God, apart from Christ, is an angry, offended Sovereign. Unless we behold Him in and through Christ, the Mediator, the terrors of His Majesty would overwhelm us. We dare not approach the Father except in Christ because of our sins. We first fasten our eyes upon Christ, then upon the Father. If Christ does not bear our guilt and reconcile us unto God, we perish! Before any man can think to stand before the face of God’s justice or be admitted to the secret chamber of God’s mercy or partake of the riches of His grace, he must look to the Mediator, Christ Jesus.
The Existence and Attributes of God.
Knowing God without knowing our own wretchedness makes for pride. Knowing our own wretchedness without knowing God makes for despair. Knowing Jesus Christ strikes the balance because He shows us both God and our own wretchedness.
One is struck with the personality of this text [Mt. 11:28]. There are two persons in it, “you” and “me”… Jesus says, “Come to Me, not to anybody else but to Me.” He does not say, “Come to hear a sermon about Me” but “Come to Me, to My work and person.” You will observe that no one is put between you and Christ… Come to Jesus directly, even to Jesus Himself. You do want a mediator between yourselves and God, but you do not want a mediator between yourselves and Jesus… To Him we may look at once, with unveiled face, guilty as we are. To Him we may come, just as we are, without anyone to recommend us or plead for us or make a bridge for us to Jesus… You, as you are, are to come to Christ as He is, and the promise is that on your coming to Him he will give you rest. That is the assurance of Jesus Himself, and there is no deception in it… You see there are two persons. Let everybody else vanish, and let these two be left alone, to transact heavenly business with each other.
The Treasury of the New Testament, I:171.
