The sermon by Eric Bechler from the Second London Baptist Confession of 1689, Chapter 8, Paragraph 2, explores the role of Christ as the mediator between God and man. It emphasizes the hypostatic union, where Jesus Christ embodies both divine and human natures in one person, making Him the perfect mediator. The sermon delves into the Trinity, highlighting the Son of God's eternality, image, equality, and power, supported by scriptural references. It discusses Christ's humanity, addressing His experiences, emotions, and temptations, yet without sin. The sermon also addresses historical theological debates, affirming Christ's eternal existence and divine nature. The significance of the confession is underscored, emphasizing the importance of understanding and confessing the biblical truth of Christ's nature and role as the sole mediator.

Our reading this morning from the Second London Baptist Confession of 1689 comes from Chapter 8 of Christ the Mediator, paragraph 2. The Son of God, the second person of 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 that 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, yet without sin, 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, 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. This morning we continue with chapter 8 of Christ the Mediator. Robert Shaw has a nice introduction in chapter 8 which lays a good foundation for where we're headed.

A mediator is one who interposes between two parties at variance to procure a reconciliation. Before the fall, there was no need of a mediator between God and man, for though there was an infinite distance in nature, yet there was no variance between these parties. But upon the fall, the case was altered. God was dishonored and highly offended. Man was alienated from God and subjected to his judicial displeasure and his man was unable to satisfy the claims of the divine law which he had violated.

If he was to be restored to the favor of his offended sovereign, the interposition of another person was requisite to atone for his guilt, to lay the foundation of peace. This is the office and the work assigned to Jesus Christ, the one mediator between God and man. And the present section relates to His defined appointment to this office and the donation of a people to Him as a seed. Our paragraph this morning focuses more specifically on the person and the nature of Christ our Mediator. We start with the Trinity, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

This is the Trinity. And our first section of our paragraph reads, the Son of God, the second person in the Holy Trinity, being very an 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." We'll break this into four parts, addressing the Son of God with respect to his eternality, image, equality, and power. The Son of God being very an eternal God. The Gospel of John opens with this declaration of the eternality of God and his Son, the Word. John 1, 1, in the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God.

Furthermore, John records Thomas's response to Jesus asking him to touch his hands inside in John 20, 28, my Lord and my God. The Son of God, the brightness of the Father's glory. We read from Hebrews the description of the Son of God and learn from his image, of his image and power. In Hebrews 1, 3, who being The brightness of his glory and the expressed image of his person and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. Then the Son of man of one substance and equal with him to whom made the world.

This comes from the doctrine of the Trinity. There is one God who eternally exists at three distinct persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, each fully God and each fully distinct. I won't go into all the scripture proofs for this as it was covered in chapter 2 of God and the Holy Trinity, but we'll offer one passage from the Gospel of John, 1 through 3. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God.

All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. We look at the Son of God who upholdeth and governeth all things he hath made. We read from Paul's letter to the Romans regarding the power of God. In 9, verse 5, Christ came who is over all. God blessed forever.

Amen. And we see more thoroughly from Elihu's proclamation of God's majesty in the book of Job in 37, 6 through 14. For he saith to the snow, Be thou on the earth, Likewise to the small rain, And to the great rain of his strength, He sealeth up the hand of every man, that all men may know his work. Then the beasts go into dens and remain in their places. Out of the south cometh the whirlwind, and cold out of the north.

By the breath of God, frost is given, and the breath of waters is straightened. Also by watering he weariest the thick cloud, he scattereth his bright cloud, and it is turned round about by his counsels, that they may do whatsoever he commanded them upon the face of the world and the earth. He caused it to come whether for correction or for his land or for his mercy. Hearken unto this, O Job, stand still and consider the wondrous works of God. We see that he does uphold and govern all things.

In the previous chapter we touched on the covenants, the covenant of works, the covenant of grace, the covenant of redemption. In the covenant of redemption, God the Father covenanted with God the Son to redeem the elect before even the creation of the world. And as with all things, God has ordained the perfect moment that God the Son should take on flesh and live among us. We confess this in the next part of our paragraph, the Son of God did when the fullness of time was come. We read this directly from one of Paul's letters to the Galatians, Galatians 4.4.

But when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth his son made of a woman made under the law. Very straightforward. The next few sections go over specifics of the humanity of Christ, essential properties and infirmities. We see the Son of God did take upon Him man's nature with all the essential properties and common infirmities thereof. As we see Christ as fully man, we look to scripture to see how his humanity is described.

He needs nourishment to survive, food and water, just like each of us. Without food we get hungry. Without water we get thirsty. In Matthew 9 10 it came to pass as Jesus sat at meat in the house. In Matthew 11 19 the Son of Man came eating and drinking.

In Matthew 4 2 and when he had fasted 40 days and 40 nights he was afterward unhungered. And in John 19, 28, after this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst. Part of being human is having compassion on others. We see this in Christ in Matthew 9.36, but when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them. Here we see Jesus in agony to such an intensity that blood was mixed with his sweat.

Many of us experienced at some point agony in our lives, although probably none of us to the point of sweating blood. In Luke 22, 44, in being in agony, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was as if it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground. We see Jesus weeping in several places, one of them from just before he raised Lazarus from the dead. John 11, 35, Jesus wept. Jesus could also be angry.

We saw that as he cleared the temple of the money changers. We also see this as he heals a man's withered hand on a Sabbath in Mark 3, 5, and when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts. All through our lives, we face temptation. It was no different for Jesus in Matthew 4.1. Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.

And in Hebrews 4.15, for We have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin." And of course, Jesus suffered, and Jesus also learned from his suffering just like we do, at least some of us, in some time. Of course, in Hebrew 5-8, though he were a son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered. In John 4-6, now Jacob's well was there, Jesus therefore being wearied with his journey sat. We also see growth in Jesus and wisdom in his stature from Luke 2 52 and Jesus increased in wisdom and stature in the favor with God and man. These are all qualities that Jesus exhibited and were documented in Scripture.

There are many others as well. Of course, there are endless qualities of humanity. What is listed should be adequately to clearly demonstrate that Christ, that Jesus, was fully man. Jesus was hungry, he was thirsty, he got angry, he was grieved, he was tempted, he became wearied. He experienced many other things that we ourselves experience.

He lived his life among us, yet he did so without sin. This is the next part of our paragraph, yet without sin. There's so many verses from scripture about the spotless lamb of God who lived a perfect life. I'll just go through a few of them here quickly. Isaiah 53, 9, and He made His grave with the wicked and with the rich in His death, because He had done no violence, neither was any deceit in His mouth.

In 2 Corinthians 5, 21, For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteous of God in Him. In Hebrews 7 26, for such a high priest became us who is holy, harmless, and defied, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens. 1 Peter 1 19, but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. And in 1 Peter 2 22, who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth The paragraph now switches to the pedigree of Jesus the Son of God After Adam and Eve every subsequent person throughout all history Came from ordinary generation with the exception of Jesus. Our paragraph gives us details of his conception and birth.

We read, the Son of God being conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary, the Holy Spirit coming down upon her in 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. We are all very familiar with the birth of Christ in fact before we know it it will we will be celebrating His birth once again. Nonetheless, let's review some of the scripture proofs of what our paragraph states. In Matthew 1, 18, now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise, when as His mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. In Matthew 1 20, but while he Joseph thought on these things behold the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream saying Joseph thou son of David fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.

And in Luke 1.35, and the angel answered and said unto her, the Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the highest shall overshadow thee. Therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God." We see several verses here where Christ was prophesied in the Old Testament and was fulfilled in his coming and noted in the New Testament. In Genesis 49, the scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come, and until him shall the gathering of the people be." In Galatians 3 16, now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, and to seeds as of many but as of one, and to thy seed which is Christ. In Romans 1 3 concerning his son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh.

We see clearly these items were straight from scripture. The last part of our paragraph touches on the hypostatic union of Christ and brings us to the conclusion of it all. The hypostatic union is the term used to describe how Jesus took on human nature, yet remained fully God at the same time. One person, fully God, and fully man. Two distinct natures in one person.

It's easy to label, but not something that we probably ever can fully comprehend no matter how hard we try We read in the paragraph 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. And addressing very God, we look at John 5, 18. Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him because he not only had broken the Sabbath, but said also that God was his father, making himself equal with God. Philippians 2, 5, and 6, let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God.

And addressing very man, Romans 1, 3, and 4, concerning his son, Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh. 1st Corinthians 15, 21, for since by man came death, By man came also the resurrection of the dead. And finally in Acts 13, 38, be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins. Simon Martinian from the calvinist.net comments here, then the confession goes on to explain what this joining of the two distinct natures is not. It is not the conversion of one nature to something else.

It is not the composition, the adding or combining of two natures into one, thus creating something new. Nor it is the confusion, the fusing or mixing of the natures. The Lord Jesus is one person who is very God and very man. He is truly God and truly man. Nonetheless, there is but one Christ.

There is not a human Christ and a divine Christ. There is only one Christ who is both divine and human. Therefore, He is the only mediator between God and man, being able to represent both parties. We see that from 1 Timothy 2.5. There's a lot here that we covered today.

What I covered really is just an overview with some scriptural proofs. If you wish a more exhaustive review I would encourage you to search out the commentaries on it. There's many online that you can look at. I want to end with the question that we should be asking with each chapter and paragraph as we go through the confession. Why was this concluded in the confession here?

Why is this important for us to confess? At the time of this writing, there were various opinions on the person and the nature of Christ. A group called the Sosinians and the Unitarians believed that Christ was merely a man and had no existence before he was born of Mary. The Aryans believed that Christ was the first of creation, a created being existing prior to his incarnation yet not eternal. Our confession teaches that Christ was born from, was from, all eternity, the Son of God and of one substance and equal with the Father, and that in the fullness of time he assumed a complete human nature into union with the divine so that he is both very God and very man, having two distinct natures yet one person.

Understanding this properly is why this section is so important and why we should confess this biblical truth. It touches on the very person of Christ and the very nature of Christ. Furthermore there are different positions as to who are the mediators between God and man. Some associate saints and angels with Christ in the work of mediation. We believe that Christ is the mediator.

There is no other. He is the only mediator between God and man. And how do we know this is true? The Bible tells us so. Paul tells us this again specifically in his letter to Timothy in 1 Timothy 2, 5, for there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man, Jesus Christ.

This should give us great comfort to know that we have an incessant, a mediator in Christ, one who lived among us and one who can emphasize, empathize with all that we experience, to stand between us and God, who came to redeem those to whom God the Father had given to him. Amen.