Volume II, Treatise VII, Chapter I

The Advantages and Infinite Treasures We Possess in Jesus Christ

‘‘Wuen the fulness of time was come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, and under the law, that he might redeem those who were subject to the law, and that we might receive the adoption of sons.” (Galatians 4:4) All that time which preceded the birth of our Saviour, was, as it were, void of grace; but the time that succeeded was filled therewith, and therefore it is justly called the law of grace, because the inexhaustible fountain of all grate was then bestowed upon us. When God sent us his only Son, it was that he might deliver us from the slavery of sin, and from the tyranny of the devil, according to these words, “now the prince of this world shall be cast out:” (John 12:31): and lastly, it was that he might reconcile us to his Father, and that we might become his children by adoption: and lastly, it was that he might open to us the gate of heaven, which had been shut against us from the time of that unhappy transgression, whereby our first parents lost, both for themselves and for us, the state of original justice in which they had been created. After this loss, which rendered them, and us who descended from them, subject to an infinity of miseries, there remained only one comfort, which was, that as soon as Adam had sinned, God cursed the serpent that had been the chief cause of this evil, and at the same time promised to send his only Son after a certain time, to deliver us from all the evils we were subject to by sin. ‘I will cause,” says our Lord to the serpent, “an irreconcilable hatred between thee and the woman, between thy seed and hers, and she shall crush thy head.” (Genesis 3:15)

This promise having exceedingly comforted them, they did penance; and taught their children the happy state they had for some time enjoyed, and how they had lost it by their own fault, and that there would come a Redeemer who would save them by his power. But it was not only to them, to whom this promise was made. God confirmed the same to the holy patriarchs also, and particularly to Abraham, Jacob, and David, to whom he promised “that the Messias should be born of their race.” This was an universal belief in the Jewish religion, and the prophets who foretold the wonders of his coming, ceased not to beg of God with sighs and tears to hasten it: ‘send forth, O Lord,’’ says Isaias, “‘The Lamb, the Governor of the earth.”—(Isa. xvi. 1.) “Send forth dew from above, and let the clouds rain down the just: let the earth be opened, and produce the Saviour.” —(Isa. xlv. 8.) The spouse in the Canticles expresses the like impatience; “who will give thee,” says she, “into my arms as my brother, sucking the breasts of my mother, that I may find thee without, that I may kiss thee, and that nobody may any more despise me?’’—(Canticle of Canticles 8:1) In fine, ‘he was the expectation of all nations,” (Genesis 49:10), that sighed after him as slaves do after their deliverer; it was in virtue of this redemption which he was to work, that our sins were pardoned: _and as we firmly believe that he is come, so the Jews infallibly believed he was to come, and therefore they gave him the appellation of “him that was to come;” and it was for this reason they said to St. John—“Are you he who is to come, or are we to expect another?”—(Mat. xi. 3.)

But when the time was accomplished, in which God from all eternity had resolved to bestow so great a grace as this upon men, be sent his only Son; and he deferred it till then, in order that men having more time to know and feel their misery, might desire with greater fervour to be freed from it, and might have a greater esteem of their Redeemer, when he should please to send him. For it often happens, that God to imprint in us a deeper sense of our weakness, and of the need we have of his assistance, and to hinder us from attributing anything to ourselves, suspends the consolations, and defers the remedies, he is resolved to give us. When therefore this happy time was come, seeing that it was God alone that could raise man from his fall; seeing also that there was for the offence, man had committed, a satisfaction to be made; that this satisfaction was to be accompanied with pains and sufferings; and that God of his own nature was impassible; the infinite wisdom found an infinite means to reconcile all these difficulties, by the incarnation of the Son of God, who making himself man, and thereby uniting the divine and human nature in one and the selfsame person, wrought the salvation of mankind. This was without doubt a most admirable work of the wisdom and bounty of God, and nothing can more manifest his power and greatness, Wherefore the royal prophet speaking to God of the accomplishment thereof: “excite your power,” says he, “and come to save us,” (Psalms 79:3) + He solicits God to come and work our redemption, and, for the effecting it, he begs of him to display his power, since it was to accomplish a work so great, that a greater could never be performed in time. The creation of the world is a great work, says St. Austin, and displays the omnipotence of God, but the redemption of mankind is quite another thing, and manifests it in a different manner. The Scripture also, when it speaks of the creation, calls it the works of his fingers. ‘I will behold the heavens,” says David, “the works of thy fingers; the moon and stars which thou hast established.” (Psalms 8:4) But when he speaks of the redemption, he calls it the effect of God’s arm; for he says, that the “arm of God has given marks of its power.” (Luke 1:51) And hence, he shews us, that there is as much difference between the one and the other, as there is between the finger and the whole arm. But the redemption, is not only a greater mark of the power and greatness of God, than the creation; but it is also a particular mark of the greatness and dignity of man, and of the esteem that God has of him; and it is for this reason, the church addresses herself unto him in these words, “‘O God, who hast formed in a wonderful manner the excellency of human nature, and hast repaired it in a manner still more wonderful.” God, without doubt, did a great deal for man, when he created him, but did far more when he redeemed him; which caused St. Leo to say, that God had raised man very much, by creating him after his own image and likeness; but he had elevated him far higher, by debasing himself so as to take upon him not only the figure and appearance of man, but even his very nature also.

Lastly, the advantages we derive from the incarnation of the Son of God are so great, that upon this account we ought even esteem Adam’s fault a happiness. ‘‘O happy fault!” cries out the church in an excess of zeal, and out of a lively sense of the graces it receives from its spouse: “Happy fault that has merited so great a Redeemer. Happy necessity of the sin of Adam, that was blotted out by the death of Jesus?” In effect Jesus Christ has given us more than Adam took from us. We have gained more by the redemption, than we have lost by sin, “and God’s grace was not measured by man’s sin.” (Romans 5:15) St. Bernard, reciting these words wherein the apostle takes notice that Jesus Christ brought more good to men than Adam had occasioned evil: “it is true, my brethren,” says he, “that a man and a woman have brought very great prejudice on us, but thanks be to God, all is repaired by @ man and a woman, and repaired with advantage; for the grace is not measured by the crime; but the greatness of the benefit we receive, far surpasses that of our loss.”

We cannot sufficiently express the advantages.and treasures we possess in Jesus Christ; to do this, we ought to be endowed as St. Paul was, “with the grace of announcing to all nations the inestimable riches of Jesus Christ.’ (Ephesians 3:8) Does not our Saviour himself tell us, how hard it is to conceive it? “If thou didst know,” says he to the Samaritan, “what is the gift of God, and who it is that says to thee, give me to drink!” (John 4:10) If we knew the gift God bestows upon us, in giving us his only Son; if we knew the gift which contains all other gifts, and by which he has given us all things; if we could but comprehend its excellence; if God would be pleased to discover to us such a precious treasure, how rich and how happy should we be? St. Austin, who had received this favour, said in the transport of his zeal and thanksgiving, he, O Lord! who is ungrateful for the benefit of creation deserves hell; but there ought to be a new hell created for him who is ungrateful for the benefit of redemption. _It is related of Father Avila, that he had always this favour present in his mind, and when those who had received any particular favour from God, mentioned it to him with admiration of the divine goodness, it is not this, says he, which ought to be admired, but it is, “that God had so loved the world as to give his only begotten Son.” (John 3:16) These are the words which St. John made use of, to express the greatness of the love of God towards men, by the greatness of the gift he bestows upon them. And certainly the infinite price of the one marks very well the infinite excess of the other; for how boundless was the love of God, since he gives his only Son to ransom us by his death? ‘O wonderful excess of goodness,” says the church to the Eternal Father, “O inestimable effect of charity! thou hast delivered up thy Son, for the redemption of a slave!” Who could ever imagine the like? What slave is there that ever

VOL. II. 2¢ durst propose to his prince that he would give his only son for a ransom? And yet notwithstanding, that which you never durst have asked; that which you could never have believed; nay, that which never could have entered into your imagination, is what God has done for you.

But he is not only content, by this means to redeem us from the slavery we were in, but he does yet far more, for he raises us to the dignity of the children of God; he takes upon him our nature to make us partakers of his; he makes himself man, to make us become the children of God. “See,” says St. John, ‘“what excess of bounty the Father has for us, that we should both be called, and be in effect the children of God?” (1 John 3:1) For in effect we are so, and it is not in vain that we call God our Father, and Jesus Christ our brother. “Jesus Christ himself,” says St. Paul, “is not ashamed to call us his brethren, when he says, I will declare your name to my brethren.”—-(Hebrews 2:11,12) It rather seems that he takes a glory in doing so, because he gives us so often this title. Wherefore he who has God for father, and Jesus Christ also for his brother, “to whom all power is given both in heaven and earth,” (Mat. xxviii. 18,) what remains more — for him to desire? What joy ought not the children of Jacob feel, when Joseph freed them from the fear they were in of his resentment and displeasure: especially when they saw that he ruled over all Egypt; that all things were done by him; and that Pharaoh left the total management thereof unto him, still saying to his subjects, “go to Joseph?” (Genesis 41:55) Now Jesus Christ, who is our brother, and who loves us far more than Joseph did his brethren, treats us in the same manner; he will have us be with him. “Father,” says he, “those which thou hast given me, I will that they should be with ine where 1am;” (John 17:24); and he gives us all the help and assistance we can stand in need of, that we may remain always with him, and never more be separated from him.

Wherefore if the offences you have committed against him, makes you apprehend his vengeance, be not in pain—the penance which you have done for them has caused him already toforget them, and not only to forget them, but to become your mediator and intercessor with his Father, to obtain the pardon of them. This is what St. John assures us in these words, “children, I write these things that you sin not. But if any one sinneth, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the just.” (1 John 2:1) St. Paul tells us ‘that he is ascended to heaven, to appear before the face of God for us.” (Hebrews 9:24) St. Bernard says, he there shews his. Father those wounds he received for us by his order; and conjures him by the merit of those wounds, not to suffer man to perish, he having paid for him so dear. And in the same manner, as the holy Virgin, when she intercedes for us with her Son, shews him her breasts that gave him suck; so the Son shews to his Father the wounds, he received for love of us; and it was for this reason, as the saints affirm, that he would have his holy body still preserve those marks after his glorious resurrection.

The holy Scripture tells us, that after the death of Jacob, his children fearing that Joseph being no ‘longer restrained by the respect he bore a father, might then revenge the injuries they had formerly done him: wherefore they sent him this message, to wit, that the chief thing their father had desired for his children at the hour of his death, was, “that he their brother would pardon them, and forget all their offences. And we also beg of thee,” added they, ‘‘that thou wouldst forgive this iniquity to the servant of God, thy father.” (Genesis 1:15) And it is here to be observed, that it was not the father that had committed this offence, but it was his paternal love that caused him to take upon himself the fault of his children! And thus Jesus Christ, by an excess of love ’ for us, has made our sins his own, and has taken all our faults upon himself. ‘The Lord,” says the prophet Isaias, “has cast all our iniquities upon him; and he bears them all.” (Isaias 53:6,11) Wherefore, since it is so, let us address ourselves in the same manner to the Eternal Father, and say: O Father of all mercy, pardon your Son Jesus Christ my sins, who at the hour of his death recommended nothing so earnestly as this, and who then ‘begged of you, saying:—“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34) Who then has not reason to hope for pardon by the intercession of Jesus Christ, “the mediator of the covenant, and by the shedding of his blood, which speaks better for us than that of Abel?” (Hebrews 12:24) That of Abel cried for vengeance, but that of Jesus Christ demands mercy for those for whom it was shed, and even for those that shed it. When the devil therefore shall represent to you the multitude of your sins, to alarm you by the sight of them, and to make you lose courage; cast then your eyes upon Jesus—imagine that he takes you by the hand, and leads you to his Father, and answers for you; and that he covers the shame of your sins and infidelities with the greatness of his merits, and by the service he renders his Father. In this manner.

you will soon take heart again; your discouragement will be changed into confidence, and your sadness into joy by means of him, ‘ who has been given us by God, to be our wisdom, justice, sanctification, and redemption.” (1 Corinthians 1:3)

“We have all things in Jesus Christ,” says St. Ambrose, “and Jesus Christ is all things to us. If you would heal your wounds, he is a physician; if the heat of your fever burns you, he is a fountain of living water; if the weight of your iniquities oppress you, he is justice; if you want help, he is power and strength; if you apprehend death, he is life; if you would go to heaven, he is the way; if you would avoid darkness, he is the light; and if yon desire to eat, he is heavenly food. In fine, whatsoever you stand in need of, and whatsoever you can desire, you will find in him.” — (Lib. iii. de Virg.) ‘Ifthe infernal wolf,” says the same saint in another place, “sets upon you, take up a stone, and he will fly from you, and the stone is Jesus Christ, to whom if you have recourse, the wolf will fly away, and will not be able to fright you any longer. St. Peter sought this stone, when he sunk into the water, and found what he sought after as soon as he had taken Jesus Christ by the hand, who delivered him from the waves.”— (Lib. vi. Exam, c. 4.)

St. Jerom, explaining those words of the apostle: “moreover, brethren, take courage in our Lord, and in the power of his virtue: put on the armour of God, that you may be able to resist the snares of the devil:” (Ephesians 6:10), says, that by what is deduced from this passage, and from what the holy Scripture mentions all along of Jesus Christ, we see clearly that the armour which the apostle recommends to us to put on, is Jesus Christ himself; so that when he says, put on the armour of God, it is as if he should say, put on Jesus Christ. The same saint afterwards proves, that Jesus Christ is our coat of mail, our helmet, our buckler, “our two-edged sword,” and so of the rest. So that the armour we are to put on, in order to triumph over all temptations, and. all the assaults of the devil, is the virtue of Jesus Christ; which is all things to us, and in which we possess all things. The holy Scripture likewise gives him an infinity of appellations and titles; as that of king, master, pastor, priest, physician, friend, father, brother, bread, light, fountain, and a thousand others. Moreover, ds “all the treasures of the wisdom and knowledge of the Father,” (Colossians 2:3) are hid in him; so all our treasures, and all our riches are likewise found in him, because all our happiness is founded upon him, and all our good actions have no other merit than what is given them by his precious blood. This is what was signified by those words to St. John, when, seeing an infinite multitude that were before the throne of God, clothed in white robes, and holding palms in their hands, it was said, “behold those who have washed, and whitened their robes in the blood of the Lamb.” (Apocalypse 7:14) For all that is good in us is in effect the stream of the riches of Jesus-Christ, which we receive by his means and by his merits. It is by him we are delivered-from the most dangerous temptations—by him we acquire virtue—by him we possess all things—by him we are become able to obtain all things—and it is to him alone we ought to refer the glory of all things. So that it is for this reason that in all the prayers the church makes to God, she always concludes them with these words, “through our Lord Jesus Christ:” in imitation of this prayer of the psalmist, ““O God, who art our protector, regard and turn thine eyes upon the face of thy Christ.” —(Ps. Ixxxiii. 10.) It is as if he had said, Lord grant our request for the love of thy Son Jesus Christ; pardon our sins for love of him, because it was for our sins he died on the cross. Cast thine eyes upon the wounds he deigned to receive for us, and from us, and let this sight draw thy mercy upon us. If the consideration of the services of Abraham, Jacob, and David, had so often the power, not only to stop God’s anger, which was ready to break forth, but also to move him to replenish his people with favours and benefits, as he himself takes notice of, in these words, ‘ because of my servant Jacob, and of Israel my elect, and because of David my servant” (Isaias 45:4) what ought we not to believe, he will do for the love of his Son, “in whom he is well and highly pleased?” (Mat. xvii. 5.) St. Paul teaches us, “that God made us acceptable through his beloved Son.”—-(Ephesians 1:6) And Jesus Christ himself tells us, “‘ whatsoever you shall ask in my name, of my Father, he will grant you, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.” (John 14:13)

When the angel said to the shepherds and to the whole world in their persons, “behold that I declare great joy unto you, which shall be to all people; because to you this day is born a Saviour, who is Jesus Christ the Lord.”— (Luke 2:10,11) This joy which was declared to them, was not one only joy, but it was all kind of joys and advantages together. Origen asked the reason why Isaias having said in the singular number, “who declares the advantage,” (Isaias 52:7) St. Paul, quoting the same passage, says in the plural, “they who declare the advantages.“ (Romans 10:15) And he answers, it is because Jesus Christ is not only one advantage, but all manner of advantages together. He is at the same time our salvation, our life, our resurrection, the light of the world, the truth, the way, and the gate to heaven; he is wisdom, power, and the fountain and treasure of all goods; he was born and he died, that we should live; he is raised to life, that we may be so too; he is mounted to heaven, “there to prepare a place for us,” as he himself says; “and it was expedient for us that’ he should go;” (John 14:2) because it was from thence he was to send the Holy Ghost to us, and that he should sit at the right hand of his Father to pour down continually from thence his ‘graces upon us. St. Cyprian says, that one of the reasons why the marks of his wounds remained open, was to manifest to us that they were so many channels and inexhaustible fountains, from whence the treasure of his liberality and mercy should without intermission shower down upon men. “His hands are set round with hyacinths, and full of gold and precious stones;” (Canticle of Canticles 5:14); and they being pierced, the riches wherewith they are filled, fall without ceasing through the holes of those sacred wounds. Let us, therefore, conclude this discourse with the words of the apostle, and say, “‘ since then we have for our high priest Jesus the Son of God, who has penetrated the heavens, let us go with confidence to the throne of his grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find favour in the time of need.” (Hebrews 4:14)

It is related, that St. Bernard, in a great sickness, was as it were rapt in spirit, and seemed to be led before God’s tribunal, where the devil accused him, and maintained that he merited not the possession of eternal glory. I confess, says the saint, that I am indeed unworthy of it; and have of myself no right at all unto it; but Jesus Christ my Saviour has a right to it for two reasons; first, because he is the only Son of the eternal Father, and heir of the celestial kingdom; secondly, because he has purchased it by his blood, obeying his Father unto death. The first of these two titles was sufficient for him; and the other he has made over to me; and it is by virtue of this gift and grant to me, that I pretend to heaven, and hope to obtain it. The hellish accuser remained confounded at this answer, and presently this apparatus of judgment and tribunal vanished; and the saint came to himself. It is therefore in this we ought to fix our confidence; and it is upon this right, that Jesus Christ has purchased it for.us by his death, we ought to found our hopes and pretensions. Jacob, clothed with the habit of his elder brother, gained the blessing of his father; and in like manner, let us clothe ourselves with that of Jesus Christ our eldest brother; let us cover ourselves with the skin of this Lamb without spot, let us avail ourselves of the advantage of his merits and passion; and by this means we shall obtain the blessing of the eternal Father.

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