Christ the Servant: the Mediator

God calls Christ here his servant. Christ was God's servant in the greatest piece of service that ever was, a choice servant who did and suffered all by commission from the Father. In this we may see the sweet love of God to us, in that he counts the work of our salvation by Christ his greatest service, and in that he put his only beloved Son to that service. He might well prefix it with 'Behold' to raise up our thoughts to the highest pitch of attention and admiration. In time of temptation, apprehensive consciences look so much to the present trouble that they need to be roused up to behold him in whom they may find rest. In temptations it is safest to behold nothing but Christ the true brazen serpent, 'the true Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world' (John 1:29). This saving object has a special influence of comfort to the soul, especially if we look not only on Christ, but upon the Father's authority and his love for us in Christ. For in all that Christ did and suffered as Mediator, we must see God in him reconciling the world unto himself (2 Cor. 5:19). What a support to our faith is this, that God the Father, the party offended by our sins, is so well pleased with the work of redemption! And what a comfort is this, that seeing God's love rests on Christ, as well pleased in him, we may gather that he is as well pleased with us, if we be in Christ! Let us, therefore, embrace Christ, and in him God's love, and build our faith safely on such a Saviour that is furnished with so high a commission. See here, for our comfort, a sweet agreement of all three persons: The Father gives a commission to Christ; the Spirit furnishes and sanctifies it, and Christ himself executes the office of a Mediator. Our redemption is founded upon the joint agreement of all three persons of the Trinity.

Devotional Readings taken from Puritan Richard Sibbes 'Refreshment for the Soul.'
The Bruised Reed, pp. 1-2
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