Acts 5:31 Him has God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Savior, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. I. THE EXALTATION OF CHRIST, properly speaking, consists of four parts — His resurrection, ascension, sitting at the right hand of God, and His coming to judge the world. It is to His sitting at the right hand of God, however, that our attention is here called. And, regarding it, three circumstances are noticed in the text. 1. The dignity to which Christ is raised. (1) The expression, "with His right hand," does not denote the agency by which, but the glory to which He is exalted. It intimates that our Mediator enjoys Divine honour at the Father's right hand, exercises Divine authority, and dispenses Divine government. This is a situation which no mere creature can occupy. I admit that the divinity of Christ being necessarily unchangeable, could not, strictly speaking, be humbled or exalted. But inasmuch as He took our nature into personal union with Him, He was humbled. And when His work was finished He dropped His lowly character, but not His human nature. Clothed in it He gloriously appeared before God on our behalf, and, as the reward of His undertaking, received, at His Father's hands, universal authority. (2) And let none suppose that the right hand of God in heaven denotes any visible proximity to the infinite Spirit, like nearness of place in the case of a prince at the right hand of an earthly sovereign. The human nature of Jesus, indeed, requires a local residence. But who can describe His dignity and glory in heaven? "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power," etc. 2. The character in which He is raised, "a Prince and a Saviour."(1) As a Divine person, Jesus was never deprived of His royal supremacy, and therefore could never be exalted to a dignity from which He had never descended. But there was a dignity to which, as God and man in one person, He had never hitherto been formally raised, although from the beginning He had acted as King of the Church and Lord of the Universe. But this princely office arose entirely from the covenant made between the Father and the Son, which required from the latter obedience unto death, as absolutely necessary to His being formally installed into His regal authority as King in Zion. (2) And as the nature of Christ's kingly office is peculiar, so also is its exercise. His law, indeed, is still the immutable rule of righteousness. But there is exercised to obstinate sinners the most marvellous long-suffering; and to believers the freest and most astonishingly gracious forgiveness, joined with the choicest spiritual blessings. Such a mode of administration can only be accounted for on the principle that a system of mediatorial authority exists, in consequence of which "sentence against an evil work is not speedily executed " on unbelievers; and pardon, purity, spiritual protection, comfort, and eternal glory, secured to all the faithful. (3) But Christ is not only an exalted Prince, but also a glorified Saviour. We have seen that as a Prince He completely secures the happiness and dignity of His people. Rut deliverance from sin could never have been realised unless, like the high priests of old, He had entered into the holy place, and presented the blood of His atonement as the ground of His intercession. He saves to the uttermost all that come to God by Him, because He ever lives to make intercession for them. 3. The agency of the Father in the exaltation of His Son — "Him hath God exalted." We are here carried back to the council of peace, the agreement of the Divine persons in reference to the salvation of men. The Father was bound to exalt the Mediator when His work of humiliation was accomplished. II. ITS BLESSED CONSEQUENCES. Amongst these are the glory of God, the establishment of order and harmony in the universe, the increased light thrown upon God's character and designs; but what chiefly concerns us is that the exalted Saviour bestows — 1. Repentance. 2. Forgiveness. Conclusion: This subject ought to be improved, especially by — (1) Those who have good reason to conclude that they are already in possession of these blessings. Such are under infinite obligations to the God of all grace, and forget not that it flows through the channel of Christ's mediation; and while you admire this salvation in its rise and progress and application, forget not to pray for the continued communication of grace to your soul. Remember that faith needs to be strengthened, and repentance deepened. (2) Those who doubt their interest in Christ are here encouraged. Your very sorrow is a hopeful symptom. It is well that you feel your unworthiness; and instead of making it an argument against coming to Christ, use it as a strong argument to lay vigorous hold of Him. (3) To those who are as yet destitute of Divine grace. These are of two classes. (a) The hypocrite knows that he is not what he pretends to be. Yet, notwithstanding your aggravated guilt, you are invited to the Saviour. (b) Let the self-deceiver open his eyes to his true state and character.You say you repent; but yours is a legal repentance, which consists in a dread of the Divine wrath. Such a sorrow works death. Repentance unto life, on the other hand, is that sorrow which flows from a believing view of the atonement of Christ and of the evil of sin, as manifested in the Cross, and is recognised to be genuine only by the fruits of holiness which result from it. (W. Orr.) Parallel Verses KJV: Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. |
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