a nature which had fallen by sin, and he thus condemned sin in the flesh. He came into it as a new head, that he might take it out of the fall, and redeem it from sin, and lift it up to God; and this could be effected only through sorrow and death, manifesting the character of God, and the character of man's rebellion; manifesting God's abhorrence for sin, and the full sympathy of the new Head of the nature in that abhorrence, and thus eating out the taint of the fall, and making honourable way for the inpouring of the new life into the rebellious body. Because thus only there could be an open vindication given of the holiness and truth of God, against which the fall was an offence; and thus only could it become a righteous thing in God, in consideration of this new Head of the nature,-who had, in that nature, and in spite of its opposite tendencies, vindicated the character of God, and fulfilled all righteousness; to declare the race partaking of that nature forgiven, and to lay up in him, their glorious Head, eternal life for them all, which should flow into each member, just as he be lieved in that holy love of God, which was manifested in the gift and work of Christ.

So this spectacle of agony and ignominy, is just an exhibition of a love of God passing knowledge, manifesting itself to the human nature, in the only way by which that human nature can be delivered from the bondage of corruption, and fitted for communion with God, and for participation in his glorious blessedness, —namely, in a way of suffering.

But we must examine the nature and necessity of this suffering more closely.

When we contemplate the Son of Man lifted up on the cross, and see in him the Son of God, in our very na

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ture, suffering by his own will, and by the infliction of the Father, the whole curse denounced against sinsorrow and death-that thus he might, as the head of our nature, become the righteous channel of divine favour and life to every individual of the nature, and be highly exalted, and receive a name above every name, even the name of King of kings, and Lord of lords. When we see this, and when we know that this was the forthcoming of the eternal love of Father, Son, and Spirit, we see a glorious manifestation of that same truth, concerning the character of God's love, which was declared in the serpent lifted up by Moses. We see a glorious and blessed truth concerning our God, which may well be liberty and life to a soul lying bound, and dead in the disbelief of God's love; and which may well be strength and joy to a weak and sorrowful heart, pressed down and overburdened by the afflictions of this wilderness.

But we must not content ourselves with the general aspect of this mighty work. There is life in every part of it. The whole word is living and powerful, and our God invites us to look into it, by the light of his own Spirit, that we may press on to know even as we are known.

When we ask, What is the meaning of the sufferings of Christ; or in what way did those sufferings tend to accomplish the purposes for which he left the bosom of the Father, and came to this world? we ask a question which, in its bearings, involves the whole character and purposes of God, and the whole character and prospects of man. If this question were put to many persons, we should probably get various answers. One answer that would be pretty generally given to this question is, " that he came to save sinners,

and that he could accomplish this only by suffering in their stead the punishment due to their sin, because thus only their salvation could be reconciled with divine justice, and thus only could it become a righteous thing with God to remit the punishment of the real offenders. In this way both the justice of God and his love were magnified. His justice, in demanding the full penalty of the law; and his love, in providing a substitute to stand in the place of the real offenders, and bear that for them which would have overwhelmed them in everlasting perdition, if they had been obliged to bear it themselves." I believe that the Spirit of God has made this view of the atonement spirit and life to many souls-and yet I believe that, with some truth in it, it is a very defective view, to say the least of it.

Now, in the first place, I may observe, that it would not be considered justice in an earthly judge, were he to accept the offered sufferings of an innocent person, as a satisfaction for the lawful punishment of a guilty person.

But, secondly, when our Lord himself speaks to the disciples about his cross and sufferings, he uniformly calls upon them to take up their cross and follow him, by the same road of suffering. This connexion is marked through all the evangelists, and must therefore be a designed connexion.-See Matth. xvi. 21-25; Mark viii. 31-35; Luke ix. 22-24; John xii. 23 -26. And Paul desires fellowship in Christ's sufferings, and conformity with his death. The substance of all these passages proves that the substitution of Christ did not consist in this, that he did or suffered something instead of men, so as to save them from doing or suffering it for themselves. And this agrees with

the obvious fact, that Christ's death does not save the believer from dying a natural death, nor does his sorrow save the believer from sorrowing. On the contrary, the believer dies; and, moreover, dies daily, in consequence of and in proportion to his faith.

What Christ did for us, was done for us in a sense, and with a view very different from that of saving us from doing it ourselves. He fulfilled the law, for instance, certainly not with the view of saving us from fulfilling it, but, on the contrary, with the very view of enabling us to fulfil it. For the salvation of Christ consists mainly in " writing the law upon our hearts," -and he made himself a sin-offering," that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit."

When, therefore, it is said that Christ did or does things for us, it is not meant that he did or does them as our substitute, but as our head. He does them for us, as a root does things for the branches,-or as a a head or heart does things for the body.

He is given as a Leader as well as a Commander to the people; he leads them the way, he does not call on them to do things which he does not himself do; nor does he himself do things which he does not call on them to do. He is the "Forerunner who is for us entered," not to dispense with our entering, but to open the way for us, and keep it open. Suppose a man dead and buried, and life coming again to him into his head, that living head might force a way for the body up from the grave, but it would not do this to dispense with the rising of the body, but as the leader and commander of the body. So also is the work of Christ.

And yet it is true, that He has done a work for

man which none but He could have done a work without which no man could have been saved-a work, to attempt to do which, or to add to which, is to crucify the Son of God afresh, and without which no man ever did or ever could have done any of those things which his leader and head and God calls on him to do, or indeed ever could reasonably have been called on to do them. And that was the great work of atonement, on the credit of which, before it was accomplished, and through the channel of which since it has been accomplished, the love of God in the form of favour and forgiveness, and the gift of the Spirit enabling man to glorify God, have been given to every human being. At first sight it may appear contradictory to say that man is called on to do what Christ did, and yet to say that it is profanity to attempt to do what He did. But the meaning is this-a soldier is quite right to follow his general's footsteps, when he is commanded so to do, and yet it would be a capital offence to do these things in the assumption of the general's office. Now the exclusive character of Christ's work lay in his personal Godhead. And so to attempt to do what He did, as God, is to attempt to be God.

Before the fall, God and man were united by the law of love. This was the bond-this was the medium of communion, and the bond was both of God and of man, because love is God's nature, and whilst man continued faithful, it was his nature. And through this medium, God communicated, and man received all blessings, and all these blessing were but different forms of love. But when man fell, this bond of love was broken, and there was no longer a medium of communion between God and man. Then it was