by Rev. Donald MacLean
(Closing of the Question, at the Fellowship Meeting at St. Jude’s in April, 1994. Taken down by a hearer.)
“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away: behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God. . .” 2 Cor. 5: 17.
You have heard much already with regard to this work of God in the souls of God’s people. And, as we read here, ‘all things are of God‘: the creation is entirely the work of God. Now, as the brethren were speaking to the question and spoke about the new things and the old things passing away, it occurred to me that, in endeavouring to close that question, I would take up the matter of a new thing that came into the experience of God’s people in connection with this new creation.
Just as in the old creation, when ‘the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters, and God said, Let there be light: and there was light‘, so, in this new creation in the souls of God’s people, the Apostle, who refers to it here, also says this, that the ‘God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts.‘ That is a new thing in the experience of God’s people. There were times, I have no doubt whatsoever, in connection with those of them who were under the gospel, when they had light of sparks of their own kindling in their souls. The effect of that was to give them concern lest they should die, and lest they should die Christless, and they made many resolutions and many promises to God that they would forsake many sins that appeared to them to be displeasing to God. But because there was nothing there but sparks of their own kindling, not the true light, that all passed away.
When the true light shines, it is the darkness that passes away. That true light is the light of the word of God, the Holy Spirit shining that light in the soul of the sinner in connection with the new creation. It is a new thing, and, as God Himself saw with regard to the light of the old creation, ‘He saw that it was good.‘ This light is good and it is pure. ‘And in that purest light of thine we clearly light shall see.‘ And this people experience in their souls what that meant when the light of the word of God began to shine in their hearts. That light was pure, and because it was pure it revealed the darkness, the evil, the sin, the guilt and the condition of soul in which they were, without God and without hope in the world. And in this ‘purest light of thine‘ they also saw that God was; and God was pure, and He was holy and He was just; He was unchangeable; and sin was “that abominable thing which He hateth.” They felt cut off by their sins from God. They knew in the light that shone in their souls what God Himself says with regard to sin, ‘your sins and your iniquities have separated between you and your God.’ And that separation, as seen by the light of the word of God in their experience, they knew was a separation that they could never overcome by any works of their own. Yet at the same time there was created in the soul — and that was a new thing too in connection with this light — a desire to be reconciled to Him. That desire expressed itself in the thirst that was in the soul then for the word of God and the light of the word of God. They would often now wish that they had the thirst again, that they had at the beginning, when they first realised that they were without God and without hope in the world; how they read the Bible, how they pored over its pages, and how, with the means of the throne of grace, they pleaded with the Lord to have mercy upon them.
They now came to see, in the light of God’s word, that they could not be reconciled to God but by one way, and that was the way mentioned here, through this glorious Person, the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Therefore their desire now became a desire for Christ, a desire to meet with Christ, a desire to embrace Christ in the gospel of the grace of God. But they discovered, and they were taught that, and that was something that was beyond their power too, that they would need another new thing, and that was the gift of God which is faith — faith is the gift of God.
The faith that is common in our day and generation is well known to those who have a name to live and are dead. It is faith that stands in the wisdom of men, but not in the power of God. But this people, they were taught that they could not embrace Christ in the gospel because they were destitute of that faith, and indeed they did not understand what it meant to embrace Christ in the gospel. This new light dispelled the darkness in this respect also, that there came a time in their experience when, whether it was under a sermon, whether it was reading the word of God, or whether it was their mind being exercised in a portion of the word of God, when they got a view of Christ of such a nature that they could not but embrace Him, and they could not but rest in Him for the salvation of their souls.
This was the way that they came to be in the condition mentioned here — to be in Christ Jesus, united to Him by faith of the operation of God. Therefore the old condemnation, and the old separation between their souls and God passed away, and they came to know what it meant to have nearness to God in His word, nearness to God at the throne of grace. It is true of them that they are not satisfied with a form of godliness while denying the power, but desire spiritual nearness to Christ and to God in His word, and to have fellowship with Him through His beloved Son. There is now a longing in this new creation, ‘Like as the hart for waterbrooks in thirst doth pant and bray: so pants my longing soul, O God, that come to thee I may.‘ Where that is, it is something new — something from the Spirit of God. This is what they are looking for when they are at the throne of grace. They are not content with mere words, but desire nearness of soul. The same thing is true in listening to the gospel, and with regard to the Lord’s Table.
I just mention this in conclusion — one of the new things mentioned by the Apostle here is ‘The love of Christ constraineth‘. There is a constraining nature in the love of Christ — ‘Because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead.‘, that is to say they died in Christ, ‘and that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves but unto him which died for them and rose again.‘ Now the love that they have to Christ constrains them to be of the mind to desire to live to Him and for Him in the world. That means, of course, being obedient to Him. We may be obedient to Him in many ways, and we may be in danger of thinking we need not be obedient to Him in all things. But that is not the constraining nature of the love of Christ, which is to be obedient to Him in all things and this among them: ‘This do in remembrance of me.‘ This is what the Saviour requires of His people in whom there is new creation, in the light of the word of God and in the light of the love of Christ which we were speaking of recently when He instituted the Supper, ‘In the night in which he was betrayed.‘ This people are affected by the constraining love of Christ.
I remember that the late Rev. D.N. Macleod in Ullapool, on one occasion, when no-one came forward to the Session, said to me, ‘What is missing in our day and generation is the constraining love of Christ.’ That is true. That is what is missing — the constraining love of Christ. So that whatever doubts and fears, whatever difficulties and trials the people of God may have, and they have their difficulties and trials — and no-one is more sympathetic to them than I am — nevertheless, “The love of Christ constraineth” when He says ‘This do in remembrance of me‘. The love of Christ constrains His people to be obedient to Him.
May He bless our meditation.