The Loveliness of Christ.
Zion's Advocate, Vol. 43, No. 5, May 1904.
"Yea, he is altogether lovely." Song of Solomon, verse 16.
A person is lovely to us who possesses qualities that excite our admiration and affection. Qualities that some admire and love may not be admired and loved by others, and hence a person who possesses those qualities is lovely in the estimation of the former, but may be quite the reverse in the estimation of the latter.Qualities may be lovely in themselves, or worthy in themselves of the admiration and affection of all, and yet the taste of some may be so perverted that those qualities fail to excite their admiration and affection. Such a person is not lovely in the estimation of that class.
Jesus possesses qualities that are worthy in themselves of the admiration and affection of all. Yet he is not lovely in the estimation of all, because the taste of some is so perverted that those qualities do not excite the admiration and affection. This is not only true of some, but it is true of all in an unchanged state, for "the carnal mind is enmity against God."
The spouse, or chosen bride of Christ, is so effectually changed by the Spirit in regeneration that the enmity is destroyed and love is implanted in its stead. Before this there 'was no beauty in him" that she should desire him, but after this he is "the chiefest among ten thousand" to her; "yea, he is altogether lovely." A view of his amiable qualities is given when her eyes are opened to see them, and the admiration and affection of her soul is then stirred up to declare his loveliness.
The inquiry is made of her, "What is thy beloved more than another beloved?" His superior excellence calls forth the utmost power of her admiration, and she is inspired to utter words of description that are "as apples of gold in pictures of silver." The sublime encomium which she bestows upon the character of her beloved ends with the soul-stirring exclamation: "Yea, he is altogether lovely."
He, the desire of all nations, the Lord Jesus Christ, is altogether lovely. Of him the Psalmist wrote, "Thou art fairer than the children of men." There is nothing in him that is unlovely; everything about him is amiable. The loveliness of the most lovely creatures has its imperfections. There are faulty spots upon the most beautiful characters of earth. Where there are qualities that are pleasing in them, there are also qualities that are displeasing. But in our altogether lovely Saviour it is not so. His excellencies are unmixed with dross. He is the fountain of sweetness without one drop of gall.
The sum of all loveliness is found in him. The brilliancy of the finest character of an inferior order, as compared with his, is as the faintest star to the brightness of the noon-day sun. "All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass." But the glory of the Holy One of Israel is boundless in its nature and endless in its duration. It is as imperishable as the throne of God in heaven.
The qualities that blend in his lovely character render him all in all to his bride. He is bread to the hungry, water to the thirsty, clothing to the naked, healing to the wounded, medicine to the sick, shelter to the shelterless, rest to the weary, comfort to the sorrowful, wealth to the poor, support to the weak, justification to the sinful, wisdom to the ignorant, every thing needful to every one of his dependent children. "Yea, he is altogether lovely."
The loveliness of all other lovely objects is secondary and derivative, but Jesus' loveliness is original and primary. Angels and creatures of the earth, with all that is attractive in the world, have received what excellence they possess from him. It is because he made them so, that there is anything desirable in them. But from everlasting ages his splendor has shed forth its infinite brilliancy from an underived fountain of loveliness.
All other loveliness fails to satisfy the desires of a heaven-born soul. There is not enough in all created things for such a soul to find a full gratification of its holy delights. From every other joy it turns away with the touching appeal:
"O thou, in whose presence my soul takes delight,
On whom in affliction I call;
My comfort by day and my song in the night,
My hope, my salvation, my ALL."
That soul, in seeking to satisfy itself with the petty joys of this sin-cursed earth, is like a large vessel in a shallow, narrow stream. There is not room to turn or sail, and there is frequent grounding and foundering in the shallows. But the glorious Redeemer is to that soul a boundless, fathomless ocean of loveliness, where every pure desire is gratified, where every sacred need is supplied, where every distress is relieved, where every burden is removed. The hope of seeing him as he is and dwelling with him, calls forth the familiar stanza as an exclamation of exultant expectation:
"There shall I bathe my weary soul,
In seas of heavenly rest,
And not a wave of trouble roll
Across my peaceful breast."
The greatest display of glory that has ever been presented to the admiration of men and angels is the wonderful union of the divine and human nature in Jesus Christ. The fullness of the Spirit, which was given to him in unmeasured abundance, renders him exceedingly lovely to the view of all who know him. All the graces of the Spirit, even the fullness of the godhead dwelling in him bodily, cast a lovely halo about his human personage that renders him a most glorious object and a most desirable companion.
Jesus is altogether lovely in the relation of bridegroom to all whom he espouses to himself. This espousal is made with unholy beings, such as are altogether unworthy of his esteem or even his notice. He chooses them not because they are lovely, but to make them so. Ephesians 5:27. As they lie in ruin and death, he passes by and says unto them, Live. Covered with filthy garments and all polluted with filth themselves he finds them, but he takes away their rags, washes away the pollution, clothes them in a beautiful robe, and says unto them, "Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; the flowers appear upon the earth; the time for the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land." Song of Solomon, 2:10,11,12. Brought up from death by his matchless voice (John 5:25), the bride looks upon the lovely one as hers by the faith that he gives her, and breaks forth in exulting strains, "My beloved is mine, and I am his!" Jesus loved the church and gave himself for it. Eph. v. 25. He loved his people as no earthly husband can love the wife of his bosom. Death separates all other relations, but the union of Jesus and his bride is not dissolved in the grave. Indeed the day of the Christian's death is but the day of a closer union with the immortal Husband. By marriage to him his bride is exalted to the highest honors. When the redeemed host is brought to the realization and enjoyment of a final victory over satan, sin and death, then will Jesus appear in the full splendor of his loveliness. They shall then know that what they sang of him below is true:
"Love sits in his eyelids, and scatters delight
Through all the bright mansions on high;
Their faces the cherubim veil in his sight,
And praise him with fulness of joy.
He looks and ten thousands of angels rejoice,
And myriads wait for his word;
He speaks, and eternity, filled with his voice,
Re-echoes the praise of her Lord."
J. R. D.
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