The Greatest Son of Seth
The flaming sword that guarded Eden's path
Has found its mark, the greatest Son of Seth.
The fallen children's perfect Seed chose wrath
To pluck eternal life for Adam’s race.
By picking for Himself the tree of death
He grants life’s one fulfilling fruit, God's face.
I wrote the lines above reflecting on the following sermon by Robert Murray M’Cheyne on John 14:6. “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me’” (John 14:6).
“As long as Adam walked holily, God dwelt in him, and walked in
him, and communed with him; but when Adam fell, ‘God drove the man out of
paradise; and He placed at the east of the garden of Eden, cherubim, and a
flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.’ This flaming sword between the cherubim was a
magnificent emblem of God, - the just and sin-hating God. In the bush, He appeared to Moses as a
consuming fire; in the temple, He appeared between the cherubim in the milder
glory of the Shechinah; but here He appeared between the cherubim as a sword... And I beseech
you to remark, that this flaming sword turned every way, to keep the way of the
tree of life. If it had not turned every
way, - if it had left some footpath unglared across, - then Adam might have
stolen in by that footpath, and he tried, - however secret, however narrow,
however steep and difficult, however silently he crept along, - still this flaming
meteor met him, and it seemed to say, ‘How can man be just with God? By deeds of the law there shall no flesh
living be justified.’ Well might Adam
sit down, wearied with the vain search for a pathway into life; for man by
nature has no way to the Father.
But Christ says, ‘I am the way.’
As He says in Psalm 16, ‘Thou wilt show me the path of life.’ No man could find out this path of life; but
Jesus says: ‘Thou wilt show it Me: in
Thy presence is fullness of joy; at Thy right hand are pleasures for evermore.’ Jesus pitied the poor sons of Adam vainly
struggling to find out a way into the paradise of God, and He left the bosom of
the Father, just as He might open up a way for us into the bosom of the
Father. And how did He do it? Was it by escaping the vigilance of the
flaming sword? No, for it turned every
way. Was it by exerting His divine
authority and commanding the glittering blade to withdraw? No; for that would have been to dishonor His
Father’s law instead of magnifying it.
He therefore became a man in our stead,
- yea, became sin. God caused to
meet on Him the iniquities of us all. He
advanced in our stead to meet that fiery meteor – He fell beneath its piercing
blade; for He remembered the word of the prophet, which is written: ‘Awake, O sword! Against my Shepherd, and against the man that
is my fellow, saith the Lord of hosts.’
And
now, since the glittering blade is bathed in the side of the Redeemer, the
guiltiest of sinners – whoever you be, whatever you be – may enter in
over His bleeding body, may find access to the paradise of God, to eat of the
tree of life, and live for ever. Come
quickly, - doubt not; for He says, ‘I am the way.’”
--------------------------------
"The LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, Cursed are you more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you will go, And dust you will eat All the days of your life; 15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel (Genesis 3:14-15 NAU).
"So [God] drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life" (Genesis 3:24 NAU).
"And one will say to him, 'What are these wounds between your arms?' Then he will say, 'Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.' Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, And against the man, My Associate," Declares the LORD of hosts. "Strike the Shepherd that the sheep may be scattered; And I will turn My hand against the little ones" (Zechariah 13:6-7 NAU).
"And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary His mother, "Behold, this Child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and for a sign to be opposed-- 35 and a sword will pierce even your own soul-- to the end that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed (Luke 2:34-35 NAU)."
"Then Jesus said to them, 'You will all fall away because of me this night. For it is written, "I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered"'" (Matthew 26:31 ESV).
Comments
Post a Comment