IMAGE EVALUATION 
 TEST TARGET (MT-3) 
 
 
 1.0 
 
 I.I 
 
 |28 IIIII2.5 
 
 I 
 
 2.2 
 
 1^1 
 
 1.8 
 
 
 1.25 
 
 1.4 1.6 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 6" 
 
 ► 
 
 % 
 
 V] 
 
 <9^' 
 
 :^ > 
 
 'n 
 
 ^^ ' c%'^.'^* 
 
 
 % 
 
 c//^ 
 
 //a 
 
 Sciences 
 Corporation 
 
 23 WEST MAIN STREET 
 
 WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 
 
 (716) 872-4503 
 
4^ «p 
 
 CIHM 
 Microfiche 
 Series 
 (Monographs) 
 
 ICMH 
 
 Collection de 
 microfiches 
 (monographies) 
 
 Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions / Institut Canadian de microreproductions historiques 
 
Technical and Bibliographic Notes / Notes techniques et bibliographiques 
 
 The Institute has attempted to obtain the best original 
 copy available for filming. Features of this copy which 
 may be bibliographically unique, which may alter any 
 of the images in the reproduction, or which may 
 significantly change the usual method of filming, are 
 checked below. 
 
 I I 
 
 D 
 D 
 
 Coloured covers/ 
 Couverture de couleur 
 
 Covers damaged/ 
 Couverture endommagte 
 
 Covers restored and/or laminated/ 
 Couverture restauree et/ou pelliciJie 
 
 □ Cover title missing/ 
 Le titre de couverture manque 
 
 D 
 
 Coloured maps/ 
 
 Cartes giographiques en couleur 
 
 □ Coloured ink (i.e. other than blue or black)/ 
 Encre de couleur (i.e. autre que bleue ou noire) 
 
 
 n 
 
 n 
 
 Coloured plates and/or illustrations/ 
 Planches et/ou illustrations en couleur 
 
 Bound with other material/ 
 Relie avec d'autres documents 
 
 Tight binding may ':ause shadows or distortion 
 along interior margin/ 
 
 La reliure serree peut causer de I'ombre ou de la 
 distorsion le long de la marge interieure 
 
 Blank leaves added during restoration may appear 
 within the text. Whenever possible, these have 
 been omitted from filming/ 
 II se peut que certaines pages blanches ajouties 
 lots d'une restauration apparaissent dans le texte, 
 mais, lorsque cela etait possible, ces pages n'ont 
 pas ete f ilmees. 
 
 Additional comments:/ 
 Commentaires supplementaires: 
 
 L'institut a microfilm^ le meilSeur exemplaire qu'il 
 lui a M possible de se procurer. Les details de cet 
 exemplaire qui sont peut-4tre uniques du point de vue 
 bibliographique. qui peuvent modifier une image 
 raproduite. ou qui peuvent exiger une modification 
 dans la mithode normale de f ilmage sont indiqu^s 
 ci-dessous. 
 
 □ Coloured pages/ 
 Pages de couleur 
 
 □ Pages damaged/ 
 Pages endommagtes 
 
 □ Pages restored and/or laminated/ 
 Pages restaur^s et/ou pelliculies 
 
 I "pPages discoloured, stained or foxed/ 
 I ^1 Pages dicolories, tachetees ou piquees 
 
 Pages detached/ 
 Pages ditachies 
 
 j y j Showthrough/ 
 1*^ I Transparence 
 
 I I Quality of print varies/ 
 
 n 
 
 Qualite inigale de I'impression 
 
 Continuous pagination/ 
 Pagination continue 
 
 □ Includes index(es)/ 
 Comprend un (des) index 
 
 Title on header taken from:/ 
 Le titre de I'en-tCte provient: 
 
 □ Title page of issue/ 
 Page de titre de la livraison 
 
 □ Caption of issue/ 
 Titre de depart de la 
 
 depart de la livraison 
 
 i/ 
 Generique (periodiques) de la livraison 
 
 □ Masthead/ 
 Gene 
 
 This item is filmed at the reduction ratio checked below/ 
 
 Ce document est f ilme au taux de reduction indique ci-dessous. 
 
 10X 14X 18X 
 
 n 
 
 12X 
 
 16X 
 
 20X 
 
 22X 
 
 26 X 
 
 30X 
 
 / 
 
 24X 
 
 28X 
 
 32 X 
 
The copy filmed here has been reproduced thanks 
 to the generosity of: 
 
 National Library of Canada 
 
 L'exemplaire filmd fut reproduit grdce d la 
 g6n6rosit6 de: 
 
 Bibliothdque nationale du Canada 
 
 The images appearing here are the best quality 
 possible considering the condition and legibility 
 of the original copy and in keeping with the 
 filming contract specifications. 
 
 Les images suivantes ont 6t6 reproduites avec le 
 plus grand soin, compte tenu de la condition et 
 de la nettetd de l'exemplaire filmd, et en 
 conformity avec les conditions du contrat de 
 filmage. 
 
 Original copies in printed paper covers are filmed 
 beginning with the front cover and ending on 
 the last page with a printed or illustrated impres- 
 sion, or the back cover when appropriate. All 
 other original copies are filmed beginning on the 
 first page with a printed or illustrated impres- 
 sion, and ending on the last page with a printed 
 or illustrated impression. 
 
 The last recorded frame on each microfiche 
 shall contain the symbol — ^> (meaning "CON- 
 TINUED"), or the symbol V (meaning "END"), 
 whichever applies. 
 
 Les exemplaires originaux dont la couverture en 
 papier est imprim^e sont filmds en commenpant 
 par le premier plat et en terminant soit par ia 
 dernidre page qui comporte une empreinte 
 d'impression ou d'illustration, soit par le second 
 plat, selon le cas. Tous les autres exemplaires 
 originaux sont filmds en commenpant par la 
 premidre page qui comporte une empreinte 
 d'impression ou d'illustration et en terminant par 
 la dernidre page qui comporte une telle 
 empreinte. 
 
 Un des symboles suivants apparaitra sur la 
 dernidre image de cheque microfiche, selon le 
 cas: le symbole — ♦- signifie "A SUIVRE", le 
 symbole V signifie "FIN". 
 
 Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at 
 different reduction ratios. Those too large to be 
 entirely included in one exposure are filmed 
 beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to 
 right and top to bottom, as many frames as 
 required. The following diagrams illu9trate the 
 method: 
 
 Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre 
 filmds d des taux de reduction diffdrents. 
 Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre 
 reproduit en un seul cliche, il est filmd d partir 
 de Tangle supdrieur gauche, de gauche d droite, 
 et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre 
 d'images ndcessaire. Les diagrammes suivants 
 illustrent la mdthode. 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 32 X 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 5 
 
 6 
 
h 
 
 CHRIST AS REDEEMER, 
 
 THE 
 
 4 
 
 DELEGATED KING AND HEAD OF CREATION. 
 
 BY THE 
 
 REV. }1ENRY GORDON, 
 
 MINISTER OF CANANOtJUE, CANADA WEST. 
 
 .Pnhlished hi/ Request. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 JAMEfcJ NISBET & CO., BERNERS STREET. 
 
 1857. 
 
 i 
 
tl 
 
 ei 
 
 tl 
 
 tc 
 
CHEIST AS REDEEMER. 
 
 THE 
 
 DELEGATED KING AND HEAD OF CREATION. 
 
 COLOSSUNS i. 16.—" For by him were all things created that are in heaven, and 
 that are in earth, v jible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or 
 principalities, or powers ; all things were created by him, and /or him." 
 
 Many and striking have been the testimonies, bpth of the living and 
 dying, to the incomparable value of the Bible. But never, perhaps, 
 was there a more affecting testimony given, than that which is de- 
 scribed in the biography of that mighty literary magician, who so long 
 drew an admiring world after him. In the Life of Sir Walter Scott, by 
 his son-in-law, it is mentioned, that in his last dying hours he called for 
 " T/ie Book," and, on being asked, " What book ?" he most emphati- 
 cally said, " Do you ask that ? Ah ! my son, there is but one book." 
 
 But if the Bible be the one only guide-book which God has ever 
 written and given to otr world to conduct us to peace and happiness 
 here and heaven hereafter, salvation by the Lord Jesus Christ is its 
 one grand pervading idea. Yes, as sure as we are tp find the firma- 
 ment over our heads— go to what part of the world we may— so sure 
 are we in the Bible to meet with the idea of Christ and redemption. 
 Indeed, redemption is the great master truth— above all other truths 
 the most worthy, the most necessary for all creatures to know. It 
 has in it such a godlike grandeur and comprehensiveness that none 
 equal — none next to it can we find, travel we the whole universe all 
 over. In the light of our text and of other Scriptures, it appears 
 that redemption is that work of God by which he has been pleased so 
 pre-eminently to manifest his glory ; that it is here that we find the 
 key which unlocks, and, so far as our limited capacities as creatures 
 admit of, lets us into the very mind and heart of God in giving birth 
 to his creation. Nothing less than this is involved in the statement 
 
of the text, that all things were made for Christ. Indeed, indeed, for 
 any creature in heaven or in earth — to attempt meddling with a subject 
 of such magnitude and sublimity as this, were irreverent daring, but, 
 for these two considerations, which come, like good angels, to relieve 
 and cheer on the attempt. The first is, — God himself has con- 
 descended to break silence. The next is, — the subject is as blessedly 
 practical as it is soul-edifying and sublime. Before we close we trust 
 that it will stand out manifest that it is most richly fraught with all 
 practical ^visdom, insomuch that, until we know and act upon the 
 information here revealed by God, we know not rightly our true posi- 
 tion in the creation of God, — we know not rightly whence we came, 
 whither we are going, what is to become of us in time or in eternity, — 
 we know not how to act that part assigned to us by the arrangements 
 of our Creator. In brief, we know as yet nothing as we ought to 
 know it. 
 
 Most earnestly throwing ourselves, therefore, on the guidance of 
 the Holy Spirit, let us examine the discovery made to us by God in 
 the last clause of the verse prefixed to these pages, namely, that all 
 things were created for Him, that is, for Christ : — 
 
 I. In its import and scriptural proofs. 
 
 II. Next, in its reasons ; and 
 
 III. Lastly, in its practical uses. 
 
 I. The vei-y first question which naturally arises is. Why all things 
 for Christ f Is it not a great first principle and scriptural truth, that 
 all things were made for God,— for himself, 0- his glory f True, in- 
 deed, Christ being in his essential nature God, and there being 
 equality and the most perfect unity of purpose and operation in all 
 the three persons of the Godhead, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. 
 In this view it would be quite a scriptural and unexceptionable state- 
 ment to say, " that all things were made for Christ." But it is mani- 
 fest from the context, which speaks of Christ in his special relations 
 to redemption, as well as from the whole scope of the Scriptures, that 
 it is not in his essential inherent character of God that Christ is here 
 Bet forth. No, but in his character of Saviour — of Mediator between 
 God and man in the plan of salvation, as the God Man. We have 
 here a discovery made to us under the infallible authority of the Holy 
 Ghost, who indited the Scriptures, — a discovery no less sublime in 
 itself, and of no less solemn and soul-stiring interest to us than this. 
 It appears from the indisputable testimony of the Holy Ghost, that so 
 
stupendous a work is redemption in God's eyes, so deeply are his 
 glory and interests wrapt up in it, that all creation was designed and 
 has been contrived and constructed to be the theatre for its exhibition, 
 and our world to be the ntage. Then, Christ being, in the all-wise ar' 
 rangements of the Godhead, the person appointed to be the Redeemer, 
 it is revealed to us, that, in the performance of this godlike work, the 
 whole universe, in all the full plenitude of its resources, is, by divine 
 arrangement and delegation, put into Christ's hands, under Christ's 
 management and rule. 
 
 Now, before attempting to search further into the reasons why all 
 things were made/wr Christ— why this universal dominion, this kingly 
 empire of such divine grandeur and extent has been delegated to 
 Christ, let us, in the mean time, dismiss the reasons, and satisfy 
 ourselves from the Bible of the fact. 
 
 That all things in creation have been put into Christ's hands to 
 subserve the purposes of redemption, we can learn even from the Old 
 Testament Scriptures. When , for instance, they refer to what, in the 
 counsels of the Godhead, was secured to him under the eternal cove- 
 nant, the language is strong enough to signify universality of domi- 
 nion. Thus, in the 110th Psalm, the Father is represented as saying 
 to his Son, " Rule thou in the midst of thine enemies." Isaiah, in 
 setting forth the glory of the Eedeemer's person and work, uses this 
 remarkable language, " and the government shall he upon his shoulders." 
 
 The Psalmist, in the 8th Psalm, describes a dominion coextensive 
 with " all the works of God's hands," that is large as creation itself. 
 And the Apostle Paul, in Hebrews ii. 8, applies the Psalmist's de- 
 scription to the mediatorial dominion of Jesus, in these emphatic 
 words, " Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in 
 that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is notjmt 
 tmder Him." 
 
 Sometimes it is described with a sublime, all-expressive brevity, 
 at other times with a most anxious and minute particularity. Thus 
 at an early stage of his public ministry, Jesus says, " All things are 
 delivered to me of my father." At the close of it He claims the same 
 delegated supremacy over all things; " All power is given me in 
 heaven and in earth,"— a truth the Apostle Peter echoes back in one 
 of his memorable sermons, which he sums up with this ascription to 
 Christ, " For lie is Lord of all." Then, in Hebrews i. 2, we are told 
 that Jesus has been " appointed Heir of all things." In Ephesians 
 i. 20-22, again the Apostle Paul joyfully expatiates on Christ's media- 
 torial sovereignty over the universe, in these lofty descriptions of 
 
It :—'< He set him at his own riglit hand in the heavenly phices far 
 above all principality an<l power, and nii-l,t, and dominion, and every 
 name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is 
 to come, and hath put all things under liis feet, and gave him to be 
 Head over all things to the Church." The same apostle's description, 
 in 2d Phihppians, is equally strong. Then wo are told that Christ's 
 dominion stretches into the invisible world, that he " died and re- 
 vived that he might be the Lord of the dead and the living." Again, 
 " I am He that liveth and was dead ; and behold I am uUve for^ever 
 more. Amen ; and have the keys of hell (Hades) and of death " 
 Indeed, it may well be asked, how could language be constructed 
 that could more forcibly express universality ^han that which the 
 Holy Ghost uses in our text ? The work ot creation is first con- 
 nected with Christ in language which takes in all creatures and beings 
 the universe contains ; " All that are in heaven and that are in earth 
 visible and invisible, wliether they be thrones or dominions, or prin- 
 cipalities or powers " (compare with 1 Peter iii. 22). And then Christ 
 is represented as the object and end of creation, as well as the being its 
 author, the one being made the measure of the other. The charter of 
 dominion given him is made coextensive with creation by this sweep- 
 ing dause, " All tMnr/s were created by Him and for HimJ' 
 
 Yes ! It is impossible to do justice to all that the Bible assigns to 
 Christ, as the subject of his mediatorial kingdom, without admitting 
 that it comprehends all space, all worids, all creatures, all things ; 
 that, whether as subjects, or agents, or instruments, or wtnesses, in 
 Bome way or anotliei', all are designed to serve Him and his toork 
 What an overwhelming idea of this mediatorial rule does Paul bring 
 before the mind in 1st Corinthians xv. 27, " For He hath put all 
 things under his feet." But when He saith, all things are put under 
 Him, It 18 manifest "that He is excepted which did put all things under 
 htm," as much as to say that the whole universe is put into Christ's 
 hands. That the one only thing not included is that which it is 
 eternally impossible to give away, and which Christ needed not to 
 receive, possessing it always inherently in himself— ^/ia< is, God. 
 
 But let us, for the sake of definiteness and vividness of impression 
 confine our view to Christ's dominion over this worid, the appointed 
 Btage for the perf"ormance of the work. Let us look to this worid's 
 contents :— Man viewed as the human race, and separately as the in- 
 dividuals composing it. Man in all his different characters and de- 
 partments—in all his relations, civil, social, religious, public, do- 
 mestic. (Christ being prominently held up as -governor amon^ the 
 
nuliom" as " Prince of the kings of the earth.") The mind of man 
 with all its wonderful powers and faculties. Jlis heart with all its 
 pUHsions and Htlbctions. Jlis l.ody with all its various offices and 
 functions. All living creatures, from the eleijhant to the Bmallest 
 insect which (hitters in the summer sun. All matter, to whatever 
 kingdom, vegetable or mineral, it may belong. All the wealth which 
 the land or the seas contain, whether to be found on their surface or 
 in their depths. All the manifold and excellent uses to which matter 
 can l)e turned by man's designing mind. All science, arts, discoveries. 
 All providence with the whole of its machinery. All events, whether 
 great or small ; whether the rise or fall of empires, or the falling to 
 the ground of sparrows ; whether a laither is to find a moth-eaten 
 solitary Bible in a convent, or whether by that eventful Bible he is 
 to change the whole current of the world's history. All this does the 
 sceptre of Jesus embrace. 
 
 Let not our minds be shaken by the fact, that the time of the full 
 consummation and canying into full eflect Christ's kingly power is not 
 yet arrived. Christ is already this universal king both by the divine 
 covenant and by coniiuest. But the ending of the contest is not yet 
 come. It is a contest of a moral nature, and carried on, not by the 
 putting forth of mere power, but by means moral and progressive, in a 
 manner godlike and becoming the nature of God's moral government, 
 in such a way as to give all his intelligent creation the opportunity 
 of beholding and leisurely contemplating all the stately steps one by 
 one by which God achieves his moral triumphs over sin and the works 
 of the devil. Man may make haste with his imperfect works, but 
 there is no need of haste or hurry in the plans of Him " who seeth 
 the end from the beginning," " and with , '^ora a thousand years are 
 as one day." 
 
 The Bible tells us that the eyes of the angels behold with in- 
 quiring wonder and intense desire the manifestatio;is of God's mani- 
 fold wisdom as displayed in his dealings with the Church Eph iii 
 9-11. 
 
 The world, yea even (he whole animal creation, is yet groaning under 
 the curse of sin, and panting for deliverance. The present is the 
 time for the toil -and tug of war. But it is a sweet consolation to 
 know, that although they who are spending their strength for Christ, may 
 not be on earth when the millennium comes, not one jot or tittle 
 of their labours uf faith and love shall go unrewarded. For it is a 
 most cheering Bible truth, that - both he that soweth and he that 
 reapeth rejoice together." 
 
8 
 
 The duy iu coming when Christ's bupreraacy ehull otund out 
 niunifest to all, when " kings shull full down before him, and 
 nations shall serve him," when " the kingdoms of this world shall ho- 
 come the- kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ," when there shall 
 be such a universal acknowledgment of his kingly power and con- 
 secration to his service, that his name shall ho written on the very 
 " bells of the horses" and utensils of the h.jusehold. Indeed, already 
 have we received such unmistakeablo tokens of Christ being en- 
 throned Lord and King as may make us content to wait his own 
 infinitely wise and beneficent will for the time and manner of tho 
 fulfilment; for there is not any creature in all creation that has 
 not even already come forth to confess him to be Lord of all. How 
 often have angels from heaven come down to make this confession ; 
 and, when he sojourned on earth, spirits from hell were constrained to 
 cry out, "We know theo who thou art. The Holy One of Uod." 
 The saints of this earth have gloried to confess Christ, when prisons, 
 and tortures, and cruelest of deaths ttared them in the face ; and 
 the bitterest of his enemies have consciously or unconsciously I erne 
 testimony to his all commanding royalty. The dying words of 
 the Emperor Julian, the apostate, were " Oh Nazarene, thou hunt con- 
 quered; and Pilate's, "Behold the Man," "Behold your King;" and 
 the memorable inscription he ordered to be put in Hebrew, Greek 
 and Latin on the cross, though he meant it not so, when now 
 read with the key of Scripture, and the subsequent history of the 
 world and the Church, means, " king and head over all things to tho 
 Church." Yea, even Balaam's ass could not help speaking boldly out 
 for him ; and the rocks and graves have received tongues to speak 
 out for him too. 
 
 Does not the very calendar acknowledge that Christ is King, even 
 already, in an important uense, over the affairs of this world and of 
 time. For, in despite of all the attempts of earth and hell to blot 
 Christ's name out of the records of the world, his name still stands as 
 the sovereign ruler. The calendar for 1800 years and more has al- 
 ways made the birth of Christ the grand regulator of time. 
 
 Then, the Christian religion is the only religion which, at the pre- 
 sent moment, gives any symptoms of health and perpetuity of exis- 
 tence. All false religions are on the wane, and that which, feigning 
 his sacred name, is his greatest antagonist, and has been well baptised 
 Antichrist, though it is making a de,si)erate dying struggle ; and though 
 tremendous things may have to come, which may severely test our 
 loyalty to Christ ere the contact be ended, yet, it is even already 
 
 ' 
 
9 
 
 i 
 
 pliiin enouKli that riirist must und will put nil cuemiea under hiu feet 
 Whatever may bo tlw> ajtpearaiicPH, wo have always the very life anc' 
 oath of the living God on which to fall back an our infallible Hccurity, 
 " Ar tnily OH I live (saith God) all the earth shall be tilled with the 
 glory of the Lord." 
 
 n 
 
 IT. Uospecting the Jiemonn for t\m exaltation of Christ to be the 
 delegated king of creation. To know them all would need a wisdom 
 as infinite as that of the infinite God. In the light of Scripture, 
 however, we can find reiuious which may well satisfy us. We select 
 these : — 
 
 1. Christ's very position in salvation's stiii)endou8 plan. 
 
 2. The very natuie of the work which He undertook to accomplish. 
 
 3. And the reward duo for its successful accomplishment. All 
 demanded this glorious exaltation. 
 
 I. We learn from the Bible, that the sin and apoetasy of angels in 
 heaven, and into which man on earth was drawn, broke the beautiful 
 order of that intelligent creetion which God had mode happy like him- 
 self, by making it holy like himself. 
 
 In the eternal counsels of the Godhead, the plan of salvation was 
 constructed with a foresight to this entrance of sin into creation, and 
 Bo as to meet it. 
 
 This it does, first and more immediately, by the salvation of sin- 
 ners out of the human race saved by Christ. But it has, besides this, 
 the large design of repairing the ruin made by sin on the old crea- 
 tion, by gathering into cue in Christ a new creation, consisting of the 
 redeemed out of this fallen world, of the unfallen arqtels, and, possibly, 
 of beings in other worlds whose history is not made known to us. As 
 to the angels who kept not their first estate there is no remedy for them. 
 It appears from the Bible, that Christ is constituted Head of this new 
 creation of redeemed sinners, and of angels who never sinned, to con- 
 firm them everlastingly in their blessed estate ; " the one part to be 
 delivered from sin committed, the other part from sinning." For 
 the cross of Christ not only proclaims the one only balm and sove- 
 reign specific in all the wide universe for the deadly disease of sin, 
 but it stands out as an eternal moral beacon to warn the whole moral un- 
 fallen universe never to sin, seeing there ri^ver can be a second Calvary ! 
 Yes, it appears that in order to give stability to this new creation, and 
 \n guard it against a catastroplie so tragic, as the apostasy brought upon 
 the old, the Lord Jesus Christ has, in the counsels of the Godhead, 
 been chosen as a new head of fjovernment and cf influence. These are 
 
li i' 
 
 10 
 
 truly of the deep things of God, but they are revealed to us by God, 
 and, therefore, " belong to us and our children." 
 
 For, saith the Holy Ghost, who never mistakes or deceives, " He 
 hath abounded towards us in all wistlora and prudence ; having made 
 known unto us the mystery of his will, according unto his good plea- 
 sure, which he hath pui-posed in himself : that, in the dispensation of 
 the fulness of time, he might gather together in one all things in Christ, 
 both which are in heaven and luhich are on earth, even in him," Eph 
 i. 8, 9, 10. 
 
 The same truth is referred to, where it is said in 3d Ephesians, 
 ** of whom the whole family in heaven and on earth is named." And, 
 again, in our context in Colossians i. 20, Christ's work is thus de- 
 scribed, " to reconcile all things to Himself, whether they are things 
 in heaven or things on earth." In Ephesians i. 22, it is said, that He 
 is made " head over all things to the Church." Then that He is a 
 head of influence, as well as of government, is surely to be understood 
 by the statement in the verse following our text, " that by Him all 
 things consist." And, again, in a few verses after, where it is said, 
 " that it pleased the Father that in Him should all fulness dwell." 
 
 In the fact then of Christ being the constituted Head of the new 
 creation, and in order to place it for ever beyond the reach of a second 
 ruin by sin, have we not a most glorious reason for " all things in 
 creation having been made for Him." 
 
 2. Eespecting the necessity of this universality of subjection to 
 Christ for the accomplishment of his work. Whoever is bold enough 
 to dispute such necessity, had need to be able to measure the power, the 
 skill, and the subtlety of all those mighty spirits of evil who were once 
 in heaven, and though now in hell, have not lost their intelligence 
 with their holiness,— had need to measure all that hellish malice con- 
 stantly at work to draw our race into their own terrible irremediable 
 ruin, — had need to measure the strength, variety, and seductiveness 
 of the world,— had need to measure the deepest depths of all that 
 corruption of nature that must be entirely conquered ere heaven be 
 possible. 
 
 If He who had no sin in his encounter with these powers of 
 darkness, wja put to his utmost power of endurance, let us adore and 
 joyfully embrace that blessed arrangement by which He as conqueror 
 is now invested with all pov"3r in heaven and in earth to enahle us to 
 conquer in him. 
 
 3. But that Christ should roceivo his exaltation as the reward for 
 hie vork, were surely reason all-sufficient were there no other. 
 
11 
 
 ^/ 
 
 
 The humiliation of the Son of God, oven to the laying aside of his 
 glories and submitting to the death of the cross, is the reason assigned 
 for " a name being given Him, which is above every name : that at the 
 name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things 
 on earth, and things under the earth ; and that every tongue should con- 
 fess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father," (Philip. 
 ii. 9-11). 
 
 Where in the records of time or eternity can there be found a ser- 
 vice calling for reward like the acrvire of Christ f Whether his work 
 be viewed as bringing amazing blessings upon the creation of God, or 
 what is of still higher importance, as bringing " glory to God in the 
 highest." 
 
 As respects us, poor and undone sinners, when we consider that one 
 of the great objects which the Saviour always fror e beginning to 
 the end of his work intently set before him, the thing which was the 
 source of his "joy for enduring the cross, despising the shame," that 
 which made him happy to wade through all his agonies and soul-sorrows 
 from the manger to the cross was tin's, to lift us out of the ruin of hell 
 and death eternal, vp to be sharers of his own crown, " to sit down 
 with Him on his throne, even as he sat dowTi with his Father on his 
 throne." Surely, oh surely, our hearts should leap within us for very 
 joy that the many crowns have now been placed on his head, 
 that for his own joy and reward, and for our eternal joy, he may go 
 forth as the universal all-conquering King to conquer, and place the 
 crown of victory on our heads.* 
 
 But in measuring the reward due to the Person on whom the ac- 
 complishment of the work was laid, let us never forget that the 
 standard of measurement must be, not merely, what salvation has done 
 for our sin-ruined race, but the whole of the glory which has accrued 
 from it to God. All the works of God are perfect. But as one star 
 differeth from another star in glory, so salvation shines out pre-emin- 
 ently AS the great smi in God's spiritual creation — that as we have seen, 
 it is the great light which reveals to us God's glorious purposes in 
 summoning his creation into being. The anthem sung by the angels 
 in the skies in celebration of the Saviour's birth, was " Glory to God 
 in the highest." In order then to see why salvation should bring " Glory 
 to God in the highest," and why Christ should be so exalted for doing 
 
 • AH who desire infornlation on the subject of Christ's .lominion, and to be satisfied 
 on its perpetuity being coextensive with the dumtion of heaven's ever-circling ages, 
 would do well to read Dr Symingtons' admirable book, ' Messiah the Prince." 
 
; 
 
 12 
 
 the work, let us look for a little to some of the manifestations of God's 
 glory, in the way by which he makes himself known to his creatures. 
 The work, through the medium of which we can best see most of 
 God himself, must, of course, be the most glorious. Now it is in re- 
 demption that we have the nearest and most glorious discovery of God. 
 In the material creation we have a reflection of God. The Bible 
 tells us that "the heavens declare the glory of God, and the firma- 
 ment sheweth forth his handywork." That the invisible things of him 
 from the "creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood 
 from the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead." 
 But God is a Spirit, and, therefore, if we would see most of his 
 glory, we must go to his spiritual creation. 
 
 The material creation must always bo in its very nature infinitely 
 inferior to the spiritual. To say that in shewing us God, the mate- 
 nal as compared with the spiritual, is, like seeing a picture on canvass, 
 and seeing the living breathing original is but a very feeble compa- 
 rison. For had there never been any spiritual creation, God would 
 never have received any glory from his creation desei-ving the name. 
 If we would see God's glory in the highest discoveries of it, we must 
 contemplate therefore this sublime, this lovely spectacle,— the love 
 of God gushing forth, and finding outlet in the glorious plan of a 
 spiritual creation, in raising up countless myriads of happy, exalted 
 intelligences in angels and human beings, made happy by being 
 made in God's own image. Holy like himself, stamped as with the 
 very lineaments and features in which the blessed God finds his own 
 blessedness. 
 
 But is it on this creation of angels and of man that we find the 
 brightest discovery of God's glory? Is this its culminating point? 
 No ; to find this we mubi take up the standpoint of redemption, for 
 sin entering among the angels in heaven first, and then coming into 
 the garden of Eden, brought disorder and ruin into the creation, 
 so that had it not been put upon a new footing by redemption, God 
 should have been robbed of LiS glory, and all his blessed purposes, 
 to raise up a glorious spiritual creation of holy and happy beings' 
 more numerous than the stars in the firmament, or the dew drops 
 from the womb of the morning, would have been defeated. 
 
 For what is sin ? Sin is nothing less than an attempt to dethrone 
 God, overthrow his law and moral government, and ruin all his moral 
 
 imivprsfi. Most rfir+nin of oil nvf^nf" 'f i- ■'•'-Tf * -f •- U j xi 
 
 " ' '■f^Tiicr ii la, mat ii sill had not been 
 
 met, such would have been its actual effects. We are to look, there- 
 fore, for the greatest manifestation of Gods glory, not in creation, but 
 
 I 
 
 , 
 

 , 
 
 in redemption, because it ia redemption that gloiiously retrieves the 
 creation from that ruin brought into it by sin, and re-establishes it 
 upon a foundation by which God is pre-eminently glorified, and the 
 blessedness of countless holy and happy spirits is eternally secured 
 against the possibility of ruin or change. 
 
 What Christ has done for the vindication and magnifying of the 
 divine law and government, therefore, entitles him to all his reward, 
 to all the joy set before him, of which his glory as king and lord over 
 all is an important part. 
 
 God's law is that eternal rule of all that is fair and lovely, — all 
 " that is holy, just, and good." It manifests to us all that we know 
 of the divine mind and perfections — all its tendency and teaching is 
 to elevate the creature into harmony with the Creator, Happiness and 
 holiness are so indissolubly united, that without a conformity to this 
 law of holiness, it is morally impossible even for God himself to make 
 any intelligent creature happy. 
 
 Better that the whole universe were annihilated than that God's 
 moral government should be dishonoured. 
 
 God would sooner suffer the whole universe to rush back into that 
 nothing out of which he raised it, than suffer his law and government 
 to stand unvindicated from the wrong which accursed sin offers to it. 
 — would sooner suffer — 
 
 " The bright sun be extinguished, and the stars 
 Wander forth darkling in the eternal apace, 
 Rayless and pathless, and the icy earth 
 Swing, blind and blackening, in the moonless air." 
 
 Oh, there is an infinite depth of meaning in the Saviours memor- 
 able words, " It is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than for one 
 tittle of the law to fail." 
 
 My friends, the wonders upon wonders — the secrets and further 
 secrets more marvellous still which man's intellect has been drawing 
 out of matter in the present century, and is evermore discovering, 
 are to the Christian above all others matter of rejoicing; because 
 the Christian claims them all for his Lord and King ; because the 
 Christian believes that it was his Saviour who, as Creator at first, gave 
 to matter all its laws and wondrous properties ; because the Christian 
 believes that all matter was made for Christ its lord ; because the 
 Christian believes that the day is most certainly coming when it will 
 stand out revealed and confessed by all, that the glory of matter and 
 of all the amazing nsos to which it has been and is still more to be 
 
14 
 
 turned is its suhscrvience to redemption. For never do material things, 
 or the intellect of man that turns them to such astounding uses, ser^ve 
 the end for which they wore designed unless they are employed as 
 instruments for the good of men's souls. Pile material worlds upon 
 worlds. Let them be as many, as beautiful, as glorious as they may, 
 one soul made in the lma<je of Ood in value outweirjhs them all. 
 
 In surveying the glories of redemption let uh always reimmher this. 
 We never have any right view of the glory which accrues to God from 
 redemption if we confine its effects to redeemed sinners, although 
 that were enough of itself to entitle the Saviour to all his glorious 
 reward. We must view redemption as a vindication once/or°all and 
 for ever of the character of God,— oi' his law— of his government— of 
 his throne. Then the Scriptures seem to encourage this delightful 
 view, that redemption has achieved so glorious a triumph over sin 
 and the works of the devil, as to place the unfallen angels and the 
 redeemed beyond the possibility of fall ; the restored part of the 
 creation beyond the possibility of being ever again exposed to the 
 ruinous influences of sin. 
 
 But how little justice can be done to this great them-^ by the dis- 
 courses or books of mortals. For does not our Bible tell us, that it is 
 in redemption that the highest intelligences in the universe find the 
 treasury which contains all the rarest and most wonderful secrets of 
 God's wisdom ; that it is through the Chvrch that all the manifold 
 glories of that wisdom are in panoramic view exhibited to all the 
 most glorious creatures that God has made. The Holy Ghost, in 
 Ephesians iii. 10, tells us, " God created all things by Jesus Christ, 
 to the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly 
 places might be known by the Church the manifold wisdom of Ood." 
 Here, indeed, is a study fit for heaven's inhabitants during all heaven's 
 ever circling ages. Even here on earth we can see no little of the 
 wonders of that wisdom which redemption discovers. 
 
 Where can we find such insight into the wondrous workings of 
 God's attributes of power, justice, holiness, truth, mercy, and love ? 
 
 Where can we find such an insight into the various ways by which 
 God has produced good out of evil ? 
 
 How marvellously various is the good that man has derived from it. 
 Deliverance from all evils; supply of all wants; good for the body; 
 good for the soul ; good to meet every variety and change of condi- 
 tion ; good to last as long as eternity; to crown all, perfect satisfac- 
 tion in the blessed God, the suprcinr (jood. 
 
15 
 
 Then the angels get a marvellous good too. They get in the re- 
 deemed new brothers and sisters, without tlie danger of ever losing 
 them again out of the family. They are brought much nearer to God 
 than they were ever before, being united under Jesus the new and 
 common head. They know God through the medium of redemption 
 in a way they otherwise never could. 
 
 Again, what wonders rise above wonders in contemplating the 
 manner in whicli the good has been bestowed and secured. 
 
 The wonders vn-apt up in justification, for example. How a sinful 
 creature should become innocent, and instated by the righteousness 
 of another in a far more glorious righteousness than that which was 
 by sin cast away. 
 
 Then the wonders in the rare means by which all this good is pro- 
 duced. Death, for example, being made the death of death, and the 
 productive cause of life eternal to the believer and of everlasting con- 
 fusion to the devil, by turning against him his own weapons. Yes, 
 my friends, it is because this world is the vory stage of redemption 
 that so peculiar a significance is attached to it. 
 
 We cannot tell what may be the glorious manifestations of God in 
 other parts of creation. We cannot tell what may have been the 
 deeds of glory done by Jehovah in the records of the past, or what 
 new and further displays of his glory may come forth from that infi- 
 nite duration still in reserve. 
 
 But this we do know, that this \\rorld is the field where redemption 
 was transacted. This we do know, that it is not possible to conceive 
 of a world where there ever has been or ever shall be another incarna- 
 tion, another Calvary, another crucifixion of the Lord of glory. This 
 we do know, that it is not pocsible to imagine any work of God, more 
 glorious and godlike in design and end, — involving interests dearer 
 to God and to all holy beings in the universe, — than that work of 
 which this world has been the theatre. For what questions of greater, 
 or even of equal interest to God and to all his moral universe is it 
 possible to conceive of, than those which redemption involves? 
 What questions can be so solemn and momentous, can so deeply con- 
 cern the honour and glory of God, and the happiness of all his moral 
 creatures as these ?— The vindication of God's law,— whether that law 
 shall stand or fall,— whether holiness or sin, — heaven or hell, God or 
 Satan, are to have the ascendant V 
 
 Indeed, my friends, the great fact declared by the Holy Ghost in 
 our text, that " all things were made/or Christ," may be said to have 
 been made manifest and visible to every eye. For when the work of 
 
16 
 
 ••edernption came to its cnm's At fi,« «-,, -c • 
 
 «em, to have a«mbW MttC sT 7!,""' "''* """'"'•' 
 
 in rnlvnr,,' • calvary, bo absorbed were all creatures 
 
 n Calvaiys amazing scenes, tlmt ii locked as if tbp «,v, i ^^^"'^^ 
 
 of .he «„ive«e were I; ^TZ'TT ■' "" ",-»W%«no- 
 
 lives from hell wem thoj "I"7'"»''™» '""m heoven, rejiresenta- 
 andbadl^ l: l: ;,,?^^^^^^^^ '"^ ''^ "«*. S-oJ men 
 even the IrraLnal -:« n 7^ ^ ™ ^^trndT^f '"■-^^"■ 
 »a.ter receive,, a tongne .o eonfeX]" irL'rrf'r'r 
 
 their accumulated testimonv to tli,. „,«.. f . 7 ' ^'ve 
 
 thing, are made> OW " ""' °' "'" "'"■*'" " «" 
 
 upon";,.''™'' °" "" '■"f"*'" '«°- "'"* «'« -Wect urges 
 
 Tit^ iiririttzr It t'r-" '- 
 
 ourbiT+li tlin^^f^ J"^' itHempnon. -trom the moment of 
 
 Tthe WM fi u ' r "^ ""° "'» ^'J- "P"' » '« '=»•'«, which 
 
 Ike of tt tvl " ''T'"'""' »»«»' >»"«- Christ and he 
 wo ts of the devil, on the issue of which contest hangs evervthin^ 
 whi h most nearly concerns the gloiy and interests of fo^ .^f ttf 
 safety and happiness of .11 hi, „„,.! universe ' 
 
 hav?sl5°:ith"God-*" °' ™ r' """■ '*»«'"« "> • "« »i" 
 nave sided with Gods enem.es. From the day of our birth to th» 
 
 d y of our death God and Satan are both claiming us , anTheirw Hh 
 
 may be said, that over our very cradles it is written, and in ban 
 tism It IS most impressively sealed, "Take Christ, oh chUd for tl 
 po »r star of thy life and be happy." Attempt to steer thrc ™ witt! 
 out Christ, and ni,n eternal must he the end. For besides cS 
 
 »"r::,7 °"'"' ""-^ "'"" -* '"-'" --^ »-• *"*. - 
 
 How unmistakeably does this subject shew— 
 
 2. The utter impossibility of ^mUruUty towards Ch-i.t. Cast we 
 
17 
 
 i 
 
 about as we may for illustrationB to shew this impossibility, all are too 
 weak. 
 
 The impossibility of stopping the sun in his course ; the impossi- 
 bility of a single individual resisting the united physical force of the 
 material, or all the weight of influences of the mtelligent creation. 
 These are cases of impossibility as extreme as imagination itself could 
 suggest, and yet they feebly set forth the impossibility of occupy, 
 ing neutral ground towards Christ and salvation. 
 
 For what does the mortal who would be neutral towards Christ at- 
 tempt ? He attempts to fly in the face, resist, defeat all the most 
 glorious plans and purposes of God. For these all centre in consti- 
 tuting his Son Head over all things. In order to maintain the honour 
 of the divine government, and to repair the ruin which sin, if sufi'ered 
 to go without a remedy, would bring upon it, Christ is the divinely 
 anointed universal King. 
 
 For any mortal, therefore, to stand out against Christ, under this 
 deep aggravation too, that Christ comes forth in his gospel as the 
 Saviour who, " to seek and to save that which was lost," has not hesi- 
 tated to come from the throne to the cross— who has not spared him- 
 self, but has cheerfully thrown himself in the gap between us and 
 ruin. Who has ever rightly measured the mad impiety and guilt of 
 attempting neutrality here ? 
 
 Oh what an emphasis does our subject give to the Saviour's words, 
 " If ye believe not that lam He, ye shall die in your sins." " He that is 
 not with me is against me, and he that gathereth not with me scattereth 
 abroad." 
 
 3. Consecration to Christ is the call which the subject loudly sends 
 forth to the world in its associated relations. 
 
 It calls on nations by the argument, that they are specially designed 
 agencies, and means of influence in the hands of Christ their King, of 
 bringing the world over to him. It calls on families and heads' of 
 families by the argument, that they are designed to be in the hands 
 of Christ, the head of all the families of the earth— nurseries for the 
 rearing a holy seed— one godly generation after another to serve him 
 in his Church, 
 
 But if the call for this national consecration be addressed to one 
 nation above all others, Great Britain is that nation. 
 
 For if Britain holds a pre-fiminence among the nation;*, if it wields a 
 master influence over the world's affairs, if its dominions be so large 
 that the sun never sets on them, if it be mistress of the seas, if it be 
 the ivorld's great workshop and hanker, to whom but to Christ is it 
 
18 
 
 1 1 ( 
 
 f 1 
 
 debtor for all '> And for what end did it receive all but to ueo it for 
 Christ, for whom arc all things, and to advance the interest of his 
 kingdom. Let Britain beware of unfaithfulness to the high and 
 glorious trust, lest all its national glory may depart. 
 
 " Be wise, ye kings ; bo instructed, ye judges of the earth." 
 " For the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish. 
 Now, therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my cove- 
 nant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure to me above all people. 
 For all the earth is mine." 
 
 But the subject earnestly calls on each individual most seriously to 
 consider and take home — 
 
 4. The all momentous alternative involved in the great fact, that 
 " all things are created for Christ." 
 
 In the very fact that we are beings brought into the creation of 
 God, it is most undeniably true that w ^ were made for Christ. Be- 
 cause all creation is for Christ, from the highest angel up in heaven 
 to the very smallest atom down on earth. 
 
 But what an infinite diflference does it make ; whether we belong to 
 Christ as his necessary but unwilling subjects, who do not wish him 
 to reign over us, or whether we have by faith been drawn to him 
 by the gospel, and by the sweet captivity of his all conquering love 
 have become Christ's willing devoted subjects and disciples. 
 
 Oh ! let any creature, to whom the name of Christ and his gospel 
 are made known, most closely examine ere it be for ever too late the 
 two sides of this alternative ; for Christ, as forming a part of his do- 
 minion over apostate devils and apostate sinners his enemies ; and /or 
 Christ, as forming a part of his willing loving subjects won over to him 
 by a cordial acceptance of gospel offers. 
 
 What a striking contrast in condition and prospects between these 
 two different classes of persons ! 
 
 How utterly hopeless and forlorn is the state of unbelievers. 
 It is bad enough that they were by nature in that state of sin and 
 ruin, which have come by the apostasy of our race from God. But 
 they have this deep aggravation of guilt to answer for. 
 
 Christ has graciously stretched out to them his benignant sceptre 
 of gospel mercy, making to them, in his character of Saviour as well 
 as King, a free offer of all that great salvation with which God is 
 citemally well pleased, and by which he is eternally glorified. But 
 they have refused it, and the gospel day, and their day of merciful 
 visitation, has for ever gone by. 
 
 What then can remain, after this, but an eternity to brood over the 
 
19 
 
 guilt and self-ruin which now everlastingly and irretrievably cleaves 
 to them as he necessary consequence of having despised and thrown 
 away that which brings glory to God in the highest, and which, if it 
 had been nghtly treated, would have brought to them heaven aLd all 
 Its eternal weight of glory. 
 
 But what a contrast is there on the other side of the picture, in 
 he condition and prospects of those who, by a cordial surrender tp 
 the gospel call, belong to Christ as his willing subjects and true dis- 
 ciples. 
 
 First, what a blessed safety in their condition. 
 
 The world may change like the winds as often and much as it 
 pleases. Convulsions may happen in the natural world,-revolutions 
 in the political or commercial worlds. It might seem that that which 
 the Scriptures speak of had come, " the foundations of the earth dis- 
 solving. Its pillars giving way." What then ? The hearts of those 
 who have not Christ to rest on may fail them for fear. But what has 
 he Christian to fear ? Seeing that Christ and the Christian, in mind 
 heart, purpose, interest, are me; and seeing that Christ and the 
 dmne mmd and purposes in creation are also one ; Christ, the Sove- 
 iei.gn Ruler of all creation and providence, will so touch every secret 
 spnng, and move every wheel as to make all most surely work to- 
 gether for the good of his loving loyal subjects. 
 
 What a delightful confirmation does this subject give to the truth 
 of Jobs beautiful description of the believer's condition in being at 
 peace with creation, in being at peace with creation's King, (Job 
 v. 23). ° ^ 
 
 But to speak of the believer's perfect safety, in the fact that he is 
 the subject of Him, ^'hywhom and for whom all things were created " is 
 the least that can be said. All the amazing privileges and blessings, 
 consequent on the plan of salvation, are unfailingly the believer's. 
 
 By this plan of godlike, unearthly wMom, there is such a complete 
 omness of interest by reason of union betiveen Christ and his people that 
 Chnst's exaltation becomes theirs, that he has gone up to be enthroned 
 as their representative; that they may share in that glory and reward 
 which, at so inestimable a cost, he died to purchase, and lives to bestow 
 
 The believer can say that he and creation's Lord are, in respect to 
 interest, benefit, relation, one, — 
 
 " One wheu he died, one when he rose, 
 One when he triumphed o'er his foes ; 
 One, when in heaven he took his seat, 
 And angels sang all hell's defeat." 
 
so 
 
 How Hweet the thought that Christ the King is the believer's ever 
 devoted unchangeable friend, " Henceforth, I call you not servants, 
 for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth : but I have called you 
 friends ; for all things that I have heard of my Father, I have made 
 known unto you." How sweet the thought that Christ the King is 
 the believer's friend, yea kinsman and elder brother. " For we are 
 members of his body, of hi:? flesh, and of his bones," (Eph. v. 30). 
 
 These are the privileges flowing from the relationship between 
 Christ and believers even Acre, As to the prospects hereafter of 
 heaven and glory,— who can rightly speak of the believer's heaven?— 
 but this much must be most certain, that a heaven in the securing of 
 which the whole resources of creation have been expended,— nay, im-- 
 measurably more, the all precious blood of the Son of God and Son of 
 man ; a heaven bestowed on Christ, and to be shared by his people aa 
 one in relationship with him, as the appropriate reward for a work 
 by which God's glory and the honour of his moral government shine 
 out with transcendent lustre and beauty to the whole intelligent 
 universe. Surely, oh surely, such a heaven as this cannot be a mean 
 one,— one of which God will be ashamed. But this heaven, oh be- 
 liever, is thine,— thine as unchangeably sure and eternal a a thy 
 King's great word can make it. " And the glory which thou gavest me 
 I have given them, that they may be one, even as we are one. Father, I 
 will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am, that 
 they may behold my glory," (John xvii. 22, 23). 
 
 In taking leave of this subject and of his native land, the preacher 
 feels it to be a great privilege and comfort to be able, by the authority 
 of his Lord and Master, to send abroad with these pages this invita- 
 tion, large as the hmrt of Jems, to all and each by whom they may be 
 read. Come and be Christ's devoted subject and disciple, and all that 
 his glorious work has deserved and secured shall be assuredly thine. 
 For, King of kings and Lord of lords as Jesus is, hear Jas own 
 gracious invitation, " him that cometh to me I will in no ■ me cast 
 out ;" yea, more marvellous still, " Behold I stand at the door ai d knock." 
 
 I 
 
 EDINBUBOII : I'BKNTJJD BV JOHN OBEIG AND SON. 
 
 &fy75 C^(^7 /S57 ^esP.cc-L 
 
f' • .% •