Isaiah 53:10-11 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he has put him to grief: when you shall make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed… (with John 17:2, and Ephesians 5:25-27): — "His Seed." This clearly implies that the Messiah should be the living Head of a new spiritual race. As Adam was the head of the human family, and Abraham the header the Hebrew people, so the Lord Jesus was to be the head of a spiritual seed. The Psalmist in the second Psalm, plainly a Messianic one, declares: "Ask of Me, and I will give Thee the heathen for Thine inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for Thy possession." Our Lord Jesus Himself spoke of those who would be saved by Him as given to Him by the Father. And apostles speak of the Church as composed of men gathered to the Lord, and belonging to Him. Precisely this thought is expanded in Ephesians 5:25-27. I. CHRIST'S SURRENDER OF HIMSELF WAS THE EXPRESSION OF HIS LOVE. II. A LIVING CHURCH, THE CREATION OF HIS LOVE. Just as the sculptor, before he begins to chip the marble into shape, sees with his mind's eye the figure which is first conceived by his genius and then fashioned by his skill — so with our Divine Redeemer. He from eternity, before man was created, beheld him coming into being, placed on His own footing, falling, redeemed, saved. And, as the result of His atoning work, there rises up, through His Spirit, the fufilment of His own ideal, a new creation, a living Church, distinguished the marks of forgiveness, justification, renewal and eternal life. III. CLEANSING THE CHURCH, THE CONTINUOUS ACTION OF HIS LOVE. "That He might sanctify and cleanse it." Then He does not love the Church because it is clean, but He first loves it that He may make it clean. IV. PERFECTING THE CHURCH, THE FAR-OFF VISION OF HIS LOVE. "A glorious Church, without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing." V. PRESENTING THE CHURCH TO HIMSELF, THE REALIZATION OF THE IDEAL OF HIS LOVE. (C. Clemance, D.D.) Parallel Verses KJV: Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. |
    |