Evening and Morning
By Charles Haddon Spurgeon
December 26
Morning
"The
last Adam."—1 Corinthians 15:45.
Jesus is the federal head
of His elect. As in Adam, every heir of flesh and blood has a personal
interest, because he is the covenant head and representative of the race as
considered under the law of works; so under the law of grace, every redeemed
soul is one with the Lord from heaven, since He is the Second Adam, the Sponsor
and Substitute of the elect in the new covenant of love. The apostle Paul
declares that Levi was in the loins of Abraham when Melchizedek met him: it is
a certain truth that the believer was in the loins of Jesus Christ, the
Mediator, when in old eternity the covenant settlements of grace were decreed,
ratified, and made sure for ever. Thus, whatever Christ hath done, He hath
wrought for the whole body of His Church. We were crucified in Him and buried
with Him (read Col. 2:10-13), and to make it still more wonderful, we are risen
with Him and even ascended with Him to the seats on high (Eph. 2:6). It is thus
that the Church has fulfilled the law, and is "accepted in the
beloved." It is thus that she is regarded with complacency by the just
Jehovah, for He views her in Jesus, and does not look upon her as separate from
her covenant head. As the Anointed Redeemer of Israel, Christ Jesus has nothing
distinct from His Church, but all that He has He holds for her. Adam's
righteousness was ours so long as he maintained it, and his sin was ours the
moment that he committed it; and in the same manner, all that the Second Adam
is or does, is ours as well as His, seeing that He is our representative. Here
is the foundation of the covenant of grace. This gracious system of
representation and substitution, which moved Justin Martyr to cry out, "O
blessed change, O sweet permutation!" this is the very groundwork of the
gospel of our salvation, and is to be received with strong faith and rapturous
joy.
Evening
"Lo, I
am with you alway."—Matthew 28:20.
The Lord Jesus is in the
midst of His church; He walketh among the golden
candlesticks; His promise is, "Lo, I am with you alway."
He is as surely with us now as He was with the disciples at the lake, when they
saw coals of fire, and fish laid thereon and bread. Not carnally, but still in
real truth, Jesus is with us. And a blessed truth it is, for where Jesus is, love
becomes inflamed. Of all the things in the world that can set the heart
burning, there is nothing like the presence of Jesus! A glimpse of Him so
overcomes us, that we are ready to say, "Turn away Thine
eyes from me, for they have overcome me." Even the smell of the aloes, and
the myrrh, and the cassia, which drop from His perfumed garments, causes the
sick and the faint to grow strong. Let there be but a moment's leaning of the
head upon that gracious bosom, and a reception of His divine love into our poor
cold hearts, and we are cold no longer, but glow like seraphs, equal to every labour, and capable of every suffering. If we know that
Jesus is with us, every power will be developed, and every grace will be
strengthened, and we shall cast ourselves into the Lord's service with heart,
and soul, and strength; therefore is the presence of Christ to be desired above
all things. His presence will be most realized by those who are most like
Him. If you desire to see Christ, you must grow in conformity to Him. Bring
yourself, by the power of the Spirit, into union with Christ's desires, and
motives, and plans of action, and you are likely to be favoured
with His company. Remember His presence may be had.
His promise is as true as ever. He delights to be with us. If He doth not come,
it is because we hinder Him by our indifference. He will reveal Himself to our
earnest prayers, and graciously suffer Himself to be detained by our
entreaties, and by our tears, for these are the golden chains
which bind Jesus to His people.