But  the  emphasis,  where  punishment  is  insisted  upon,  is
on  the  direct  infliction  of  the  divine  will;  the  figure  of
debt  points  rather  to  death  as  the  natural  and  necessary
consequence  of  sin,  following  upon  it  by  the  action  of  the
divinely  ordained  constitution  of  things.  And  this  involves
two  consequences.  First,  by  taking  the  matter  out  of  the
sphere  of  mere  will  into  that  of  reason  and  the  con-
stitution of  things  the  necessity  of  our  Lord's  death  is
made  clear,  in  contrast  to  the  view  of  most  ancient  writers ;
and,  secondly,  our  Lord's  payment  of  the  debt  must  be
not  only  substitutionary,  but  so  strictly  representative,
that  all  may  be  truly  said  to  have  died  in  Him.  What
is  of  the  divine  order  must  be  fulfilled  by  all,  and  not
merely  by  one,  even  though  He  be  the  Head  of  the  race.
In  the  next  place,  the  redemptive  meaning  of  our  Lprd's
humanity  is  conceived  in  a  very  limited  way.  The  bond
of  union  between  our  Lord  and  mankind  is  found  almost
exclusively  in  the  eteraal  Logos,  and  not  in  the  divine
humanity.  Flesh  is  assumed  simply  because  for  the  pay-
ment of  our  debt  the  death  of  the  Logos  is  necessary,  and
the  incorporeal  Logos  cannot  die.
