“5 Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me: 6 In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. 7 Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God” (Heb. 10:5-7).
“When He cometh into the world…” Jesus spoke these words when He came into the world, at His conception by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the virgin Mary. Christ was born of a woman according to OT prophecy (Gen. 3:15; Isa. 7:14; Gal. 4:4-5). But He did not begin to be at conception or at birth. The prophet Micah said that the One born in Bethlehem would be eternal God: “But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting” (Micah 5:2).
Why did the eternal, immutable, all-wise, almighty, omnipresent God come into the world as a baby in the womb of a virgin?! Solomon exclaimed in prophetic amazement, “Will God in very deed dwell with men on the earth? behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house which I have built” (2 Chr. 6:18)! The Creator of all forever took into union with Himself the nature of a man by conception of the Spirit of God in the womb of the virgin Mary! He humbled Himself (Php. 2:5-8)! He made Himself of no reputation! But why?
The answer comes in grand summary from Psalm 40:6-8. It is repeated here by fulfillment in Hebrews 10:5-7. He came to do the everlasting will of God! It was the will of God the Father. He purposed it. Before the foundation of the world, He decreed that His Son, the Lamb of God, would be slain to redeem His people from their sins (1 Pet. 1:19-20; Rev. 13:8). He commanded Him to lay down His life for those He gave to Him in eternal election. These are His sheep (John 10:15-18). And it was the will of God the Son. He said, “I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart” (Ps. 40:8). "He poured out His soul to death" (Isa. 53:12)! It was also the will of God the Holy Spirit. He told of Christ’s coming. He conceived His human nature in Mary’s womb. By the eternal Spirit, Christ offered Himself to God, thereby obtaining eternal redemption for us (Heb. 9:12). Thus, the Son of God became a servant in every way that a servant is a servant. He alone whose right it is to rule made obedience His rule of life. He came to do the will of God!
The next question that comes to mind is, “What was that will that He came to do?!” The answer is clear. It was to fulfill every condition God required in the everlasting covenant of His grace. All that God promised in the everlasting covenant to His people, He made to them in Christ their covenant Head (Isa. 42:6; 49:8; 2 Sam. 23:5). He committed to fulfill those promises on condition that Christ do His will. That will was to satisfy every demand of His justice and fulfill all righteousness in the place and on behalf of His people to the glory of God (John 17:1-4)! Their eternal inheritance depended on Christ doing the will of God (Heb. 9:15). This was His life’s work and His accomplishment in His death. On coming into the world, Jesus said, “I come to do thy will O my God” At age 12, Jesus told Mary and Joseph, “I must be about my Father’s business” (Luke 2:49). He told His disciples, “My meat is to do the will of Him that sent me and to finish His work” (John 4:34). He told the Pharisees, “The works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me” (John 5:36). In John 6 Jesus said, “I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day” (John 6:38-40). In John 10:17-18, Jesus said His Father’s commandment was that He lay down His life for the sheep (John 10:15,17-18). Then, in John 11:49-52, Caiphas the high priest prophesied to say that it was expedient that one man should die for the people and that the entire nation not perish. In John 12:27-32, facing the agony of the cross, Jesus asked, “What, shall I say, Father save me from this hour? But for this cause came I unto this hour!” In John 17:4 the Son of God said in prayer to His Father, “I have finished the work which Thou gavest me to do” (John 17:4). And finally in John 19, “he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost” (John 19:28-30).
In all of these repeated references by our Lord we see that by His coming and living and doing and dying, He finished the will of God. Christ came to serve His Father as one man for all of His people in His life and in His death (Matt. 20:28). His blood put the everlasting covenant into force (Heb. 13:20; Matt. 26:28). He fulfilled every condition in His death! Every spiritual blessing is therefore now given to His people (Isa. 53:12; Eph. 1:3; Rom. 8:32; 11:27; Heb. 10:14-18). God has fulfilled His promise.
In our father Adam, we broke the covenant of works. And by our own personal disobedience, we broke God's law, the covenant of works that God gave at Sinai. Our personal suffering cannot satisfy the demands of God’s law. In our own person, we cannot meet the requirements of the law for obedience and we cannot satisfy its demands in our punishment. But thanks be to God, before the world began, He appointed His Son to be the Champion and Head and Father of His people in the everlasting covenant of grace (1 Sam. 7:8-9; Isa. 9:6; Heb. 7:10,22; Rom. 5:12-21; Heb. 9:15; 13:20)! Christ is "the everlasting Father" (Isa. 9:6) who from eternity stood and answered God for all His children (Heb. 2:13). God promised in the everlasting covenant to remember the sins and iniquities of His people no more (Heb. 10:15-17; Rom. 11:27). To fulfill this, the LORD laid the full weight of His will on His Son in our nature, both to honor His law and to satisfy His justice (Isa. 53; Isa. 12:1-3; Rom. 5:19-21; 10:4; Php. 2:5-8; Matt. 5:17). When Christ came into the world, He undertook to do this will in the body God prepared for Him. It was in this body that He fulfilled that covenant. He was made of a woman, made under the law (Gal. 4:4-5). At the last supper, He said to His disciples, “This cup is the New Testament in my blood” (Matt. 26:28). His death put the everlasting covenant into force, “the blood of the everlasting covenant” (Heb. 13:20). His blood made satisfaction to God’s justice for the sins of His people (Heb. 9:12; Isa. 53:11). His offering perfected His people forever in justifying redemption (Heb. 9:12; 10:14). It is this blood applied by the Spirit of God in God-given faith that purges our conscience from all sin (Heb. 9:14). It is this blood that made redemption for the transgression under the first testament, the covenant of works, the law of God (Heb. 9:15). And it is by His obedience unto death that He established everlasting righteousness for His people (Rom. 10:4; Dan. 9:24).
May God give you and me the persuasion of saving faith to lay hold on Christ as our all in salvation!
“When He cometh into the world…” Jesus spoke these words when He came into the world, at His conception by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the virgin Mary. Christ was born of a woman according to OT prophecy (Gen. 3:15; Isa. 7:14; Gal. 4:4-5). But He did not begin to be at conception or at birth. The prophet Micah said that the One born in Bethlehem would be eternal God: “But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting” (Micah 5:2).
Why did the eternal, immutable, all-wise, almighty, omnipresent God come into the world as a baby in the womb of a virgin?! Solomon exclaimed in prophetic amazement, “Will God in very deed dwell with men on the earth? behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house which I have built” (2 Chr. 6:18)! The Creator of all forever took into union with Himself the nature of a man by conception of the Spirit of God in the womb of the virgin Mary! He humbled Himself (Php. 2:5-8)! He made Himself of no reputation! But why?
The answer comes in grand summary from Psalm 40:6-8. It is repeated here by fulfillment in Hebrews 10:5-7. He came to do the everlasting will of God! It was the will of God the Father. He purposed it. Before the foundation of the world, He decreed that His Son, the Lamb of God, would be slain to redeem His people from their sins (1 Pet. 1:19-20; Rev. 13:8). He commanded Him to lay down His life for those He gave to Him in eternal election. These are His sheep (John 10:15-18). And it was the will of God the Son. He said, “I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart” (Ps. 40:8). "He poured out His soul to death" (Isa. 53:12)! It was also the will of God the Holy Spirit. He told of Christ’s coming. He conceived His human nature in Mary’s womb. By the eternal Spirit, Christ offered Himself to God, thereby obtaining eternal redemption for us (Heb. 9:12). Thus, the Son of God became a servant in every way that a servant is a servant. He alone whose right it is to rule made obedience His rule of life. He came to do the will of God!
The next question that comes to mind is, “What was that will that He came to do?!” The answer is clear. It was to fulfill every condition God required in the everlasting covenant of His grace. All that God promised in the everlasting covenant to His people, He made to them in Christ their covenant Head (Isa. 42:6; 49:8; 2 Sam. 23:5). He committed to fulfill those promises on condition that Christ do His will. That will was to satisfy every demand of His justice and fulfill all righteousness in the place and on behalf of His people to the glory of God (John 17:1-4)! Their eternal inheritance depended on Christ doing the will of God (Heb. 9:15). This was His life’s work and His accomplishment in His death. On coming into the world, Jesus said, “I come to do thy will O my God” At age 12, Jesus told Mary and Joseph, “I must be about my Father’s business” (Luke 2:49). He told His disciples, “My meat is to do the will of Him that sent me and to finish His work” (John 4:34). He told the Pharisees, “The works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me” (John 5:36). In John 6 Jesus said, “I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day” (John 6:38-40). In John 10:17-18, Jesus said His Father’s commandment was that He lay down His life for the sheep (John 10:15,17-18). Then, in John 11:49-52, Caiphas the high priest prophesied to say that it was expedient that one man should die for the people and that the entire nation not perish. In John 12:27-32, facing the agony of the cross, Jesus asked, “What, shall I say, Father save me from this hour? But for this cause came I unto this hour!” In John 17:4 the Son of God said in prayer to His Father, “I have finished the work which Thou gavest me to do” (John 17:4). And finally in John 19, “he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost” (John 19:28-30).
In all of these repeated references by our Lord we see that by His coming and living and doing and dying, He finished the will of God. Christ came to serve His Father as one man for all of His people in His life and in His death (Matt. 20:28). His blood put the everlasting covenant into force (Heb. 13:20; Matt. 26:28). He fulfilled every condition in His death! Every spiritual blessing is therefore now given to His people (Isa. 53:12; Eph. 1:3; Rom. 8:32; 11:27; Heb. 10:14-18). God has fulfilled His promise.
In our father Adam, we broke the covenant of works. And by our own personal disobedience, we broke God's law, the covenant of works that God gave at Sinai. Our personal suffering cannot satisfy the demands of God’s law. In our own person, we cannot meet the requirements of the law for obedience and we cannot satisfy its demands in our punishment. But thanks be to God, before the world began, He appointed His Son to be the Champion and Head and Father of His people in the everlasting covenant of grace (1 Sam. 7:8-9; Isa. 9:6; Heb. 7:10,22; Rom. 5:12-21; Heb. 9:15; 13:20)! Christ is "the everlasting Father" (Isa. 9:6) who from eternity stood and answered God for all His children (Heb. 2:13). God promised in the everlasting covenant to remember the sins and iniquities of His people no more (Heb. 10:15-17; Rom. 11:27). To fulfill this, the LORD laid the full weight of His will on His Son in our nature, both to honor His law and to satisfy His justice (Isa. 53; Isa. 12:1-3; Rom. 5:19-21; 10:4; Php. 2:5-8; Matt. 5:17). When Christ came into the world, He undertook to do this will in the body God prepared for Him. It was in this body that He fulfilled that covenant. He was made of a woman, made under the law (Gal. 4:4-5). At the last supper, He said to His disciples, “This cup is the New Testament in my blood” (Matt. 26:28). His death put the everlasting covenant into force, “the blood of the everlasting covenant” (Heb. 13:20). His blood made satisfaction to God’s justice for the sins of His people (Heb. 9:12; Isa. 53:11). His offering perfected His people forever in justifying redemption (Heb. 9:12; 10:14). It is this blood applied by the Spirit of God in God-given faith that purges our conscience from all sin (Heb. 9:14). It is this blood that made redemption for the transgression under the first testament, the covenant of works, the law of God (Heb. 9:15). And it is by His obedience unto death that He established everlasting righteousness for His people (Rom. 10:4; Dan. 9:24).
May God give you and me the persuasion of saving faith to lay hold on Christ as our all in salvation!
Rick Warta
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