The Glory of Christ's Work as Mediator

How glorious is the Lord Jesus Christ in the eyes of believers! When Adam sinned, he stood ashamed, afraid, trembling, as one ready to perish forever under the severe displeasure of God. Death was what he deserved, and he fully expected the sentence to be carried out. In this state, the Lord Christ in the promise comes to him, and says, "Poor creature! How terrible is your condition! How deformed you are now! What has become of that beauty, the glory of that image of God in which you were created? See how you have taken upon yourself the monstrous shape and image of Satan! And yet your present sorrow, your physical return to dust and darkness, is in no way to be compared with what is to follow .Eternal distress lies before you. But now, look up and behold me, and you will have a glimpse of what infinite wisdom, love and grace have purposed for you. Do not continue to hide from Me. I will take your place, I will bear your guilt and suffer the punishment that would sink you eternally into the hideous depths of hell. I will pay for what I never took. I will be made a curse for you so that you may be eternally blessed." In the same vein the Lord Christ speaks to all convicted sinners when he invites them to come to Him.

This is how the Lord Christ is presented in the gospel as 'evidently crucified' before our eyes (Galatians 3:1). This is how the glory of His sufferings shines forth.

Let us, then, consider Him as poor, despised, persecuted, reviled, reproached, crucified, suffering the wrath of God due to our sins. These things are recorded in the gospel for us to read, to preach and to consider in the duty of meditation.

But what can we see of His sufferings in the gospel? What glory do we see in these things? Are not these the things at which both Jews and Gentiles stumbled and which they found offensive? Was it not thought to be foolishness to look for salvation by the sorrows and miseries of another, to look for life by His death? Paul tells us that it was (see 1 Corinthians 1:18-25). The wisdom of the world despised the sufferings of Christ. but it is precisely because of His sufferings that He is glorious and precious in the sight of believers (1 Peter 2:6-7). For in these sufferings Christ was 'the power of God and the wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 1:24). It is only because the god of this world has blinded their eyes that men fail to see the meaning of the cross of Christ (2 Corinthians 4:5-6). But it is in these sufferings that we behold the glory of Christ's work as mediator.

[from The Glory of Christ by John Owen (abridged and simplified by RJK Law), Banner of Truth, ISBN 0-85151-661-0]

 

Galatians 3:1, KJV.

 

Owen did not have the benefit of modern translations. He is using the KJV here. 'Evidently' meant for him, as for the KJV translators, 'with evidence,' 'clearly,' 'obviously' or 'with certainty' if you prefer.