable; it was in due time; in the fulness of time
fixed and agreed upon between the Father and the Son,
and must be the fittest; it was after the faith and pa-
tience of God's people had been sufficiently tried, even
for the space of tour thousand years from the first hint
of a Redeemer; after the Saviour, and his sacrifice, had
been prefigured, by types, shadows, and sacrifices, for so
long a time, and the use, end, and efficacy of sacrifices
had been sufficiently known, and God would have them
no longer; then said Christ, Lo, I come, &c. when the
Gentile world was covered with darkness, blindness, and
ignorance, and abounded with all kind of wickedness;
when immorality, formality, hypocrisy, and neglect of the
word and worship of God among the Jews prevailed; by
all which it may be most clearly seen, there was need of a
Saviour and Redeemers; for who can declare his genera-
tion, the wickedness of it ? then, in the infinite wisdom
of God, Christ was sent to redeem sinners.
4thly, The wisdom of God shines in the Gospel, the
good news of salvation by Christ; in its doctrines, and
in its ordinances; that itself is called, the wisdom of God
in a mystery; the hidden wisdom; the manifold wisdom
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