The Covenant of Redemption

Review of the Series Introduction and Approach

0:02 Now, our study this morning is the second in a series of lectures on the critical issue of the doctrine commonly called limited atonement, or better, particular redemption, or definite atonement. In the introductory lecture two weeks ago, I attempted to do three things. Number one, to state clearly the issue before us, and I did so by, first of all, giving some negatives and then some positives. We are not discussing the inherent sufficiency of the work of Christ, the ultimate application of the work of Christ.

0:36 We are not discussing whether there is a sincere offer made of the benefits of Christ's death to all men who come within the compass of the gospel, or whether or not there are manifold fruits accruing to all men from the death of Christ. But the precise issue is this. Did Christ die for all men indiscriminately and discreetly, or did he die for a certain number of men particularly and exclusively, or more simply, for whom did Christ die, placing upon that word die the full implication of its biblical significance. Then, secondly, I tried to describe the approach by which we would address ourselves to the subject, first of all, as to attitude and then method. We do not come with arrogance, but I trust with humility, recognizing we tread in an area where good and godly men have differed, men who have loved the grace of God and have had a deep appreciation for God's grace in Christ. Then our method is not the atomistic, taking up texts, but the holistic approach, seeking to come at the doctrine of the extent of God's intention in the death of his Son, with reference to the larger biblical and theological categories in which that doctrine, which is the doctrine of the Son of God, is based on. And I want to read again that quote that I gave you from Hugh Martin,

2:04 not to fill up time, but because I'd like it to filter down in. Hugh Martin, speaking of this very subject, says, it is extremely injudicious, unwise, and impolitic, sort of a synonym, he's using two words, for defenders of the faith to discuss any scriptural doctrine, and particularly to profess to do so fully and exhaustively, outside the doctrine of the Son of God. They rob it of the greater category in which the doctrine properly and natively belongs. By so doing, they place it in a position of unnecessary danger, and assign to themselves a greater difficulty in defending it than Scripture assigns to them.

2:45 They rob it of the illustration, and they rob it of the protection, which the higher or larger category affords. And then he goes on to enlarge upon that principle. And I hope that something of the wisdom of what Hugh Martin is saying will become more and more apparent as we continue in this series of studies. So much, then, for those two things.

3:07 I tried to state clearly the issue, describe the approach, and then, at the conclusion of the lecture, I outlined the specific manner of our approach. And I suggested that the death of Christ, as a sacrifice or expiation, as a propitiation, as a work of reconciliation, as a work of redemption, ought never to be considered, if we're trying to come to a comprehensive view of that death, apart from these larger spheres of consideration. What he did upon the cross, he did in fulfillment of his priestly function, he did as one who stood in a peculiar relationship with his people, he did within the framework of the covenant of redemption. The work of the cross must be seen in relationship to all of these, moving outwardly, it must be seen as the fruit, and within the context of these, moving from the outer circles to the inner. Well, so much for that brief review. Now we come to consider this morning the death of Christ upon the cross in relationship to the covenant of redemption.

Defining the Covenant of Redemption

4:19 Now, first of all, I want to define our terms, and then, secondly, we shall consider a justification for considering the work of Christ within this framework, and then, thirdly, I hope to expound the concept from the scriptures, and then, last of all, to draw some practical applications. So there are four lines of thought under this broad consideration, the death of Christ in relationship to the covenant of redemption. First of all, then, a definition of terms. Few things are of greater importance in theological discussion than is the precise definition of terms.

4:59 For want of this, there is much confusion, wrong impressions, and oft times imprecision of thought and unnecessary debate. You see, words are the vehicles of thought. If the words are not precise, the thought will be blurred. Now, never forget that.

5:17 In any kind of discussion, in any kind of opportunity that you have to preach or to teach, words are the tools of communication, and anyone concerned with accurate communication must be a student of words all his days. If your dictionary is not almost as well worn out as your Bible, you are not concerned with accuracy of communication. Your dictionary and your Bible ought to be your constant companions. So, at the very outset, we must define precisely our terms.

5:50 Now, the term, covenant of redemption, is not a biblical term, as are such terms as sacrifice, redemption, reconciliation, propitiation, etc. But, as you've often been reminded, neither is the word trinity a biblical term, or, to relate to the Sunday morning messages, two natures of Christ. That's not a biblical term. But these terms, though not biblical in themselves, are essential if we are to express the fruit of our collating of biblical data.

6:24 God gives us a fact here, and a fact here, and a fact here, and when we seek to put them together, the fruit of that collation of biblical data has to be expressed in some kind of a verbal symbol. So, when we take the fact that there is one God, the fact that Jesus Christ is recognized as God, the Father is recognized as God, the Spirit is recognized as God, we put all those together and we say the Bible contains a doctrine of trinity in unity. One God in three persons, three persons who compose the one God. Well, this is what we're dealing with when we come to the term covenant of redemption.

7:08 The Scriptures set before us certain facts relative to the work of Christ, which, when we put them all together, force upon us a concept that has been expressed in the history of theological thought in this term, the covenant of redemption. Mr. Fisher called it a pre-temporal inter-trinitarian agreement. I think that was his fancy title, and that's well and good.

7:37 And I don't say that with tongue in cheek. But you won't often find pre-temporal inter-trinitarian agreement in theological books. You'll come across the term covenant of redemption, or some of its synonyms, and I want to give you some of its synonyms. The council of redemption.

7:55 That's a synonym of covenant of redemption. Sometimes you'll come across the term the council of peace, based upon perhaps an inaccurate exegesis of Zechariah 6.13. I said perhaps. I'm not sure.

8:12 I've read on both sides of the subject and I feel it's pretty much a toss-up. Or some will use the broader term covenant of grace, including in it what we are calling the covenant of redemption. And then you have the term that was used in this class last spring, the inter-trinitarian agreement or arrangement. Now all those are synonyms.

8:38 So we're talking about one and the same thing. And perhaps I ought to say just a word that for our usage, something of the relationship of this term to its sister term, covenant of grace. Some of you were not here when Bob dealt with this in his lectures right on the threshold of those lectures last year. When we speak of the covenant of redemption, we're talking about something that has to do with the dog head.

9:09 It's an inter-trinitarian arrangement in which man is not included except in the divine purpose. Whereas the covenant of grace, we are thinking of that as the historical transcript, the outworking of the covenant of redemption in redemptive history. So covenant of grace for us is something that is not essentially different from this, as though we're talking about two different commodities. But it is helpful, I think, for accuracy of thought to separate the two, though some theologians argue for including them all together under the general term covenant of grace.

Justification for a Covenantal Framework

9:46 Does that help to at least put the terminology in focus? Alright then, in the second place, I toyed with whether I should use the word justification because that sounds defensive. But I want to use it, though I hope I'm not defensive. The justification for considering the work of Christ within such a framework.

10:09 Now is this just a logical or philosophical notion imposed upon the data of scripture? Or is it really an attempt to handle the doctrine of the death of Christ in a scriptural manner? Now let me suggest that there are certain passages which indicate that the death of Christ is inextricably identified with covenantal arrangements. And that we ought never to think in depth of the death of Christ apart from those covenantal arrangements within which the death of Christ is presented to us.

10:48 Turn please to Isaiah chapter 42. Isaiah 42 is one of these great servant of Jehovah passages. As some of you are well aware, this is one of the great messianic themes of the prophet Isaiah. The theme of the servant of Jehovah.

11:09 It's that very theme that introduces the great passage in chapter 53 concerning the sufferings of the servant of Jehovah. Isaiah 42, Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delighted. Certainly you can't read that without thinking of the language of the New Testament. This is my son, my beloved, in whom I am well pleased.

11:37 I have put my spirit upon him. He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles. He will not cry nor lift up his voice nor cause it to be heard in the street. A bruised reed will he not break.

11:49 In a dimly burning wick will he not quench. He will bring forth justice in truth. He will not fail nor be discouraged till he has set justice in the earth and the isles shall wait for his law. Here's this sweeping statement concerning the manner in which the servant will carry out his mission and then the absolute certainty of the success of that mission.

12:12 Then further, verse 5, Thus saith the Lord God, he that created the heavens and stretched them forth, he that spread abroad the earth and that which cometh out of it, he that giveth breath to the people upon it and spirit to them that walk therein, I the Lord have called thee in righteousness and will hold thy hand and will keep thee and will give thee for a covenant of the people for a light of the Gentiles to open the blind eyes to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house. Now without attempting a definitive exposition of the significance of this phrase I will give thee a covenant of the people one thing is clear that the work of Christ and the biblical concept of covenant are so identified that Christ himself is called in this passage a covenant of the people as well as a light of the Gentiles. So that when we think of the servant of Jehovah and the total spectrum of his work and mission ultimately resulting in bringing blessing to the Gentiles in the isles coming under the canopy of that blessing that work is so bound up with covenantal arrangements that God can say I have given thee for a covenant of the people. And then a passage which will be brought to our remembrance tomorrow

13:38 God willing as we meet together at the table of the Lord Matthew chapter 26 verses 26 to 28 And as they were eating Jesus took bread and blessed and break it and he gave to his disciples and said Take, eat, this is my body and he took a cup and gave thanks and gave to them saying drink ye all of it for this is my blood of the covenant which is poured out for many unto remission of sins. Now what does the text tell us? Well it tells us as surely as that blood will ultimately result in the remission of the sins of many it does so only within the framework of covenantal arrangements. It is the blood of the covenant and it's only as the blood of the covenant that it will be efficacious to bring remission of sins to many. So for any who would say a contemplation of the death of Christ in terms of covenantal arrangements is the imposition of philosophy and theological abstraction upon the simplicity of the message of the Bible would have a terrible problem with this passage. Our Lord intends and this thing of course is picked up in 1 Corinthians chapter 11

15:05 that as oft as we come to that simple supper of remembrance there should be something of the remembrance of the covenantal structure within which that blood was poured out for many. And then of course perhaps the classic text showing that a consideration of the death of Christ in reference to covenantal arrangements is essential is Hebrews chapter 13 and verse 20. Hebrews chapter 13. The writer to the Hebrews which Mr. Fisher is convinced is the Apostle Paul and he has good company for that in the person of the mighty John Owen. He would pronounce blessing upon the people of God verse 20 of Hebrews 13 Now the God of peace who brought again from the dead the great shepherd of the sheep with the blood of an eternal covenant even our Lord Jesus make you perfect in every good thing to do his will working in us that which is well pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ to whom be glory forever and ever. Now again I'm not going to go into the exegesis of the passage. There's a linguistic problem.

16:18 Is it that he brought again from the dead the great shepherd of the sheep with the blood of the eternal covenant? Are we to see that with reference to his bringing him again from the dead or does it have another connection of thought? Well that's irrelevant to our concern. At this point we have but one concern and the concern is this that the blood of that great shepherd of the sheep is blood which is inextricably bound up with an eternal covenant and that we must not think of the efficacy of that blood the purpose for which it was shed the objects for which it was shed divorced from the covenant.

16:59 The covenantal arrangements within which that blood was indeed shed. Now these texts should satisfy every inquirer after truth that the approach we are taking is one which is not imposed upon the simplicity of the biblical doctrine of the death of Christ by theologians. It is an approach that is imposed upon us by the data of scripture. Now am I saying that a person cannot be saved or have a love to Christ crucified if he is ignorant of the covenant of redemption?

17:35 Well if that's so then most of us would have to change the date of our salvation at least as we understand when we were brought out of death into life. No we are not saying I am not asserting that a person cannot have a saving embrace of Christ crucified unless he is knowledgeable in the covenant of redemption. But what I am saying is that if we are coming to grips with something of a comprehensive consideration of the death of Christ any such consideration is woefully inadequate if it does not come to grips at the outset with the biblical doctrine concerning the covenant of redemption. And to the extent that those of us who are teachers of others isolate the death of Christ from this covenant of redemption within which that death occurred and within which the benefits of that death accrue to men even to the islands waiting for his law we rob that death of its richness and we rob the people of God of the consolations that ought to be theirs when they understand the death of their Savior within the framework of the covenant of redemption. And Hugh Martin as so many of those Scottish divines brings this note through that these are not abstractions and he talks about the noble sons and daughters of Scotland who at one time were so thoroughly grounded in this doctrine

19:03 that it was their comfort and consolation and he is bemoaning the fact that the free church was sending forth a generation of preachers who had been too influenced by German schools of theology and had no appreciation and he knew that it was going to result in the impoverishment of the people who sat under their ministries. I commend to you this book on the atonement it is a combination of Hodges' treatment and Hugh Martin's and the section by Hugh Martin the first 23 pages is worth the price of that book six times over and I mean that sincerely it's tremendously rich stuff. Well, so much then for a justification of this approach overlaid upon a definition of terms now we come to expound the concept. Let me begin by saying that the religion of the Bible is decidedly and pervasively trinitarian that is the God revealed as the proper object of our love and our devotion and our obedience is set before us as the God who exists and works as one God Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Now that's a long statement let me go back over it I don't expect you to take it down verbatim but I hope you catch the thrust of it.

The Trinitarian Nature of God's Eternal Purpose

20:29 The religion of the Bible now notice I said the religion I didn't say just the concepts of the Bible the religion of the Bible is decidedly that is it's not just an oblique thing it's not just something that is there to be found if you really look it's decidedly and pervasively not just New Testament decidedly and pervasively trinitarian that is the God who is revealed in the Bible as the proper object of love and devotion and obedience is set before us as the one true and living God who exists and works as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Now I'm fully aware that the full revelation of what we call the doctrine of the Trinity had to await that point in redemptive history when what we call the second person of the Godhead became man. It took the incarnation to bring to full light the doctrine of the Trinity. But John 1.1 is a clear statement to the fact that the actings of the Godhead as one in three and three in one are of eternal reality.

21:51 In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God literally towards God. There was this face to face relationship may I say it reverently there was personal intercommunion and the Word was God. And from the full manifestation of the doctrine of the Trinity we can then look back with New Testament glasses and see things we could never see with the unaided eye if we were in the Old Testament as it unfolded. And we can see those hints of the doctrine of the Trinity and the whole rich teaching concerning the angel of Jehovah the pluralism of some of those passages.

22:35 We put New Testament glasses on and we are able to read things that those without those glasses perhaps could not read standing at that point in time. But the point that I'm making is we must never think that the doctrine of the Trinity as revealed and made definitive in the point of redemptive history that we call the fullness of the times in any way blurs the reality of the existence and actings of the Trinity from all eternity. God always has been the three in one and the one in three so that all of His actings and motions of mind and purpose have been the actings and motions of God in Trinity. Now you see that has all kinds of practical implications not the least of which is the element of the personality of God the person of God the what shall I say the overtones of that which make God something other than abstract thought and power and will that in the Godhead there was this face to face relationship between the persons of the Godhead beholding communing what terms can we use other than the terms of John 1 1 and the word was towards God and the word

24:04 was God. Now having said that the religion of the Bible is decidedly and pervasively Trinitarian let me go on to say in the next place within this one God there is perfect unity of mind of will and of purpose. The design and purpose of one person is the reflection of the design and purpose of the entire Godhead. And when certain things are attributed more frequently to one person of the Godhead we must never think of it in terms of one person had to secure the consent of the other persons of the Godhead.

24:47 We might launch a project and try to get ten people to agree with us and three do immediately and the others we give them a bill of goods and we persuade them and we finally get them to come on. We must never think that way. If the scriptures show that certain things are attributed more to the activity of the Father it is of the Father of the Triune Godhead. The Godhead in which there is but one mind in which there is but one will.

25:16 Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one or in the language of Job 23.13 He is of one mind and who can turn Him? You say, where in the world have we gotten from the cross and the covenant of redemption? We're going to theology proper.

25:34 No, I'm moving somewhere. Hang in there. Hang in there with me. All right?

God's Eternal Design and Purpose for Salvation

25:40 Now it is just this God who has revealed that the plan to create to permit sin and to save a people was no afterthought in the mind of God. All of this proceeds out of eternal design and purpose. Three texts of scripture. 2 Timothy 1 and verse 9.

26:01 2 Timothy 1 and verse 9. Who saved us and called us with a holy calling not according to our works but according to His own purpose and grace which was given us in Christ Jesus before times eternal. Paul says something has happened in our life history. We have been saved.

26:41 We have been called. And again, we're not going into a precise exegesis of what that calling is. Is that the effectual calling shared by all men? Or is it the special calling into special occupation in the kingdom of Christ?

26:55 Well, in either case, it's something that happened in the life history of Paul the apostle and Timothy, his beloved child. Verse 1 of Titus chapter 1. Now he says these things that have happened to us in the course of our own life history of God's will, of God's redemption impinging upon our own humanity in space and time was not based upon something which we did that elicited such gracious dealings, but this was but a transcript in our life history of that which God purposed in His grace, in Christ Jesus before times eternal. You see, he says all that we've received in time is but a transcript of what was conceived in eternity. You got it? What we've received in time is that which was conceived in eternity. Titus chapter 1 and verse 2.

28:01 We can back up to verse 1. Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Christ Jesus, according to the faith of God's elect and the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness, in hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before times eternal. And we have the same phrase in the original. Who cannot lie, promised before times eternal, but in His own seasons manifested His word in the message wherein I was entrusted.

28:36 You see what he's saying? What has happened in life history. The manifestation was but a transcript in time and human history of that which God purposed in eternity. And then the well-known text in Ephesians chapter 1, and I introduce it here because of an additional aspect.

28:57 Ephesians 1, the apostle is giving this great eulogy. He's theologizing by eulogizing. Some of you who were with us for the expositions of this chapter a number of years ago remember how we made a constant point of that. Here's a man who in his eulogizing theologizes.

29:15 His praise and worship is bristling with lofty theological thought. But the contemplation of such thoughts did not leave him cold and detached. They caused his heart to burn. So his theologizing led to his eulogizing.

29:30 And his eulogizing gave vent in theologizing. And that's true Christianity. But I'm not to re-preach that passage. I'm to direct your attention to something that has to do with the lecture this morning.

29:40 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without blemish before him in love having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, etc. And here we have the emphasis again that as the apostle contemplates all things and all of the blessings that have been marked out for the people of God he says that the reservoir of those blessings is Christ and they become ours because we are in Christ. And he traces them all back to their fountain head and he focuses then upon this act of divine selectivity which though it was before the world was with reference to Christ. More of that when we come to this next week, God willing. But the point for now is to notice how he underscores this principle that what has come to him of redemptive blessings in time is but the outflowing of what was purposed in Christ in eternity. Now the question is this in that eternal design and purpose of God to save a people when grace was purposed and life was promised 2 Timothy 1.9, Titus 1.2

31:09 when grace was promised purpose, I'm sorry and life was promised was it a purpose and promise with bare sovereignty in unity acting on behalf of the people? Or does the word indicate that there was an interpersonal transaction between the various members of the Godhead with respect to this purpose and this design? You see the question we're zeroing in on. We've established that what we received in time of redemptive benefits was conceived in eternity.

31:52 Now the question is was it a conception of God in unity acting in sheer sovereignty or was it a purpose and a design of God acting in Trinity with reference to the salvation of a people? In other words is the eternal purpose and plan with reference to saving a people decided Trinitarian activity? Remember my opening assertion the religion of the Bible is decidedly and pervasively Trinitarian. Now where does the Bible allow us to trace that religion back to?

32:33 That's bad English but you get what I'm driving at. When we ask where does this religion of the Bible come from? And we press it back and back and back the Bible says we can trace it back no further than that activity of God in which He said is to live Christ in eternity. Grace was purposed and life was promised in Christ.

32:57 Now when we trace it back there and we say now God when that was purposed and when it was planned and when it was promised was it God in unity acting as it were with the dominant note of unilateral sovereignty or was it God in Trinity? Well someone says that's impudent to even ask the question. Yes it would be unless there are certain data in Scripture that actually lead us both to ask and to answer that question. And the reason the concept the covenant of redemption has come into theological language is that careful students of the Word of God have seen in Scripture data which have forced upon them forced upon them this concept that God's purpose to grant grace and salvation was indeed a purpose framed by the interaction of the various members of the Triune Godhead so that God's design for our salvation has all the richness of the interpersonal Trinitarian climate that makes its present possession so rich. And we see it traced all the way back to its original conception in the mind and heart of God. And points like that brethren that's when I wish I could say close the class I want to go pray. Isn't that what makes our present salvation so rich?

34:25 It's God in Trinity who's laid hold of us in time. The Father into whose presence I come through the Son in the power of the Spirit as old as Pastor Blaise used to say it takes the whole Trinity to save one's soul. Some of us can remember him saying well that's what makes our present salvation so rich. But oh my brethren how much richer it becomes when we realize from the very beginning of its conception it has been Trinitarian salvation.

Christ's Self-Consciousness of His Assigned Mission

34:55 Well what is the data or what are some of the elements of that data which have forced this upon people? Consider then first of all passages in which Christ speaks of a specific assignment of responsibility and then we'll look secondly at passages in which specific promises are made to the Son if he fulfills those assigned responsibilities. Some of this material was given in a different form by Mr. Fisher.

35:24 A number of you were not here. Those of you who were if there's any aspect of theological truth we want you to be well grounded in it's the doctrine of the covenant so this repetition will not hurt you and just might do you some good. All right? Passages in which Christ speaks of a specific assignment of responsibility.

35:43 Turn please to the Gospel according to John. John chapter 6 John chapter 6 verses 38 well let's back up to verse 36 37 I'm sorry. All that which the Father giveth me shall come unto me. Now I think from an exegetical standpoint being honest with the linguistic forms particularly the tenses of the verb that Professor Murray's exposition of this is unassailable.

36:21 That this verse 37 does not refer primarily to a donation of the Father to the Son of a people in eternity but rather something that occurred in the life history of our Lord and I'll not go into the reasons for that but I do believe it's an unassailable exegesis of the passage. All that which the Father giveth me shall come to me and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. Now what's the rationale behind that? Christ is made in the same way and the same way he is in the same way and he is made in the same way and he is made in the same way and he is made in the same way all who are his by donation of the Father shall come and when they do come and then he just piles up negatives I will in no wise cast him out and you don't feel the force of those negatives in the English translation. Powerful statement. Under no circumstances will they ever be cast out. Why?

37:13 Why? Well the Lord's going to answer that for for here's the rationale behind it for I am come down from heaven I am come down from heaven not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. Well, how does Christ's inflexible commitment to do the will of the Father justify the statement that none who come to him will ever be cast out? Well, he's going to answer that.

37:40 And this is the will of him that sent me, that of all that which he hath given me, I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that every one that beholdeth the Son and believeth in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. You see what grows out of this passage, or what is reflected in this passage? It was a self-consciousness on the part of our Lord that his coming down from heaven was in fulfillment of a clearly designed and previewed and previously framed mission.

38:23 Now, granted, I'm not denying anything of what we've asserted Sunday mornings concerning the human mind of our Lord, which received progressively unfoldings of the will of the Father in the study of Scripture. But certainly our Lord is referring here to that consciousness of his divine mind in which his mission was clearly and patently before him before he ever became enlightened, incarnate in the womb of the Virgin Mary. I am come down from heaven not to do mine own will. What is that will?

38:58 I came down on a mission that would involve nothing less than saving all who would be the Father's donation to me. In John chapter 10, we have a similar emphasis. John chapter 10, verses 17 through 19.

39:16 Therefore doth the Father love me, having spoken of his role and function as the Good Shepherd, therefore doth the Father love me, because I lay down my life that I may take it again. No one taketh it away from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down. I have power to take it again.

39:36 And what lies behind it? This commandment received I from my Father. And as you've also known, if you've been with us Sunday mornings, when our Lord uses that phrase, my Father, it is pregnant with the old, overtones of his identity as God the Son. This commandment have I received of my Father.

40:01 Now precisely when did he receive that commandment? Well, that's a question that is not settled in this particular passage, but I think by inference and particularly by the light thrown upon it from John 17, we can answer that question. Turn please to John 17,

40:20 verses 1 through 4.

40:25 These things spake Jesus, and lifting up his eyes to heaven, he said, Father, the hour is come. Glorify thy Son, that the Son may glorify thee, even as thou gavest him authority over all flesh, that to all whom thou hast given him he should give eternal life. And this is life eternal, that they should know thee, the only true God, and him whom thou didst send, even Jesus Christ. I glorified thee on the earth, having accomplished the work which thou hast given me to do, and I have done it.

40:57 And now, Father, glorify thou me with thine own self, with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. Now, the point for our study this morning is to notice that in the accomplishment of his work in space and time in human history, that work that is now to culminate in the bloodletting of the cross, our Lord in this passage indicates that he never was totally cut off from that awareness of what was his prior to the incarnation.

41:37 And as we'll see in the next division of thought, it's almost as though he's saying, Father, here are the terms of the arrangement by which I came to earth and accomplished a specific task. Now I have kept my end of that inter-trinitarian commitment. Father, I now plead with you to fulfill that which you've committed yourself to do to glorify me. But the point from verse 5 is this.

42:03 He's conscious here on earth of that pre-incarnate glory that was his before the world was. And so we're taken right back into the womb of eternity. And Christ on the very eve of laying down his life to die is in his own mind and thought accomplishing the work which brings with it in its orbit the very compass of eternity. And that's the point that we're trying to establish, you see, that this work upon the cross exists in the framework of a covenant of redemption which takes us back into eternity.

42:44 And the bringing of those two things into intimate relationship is here demonstrated by the words of our Lord. You have it further in verse 24. Father, I desire that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am. That they may behold my glory which thou hast given me for thou lovest me before the foundation of the world.

43:08 Now do you see the interpersonal relationships of the various members of the trinity. Thou lovest me before the foundation of the world. You see, we're not dealing with a Unitarian God. We're dealing with the Trinitarian God.

43:27 And one of the things that the members of that Godhead speaks of a love that he was conscious of receiving. There was this reciprocation of affection between the Father and Son before the Incarnation. And the Lord now longs for a return to that state that he had prior to the Incarnation. Wonder of wonders that as the fruit of his Incarnation we will share in something of that which the old writers called the beatific vision.

43:59 Now you see the perspective of our Lord. It's a work accomplished in time which has dimensions which stretch back not only before the Incarnation but before the world began which is simply an idiom for describing eternity.

Hugh Martin's Summary of Christ's Covenantal Role

44:17 Now let me quote from Hugh Martin touching on this very point.

44:26 I'll find it here, page 15.

44:32 No scheme whatever that should be true to the leading contents of Scripture concerning the work of the Incarnate Redeemer can we possibly avoid coming to the conclusion that he acts according to a covenant with the Father. Now here's the statement. It's a classic statement. Whatever Christ did he designed to do.

44:52 And whatever he designed to do he designed because he had been designated to it. What he did he designed. What he designed was that to which he was designated. He had been sanctified and sealed and sent into the world.

45:12 He continually averred in this view that he did nothing of himself. He was acting by commission and that not merely in general but by commission reaching every detail of speech and action alike. He did quote the works of his Father end quote. He spake quote his Father's words.

45:32 Whatsoever he spake whatsoever he did it was as the Father had given him commandment. He had been designated therefore by no isolated decree by no individual or separate oracle but by regular full complete covenant. Under no category or instrument other than that of a compact a covenant is it possible to bring all the fullness circumstance detail history order and fruit of his work. We are simply shut up to the theory of an everlasting life.

46:08 It is a covenant covenant.

46:11 Now the point that Mr. Martin makes and that this Mr. Martin is making is that those passages which speak of a specific assignment of responsibility to Christ with tentacles that reach back into eternity those are revealed concepts. We have been looking at specific passages in the word of God.

46:33 Now what are we to make of those? Well the answer of those who share our theological perspective is we must conceive of that assignment of responsibility and that willing acceptance of responsibility with taproots in eternity under the framework of something that we call an inter-trinitarian arrangement that we call a covenant. Whatever term we used it must somehow express the fact that the taproots of our salvation are the activity of trinity and unity and unity and unity and unity and unity and trinity that there is this gracious interpersonal commitment to the salvation of a people that will ultimately be procured by the bloodletting of the Son of God. And then the second category of passages are those in which specific promises are made to the Son if he fulfills his assigned responsibilities. Let me give you but several of them. First of all there is the pledge that the Father would prepare a true humanity for the Son.

The Father's Promises to the Son in the Covenant

47:43 Psalm 40 and verse 6 quoted in Hebrews 10 and verse 5. Psalm 40 and verse 6.

47:53 Sacrifice and offering thou hast no delight in. Mine ears hast thou opened. Burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required. Then said I, Lo, I am come.

48:04 In the roll of the book it is written of me. I delight to do thy will. O my God. My God.

48:12 Now turning over to Hebrews chapter 10 we have one of the most vivid descriptions of the commitment of the various persons of the Godhead with reference to the salvation of men establishing in the early part of this chapter that the law that economy under Moses with its ritual of sacrifice and intercession and all the rest was just a shadow of the reality just a shadow the realities were always in Christ the old covenants just a shadow don't think of it the other way around they were they were substantial and what we now have is a reflection no no they were the reflection they were the shadow the eternal realities were always existed Christ is the lamb slain from the foundation of the world and every bleeding lamb upon a Jewish altar was just a shadow of the true lamb you see he was always the substance these were always shadows always shadows always shadows always shadows ever shadows now having established that they could not bring perfection because they were but shadows the reality had to come verse 5 wherefore when he cometh into the world he saith and now this language is put in the very mouth of Christ and notice the adverb of time when he cometh into the world he saith

49:40 not having been here and looking back upon an unfolding of his mission no no no no when he cometh into the world he saith this was self-conscious entrance upon humanity when he cometh into the world he saith sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not but a body didst thou prepare for me the son speaks to the father thou hast prepared a body for me in whole burnt offerings and sacrifice for sin thou hast no pleasure then said I lo I come in the role of the book it is written of me to do thy will O God and then he goes on to show that it's in that very offering up of himself and the emphasis here even upon his body that our salvation is procured now the point that we're making is this there seems to be an overtone of reciprocal promises father I will give myself to death if thou wilt prepare the body in which I must live and ultimately die the father would not only prepare a true humanity for the son but he would wonderfully uphold him in his work and we go back to that Isaiah 42 passage behold my servant whom I uphold my chosen in whom my soul delight if the son

51:09 will commit himself to the task of incarnation humiliation issuing in the death upon the cross the father will uphold him in that task for remember it is the son who becomes true man and as the god man that humanity needs to be upheld by divine sustenance and strength and the father fulfills this promise the father would not only prepare a true humanity commit himself to uphold him in his work but the father would reward his obedience with personal glory and with saving success personal glory and saving success we turn over to Isaiah 53 and we see the promise both of personal glory and of saving success verse 13 of Isaiah 52 behold my servant shall deal wisely he shall be exalted and lifted up and shall be very high there's the pledge of personal glory but it will be personal glory through the valley of humiliation and so on we're introduced immediately in verse 14 like as many as were astonished at thee his visage was so marred more than man in his form more than the son of man and on into the 53rd chapter where we have this graphic description

52:38 of his death bruised and and afflicted by the father himself smitten of God Jehovah laying upon him the iniquity of us all and now verse 10 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 the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand he shall see of the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied by the knowledge of himself shall my righteous servant justify many and he shall bear their iniquities here is the pledge of saving success we have a similar pledge in Psalm 2 a psalm that is oft quoted in the New Testament one of the most frequently quoted psalms in the New Testament and we are taken as it were right back into the inter-trinitarian conversation if we may use such language without being irreverent Psalm 2 here is the combined determination of the great ones of the earth to cast off Jehovah's yoke and he that sits in the heaven laughs he says in verse 6 yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion I will tell of the decree God says I'll even take you back into the

54:07 councils of deity that produce the enthronement of my son in power and majesty against all the strivings of men what a thing for God to say I'll tell of the decree that results in this you see people say oh decrees and all that that's just the mishmash of theologians now it is and now it is and it's my loving God saying I'll tell of the decree and what is it Jehovah said unto me thou art my son this day have I begotten thee ask of me and I will give thee the nations for thine inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession thou shalt break them with a rod of iron thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel and here the father makes promise to the son ask of me and I will give thee and I will give thee the heathen for thine inheritance and the uttermost part of the earth for thy possession now do you see why the writer to Hebrews could say who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross because the father had made solemn pledges to the son and the son in the confidence of the fulfillment of those pledges that he should ultimately be brought to personal glory and saving success who for the joy that was set before him and I discovered a verse this week I didn't discover it I just it's been there I've read it many times but look at Luke 22 29

55:37 another indication that our Lord was conscious that the father had made promises to him that if he would be true to his responsibilities his surety of his people ultimate personal glory and saving success would come Luke 22 and verse 29 now verse 28 but ye are they that have continued with me in my temptations and I appoint unto you a kingdom even as my father appointed unto me and that word appoint is an interesting word it's the word used in Acts chapter 3 verse 25 Hebrews 8 10 and 10 10 in which the marginal reading is rightly given in our ASV this is the covenant that I will covenant with them after those days saith the Lord it's a word that in its middle voice bristles with covenantal overtones is our Lord saying and I covenant unto you a kingdom even as my father covenanted unto me in other words that appointment that the father had made of a kingdom was an appointment within the framework of covenant fidelity there's no uncertainty as to the issue of our Lord's suffering and so confident is he that he says I have a kingdom

57:04 that I will share with you because my father is true to his pledge I can be true to my pledge and you've suffered with me now you'll share in my glory in the world to come well then what do we do with these passages these scriptural statements that on the one hand point to this concept of Christ assuming specific responsibilities for the redemption of his people and on the other hand the father committed himself to give rewards of personal glory and success we could look at Philippians 2 we could go back to John 15 but time will not permit it I say and I just echo others this is not original the only way to bring them together is to conceive of a pre-temporal arrangement within the mind and will of the triune God an arrangement in which the father expressing the mind of the Godhead sets his law upon a certain number of humanity Christ expressing again the love of the Godhead never think of it as just the love of the second person as the father's choice is the expression of the will of the Godhead so the love that would assume the liabilities and responsibilities of a people is the love of the Godhead but particularly expressed in Christ's willingness to assume all the liabilities

The Triune God's Commitment and Practical Applications

58:33 and responsibilities of a just salvation and the Holy Spirit and often he is omitted people talk of an inter-trinitarian arrangement or a covenant of redemption that involves the triune God but though the exegetical materials are not as profuse there is certainly a strong case for the whole unfolding of what Christ does that the spirit as well can sense with the mind and love of the Godhead to be the instrument by whom the father's upholding would actually be effective in the son for remember it is in the power of the spirit that he performs his miracles is sustained and carried on in his task and it is in the language of Hebrews through the eternal spirit that he offers himself up unto God without spot Hebrews 9 and verse 14 and so the father son and spirit consent to be fulfilled the divine purpose in the salvation of a people and all that our Lord Jesus Christ effects upon the cross is in fulfillment of the terms of that eternal pre-temporal covenant of redemption in which the triune God thinking willing acting in perfect unity is committed to the salvation

60:02 of a people I am I had hoped I would have time to read from Dabney but I don't the time has just taken wings and flown but on page 431 and 2 he has an excellent summary of the concept of the covenant of redemption and in Gary Long's little book Definite Atonement page 11 is an excellent statement but I do want in closing to do to say a few things by way of application alright the first application is this if the work of Christ in time is but the transcript of the term of the eternal covenant of redemption it should be obvious that the terms of that covenant have a great bearing upon the intent of God in the work of his son if everything that he does in time is a transcript of what was designed in purpose and mutually agreed upon in eternity it is theological suicide to say that the covenant of redemption in not a way determines the question for whom did Christ die no aspect of that death is found outside the covenant of redemption and therefore every scripture that gives us some indication of the terms the people envisioned within the ultimate designs of the covenant of redemption

61:30 brings direct light upon the question for whom did Christ die if then we see that particularism certainty and efficacy are the dominant realities of the covenant then most certainly they must be the dominant realities of the outworking of the covenant in the death of Christ and as we shall see subsequently particularism certainty and efficacy are indeed the dominant notes it is no narrowness of heart that would restrict the extent of the atonement in order to sacrifice souls upon the altar of human logic that's what people say about some of us who believe in death and in atonement they say that you have a narrowness of heart that would restrict the extent of the atonement in order to sacrifice souls upon the altar of human logic I answer and say we will not allow the glory of the triune God acting in perfect harmony with reference to the certain salvation of a multitude of sinners to be obscured by a specious handling a half a dozen or so texts of scripture while ignoring or failing to come to grips with the dominant vein of biblical revelation called the covenant of redemption no no ours is not a narrowness that says Christ died

62:59 for a specific people ours I trust is that breadth of heart that sees the glory of the covenant of redemption and Christ's work within that framework now it has great pastor implications and time will not permit to go into a lot of them I'll just mention one if all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for teaching for reproof for correction for instruction in righteousness what does this say to the people of God well as Hugh Martin says when you raise a generation of people who can say in the language of David and I read now from 2 Samuel 23 and verse 5 2 Samuel 23 and verse 5 verily my house is not so with God yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant ordered in all things insure for this is all my salvation and all my desire although he maketh it not to grow he hath made with me an everlasting covenant ordered in all things insure this is all my salvation and all my desire and when I see as we shall develop next week that within that covenant of redemption God the Father Son

64:26 and the Spirit are committing themselves to the salvation of a distinct people logically God's choice must precede this covenant Christ commits himself to be sure he for a specific people and when I realize that every blessing of grace that I have tasted has come to me as the fruit of my due to that covenant commitment then the certainty with which I can plead with God for the fulfillment of all his designs in me is a certainty undergirded by the knowledge of covenant fidelity you talk about making men out of boys when the people of God have in their spiritual bloodstream this is what made those old covenanters the word covenant there was used with reference to a different covenant but this is what caused little teenage girls to go to the stake to be tied at piers at low tide and to drown slowly and not refuse and not bend to the pressure to deny the Lord Jesus Christ it was a knowledge of this grand truth that became the fortress and the buttress against all the powers of hell because they knew that their salvation was not held by the tenuous strings of their own present level of love of faith or anything else but they were hedged in by the impregnable wall of the covenant of redemption hallelujah

65:55 blessed be God for such a savior let's pray oh our God who are we that such mercy should ever be showered upon us oh God Father Son and Holy Ghost we worship you this morning we bless you that long before the first created thing had substance we were in your mind and upon your heart we praise you Lord Jesus for your willingness to assume in eternity and to pledge to answer all of the demands of the law against us we thank you for your willingness in time to take that body prepared by the Father we bless you Holy Spirit for conceiving that life in the womb of the Virgin for empowering to the Lord Jesus that sinless humanity by your own mighty power in conjunction with the seed of the woman oh Lord such mysteries baffle us and yet we cannot help

67:24 but bless you and we confess this morning that we long to press more deeply into the great mysteries of redemption oh flood our hearts with a new appreciation of all that you are to us as the God committed to our salvation from eternity oh we bless you that we are hedged in by that impregnable wall of the covenant of redemption yea we to the end shall endure as sure as the earnest is given more happy but not more secure the glorified spirits in heaven oh God we bless you this morning and we pray that in the midst of all of the Christ dishonoring man glorifying preaching and teaching that you would again inflame the hearts of men to preach with power once more a salvation flowing out of that blessed and eternal covenant of redemption hear our prayer and seal the word to our hearts for your glory and our prophet we pray amen