We must clearly begin with the great subject of the satisfaction for sin, and the deliverance from the curse, which was the immediate and first result of it. For this purpose we cannot have a finer passage than the text. It leads us straight to the root of the matter, and will suggest four most important subjects—the Redeemer Himself, the curse from which He has redeemed us, the act by which He redeemed us, and the persons whom He has redeemed. These, if God permit, we must consider in order. * * * * * I. The Redeemer Himself. It is perfectly clear that unless we know Him, we shall never understand His work. If there is confusion respecting Him, there will be confusion respecting all that He has done; so if we wish to enjoy the salvation, we must begin with the Saviour. Now in this passage He is described as ‘Christ.’ This is the name continually given Him throughout this Epistle. I know of only one instance in the whole Epistle in which the name ‘Jesus’ occurs, without having either ‘Christ,’ or ‘The Christ,’ attached to it. The reason most probably was, that St. Paul was writing to Jewish believers, and so made use of the name by which the expected Redeemer was predicted in Jewish prophecy. There are, therefore, certain great lessons to be gathered from the name. (1.) He was the predicted Redeemer. It was by this name that Daniel foretold His advent and death; for in Dan. ix. 25, 26, He is predicted as ‘Messiah the Prince;’ and it was under this name that the believing Jews were expecting Him, for Andrew said to his brother, John, i. 41, ‘We have found the Messias, which is being interpreted the Christ.’ (2.) Then again He was the anointed Redeemer. The meaning of the word Messias, or Christ, is anointed, so that the title, ‘The Christ,’ means ‘The Anointed One;’ and the words of the text might be rendered, ‘The anointed One has redeemed us.’ Now consider for one moment what was involved in this title. It conveys the assurance of the eternal purpose of God, and of His divine appointment of the Lord Jesus to the office. We all know that the anointing was the act of consecration to the sacred offices of Prophet, Priest, and King; and we can see at a glance why Christ was anointed, when set apart to fill an office which comprehended all the three—the prophetic, the priestly, and the royal. His great redeeming act, therefore, was not merely the result of His own mind and His own benevolence, but it was the sacred work unto which He was anointed by the Father. It was accepted by Himself, and laid upon Him by God. In undertaking it He had the support of divine authority, and before He undertook the office He was solemnly set apart to it by God.