The Man Born Blind (20)

The healed man has uttered his confession. “Who is He, Lord, that I might believe on Him?” It has been heard by the Lord Jesus Himself. Now the time has come to reveal Himself to one of His. The time was appointed; the healed man was guided upon the way to Christ. The fruits of his healing could not save him, his healing could not either—the Person of the Mediator, He saves. He reveals Himself. The true Church will receive lessons in free and sovereign grace to know their Saviour. A great change, some outpouring of love, some remarkable dealings and deliverance are not saviours, dear reader. They are all too short for the guilt you have incurred to the justice of God. The Father has sent His Son to heal and to reveal Himself as who He is for His Church. The restoration of a sinner will not skip the justice of God. Under that justice God is a consuming fire. It is learned; it is experienced.

There I must also point to what is lacking nowadays in the churches, in the schools, and in our homes. So many are satisfied with remarkable changes and deliverances. So many have texts or passages that have become special. I warn you, dear reader, they are no ground for eternity. The arrow lies further. Why is it that there is so much rest outside of Christ in our days? Why is it that the leadings are missed of how under the justice of God this rest is declared in the Lord Jesus and that there the Father reveals His Son as the propitiation for the satisfaction of your sins, and how that His satisfaction becomes yours by faith? Many rest in the fruits of the love of God. Then be honest with your soul. When that sweetness of the fruit goes away, how stands your case with God? In true conversion the debt that has been incurred and not paid for becomes reality. The fruits of God’s love are sweet, but under the justice of God, the sweetness of the fruits of His love are consumed because it has not given a payment to His inflexible justice.

“Thou hast both seen Him…” Do you hear it? Christ makes everything true. Dear reader, the Mediator is true, and all His work is true. In all the struggles this man has, the true Messiah reveals Himself. The strife because of the work of God in his life receives an answer in the revelation of the Person. Here the Lord confirms in the revelation of the Person that His work is true. Dear reader, because of the revelation of this Person, everything becomes new and true in this man’s life for Christ’s sake. He was healed for Christ’s sake; He was cast out for Christ’s sake; He was found by Christ for Christ’s sake. The reality of the matter being true receives an answer in the revelation of the Person.

“And it is He that talketh with thee.” This man receives an encounter with Immanuel. The two natures of Christ receive value for this man in how Christ reveals Himself. Christ assumed the human nature to heal the breach between God and his soul. Christ assumed the human nature to reveal Himself in the man’s place of being cast out. He comes to seek His wandering sons. Christ’s divine nature is the power in this miracle of his healing. He was healed for Christ’s sake. The Mediator reveals Himself as the one who sought him. “We love Him because He first loved us.” The wonder here cannot be accurately described! Christ was hidden but now associates with the once-blind man. Here the Mediator has fellowship with him who was cast out. Dear reader, you will never forget the place where Christ reveals Himself in his Person and associated with you as an outcast. That is a wonder so great!

The fruit is remarkable—faith! “Lord, I believe.” Faith is always a gift, and gifts always have substance. The substance of this gift of faith is Christ. That remains true for the whole Church of God. Here the man may be as a light post in the darkness through which God’s true people so often have to go. Their faith is brought low. The Substance hides Himself so long, but read it here for your comfort; the Gift of the Father becomes the object of the faith of this man at God’s time. The Bible is the Book that declares the life of His striving inheritance, and it proves here that His people are given to believe. True faith has substance. The object of their faith is the Messiah, Prince Immanuel. True faith gives union to God through Jesus Christ. May the Lord encourage His outcasts, His Zion who are not strangers to the strife for the satisfaction of His justice. It lies declared in the Person of the Mediator, “This is My beloved Son!” p

(To be continued)

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