1) It pleased God, in His eternal purpose, to choose
and ordain the Lord Jesus, his only begotten Son, according to
the covenant made between them both, to be the mediator between
God and man;a the prophet,b
priest,c and king;d head and
saviour of the church,e the heir of all
things,f and judge of the
world;g unto whom he did from all eternity give
a people to be his seed and to be by him in time redeemed,
called, justified, sanctified, and
glorified.h
(a Isaiah
42:1, 1 Peter
1:19,20; b Acts
3:22; c Hebrews
5:5,6; d Psalms
2:6, Luke
1:33; e Ephesians
1:22,23; f Hebrews
1:2; g Acts
17:31; h Isaiah
53:10, John
17:6, Romans
8:30)
2) The Son of God, the second person in the Holy
Trinity, being very and eternal God, the brightness of the
Father's glory, of one substance and equal with him who made the
world, who upholdeth and governeth all things he hath made, did,
when the fullness of time was come, take upon him man's nature,
with all the essential properties and common infirmities
thereof,i yet without sin;j
being conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin
Mary, the Holy Spirit coming down upon her: and the power of the
Most High overshadowing her; and so was made of a woman of the
tribe of Judah, of the seed of Abraham and David according to the
Scriptures;k so that two whole, perfect, and
distinct natures were inseparably joined together in one person,
without conversion, composition, or confusion; which person is
very God and very man, yet one Christ, the only mediator between
God and man.l
(i John
1:14, Galatians 4:4;
j Romans
8:3, Hebrews
2:14,16,17, Hebrews
4:15; k Matthew
1:22,23, Luke
1:27,31,35; l Romans 9:5, 1
Timothy 2:5)
3) The Lord Jesus, in his human nature thus united to
the divine, in the person of the Son, was sanctified and anointed
with the Holy Spirit above measure,m having in
Him all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge;n
in whom it pleased the Father that all fullness should
dwell,o to the end that being holy, harmless,
undefiled,p and full of grace and
truth,q he might be throughly furnished to
execute the office of mediator and surety;r
which office he took not upon himself, but was thereunto called
by his Father;s who also put all power and
judgement in his hand, and gave him commandment to execute the
same.t
(m Psalms
45:7, Acts
10:38, John
3:34; n Colossians 2:3;
o Colossians 1:19;
p Hebrews
7:26; q John
1:14; r Hebrews
7:22; s Hebrews
5:5; t John
5:22,27, Matthew
28:18, Acts
2:36)
4) This office the Lord Jesus did most willingly
undertakeu, which that he might discharge he
was made under the law,v and did perfectly
fulfil it, and underwent the punishment due to us, which we
should have borne and suffered,w being made sin
and a curse for us;x enduring most grievous
sorrows in his soul, and most painful sufferings in his
body;y was crucified, and died, and remained in
the state of the dead, yet saw no corruption:z
on the third day he arose from the deada with
the same body in which he suffered,b with which
he also ascended into heaven,c and there
sitteth at the right hand of his Father making
intercession,d and shall return to judge men
and angels at the end of the world.e
(u Psalms
40:7,8, Hebrews
10:5-10, John
10:18; v Gal
4:4, Matthew
3:15; w Galatians 3:13, Isaiah
53:6, 1 Peter
3:18; x 2
Corinthians 5:21; y Matthew
26:37,38, Luke
22:44, Matthew
27:46; z Acts
13:37; a 1
Corinthians 15:3,4; b John
20:25,27; c Mark
16:19, Acts
1:9-11; d Romans
8:34, Hebrews
9:24; e Acts
10:42, Romans
14:9,10, Acts
1:11, 2 Peter
2:4)
5) The Lord Jesus, by his perfect obedience and
sacrifice of himself, which he through the eternal Spirit once
offered up unto God, hath fully satisfied the justice of
God,f procured reconciliation, and purchased an
everlasting inheritance in the kingdom of heaven, for all those
whom the Father hath given unto Him.g
(f Hebrews
9:14, Hebrews
10:14, Romans
3:25,26; g John
17:2, Hebrews
9:15)
6) Although the price of redemption was not actually
paid by Christ till after his incarnation, yet the virtue,
efficacy, and benefit thereof were communicated to the elect in
all ages, successively from the beginning of the world, in and by
those promises, types, and sacrifices wherein he was revealed,
and signified to be the seed which should bruise the serpent's
head;h and the Lamb slain from the foundation
of the world,i being the same yesterday, and
to-day and for ever.j
(h 1
Corinthians 4:10, Hebrews
4:2, 1 Peter
1:10,11; i Revelation 13:8;
j Hebrews
13:8)
7) Christ, in the work of mediation, acteth according
to both natures, by each nature doing that which is proper to
itself; yet by reason of the unity of the person, that which is
proper to one nature is sometimes in Scripture, attributed to the
person denominated by the other nature.k
(k John
3:13, Acts
20:28)
8) To all those for whom Christ hath obtained eternal
redemption, he doth certainly and effectually apply and
communicate the same, making intercession for
them;l uniting them to himself by his Spirit,
revealing unto them, in and by his Word, the mystery of
salvation, persuading them to believe and
obey,m governing their hearts by his Word and
Spirit,n and overcoming all their enemies by
his almighty power and wisdom,o in such manner
and ways as are most consonant to his wonderful and unsearchable
dispensation; and all of free and absolute grace, without any
condition foreseen in them to procure it.p
(l John
6:37, John
10:15,16, John
17:9, Romans
5:10; m John
17:6, Ephesians 1:9, 1 John
5:20; n Romans
8:9,14; o Psalms
110:1, 1
Corinthians 15:25,26; p John
3:8, Ephesians 1:8)
9) This office of mediator between God and man is
proper only to Christ, who is the prophet, priest, and king of
the church of God; and may not be either in whole, or any part
thereof, transferred from him to any
other.q
(q 1
Timothy 2:5)
10) This number and order of offices is necessary; for
in respect of our ignorance, we stand in need of his prophetical
office;r and in respect of our alienation from
God, and imperfection of the best of our services, we need his
priestly office to reconcile us and present us acceptable unto
God;s and in respect to our averseness and
utter inability to return to God, and for our rescue and security
from our spiritual adversaries, we need his kingly office to
convince, subdue, draw, uphold, deliver, and preserve us to his
heavenly kingdom.t
(r John
1:18; s Colossians 1:21, Galatians 5:17;
t John
16:8, Psalms 110:3, Luke
1:74,75)