(with Romans 5:21; 1 Corinthians 15:56; Galatians 4:1; Galatians 4:5; Romans 7:4)
The Saviour of Men.
Take the illustration of a drowning man, and compare it with the hapless condition of sinful men. In order to save the man there must be six conditions of success.
I. Some one from the shore must undertake to save him.
II. The helper must leave the shore and come to him, so that he can grasp him.
III. In order to come to him his deliverer must come within the sweep of the law. There is no other way of reaching him than through the current. Christ comes down close to where we are, so that men can not only see Him, but touch Him, grasp Him, take Him by the hand.
IV. The rescuer must bear the drowning man's share of the curse of the law if he would save him. The same strain comes as before, but the man's friend bears the strain for him. It is only on this condition that he can possibly be saved. The strength of the law which was against us had to exert its force on Christ.
V. Not only must the deliverer bear the sufferer's share of the force of the law which sweeps him down, but he must have strength enough to stand it all and get safe back again. Christ was not submerged under the waves for long. He regains the shore. He has come through it all. He has borne the whole curse. It is all finished. And yet He lives, omnipotent to save.
VI. The saviour and the saved must be firmly bound together. The drowning man cannot be saved unless he be attached to his deliverer, and in the same way the sinner cannot be saved unless he be attached to Jesus Christ.
J. Monro Gibson, Christian World Pulpit,vol. xxv., p. 56.
References: Galatians 3:13. Spurgeon, Sermons,vol. xv., No. 873.Galatians 3:16-18. Clergyman's Magazine,vol. vii., p. 89. Galatians 3:19. Spurgeon, Sermons,vol. iii., No. 123.Galatians 3:19; Galatians 3:20. Church of England Pulpit,vol ii., p. 409. Galatians 3:21. E. White, Christian World Pulpit,vol. xx., p. 312.Galatians 3:22. Spurgeon, Sermons,vol. xix., No. 1145; Clergyman's Magazine,vol. v., p. 31; J. Edmunds, Sixty Sermons,p. 351.