Hello everyone! I’ll be back next week to pick up our Humble Calvinism series. We’ll be looking at that interesting part of creation we cannot see with our eyes and thus typically forget to worship God over. Can you guess what that would be? All this and more. Blessings, my friends!

-Tony

‘Of my own accord’: The Eager Redeemer (pt. 3)
by Tony Reinke

“Every step He took from Bethlehem to Calvary did but unfold the willingness of Jesus to die… They thought the nails alone kept Him to the cross — He knew it was His own love that fastened Him there.” -Octavius Winslow

When it comes to the willing sacrifice of Christ for sinners there are two common errors. The first is to look at the death of Christ as merely an example for us to live by a higher moral code, willing to give our lives to defending country or confronting world poverty. The other error is to tip our hats to the work of Christ and then live daily as though the Cross has no practical impact whatsoever. Both errors are confronted in the willingness of Christ.

Christ’s death is not our example

In our wartime era, we are daily confronted with the latest deaths of American men and women. The men and women of our armed forces – who are called to leave their families to face evil and to risk their own lives — are each an example of sacrifice. But this sacrifice is distinctly and profoundly different than the willing death sacrifice of Christ.

Wartimes give us a special opportunity to see the incredible sacrifice of Christ. Charles Spurgeon writes,

“A man may righteously surrender his life for the good of his country, and for the safety of others. There have frequently been opportunities for men to do this, and there have been brave fellows who have worthily done it; but, then, all those men would have had to die at some time or other. They were only slightly anticipating the payment of the debt of nature; but, in our Lord’s case, he was rendering up to the Father the spirit, which he might have kept if he had chosen to do so. ‘No man taketh it from me,’ said he concerning his life; ‘I lay it down of myself;’ and there is here a cheerful willingness to yield up his spirit into his Father’s hands. It is rather remarkable that none of the Evangelists describe our Lord as dying. He did die, but they all speak of him as giving up the ghost, — surrendering to God his spirit. You and I passively die; but he actively yielded up his spirit to his Father. In his case, death was an act; and he performed that act from the glorious motive of redeeming us from death and hell; so, in this sense, Christ stands alone in his death” (sermons vol. 45).

Christ was no mere man awaiting natural death but the eternal God who was not naturally subjected to death. This is the Man who willing subjected Himself to death as the Atonement for His people.

Our hearts are rightfully grieved to hear of a young man or woman’s death. The earlier the death the more traumatic the grief. If it is so grievous to our hearts to hear of the death of small child, how much more traumatic the death of One who never should have died?

We can willingly give our lives in the name of freedom, the defeat of evil, and the preservation of our country. But this is the offer of a life that will be taken by nature anyways and so it’s a qualified “willingness.” I don’t want to appear cold or harsh toward those who have lost family in the war or tragedy. My point is simply that there is no correlation between the willingness of one to die for freedom and the willingness of the Savior to drink the cup of the Father’s wrath. Christ’s willingness to endure death was an example for no sinful man.

Christ’s love is the husband’s example

However, the willingness of Christ does leave a pattern of love. And nowhere should the loving willingness of Christ more exemplify our lives than when we as husbands care for our wives. Paul writes,

“Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish” (Eph. 5:25-27)

Notice the willingness of Christ “gave himself up for” the Church. This willingness provides the scope and context for every response of the husband towards his wife. Christ willingly endured pain and sorrow to pursue His Bride.

On Ephesians 5 Octavius Winslow writes, “With the burden of sin — the fire of justice — the wrath of God — the ridicule of man — the malignity of devils — the sorrows of Gethsemane — the pains of Calvary, and the sea of His own blood, all, all in vivid prospect before Him, He yet went forward, loving not His own life unto the death, because He loved ours more.”

The lessons for husbands are many. We pursue our wife’s spiritual purity in a way that is un-reluctant, un-hesitant, and un-limited. Our lives should reflect an eager pursuit of our wives as Christ’s love pursued us willingly. We do not wait for the right time to care for our wives; we pursue them as Christ pursued us willingly and eagerly. Loving leadership of our wives should be a humble and eager pursuit of their eternal good.

In light of the eagerness and willingness of Christ to pursue the Cross for me, here are some questions I can ask and ponder as a husband:

-What do I willing sacrifice for my wife?
-How do I serve my wife in a way that exemplifies this willingness?
-Do I serve her with grumbling or with joyfulness?
-Do I serve her when externally prodded or with spontaneity?
-Do I initiate serving my wife or do I only respond?
-Does my eager service communicate my joy in her?
-What personal sins must die to willingly sacrifice for my wife?
-How do I demonstrate a pursuit of my wife’s eternal health?

The willingness of Christ to endure the Cross is both an amazing spectacle of divine sacrifice and a beautiful example of Christian love. Christ “gave himself up for her.” Have we given ourselves to our wives?

Remember marriage is temporary (1 Cor. 7:27-31). The eternal significance of marriage is in providing a context where the willing love of Christ is displayed to the watching world. So husbands, take this incredible theme of the free willing sacrifice of the Son and use your marriage to show this truth to the world.

Conclusion

Spurgeon reminds us that when we ponder the Cross we should remember how “spontaneous” was the sacrifice by which he redeemed us from sin, and death, and hell. That word “spontaneous” is a loaded term. It means Christ pursued the Cross out of personal willingness, not any external manipulating force. Literally, “spontaneous” means “self-acting.”

Christ spontaneously pursued the Cross, motivated by a personal willingness. He was both a suitable Savior and a willing Savior. There is a weight to His willingness that should press upon our hearts at all times.

Hello everyone. Early last December we reviewed John Gill’s classic commentary, Expositions of the Old and New Testament (9 vols). This set is very well printed and comes with some nice extras. The set was originally selling for $250 and is now down to $135 while supplies last. You can read our full review for more info.

‘Of my own accord’: The Eager Redeemer (pt. 1)
by Tony Reinke

“As a voluntary captive he was bound, and as a willing substitute he died.” – C.H. Spurgeon

When I approached the conclusion of my undergraduate degree, it was time to select a topic for my final thesis. I would eventually tackle the various contours of God’s saving message to mankind (see my final paper, Come Unto Me: God’s Invitation to the World). But I had originally selected a thesis topic suggested to me by a Puritan scholar on the Christology of Thomas Goodwin. For about one month I pursued my research with this topic in mind.

Those hours spent reading Goodwin (largely spent in Christ our Mediator, volume five of his works) were perspective-transforming. Goodwin slowly and meticulously detailed all of the steps leading to redemption. He began far before the Cross, reminding us that the terms of redemption were discussed and agreed upon between the Father and Son from eternity past. Christ accepted the redemptive terms of the Father.

Goodwin proceeded to display the many proofs that Christ was the ONLY fit mediator. He must be God and Man together because creatures and angels would not suffice. He must be perfectly obedient. Tainted sinners would be shattered under the task, and would fail even to redeem themselves.

But just when I expected Goodwin to transition from the fitness of the Son into the work of the Son as our mediator, he threw in one more chapter. This little chapter is titled, “Christ’s Willingness to Do the Work of Redemption.” I must admit that I had never seriously considered this topic in the scope of redemption history. I had always jumped from the fitness of the Son for redeeming sinners right into the Cross-work of Christ without stopping to ponder the eagerness of the Son.

Goodwin soberly reminded me that Christ could be especially suited for the salvation of sinners — the only hope for sinners! – and yet be unwilling to take the task upon Himself. The determining factor in His redemptive love towards us was not merely His perfect character or His God-man incarnate life. The determining factor was His willingness to take the task of redemption upon Himself. That He is suited, does not make Him willing.

For the past year I have been challenged to see how central to the plan of redemption was the willingness/eagerness of the Son for the task.

To prove the willingness of the Redeemer, Goodwin points his readers to Hebrews 7:21-22 and 10:3-10 to show that the Priesthood of Christ is not by appointment, but by oath. Hebrews 7:28 says, “For the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever.” In this passage the second “appoints” is a word not in the Greek manuscript. Old covenant priests held their posts by appointment, the Son holds His post as High Priest based upon a mutual oath with the Father because “a covenant is always the consent of two, and not of one only” (Goodwin, 5:140). The swearing of an oath shows both the agreement of the Father and the willingness of the Son.

The Incarnation of Christ also embodies this willingness. “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 made himself nothing, 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” (Phil. 2:5-8). These two phrases of willingness — “made himself nothing” and “humbled himself” – show the volitional activity of Christ. The Incarnation was no duty pressed by a harsh father upon an unwilling son.

Jesus Himself made this willingness clearly known: “No one takes it [my life] from me, but I lay it down of my own accord” (John 10:18). Incredibly, Goodwin reminds us that this statement was on the lips of Christ for all of eternity past. The free willingness to endure the Cross was not determined a few weeks before His death.

The willingness of Christ is worth some reflection.

Spurgeon writes, “Many a martyr has suffered much, but he could not avoid it; for he was bound, and he was not able to smite his foes or to escape. But here sat One, to be spit upon, who could, if he had willed it, have withered into nothingness all who stood about him” (sermons, vol. 49). Christ was no subdued prisoner, but a willing prisoner. He was no mere man awaiting natural death, but the Infinite God who willingly tasted death. He was no ignorant bull being led to the slaughter for the forgiveness of sin but a fully conscious and willing sacrifice. He willingly submitted Himself to curse and death and pain.

So what does the voluntary redemption of Christ all mean? This week I hope to unfold this biblical truth and discover a bit more of its depth.