(An Excerpt from “Preaching the Gospel, David Allen”)
He is preciousness itself. He is the very essence, the very substance, the very sum of all that is precious. The Lord Jesus Christ is essentially and He is intrinsically precious. The precious gopher wood of His perfect and His sinless humanity has been overlaid with the pure gold of His eternal deity. He is a mine of jewels. He is a mountain of gems. He is altogether lovely.
There is a beauty, a glory, a majesty about the Lord Jesus Christ so that John can say, “…we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14) His manhood is without the least taint of sin. Indeed, Peter reminds us in 1 Peter 2:22, that Jesus “did not sin, neither was guile found in his mouth.” You remember that Pilate’s wife sent a message to her husband, “have thou nothing to do with that just man” (Matthew 27:19), and Pilate washed his hands before the multitudes and said, “I am innocent of the blood of this just person” (verse 24). He was not innocent, but he was right in calling Jesus “this just person”. The dying thief acknowledged, “this man hath done nothing amiss” (Luke 23:41), and even Judas had to confess before he hung himself, “I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood” (Matthew 27:4), the innocent blood of the spotless Lamb of God.
Jesus lived in this world without one transgression or violation of God’s Holy Law; He was and He is immaculate manhood. In the Song of Songs, the question is posed to the bride, “what is thy beloved, that thou dost so charge us? My beloved is white and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand. His head is as the most fine gold, his locks are bushy, and black as a raven. His eyes are as the eyes of doves by the rivers of waters, washed with milk, and fitly set. His cheeks are as a bed of spices, as sweet flowers: his belly like lilies, dropping sweet smelling myrrh. His hands are as gold rings set with beryl: his belly is as bright ivory overlaid with sapphires. His legs are as pillars of marble, set upon sockets of fine gold: his countenance is as Lebanon, excellent as the cedars. His mouth is most sweet: yea, he is altogether lovely.” (Song of Solomon 5:9-15)