THE ART. IV.-The Exchange of Places. HE juridical procurement, righteously and consistently with Divine honour, of redemption's grace to guilty and spiritually dead sinners; and the actual administration and bestowal of it; proceed upon the all-embracing and most simplifying covenant arrangement of an exchange of places between the Redeemer and the redeemed. It is nowhere stated, in the general theorem, as distinguished from a particular case (to use the language of geometricians), more beautifully than in 2 Cor. viii. 9 :-" For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich." The words announce to us the splendid and wonderful arrangement made for enriching us with the blessings of everlasting salvation. That arrangement proceeds upon the principle of an exchange-an exchange of places between Christ and his people. Originally Christ is rich, and ultimately his people are made rich. They are made rich by sharing Christ's riches but the intervening process calls for adoring admiration. The holy angels indeed share in the riches of Christ; he is their Creator and their Lord, and their portion for ever. But being holy, harmless, and undefiled, they have ever since their origin been rich, directly drawing from the full riches of the Father, Son, and Spirit, having nothing but what they have received yet receiving continually, freely, without let or hindrance, without money and without price; also without any difficulty to be overcome; without any special arrangement being needed. It is very far otherwise with the redeemed from among men. They indeed share the riches of Christ; and ultimately they become rich even as originally he is rich. But a very peculiar arrangement was needed. Not all at once, without obstruction, and easily, as with the angels, could fallen men be adopted into the participation of the riches of God's Eternal Son. Angels are poor as creatures; men are poor as sinners. As creatures, angels are dependent; and, owning their dependence, the Lord meets them with the free, full treasures of his love and blessing and support. As sinners, men are cut off from The General Theorem. 461 the fountain of holiness, and life, and blessing: and how shall the sin-hating God again admit them to his riches? Most blessed scheme! Most wise and gracious arrangement! The Son of God exchanges places with them. He assumes their place and poverty; he transfers them into his place and riches. Though rich, he becomes poor; they, though poor, become rich; though rich in his own riches, he becomes poor in their poverty; though poor in their own poverty, they become rich in his riches; and it is through his poverty they become rich. In the first place, we shall illustrate this arrangement in several particulars or details. The terms "rich" and "poor" are highly general: they are inclusive of a vast variety of particulars; and the principle of this exchange may become more obvious, and faith may be aided in acting on it, if we fill up the general statement by a variety of details. Let us say, then, that Christ was rich in Righteousness, in Life, in Blessing, in Strength, in Glory. And in these five cases let us trace the steps of the exchange. 1. Say that by riches we mean Righteousness. The corresponding poverty then is sin; and then the proposition reads thus: "Though Christ was righteous, yet for our sakes he was made sin, that we might thereby be made righteous." Thus, it is but a particular case of the great principle when Paul says elsewhere, "He that knew no sin was made sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him" (2 Cor. v. 21). In this respect how very rich was Christ! how poor were we! How poor, for our sakes, did he become! how rich do we become in him! He was rich in righteousness originally, as the Eternal Son of God, co-equal possessor of all the righteousness of Godhead. It is a fundamental and primary conception of God, that he is holy. There is none holy as the Lord. He is emphatically "the Holy One." He is "the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy" (Isa. lvii. 15). Sin is infinitely repugnant to his will, infinitely distant from his nature. Perfect, eternal, inviolable righteousness characteriseth the Godhead. Oh, with what resplendent righteousness the Sacred Three-in-One have from everlasting dealt with one another! And when, in unity of council, they turn to deal with creation, "the Judge of all the earth cannot do but what is right" (Gen. xviii. 25). "There is no unrighteousness in him" (Ps. xcii. 15; Isa. vii. 18). The saints give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness. Of all this, the Son is co-equal possessor with the Father and the Spirit. He is the Holy One and the Just. As God, he is holy and righteous infinitely. This Divine person, our Lord Jesus Christ, is in his Godhead infinitely righteous. Was there any unrighteousness in his becoming man, so as to render the God-man less righteous than God? Did he become less righteous by becoming man? Is Immanuel, God manifest in the flesh, less righteous than the Eternal Son? If he were, he would not be God manifest: he would be God misrepresented. Yea, he could not possibly still be God. The righteousness and holiness of this Divine person are not altered by his incarnation-not diminished or deteriorated: they are disclosed. The Holy Ghost prepared a human nature for him, itself so holy, and pure, and stainless as to be a mirror, infinitely, absolutely accurate, in which his Godhead's holiness should shine. The Eternal Son, incarnate in our flesh, the man Christ Jesus, is holy as God is holy-perfect as his Father in heaven is perfect. Immanuel is rich in a divine, unimpaired, eternal, inviolable righteousness. In this, indeed, our Lord Jesus Christ is pre-eminently rich,-"Jesus Christ the righteous.” For our sakes he became poor-" was made sin” (2 Cor. v. 21). The Father laid on him the iniquity of his people. He bare our sins in his own body on the tree. He became the Lamb of God, bearing the sins of the world. The Father made him to be sin. Constituting him the substitute of sinners, he imputed their sins to him accordingly; and held him responsible for the dishonour they had done to God, obnoxious to the wages and penalty of sin-and the wages of sin is death. How amazing the exchange-from highest riches to deepest poverty from righteousness, the most glorious of all riches, to sin, the most profound and degrading possible style of poverty! Isaiah saw him in his riches, in his holiness, upon his heavenly throne, and the myriads of the holy ones he heard crying, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty: the whole earth is full of thy glory." But the exchange takes place. Five particular Cases. 463 No more is he on the throne, shining glorious in holiness, but on the footstool, laden with sin; on the altar, suffering for sin; yea, expelled without the camp; standing in the place of the guilty, the base, the poor. But where is now his righteousness? Is it gone? Is it overborne, extinguished, annihilated by the sin? How is it affected? Is it diminished? Is it absorbed? Where are his riches of righteousness? Mark that though he became poor in our poverty, he was so rich in his own riches that he never became bankrupt. Ah! if he had, how could he ever have made us rich? In his poverty, assumed for us, and, indeed, assumed from us,-he yet remained rich. He drew not on his riches: he claimed them not: he used them not. He might have drawn upon them. In his righteousness, he might have demanded the presence and services of twelve legions of angels (Matt. xxvi. 53). But he voluntarily consented to be poor: yet his riches, his righteousness, abode : and in due time the poverty, the sin, passed away, and the righteousness remained as before-righteousness eternal, infinite, invincible: proved to be so because it had withstood the run, the draft, the drain upon it caused by our poverty, our sin. But mark now, how, through this poverty, we are made. rich; how, through this sin-bearing, we are made righteous. The righteousness has borne our sin, and borne it all away. sin has not extinguished the righteousness, but the righteousness has extinguished the sin: and we, the poor, the sinful, have this righteousness now for ours. Our poverty has been his, and still he abideth rich. Our sin has been his, and still he abideth righteous. As he was poor and a sinner not in himself but in us, we are rich and righteous, not in ourselves, but in him the whole arrangement is infinitely useless and foolish if now poor sinners be not rich and righteous in him. : The Oh, most blessed justification, without works, freely by faith, by his grace, in the very righteousness of God! Come, O believer, and enter afresh into all the deep perfection and preeision of this exchange. Bring thy sin, else there can be no exchange at all. Bring thy sin and poverty, else thou art not profiting by this arrangement at all. Bring thy sin, and obtain freely perfect righteousness. The Lord requires thee not to bring righteousness, but to bring sin. Sin thou hast bring what thou hast. Righteousness thou hast not come and receive what thou hast not. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ exempts thee from having to bring righteousness: exempts thee from being paralysed by the terror of having nothing but sin: exempts thee from the despairing task and toil of finding any righteousness of thine own: exempts thee from finding any ground of peace with God thyself: from constructing any justifying reason for peace with God thyself: from drawing up any terms or covenant of peace thyself: from extinguishing or putting away thy sin thyself: from bringing in any righteousness thyself. At one grand stroke the Lord settles all for ever. Jesus Christ, the holy One, the righteous, receiveth thee, a sinner! He puts himself in thy place he puts thee in his and his is a place of righteousness still, even though he be in thy place of sin: for, in thy place of sin, he puts away sin by the sacrifice of himself; abiding righteousness for thee, and thou the righteousness of God in him! Most profitable, most liberal, most gracious barter or exchange, profitable unto thee a sinner, for thou givest sin and gettest righteousness the righteousness of God. And as the righteous God can have no quarrel with the very "righteousness of God," God verily can have no quarrel with thee. For if the righteous God is at peace with his own righteousness, with thee also he must be at peace: "for he hath made him that knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him" (2 Cor. v. 21). 2. Say that by riches we mean Life. The corresponding poverty then is death; the proposition then reads thus: "He who is the Living One, yet for our sakes died, that we through his death might live for ever." Our particular poverty in this case is death, and we are released from it, and enriched with the opposite riches, even eternal life, by Christ, the Living One, dying for us. The Godhead is the fountain of life. the fountain of life" (Ps. xxxvi. 9). "With thee, O God, is This prerogative the Eternal Son shares with the Father and the Spirit. Proceeding by eternal generation from the Father, he hath life in himself, and is a fountain of life to whomsoever he will. This life is self-existent, independent, indefectible, unalterable, unfailing. It is from all eternity. It never was not, and can never cease. This life was not diminished or injuriously affected by his |