A Body of Divinity, Text
THE MYSTERY OF THE Incarnation of the SON OF GOD.
THE holy Prophet in the Book of the aProv. 30. 3, 4.Proverbs, poseth all such as have not learned wisdome, nor known the knowledge of the holy, with this Question: Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended? who hath gathered the wind in his fists? who hath bound the waters in a garment? who hath established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and what is his SONS name, if thou canst tell? To help us herein, the SON Himself did tell us, when hee was here upon earth, that bJoh. 3. 13.None hath ascended up to heaven, but hee that descended from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. And that wee might not bee ignorant of his name, the Prophet Isaiah did long before foretell, that cEsa. 9. 6.VntoUnto us a Childe is born, and unto us a Son is given; whose name shall bee called Wonderfull, Counseller, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Where, if it bee demanded, how these things can stand together? that the Son of man speaking upon earth, should yet at the same instant bee in heaven? that the Father of Eternity should bee born in time? and that the Mighty God should become a Childe; which is the weakest state of Man himself? wee must call to minde, that the first letter of this great Name, is WONDERFULL. When hee appeared of old to Manoah, his name was Wonderfull, and hee did wonderously, Judg. 13. 18, 19. But that, and all the wonders that ever were, must give place to the great mystery of his Incarnation, and in respect thereof cease to bee wonderfull: for of this work that may bee verifyed, which is spoken of those wonderfull judgements, that God brought upon Aegypt; when hee woulddExod. 9. 16. shew his power, and have his name declared throughout all the earth.eIbid. chap. 10. 14. & 11. 6. Before them were no such; neither after them shall bee the like.
Neither the creation of all things out of nothing, which was the beginning of the works of God (those six working dayes putting as it were an end, to that long Sabbath that never had beginning; wherein the Father, Son, and holy Ghost did infinitelyfJoh. 17. 5. glorifie themselves andgProv. 8. 30. rejoyce in the fruition one of another, without communicating the notice thereof unto any creature) nor the Resurrection from the dead, and the restauration of all things, the last works that shall goe before that everlasting Sabbath (which shall have a beginning, but never shall have end:) neither that first, I say, nor these last, though most admirable peeces of work, may bee compared with this; wherein the Lord was pleased to shew the highest pitch (if any thing may bee said to bee highest in that which is infinite and exempt from all measure and dimensions) of his Wisdome, Goodnesse, Power and Glory.
The Heathen Chaldeans, to a question propounded by the King of Babel, make answer;hDan. 2. 11. that it was a rare thing which hee required, and that none other could shew it, except the Gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh. But the rarity of this lyeth in the contrary to that which they imagined to bee so plain: that heeiRom. 9. 5. who is over all, God blessed for ever, should take our flesh and dwell, or*foreign, Joh. 1. 14. pitch his tabernacle with us. That askExod. 40. 34, 35. the glory of God filled the Tabernacle, (which was alHeb. 9. 9. 11. figure of the humane nature of our Lord) with such a kinde of fulnesse, that Moses himself was not able to approach unto it; (therein comming short,mHeb. 3. 3. 6. as in all things, of the Lord of the house) and filled the Temple of Solomon (a type likewisenJoh. 2. 19, 21. of the body of our Prince of Peace) ino2 Chro. 7. 1, 2 such sort that the Priests could not enter therein: sopColoss. 2. 9. in him all the fulnesse of the Godhead should dwell bodily.
And therefore, if of that Temple, built with hands, Solomon could say with admiration:q2 Chro. 6. 18. But will God in very deed dwell with men on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens can not contain thee; how much lesse this house, which I have built? of the true Temple, that is not of this building, wee may with greater wonderment say with the Apostle,r1 Tim. 3. 16. Without controversie, great is the mystery of Religion: God was manifested in the flesh. Yea, was made of a Woman, and born of a Virgin: a thing sosEsa. 7. 11, 14. wonderfull, that it was given for a signe unto unbeleevers seven hundred and forty yeers before it was accomplished; even a signe of Gods own choosing, among all the wonders in the depth, or in the heighth above. Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a signe. Behold, a Virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call his name Immanuel, Esa. 7. 14.
A notable wonder indeed, and great beyond all comparison. That the Son of God should beetGal. 4. 4. made of a Woman; even made of that Woman, which vvasuJoh. 1. 3. Col. 1. 16. made of by himself. That her womb then, and thexAct. 1. 21. heavens now, should contain him, vvhomy1 King. 8. 27. the Heaven of Heavens can not contain. That hee who had both Father and Mother, whose pedegree is upon record even up unto Adam, who in the fulnesse of time vvas brought forth in Bethlehem, and when hee had finished his course was cut off out of the land of the living at Jerusalem; should yet notwithstanding bee in truth, that which his shadow Melchisedec was onelyonly in the conceite of the men of his time,zHeb. 7. 3. with Esa. 53. 8. & Mica. 5. 2. without Father, without Mother, without pedegree, having neither beginning of dayes nor end of life. That his Father should beeaJoh. 14. 28. greater then hee; and yet hee his FathersbJoh. 5. 18. Phil. 2. 6. equall. That heecJoh. 8. 58. is, before Abraham was; and yet Abrahams birth preceded his, wel-nigh the space of two thousand yeers. And finally, that hee who was Davids Son, should yet bee Davids Lord:dMatth. 22. 42, 43, &c. a case which plunged the greatest Rabbies among the Pharisees; who had not yet learned this wisdome, nor known this knowledge of the holy.
The untying of this knot dependeth upon the right understanding of the wonderfull conjunction of the divine and humane Nature in the unity of the Person of our Redeemer. For by reason of the strictnesse of this personall union, whatsoever may bee verifyed of either of those Natures, the same may bee truely spoken of the whole Person, from whethersoever of the Natures it bee denominated. For the clearer conceiving whereof, wee may call to minde that which the Apostle hath taught us touching our Saviour.eCol. 2. 9. In him dwelleth all the fulnesse of the Godhead bodily, that is to say, by such a personall and reall union, as doth inseparably and everlastingly conjoyn that infinite Godhead with his finite Manhood in the unity of the self-same individuall Person.
Hee in whom that fulnesse dwelleth, is the PERSON: that fulnesse which so doth dwell in him, is the NATVRE. Now there dwelleth in him not onelyonly the fulnesse of the Godhead, but the fulnesse of the Manhood also. For wee beleeve him to bee both perfect God, begotten of the substance of his Father before all worlds; and perfect Man, made of the substance of his Mother in the fulnesse of time. And therefore wee must hold, that there are two distinct Natures in him: and two so distinct, that they doe not make one compounded nature; but still remain uncompounded and unconfounded together. But Hee in whom the fulnesse of the Manhood dwelleth is not one, and hee in whom the fulnesse of the Godhead, another: but hee in whom the fulnesse of both those natures dwelleth, is one and the same Immanuel, and consequently it must bee beleeved as firmly, that hee is but one Person.
And here wee must consider, that the divine Nature did not assume an humane Person, but the divine Person did assume an humane Nature: and that of the three divine Persons, it was neither the first nor the third that did assume this Nature; but it was the middle Person, who was to bee the middle one, that must undertake this mediation betwixt God and us, which was otherwise also most requisite, as well for the better preservation of the integrity of the blessed Trinity in the Godhead, as for the higher advancement of Mankinde by means of that relation which the second Person the Mediator did beare unto his Father. For if the fulnesse of the Godhead should have thus dwelt in any humane person, there should then a fourth Person necessarily have been added unto the Godhead: and if any of the three Persons, beside the second, had been born of a woman; there should have been two Sons in the Trinity. Whereas now the Son of God and the Son of the blessed Virgin, being but one Person, is consequently but one Son; and so no alteration at all made in the relations of the Persons of the Trinity.
Againe, in respect of us, the Apostle sheweth, that for this very endfGal. 4. 4, 5, 7. God sent his own SON made of a Woman; that WE might receive the adoption of SONS: and thereupon maketh this inference; Wherefore thou art no more a servant but a SON, and if a SON, then an HEIRE of God through Christ: intimating thereby, that what relation Christ hath unto God by Nature, wee being found in him have the same by Grace. By nature hee isgJoh. 1. 14. & 3. 16. the onelyonly begotten Son of the Father: but this is the high grace hee hath purchased for us; thathJoh. 1. 12. as many as received him, to them hee gave power, or priviledge, to become the Sons of God, even to them that beleeve on his Name. For although hee reserve to himselfe the preheminence, which is due unto him in a*Propter quod unum quod que est tale, illud ipsum est magis tale. peculiar manner, of being iRom. 8. 29.the first born among many brethren: yet in him, and for him, the rest likewise by the grace of adoption are all of them accounted as first-bornes.
So God biddeth Moses to say unto Pharaoh: kExod. 4. 22, 23Israel is my Son, even my first born. And I say unto thee; Let my son goe, that hee may serve mee: and if thou refuse to let him goe; behold, I will slay thy son, even thy first born. And the whole Israel of God, consisting of Jew and Gentile, is in the same sort described by the Apostle to beelHeb. 12. 23. the generall assembly and Church of the first born inrolled in heaven. For the same reason that maketh them to bee Sons, to wit, their incorporation into Christ, the self-same also maketh them to be first-bornes: so as (however it fall out by the grounds of our Common Law) by the rule of the Gospel this consequence will still hold true;mRom. 8. 17. if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joynt-heires with Christ. And so much for the SON, the Person assuming.
The Nature assumed, is the seed of Abraham, Heb. 2. 16. the seed of David, Rom. 1. 3. the seed of the Woman, Gen. 3. 15. the WORD, n1 Joh. 5. 5.the second person of the Trinity, beingoJoh. 1. 14. made FLESH, that is to say,pGal. 4. 4. Gods own Son being made of a Woman, and so becomming truely and reallyqLuk. 1. 42. the fruite of her wombe. Neither did hee take the substance of our nature onelyonly, but all the properties also and the qualities thereof: so as it might bee said of him, as it was ofrforeign. Ja. 5. 17. Elias and thesforeign. Act. 14. 15. Apostles; that hee was a man subject to like passions as wee are. Yea hee subjected himselftHeb. 5. 7. in the dayes of his flesh to the sameu2 Cor. 13. 4. Heb. 2. 17, 18. & 4. 15. weaknesse which we find in our own fraile nature, and was compassed with like infirmities; and in a word, in all things was made like unto his brethren, sin onelyonly excepted. Wherein yet wee must consider, that as hee took upon him, not an humane Person, but an humane Nature: so it was not requisite hee should take upon him any Personall infirmities, such as are, madnesse, blindenesse, lamenesse, and particular kindes of diseases, which are incident to some onelyonly and not to all men in generall; but those alone which doe accompany the whole Nature of mankinde, such as are hungring, thirsting, wearinesse, griefe, paine, and mortality.
Wee are further here also to observe in this ourxHeb. 7. 3. Melchisedec, that as he had no Mother in regard of one of his natures, so he was to have no Father in regard of the other; but must bee born of a pure and immaculate Virgin, without the help of any man: according to that which is writen.yJer. 31. 22. The Lord hath created a new thing in the earth: A woman shall compasse a man. And this also was most requisite, as for other respects, so for the exemption of the assumed nature from the imputation and pollution of Adams sin. ForzRom. 5. 12. sin having by that one man entred into the world; every Father becommeth an Adam unto his childe, and conveyeth the corruption of his nature unto all those whom hee doth beget. Therefore our Saviour assuming the substance of our nature, but not by the ordinary way of naturall generation, is thereby freed from all the touch and taint of the corruption of our flesh; which by that means onelyonly is propagated from the first man unto his posterity. Whereupon, hee being made of man but not by man, and so becomming the immediate fruit of the womb, and not of the loyns, must of necessity bee acknowledged to be*Luk. 1. 35. that HOLY THING, which so was born of so blessed a Mother. Who although shee were but the passive and materiall principle of which that precious flesh was made, and the holy Ghost the agent and efficient; yet cannot the man Christ Jesus thereby bee made the Son of hisaGal. 4. 6. Rom. 8. 9. own Spirit. Because Fathers doe beget their children out of their own substance: the holy Ghost did not so, but framed the flesh of him, from whom himself proceeded, out of the creature of them both,bLuk. 1. 38. 48. the handmaid of our Lord; whom from thence all generations shall call blessed.
That blessed womb of hers was the Bride-chamber, wherein the holy Ghost did knit that indissoluble knot betwixt our humane nature and his Deity: the Son of God assuming into the unity of his person that which before he was not; and yet without change (for so must God still bee) remaining that which hee was, whereby it came to passe, thatcLuk. 1. 35. this holy thing which was born of her, was indeed and in truth to bee called the SON of GOD. Which wonderfull connexion of two so infinitely differing natures in the unity of one person, how it was there effected; is an inquisition fitter for an Angelicall intelligence, then for our shallow capacity to look after: to which purpose also wee may observe, that in the fabrick of the Ark of the Covenant,dExod. 37. 9. the posture of the faces of the Cherubims toward the Mercy-seat (the type of our Saviour) was such, as would point unto us, that these are the things which the Angels desire to *foreign, 1 Pet. 1. 12.stoope and look into.
And therefore let that satisfaction, which the Angel gave unto the Mother Virgin (whom it did more specially concern to move the question,eLuk. 1. 34. How may this bee?) content us,fIbid. ver. 35. The power of the Highest shall overshadow thee. For as the former part of that speech may informe us, thatgIbid. ver. 37. with God nothing is impossible: so the latter may put us in minde, that the same God having overshadowed this mystery with his own vaile, wee should not presume with the men of Bethshemesh to look into this Ark of his;1 Sam. 6. 19. lest for our curiosity wee bee smitten, as they were. OnelyOnly this wee may safely say, and must firmely hold: that as the distinction of the Persons in the holy Trinity, hindreth not the unity of the Nature of the Godhead, although every Person intirely holdeth his owne incommunicable property; so neither doth the distinction of the two Natures in our Mediatour any way crosse the unity of his Person, although each nature remaineth*foreign. intire in it self, and retaineth the properties agreeing thereunto, without any conversion, composition, commixtion, or confusion.
WheniExod. 3. 2, 3. 5, 6. Act. 7. 31, 32. Moses beheld the bush burning with fire, and yet no whit consumed, he wondred at the sight, and said; I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. But when God thereupon called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Draw not nigh hither, and told him who he was; Moses trembled, hid his face, and durst not behold God. Yet, although being thus warned, we dare not draw so nigh; what doth hinder but we may stand aloof off, and wonder at this great sight?kHeb. 12. 29. Our God is a consuming fire; saith the Apostle: and a question wee finde propounded in the Prophet.lEsa. 33. 14. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who amongst us shall dwell with the everlasting burnings? Moses was not like other Prophets, butmNumb. 12. 6, 7, 8. Exo. 33. 11. God spake unto him face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend: and yet for all that, when hee besought the Lord that he would shew him his glory; hee received this answer,nExod. 33. 18. 20. Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live. Abraham before him, though a specialoEsa. 41. 8. 2 Chron. 20. 7. Jam. 2. 23. friend of God, and thepRom. 4. 11. 16. Gal. 3. 7. father of the faithfull, the children of God; yet held it a great matter that he should take upon him so much as to qGen. 18. 27.speak unto God, being but dust and ashes. Yea, the very Angels themselves (r2 Pet. 2. 11. which are greater in power and might) are fain tosEsa. 6. 2. cover their faces, when they stand before him; as not being able to behold the brightnesse of his glory.
With what astonishment then may wee behold our dust and ashes assumed into the undivided unity of Gods own Person; and admitted to dwell here, as an inmate, under the same roofe; and yet in the midst of those everlasting burnings, the bush to remain unconsumed, and to continue fresh and green for evermore? Yea, how should not wee with Abraham rejoyce to see this day, wherein not onelyonly our nature in the Person of our Lord Jesus is found to dwell for ever in those everlasting burnings; but, in and by him, our own persons also are brought so nigh thereunto, thattLevit. 26. 11, 12. Ezek. 37. 26, 27. Revel. 21. 3. God doth set his Sanctuary and Tabernacle among us, and dwell with us; and (which is much more) maketh us our selves to be theuHeb. 3. 6. house and thexEph. 2. 22. habitation, wherein he is pleased to dwell by his Spirit, according to that of the Apostle,y2 Cor. 6. 16. Yee are the Temple of the living God, as God hath said; I will dwell in them and walk in them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And that most admirable prayer, which our Saviour himself made unto his Father in our behalf.zJoh. 17. 20, 21, 22, 23. I pray not for these alone, but for them also which shall beleeve on me through their word: that they all may be one, as thou Father art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us; that the world may beleeve that thou hast sent me. I in them, and thou in mee, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them as thou hast loved me.
To compasse this conjunction betwixt God and us, he that was to be ouraMat. 1. 21. 23. See Anselms Cur Deus homo. JESUS or Saviour, must of necessity also be IMMANUEL; which being interpreted is, God with us: and therefore in his Person to be Immanuel, that is, God dwelling with our flesh; because he was by his Office to to be Immanuel, that is, he who must make God to be at one with us. For this being his proper office, to beb1 Tim. 2. 5. Mediatour between God and men, he must partake with both: and being before all eternity consubstantiall with his Father, he must at the appointed time become likewise consubstantiall with his children.cHeb. 2. 14. Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and bloud; he also himself likewise took part of the same, saith the Apostle. We read in the Romane history, that the Sabines and the Romanes joyning battell together, upon such an occasion as is mentioned in the last chapter of the book of Judges, of the children of Benjamin, catching every man a wife of the daughters of Shiloh: the women being daughters to the one side, and wives to the other, interposed themselves and took up the quarrell: so that by the mediation of these, who had a peculiar interest in either side, and by whose means this new alliance was contracted betwixt the two adverse parties; they who before stood upon highest tearms of hostility,*Sic pax facta, foedusque percussū: secuta que res mira dictu, ut relictis sedibus suis novam in Vrbem hostes demigrarent, & cum generis suis avitas opes pro dote sociarent. L. Flor. histor. Rom. li. 1. ca. 1. did not onelyonly entertain peace, but also joyned themselves together into one body, and one state.
God and we weredRom. 5. 10. enemies; before wee were reconciled to him by his Son. Hee that is to beeEph. 2. 14. 16. our peace, and to reconcile us unto God, and to slay this enmity, must have an interest in both the parties that are at variance, and have such a reference unto either of them, that he may bee able to send this comfortable message unto the sons of men:fJohn 20. 17. Goe to my brethren, and say unto them: I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God. For, as long asgHeb. 2. 11. hee is not ashamed to call us brethren; hHeb. 11. 16.God is not ashamed to bee called our God. And his entring of our apparance, in his own name and ours, after this manner;iHeb. 2. 13. Behold, I, and the children which God hath given mee; is a motive strong enough to appease his Father, and to turn his favourable countenance toward us: as on the other side, when wee become unruly and prove rebellious children; no reproofe can bee more forcible, nor inducement so prevalent (if there remaine any sparke of grace in us) to make us cast downe our weapons and yeeld, then this. kDeut. 32. 6.Doe ye thus requite the Lord, O foolish people and unwise? Is not hee thy Father that hath bought thee? and bought thee,l1 Pet. 1. 17, 18, 19. not with corruptible things, as silver and gold, but with the precious bloud of his own Son?
How dangerous a matter it is to be at ods with God, old Eli sheweth by this main argument. m1 Sam. 2. 25.If one man sin against another, the Judge shall judge him▪ but if a man sinne against the Lord, who shall plead or intreat for him? and Job, before him. nJob 9. 32, 33.He is not a man as I am, that I should answer him, and we should come together in judgment: neither is there any Days-man or Vmpire betwixt us, that might lay his hand upon us both. If this generall should admit no manner of exception, then were we in a wofull case, and had cause to weep much more then S. John did in the Revelation; when oRev. 5. 3, 4.none was found in heaven, nor in earth, nor under the earth, that was able to open the book which he saw in the right hand of him that sate upon the Throne, neither to looke thereon. But as S. John was wished there, to refrain his weeping; because pRev. 5. 5.the Lyon of the tribe of Juda, the root of David, had prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof: so he himself elsewhere giveth the like comfort unto all of us in this particular. q1 Joh. 2. 1, 2.If any sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: and he is a propitiation for our sins; and not for ours onelyonly, but also for the sins of the whole world.
For asr1 Tim. 2. 5, 6. there is one God, so is there one Mediatour betweene God and men, the man Christ Jesus: who gave himself a ransome for all; and in discharge of this his office of mediation, as the onelyonly fit umpire to take up this controversie, was to lay his hand aswell upon God the party so highly offended, as upon Man the party so basely offending. In things concerning God, the Priesthood of our Mediatour is exercised:sHeb. 5. 1. & 2. 17. For every high Priest is taken from among men, and ordained for men in things pertaining to God. The parts of his Priestly function are two; Satisfaction and Intercession: the former wherof giveth contentment to Gods justice; the latter soliciteth his mercy, for the application of this benefit to the children of God in particular. Whereby it commeth to passe, that God intRom. 9. 15, 16. shewing mercy upon whom he will shew mercy, is yet for his justice no loser: being bothuRom. 3. 26. just, and the justifier of him which beleeveth in Jesus.
By vertue of his Intercession, our MediatourxHeb. 9. 24. appeareth in the presence of God for us, andyRom. 8. 34. Heb. 7. 25. maketh request for us. To this purpose, the Apostle noteth in the IIIIth. to the Hebrewes, I. That we have a great high Priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God. (vers. 14.) II. That we have not an high Priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all things tempted as we are; yet without sin. (vers. 15.) Betwixt the having of such, and the not having of such an Intercessor, betwixt the heighth of him in regard of the one, and the lowlinesse in regard of his other nature, standeth the comfort of the poor sinner. He must be such a sutor as taketh our case to heart: and thereforezHeb. 2. 17. in all things it behoved him to be made likeunto his brethren, that he might be a mercifull and faithfull high Priest. In which respect as it was needfull he should partake with our flesh and bloud, that he might be tenderly affected unto his brethren: so likewise for the obtaining of so great a sute, it behoved he should bee most dear to God the Father, and have so great an interest in him, as he might always be sure to beaJoh. 11. 42. heard in his requests: who therefore could be no other, but he of whom the Father testified from heaven;bMat. 3. 17. This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. It was fit our Intercessor should be Man, like unto our selves; that we mightcHeb. 4. 16. boldly come to him, and find grace to help in time of need: It was fit he should be God, that he might boldly goe to the Father, without any way disparaging him; as being hisdZach. 13. 7. fellow, andePhil. 2. 6. equall.
But such was Gods love to justice, and hatred to sinne; that he would not have his justice swallowed up with merciemercy, nor sinne pardoned without the making of fit reparation. And therefore our Mediatour must not look to procure for us a simple pardon without more adoe; but must be afforeign. Rom. 3. 25. 1 Joh. 2. 2. & 4. 10. propitiation for our sinnes, and redeem us by fine andgforeign. Matth. 20. 28. foreign. 1 Tim. 2. 6. Job 33. 24. ransome: and so not onelyonly be the master of our requests, to intreat the Lord for us; but also take upon him the part of anh1 Joh. 2. 1. Advocate, to plead full satisfaction made by himself, as our iHeb. 7. 22.surety, unto all the debt wherewith we any way stood chargeable. Now the satisfaction which our surety bound himself to perform in our behalfe, was of a double debt: the principall, and the accessorie. The principall debt is obedience to Gods most holy Law: which man was bound to pay as a perpetuall tribute to his Creator, although he had never sinned; but, being now by his own default become bankrupt, is not able to discharge in the least measure. His surety therefore being to satisfie in his stead, none will bee found fit to undertake such a payment, but he who is both God and Man.
Man it is fit he should bee, because Man was the party that by the articles of the first Covenant was tyed to this obedience; and it was requisite that,kRom. 5. 19. as by one mans disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one man likewise many should be made righteous. Again, if our Mediatour were onelyonly God, he could have performed no obedience (the Godhead being free from all manner of subjection:) and if he were a bare man, although he had been as perfect as Adam in his integrity, or the Angels themselves; yet being left unto himselfe amidst all the temptations of Satan and this wicked world, he should be subject to fall, as they were: or if he should hold out, asl1 Tim. 5. 21. the elect Angels did; that must have been ascribed to the grace and favour of an other: whereas the giving of strict satisfaction to Gods justice was the thing required in this behalf. But now being God, as well as Man, he by his ownmHeb. 9. 14. eternall Spirit preserved himself without spot: presenting a far more satisfactory obedience unto God, then could have possibly been performed by Adam in his integrity.
For, beside the infinite difference that was betwixt both their Persons, which maketh the actions of the one beyond all comparison to exceed the worth and value of the other: we know that Adam was not able to make himselfe holy; but what holinesse he had, he received from him who created him according to his owne image: so that whatsoever obedience Adam had performed, God should haven1 Cor. 9. 7. eaten but of the fruit of the vineyard which himselfe had planted; ando1 Chronic. 29. 14. 16. foreign. of his own would all that have been, which could be given unto him. But Christ did himself sanctifie that humane nature which he assumed; according to his own saying, Joh. 17. 19. For their sakes I sanctifie my self: and so out of his own peculiar store did he bring forth those precious treasures of holy obedience, which for the satisfaction of our debt he was pleased to tender unto his Father. Againe, if Adam hadpLuk. 17. 10. done all things which were commanded him, hee must for all that have said: I am an unprofitable servant; I have done that which was my duty to doe: whereas in the voluntary obedience, which Christ subjected himself unto, the case stood far otherwise.
True it is, that if we respect him in his humane nature,qJoh. 14. 18. his Father is greater then he; and he is his FathersrEsa. 53. 11. Mat. 12. 18. servant: yet in that he said, and most truly said, that God was his Father, sJoh. 5. 18.the Jews did rightly infer from thence, that he thereby made himself equall with God; andtZach. 13. 7. the Lord of Hosts himselfe hath proclaimed him to bee the man that is his fellow. Being such a man therefore, and so highly born; by the priviledge of his birth-right, hee might have claimed an exemption from the ordinary service whereunto all other men are tyed: and by beinguMat. 17. 25, 26. the Kings Son, have freed himself from the payment of that tribute which was to be exacted at the hands of Strangers. WhenxHeb. 1. 6. the Father brought this his first-begotten into the world, he said; Let all the Angels of God worship him: and at the very instant wherein the Son advanced our nature into the highest pitch of dignitie, by admitting it into the unity of his sacred Person, that nature so assumed was worthy to be crowned with all glory and honour: and he in that nature might then have set himself downyHeb. 12. 2. at the right hand of the throne of God; tyed to no other subjection then now he is, or hereafter shall be; when after the end of this world he shall have delivered up the kingdome to God the Father. For then also, in regard of his assumed nature, hez1 Cor. 15. 27. shall be subject unto him that put all other things under him.
Thus the Son of God, if he had minded onelyonly his own things, might at the very first have attained unto the joy that was set before him: butaPhil. 2. vers. 4, 5, 7, 8. looking on the things of others, he chose rather to come by a tedious way and wearisome journey unto it, not challenging the priviledge of a Son, but taking upon him the form of a mean servant. Whereupon in the dayes of his flesh, hee did not serve as an honourable Commander in the Lords host, but as an ordinary soldier: he made himself of no reputation, for the time as it were*foreign. Phil. 2. 7. emptying himself of his high state and dignity; hee humbled himself, and became obedient untill his death; being content all his life long to bebGal. 4. 4. made under the Law: yea, so farre, that as he was sentcRom. 8. 3. in the likenesse of sinfull flesh, so he disdained not to subject himself unto that Law, which properly did concern sinfull flesh. And therefore howsoever Circumcision was by right appliable onelyonly unto such as weredCol. 2. 11. 13. dead in their sins, and the uncircumcision of their flesh; yet he, in whom there was no body of the sins of the flesh to be put off, submitted himself notwithstanding thereunto: not onelyonly to testifie his communion with the Fathers of the old Testament; but also by this means to tender unto his Father a bond, signed with his own bloud, whereby he made himself in our behalf a debtor unto the whole Law. For I testifie (saitheGal. 5. 3. the Apostle) to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to the whole Law.
In like manner Baptisme appertained properly unto such as were defiled, and had need to have theirfAct. 22. 16. sins washed away: and therefore when all the land of Judea and they of Jerusalem went out unto John, theygMat. 3. 6. Mark 1. 5. were all baptized of him in the river Jordan, confessing their sinnes. Among the rest came our Saviour also: but the Baptist considering that he had need to be baptized by Christ, and Christ no need at all to be baptized by him, refused to give way unto that action; as altogether unbefitting the state of that immaculate Lambe of God, who was to take away the sinne of the World. Yet did our Mediatour submit himself to that ordinance of God also: not onelyonly to testifie his communion with the Christians of the new Testaments; but especially (which is the reason yeelded by himselfe) becausehMat. 3. 15. it became him thus to fulfill all righteousnesse. And so having fulfilled all righteousnesse, whereunto the meanest man was tyed, in the days of his pilgrimage (which was more then he needed to have undergone, if he had respected only himself:) the works which he performed were truly workes of supererogation, which might be put upon the account of them whose debt hee undertook to discharge; and being performed by the Person of the Son of God, must in that respect not onelyonly be equivalent, but infinitely over-value the obedience of Adam and all his posterity, although they had remained in their integrity, and continued untill this houre, instantly serving God day and night. And thus for our main and principall debt of Obedience, hath our Mediatour given satisfaction unto the Justice of his Father; withiLuk. 6. 38. good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over.
But beside this, we were lyable unto another debt; which wee have incurred by our default, and drawne upon our selves by way of forfeiture and nomine poenae. For askLuk. 17. 10. Rom. 8. 12. Gal. 5. 3. Obedience is a due debt, and Gods servants in regard thereof are truly debters: so likewise is sinne alMatth. 6. 12. compared with Luk. 11. 4. debt, and sinnersmforeign. Luk. 13. 4. Mat. 13. 16. debters, in regard of the penalty due for the default. And as the payment of the debt which commeth nomine poenae, dischargeth not the tenant afterwards from paying his yearly rent; which of it self would have been due, although no default had been committed: so the due payment of the yearly rent, after the default hath been made, is no sufficient satisfaction for the penalty already incurred. Therefore our surety, who standeth chargeable with all our debts, as he maketh payment for the one by his Active, so must he make amends for the other by his Passive obedience: he must firstnLuk. 24. 26. suffer, and then enter into his glory.oHeb. 2. 10. For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the Captain of their salvation perfect (that is, a perfect accomplisher of the worke which he had undertaken) through sufferings.
The Godhead is of that infinite perfection, that it cannot possibly be subject to any passion. He therefore that had no other nature but the Godhead, could not pay such a debt as this; the discharge whereof consisted in suffering and dying. It was also fit, that Gods justice should have been satisfied in that nature which had transgressed; and that the same nature should suffer the punishment, that had committed the offence.pHeb. 2. 14, 15. Forasmuch then as the children were partakers of flesh and bloud, he also himself likewise took part of the same: that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the Devil; and deliver them who through fear of death were all their life time subject to bondage. Such and so great was the love of God the Father toward us,qRom. 8. 12. he spared not his own Sonne, but delivered him up for us all: and so transcendent was the love of the Son of God toward the sons of men, that he desired not to be spared; but rather then they should lie under the power of death, was of himself most willing to suffer death for them: which seeing in that infinite nature, which by eternall generation hee received from his Father, he could not doe, he resolved in the appointed time to take unto himselfe a Mother, and out of her substance to have a body framed unto himself, wherein he might rPhil. 2. 8.become obedient unto death, even the death of the crosse, for our redemption. And thereforesHeb. 10. 5. 7. when hee commeth into the world, he saith unto his Father, A body hast thou fitted me; Lo, I come to doe thy will O God. By the which will (saith thetIb. ver. 9, 10. Apostle) wee are sanctified, through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
Thus we see it was necessary for the satisfaction of this debt, that our Mediatour should be Man: but he that had no more in him then a Man, could never be able to goe through with so great a work. For if there should be found a Man as righteous as Adam was at his first creation, who would be content to suffer for the offence of others: his suffering possibly might serve for the redemption of one soul; it could be no sufficient ransome for thoseuRev. 7. 9. innumerable multitudes that were to bexRev. 5. 9. redeemed to God out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation. Neither could any Man or Angel be able to hold out, if a punishment equivalent to the endlesse sufferings of all the sinners in the world should at once bee laid upon him. Yea, the very powers of Christ himself, upon whomyEsa. 11. 2. the spirit of might did rest, were so shaken in this sharp encounter; that he, who was the most accomplisht pattern of all fortitude, stood zMark 14. 33. Luk. 22. 44.sore amazed, andaHeb. 5. 7. with strong crying and tears prayed that,bMark 14, 35. 36. if it were possible, the houre might passe from him.
cHeb. 10. 12.This man therefore being to offer one sacrifice for sins for ever; to the burning of that sacrifice he must not onelyonly bring thedCant. 8. 6. coals of his love as strong as death, and as ardent as the fire which hath a most vehement flame, but he must add thereunto thoseeEsa. 33. 14. everlasting burnings also, even the flames of his most glorious Deity: and thereforefHeb. 9. 14. through the eternall Spirit must he offer himself without spot unto God; that hereby he might gIb. ver. 12.obtain for us an eternall redemption. The bloud whereby the Church is purchased, must beehAct. 20. 28. Gods own bloud: and to that end musti1 Cor. 2. 8. the Lord of glory be crucified; kAct. 3. 15.the Prince and author of life be killed; helEsa. 53. 8. whose eternall generation no man can declare, be cut off out of the land of the living; and the man that is Gods own fellow be thus smitten; according to that vvhichwhich God himselfe foretold by his Prophet.mZach. 13. 7. with Matth. 26. 31. Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the Lord of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered. The people of Israel, we read, did so value the life of David their King, that they counted him to be worthn2 Sam. 18. 3. tenne thousand of themselves: how shall we then value ofoMat. 22. 43, 44. Davids Lord; p1 Tim. 6. 15. Rev. 19. 16.who is the blessed and onelyonly Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords? It was indeed our nature that suffered; but he that suffered in that nature,qRom. 9. 5. is over all, God blessed for ever: and for such a Person to have suffered but one houre, was more then if all other persons had suffered ten thousand millions of years.
But put case also, that the life of any other singular man might be equivalent to all the lives of whole mankind: yet the laying down of that life would not be sufficient to doe the deed, unlesse he that had power to lay it down had power likewise to take it up again. For, to be detained always in that prison rMatth. 5. 26.from whence there is no comming out before the payment of the uttermost farthing; is to lie always under execution, and to quit the plea of that full payment of the debt wherein our surety stood engaged for us. And therefore the Apostle upon that ground doth rightly conclude; thats1 Cor. 15. 17. if Christ be not raised, our faith is vaine, we are yet in our sinnes: and consequently, that as he must betRom. 4. 25. delivered to death for our offences, so he must be raised again for our justification.
Yea, our Saviour himself, knowing full well what he was to undergoe for our sakes, told us before-hand, that the Comforter whom hee would send unto us, shoulduJoh. 16. 10. convince the world, that is, fully satisfie the consciences of the sons of men, concerning thatxDan. 9. 24. everlasting righteousnesse, which was to bee brought in by him, upon this very ground: Because I goe to my Father, and ye see mee no more. For if he had broken prison, and made an escape, the payment of the debt, which as our surety he took upon himself, being not yet satisfied; he should have been seen here again: Heaven would not have held him, more then Paradise did Adam, after hee had fallen into Gods debt and danger. But our Saviour raising himselfe from the dead, presenting himself in Heaven before him unto whom the debt was owing, and maintaining his standing there, hath hereby given good proof, that he is now a free man, and hath fully discharged that debt of ours for vvhichwhich he stood committed. And this is the evidence we have to shew of that righteousnesse, whereby we stand justified in Gods sight: according to that of the Apostle.yRom. 8. 33, 34. Who shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods elect? It is God that justifieth: who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather that is risen again; who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.
Now although an ordinary man may easily part with his life; yet doth it not lie in his power to resume it again at his own will and pleasure. But he that must doe the turn for us, must be able to say as our JESUS did,zJoh. 10. 17, 18. I lay down my life that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of my self: I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again: and in another place;aJoh. 2. 19. 21. Destroy this Temple, and in three days I will raise it up; saith he unto the Jews, speaking of the Temple of his body. An humane nature then he must have had, which might be subject to dissolution: but being once dissolved, hee could not by his own strength (which was the thing here necessarily required) raise it up again; unlesse he hadbRom. 1. 4. declared himselfe to be the Son of God with power, by the resurrection from the dead. The Manhood could suffer, but not overcome the sharpnesse of death: the Godhead could suffer nothing, but overcome any thing. He therefore that was both to suffer and to overcome death for us, must be partaker of both natures: thatc1 Pet. 3. 18. being put to death in the flesh, he might be able also to quicken himself by his own Spirit.
And now are wee come to that part of Christs mediation, which concerneth the conveyance ofdEph. 1. 14. the redemption of this purchased possession unto the sons of men. A dear purchase indeed, which was to be redeemed with no lesse price then the bloud of the Son of God: but what should the purchase of a stranger have been to us? or what should we have been the better for all this; if we could not derive our descent from the purchaser, or raise some good title whereby we might estate our selves in his purchase? Now this was the manner in former time in Israel, concerning redemptions: that unto him who was the next of kinne belonged the right of beingeRuth. 3. 12. & 4. ver. 1. 3, 4. 7. Goël, or the Redeemer. And Job had before that left this glorious profession of his faith unto the perpetuall memory of all posterity.fJob 19. 25, 26, 27. I know that my Goël or Redeemer liveth, and at the last shall arise upon the dust (or, stand upon the earth.) And after this my skin is spent; yet in my flesh shall I see God. Whom I shall see for my self, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another for me. Whereby we may easily understand, that his and our Redeemer was to be the invisible God; and yet in his assumed flesh made visible even to the bodily eyes of those whom he redeemed. For if he had not thus assumed our flesh; how should we have been of his bloud, or claimed any kindred to him? and unlesse the Godhead had by a personall union been unseparably conjoyned unto that flesh; how could he therein have been accounted our next of kinne?
For the better clearing of which last reason; we may call to minde that sentence of the Apostle.g1 Cor. 15. 47. The first man is of the earth earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. Where, notwithstanding there were many millions of men in the world betwixt these two; yet we see our Redeemer reckoned the second man: and why? but because these two were the only men who could be accounted the prime fountains from whence all the rest of mankind did derive their existence and beeing. For as all men in the world by mean descents doe draw their first originall from the first man: so in respect of a more immediate influence of efficiency and operation doe they owe their beeing unto the second man, as he is the Lord from heaven. This is Gods own language unto Jeremy, hJer. 1. 5.Before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee; and this is Davids acknowledgement, for his part;iPsal. 119. 73. Thy hands have made me and fashioned me; kPsal. 139. 13.thou hast covered me in my mother womb: lPsal. 71. 6.thou art he that took me out of my mothers bowels: and Jobs, for his also.mJob 10. 8. 11. Thy hands have made mee and fashioned mee together round about: thou hast clothed me with skin and flesh, and hast fenced me with bones and sinews: and thenAct. 17. 27, 28, 29. Apostles, for us all: In him we live, and move, and have our beeing: who inferreth also thereupon, both that we are the off-spring or generation of God; and that he is not far from every one of us. This being to be admitted for a most certain truth (notwithstanding the opposition of all gain-sayers) that*See Bradwardin. de causâ Dei, l. 1. c. 3. & 4. God doth more immediately concurre to the generation and all other motions of the creature, then any naturall agent doth or can doe. And therefore, if oRom. 5. 17.by one mans offence, death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousnesse, shall reigne in life by one, Jesus Christ. Considering that this second man is not onelyonly as universall a principle of all our beeings, as was that first, and so may sustain the common person of us all, as well as he; but is a farre more immediate agent in the production thereof: not, as the first, so many generations removed from us, but more neere unto us then our very next progenitours; and in that regard justly to be accounted our next of kinne, even before them also.
Yet is not this sufficient neither: but there is an other kind of generation required, for which we must be beholding unto the second man, the Lord from heaven; before we can have interest in this purchased Redemption. For as the guilt of the first mans transgression is derived unto us by the meanes of carnall generation: so must the benefit of the second mans obedience be conveyed unto us by spirituall regeneration. And this must be laid down as a most undoubted verity; that,pJoh. 3. 3. except a man be born again, hee cannot see the kingdome of God; and that every such must beqJoh. 1. 13. born, not of bloud, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. Now, as our Mediatour in respect of the Adoption of Sons, which he hath procured for us, rHeb. 2. 11.is not ashamed to call us Brethren: so in respect of this nevv birth, whereby hee begetteth us to a spirituall and everlasting life, he disdaineth not to own us as his Children. sEsa. 53. 10.When thou shalt make his seed an offering for sin, he shall see his seed: saith the Prophet Esaias. tPsalm. 22. 30.A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation: saith his Father David likewise of him. And he himself, of himselfe:uHeb. 2. 13. Behold I, and the children which God hath given mee. Whence the Apostle deduceth this conclusion:xIbid. ver. 14. Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and bloud, he also himselfe likewise took part of the same. He himself, that is, he who was God equall to the Father: for who else was able to make thisy2 Cor. 5. 17. Eph. 2. 10. Gal. 6. 15. new creature, but the samezJoh. 1. 13. Jam. 1. 18. 1 Pet. 1. 3. 1 Joh. 5. 1. God that is the Creator of all things? (no lesse power being requisite to the effecting of this, then was at the first to the producing of all things out of nothing:) and these newaforeign. 1 Pet. 2. 2. with 1. 22. babes being to bebJoh. 3. vers. 5, 6, 8. born of the Spirit; who could have power to send the Spirit, thus to beget them, but the Father and the Son from whom he proceeded? the same blessed Spirit, who framed the naturall body of our Lord in the womb of the Virgin, being to new mould and fashion every member of his mysticall body unto his similitude and likenesse.
For the further opening of which mystery (which went beyond the apprehension ofcIbid. ver. 4. 9, 10. Nicodemus, though a master of Israel) wee are to consider; that in every perfect generation, the creature produced receiveth two things from him that doth beget it: Life and Likenesse. A curious limmer draweth his own sons pourtraicture to the life (as we say:) yet because there is no true life in it, but a likenesse onelyonly; he can not be said to be the begetter of his picture, as he is of his Son. And some creatures there be that are bred out of mud or other putrid matter: which although they have life, yet because they have no correspondence in likenesse unto the principle from whence they were derived, are therefore accounted to have but an improper and equivocall generation. Whereas in the right and proper course of generation (others being esteemed but monstrous births that swarve from that rule) every creature begetteth his like:
—nec imbellem feroces
Progenerant aquilae columbam.
Now touching our spirituall death and life, these sayings of the Apostle would be thought upon. d1 Cor. 5. 14, 15.We thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: and that he died for all, that they which live, should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them and rose again.eEph. 2. 4, 5. God who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickned us together with Christ.fCol. 2. 13. And you being dead in your sins, and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickned together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses.gGal. 2. 20. I am crucified with Christ. Neverthelesse I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. From all which we may easily gather, that if by the obedience and sufferings of a bare man, though never so perfect, the most soveraign medicine that could be thought upon should have been prepared for the curing of our wounds: yet all would be to no purpose, we being found dead, when the medicine did come to be applyed.
Our Physitian therefore must not onelyonly be able to restore us unto health, but unto life it selfe: which none can doe but the Father, Son, and holy Ghost; one God, blessed for ever. To which purpose, these passages of our Saviour also are to be considered. hJoh. 5. 26.As the Father hath life in himself: so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself. iJoh. 6. 57.As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. kIbid. ver. 51.I am the living bread, which came down from heaven; if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give, is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. The substance whereof is briefly comprehended in this saying of the Apostle:l1 Cor. 15. 45. The last Adam was made a quickening spirit. An Adam therefore and perfect Man must he have been; that his flesh, given for us upon the Crosse, might bee made the conduict to convey life unto the world: and a quickening spirit he could not have been, unlesse hee were God, able to make that flesh an effectuall instrument of life by the operation of his blessed Spirit. For, as himself hath declared,mJoh. 6. 63. It is the Spirit that quickneth; without it, the flesh would profit nothing.
As for the point of similitude and likenesse: we read of Adam, after his fall, that he nGen. 5. 3.begat a son in his own likenesse, after his image: and generally, as well touching the carnall as the spirituall generation, our Saviour hath taught us this lesson, oJoh. 3. 6.That which is born of the flesh, is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit, is spirit. Whereupon the Apostle maketh this comparison betwixt those who are born of that first man, who is of the earth earthy, and of the second man, who is the Lord from heaven. p1 Cor. 15. 48, 49.As is the earthy, such are they that are earthy; and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly: and as wee have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. We shall indeed hereafter bear it in full perfection: when qPhil. 3. 21.the Lord Jesus Christ shall change our base body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body; according to the working, whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself. Yet in the mean time also, such a conformity is required in us unto that heavenly man, that rIbid. ver. 20.our conversation must be in heaven, whence we look for this Saviour: and that we must sEph. 4. 22, 23, 24.put off, concerning the former conversation, that old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitfull lusts, and be renued in the spirit of our mind; and put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousnesse and true holinesse. For as in one particular point of domesticall authority, t1 Cor. 11. 7.the Man is said to be the image and glory of God, and the Woman the glory of the Man: so in a more universall manner is Christ said to bee u2 Cor. 4. 4.the image of God, even xHeb. 1. 3.the brightnesse of his glory, and the expresse image of his person; and we yRom. 8. 29.to be conformed to his image, that he might be the first-born among those many brethren, who in that respect are accounted z2 Cor. 8. 23.the glory of Christ.
We read in the holy story, that GodaNum. 11. 17. 25. took of the spirit which was upon Moses, and gave it unto the seventy Elders; that they might bear the burden of the people with him, and that hee might not bear it, as before hee had done, himself alone. It may bee, his burden being thus lightned, the abilities that were left him for government were not altogether so great, as the necessity of his former imployment required them to have been: and in that regard, vvhat vvas given to his assistants, might perhaps bee said to bee taken from him. But wee are sure the case was otherwise in him of whom now wee speak: unto whombJoh. 3. 34. God did not thus give the Spirit by measure. And therefore although so many millions of beleevers doe continually receive thiscPhilip. 1. 19. supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ; yet neither is that fountain any way exhausted, nor the plenitude of that well-spring of grace any whit impaired or diminished: it being Gods pleasure,dCol. 1. 19. That in him should all fulnesse dwell; and thateJoh. 1. 16. of his fulnesse all wee should receive, grace for grace. That as in the naturall generation there is such a correspondence in all parts betwixt the begetter and the Infant begotten; that there is no member to bee seen in the Father, but there is the like answerably to bee found in the Childe, although in a farre lesse proportion; so it falleth out in this spirituall, that for every grace which in a most eminent manner is found in Christ, a like grace will appeare in Gods Childe, although in a far inferiour degree; similitudes and likenesses being defined by the Logicians to bee comparisons made in quality, and not in quantity.
Wee are yet further to take it into our consideration, that by thus enlivening and fashioning us according to his own image, Christs purpose was not to raise a seed unto himself dispersedly and distractedly, but tofJoh. 11. 52. gather together in one, the Children of God that were scattered abroad; yea and togEphes. 1. 10. bring all unto one head by himselfe, both them which are in Heaven and them which are on the Earth. That as in the Tabernacle,hExod. 26. 33. the vail divided between the Holy place and the most Holy; but the curtaines which covered them both were so coupled together with the taches, that it might stilliIbid. ver. 6. & 11. bee one Tabernacle: so the Church Militant and Triumphant, typified thereby, though distant as farre the one from the other as Heaven is from Earth, yet is made but one Tabernacle in Jesus Christ;kEphes. 2. 21. 22. In whom all the building fifty framed together groweth unto an holy Temple in the Lord, and in whom all of us are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.
The bond of this mysticall union betwixt Christ and us (as lSermon to the Commons house of Parliament, ann. 1620elsewhere hath more fully been declared) is on his part that mJoh. 6. 63. 1 Cor. 6. 17. & 15. 45. Philip. 2. 1. Rom. 8. 9. 1 Joh. 3. 24. & 4. 13.quickning Spirit, which being in him as the Head, is from thence diffused to the spirituall animation of all his Members: and on our partnGal. 2. 20. & 5. 5. & 3. 11. Ephes. 3. 17. Faith, which is the prime act of life wrought in those who are capable of understanding by that same Spirit. Both whereof must bee acknowledged to bee of so high a nature, that none could possibly by such ligatures knit up so admirable a body, but hee that was God Almighty. And therefore although wee did suppose such a man might bee found who should perform the Law for us, suffer the death that was due to our offence and overcome it; yea, and whose obedience and sufferings should be of such value, that it were sufficient for the redemption of the whole world: yet could it not be efficient to make us live by faith, unlesse that Man had been able to send Gods Spirit to apply the same unto us.
Which as no bare Man or any other Creature whasoever can doe; so for Faith wee are taught by S. oCol. 2. 12. 2 Thess. 1. 11.Paul, that it is the operation of God, and a work of his power, even of that same power wherewith Christ himself was raised from the dead. Which is the ground of that prayer of his, that the pEphes. 1. 19, 20. &c.eyes of our understanding being enlightned, wee might know what is the exceeding greatnesse of his power to us-ward who beleeve; according to the working of his mighty power, which hee wrought in Christ when hee raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all Principality, and Power, and Might, and every Name that is named not onelyonly in this World, but also in that to come: and hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to bee head over all things to the Church, which is his body, the fulnesse of him that filleth all in all.
Yet was it fit also, that this Head should bee of the same nature with the Body which is knit unto it: and therefore that hee should so bee God, as that hee might partake of our Flesh likewise. qEphes. 5. 30.For wee are members of his body, saith the same Apostle; of his flesh, and of his bones. And,rJoh. 6. 53. except yee eate the flesh of the Son of man, saith our Saviour himself, and drink his blood; yee have no life in you. sIbid. ver. 56.Hee that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in mee, and I in him. Declaring thereby, first, that by this mysticall and supernaturall union, wee are as truely conjoyned with him, as the meate and drink wee take is with us; when by the ordinary work of Nature, it is converted into our own substance. Secondly, that this conjunction is immediately made with his humane nature. Thirdly, that thetRev. 5. 12. & 13. 8. Lamb slaine, that is,u1 Cor. 1. 23. & 2. 2. Christ crucified, hath by that death of his, made his flesh broken, and his blood powred out for us upon the Crosse, to bee fit food for the spirituall nourishment of our soules; and the very well-spring from whence, by the power of his Godhead, all life and grace is derived unto us.
Upon this ground it is, that the Apostle telleth us, that wee xHeb. 10. 19, 20.have boldnesse to enter into the Holyest by the blood of Jesus; by a new and living way which hee hath consecrated for us, through the vaile, that is to say, his flesh. That as in the Tabernacle, there was no passing from the Holy to the most Holy place, but by the vaile: so now there is no passage to bee looked for from the Church Militant to the Church Triumphant, but by the flesh of him, who hath said of himself;yJoh. 14. 6. I am the way, the truth and the life, no man commeth unto the Father but by mee. Jacob in his dream beheldzGen. 28. 12, 13. a ladder set upon the Earth, the top whereof reached to Heaven, and the Angels of God ascending and descending on it, the Lord himself standing above it. Of which vision none can give a better interpretation then hee, who was prefigured therein, gave unto Nathaniel. aJoh. 1. 51.Hereafter you shall see Heaven opened, and the Angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man. Whence wee may well collect, that the onelyonly meanes whereby God standing above, and his Israel lying here below are conjoyned together, and the onelyonly ladder vvhereby Heaven may bee scaled by us, is the Son of man, the type of whose flesh, the veile, vvas therefore commanded to beebExod. 26. 31. & 36. 35. made vvith Cherubims; to shevv that wee comecHeb. 12. 22. 24. to an innumerable company of Angels, when wee come to Jesus, the Mediatour of the New Testament: who as the Head of the Church hath power todHeb. 1. 14. send forth all those ministring spirits, to minister for them who shall bee Heirs of salvation.
Lastly, wee are to take into our consideration, that as in things concerning God, the main execution of our Saviours Priesthood doth consist; so in things concerning man, hee exerciseth both his Propheticall Office, whereby hee openeth the will of his Father unto us, and his Kingly, whereby hee ruleth and protecteth us. It was indeed a part ofeDeut. 33. 10. Hagg. 2. 11. Mal. 2. 7. the Priests office in the Old Testament, to instruct the people in the Law of God, and yet werefEsa. 28. 7. Jer. 6. 13. & 8. 10. & 14. 18. & 23 11. 33, 34. Lam. 2. 10. they distinguished from Prophets: like as in the New Testament also, gEphes. 4. 11.Prophets as well as Apostles, are made a different degree from ordinary Pastours and Teachers, who received not their doctrine by immediate inspiration from Heaven; as those otherh2 Pet. 1. 21. Holy men of God did, who spake as they were moved by the holy Ghost. Whence S. Paul putteth the Hebrews in minde, that God who iforeign. Heb. 1. 1.in sundry parts and in sundry manners spake in time past unto the Fathers by the Prophets, hath in these last dayes spoken unto us by his Son Christ Jesus: whom therefore hee stilethkHeb. 3. 1, 2. the Apostle, as vvell as the High Priest of our profession; who was faithfull to him that appointed him, even as Moses was in all his house.
Now Moses, wee know, had a singular preheminence above all the rest of the Prophets: according to that ample testimony which God himself giveth of him. lNum. 12. 6, 7, 8.If there bee a Prophet among you, I the Lord will make my self known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream. My servant Moses is not so, who is faithfull in all mine house: with him will I speak mouth to mouth, even aparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the Lord shall he behold. And therefore wee finde, that our Mediatour in the execution of his Propheticall office is in a more peculiar manner likened unto Moses: which hee himself also did thus foretell. mDeut. 18. 15, 16, &c. Act. 3. 22, 23.The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy Brethren, like unto mee; unto him yee shall hearken. According to all that thou desiredst of the Lord thy God in Horeb, in the day of the assembly, saying, Let mee not heare again the voyce of the Lord my God; neither let mee see this great fire any more, that I dye not. And the Lord said unto mee, They have well spoken, that which they have spoken. I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth, and hee shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. And it shall come to passe, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words, which hee shall speak in my Name, I will require it of him.
Our Prophet therefore must bee a Man raised from among his Brethren the Israelites, (nRom. 9. 5. of whom, as concerning the flesh, hee came) who was to perform unto us, that which the Fathers requested of Moses: oExod. 20. 19. Deut. 5. 25. 27.Speak thou to us, and wee will heare; but let not God speak with us, lest wee die. And yet (that in this also wee may see, how our Mediatour had the preheminence)pExod. 34. 30, 32, 33. when Aaron, and all the children of Israel were to receive from the mouth of Moses all that the Lord had spoken with him in Mount, Sinai, they were afraid to come nigh him, by reason of the glory of his shining countenance: so that hee was fain to put a vaile over his face, while hee spake unto them that which hee was commanded. But that which for a time was thusq2 Cor. 3. 7, 10 11, 13. made glorious, had no glory in respect of the glory that excelleth; and both the glory thereof, and the vaile which covered it, are now abolished in Christ: the vaile of whose flesh doth so overshadowrHeb. 1. 3. the brightnesse of his glory, that yet under it wee maysJoh. 1. 14. behold his glory, as the glory of the onelyonly begotten of the Father; yea; andt2 Cor. 3. 11. wee all with open face, beholding as in a glasse the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same Image, from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
And this is daily effected by the power of the Ministery of the Gospel, instituted by the authority, and seconded by the power, of this our great Prophet: whose transcendent excellency beyond Moses, (unto whom, in the execution of that function, hee was otherwise likened) is thus set forth by the Apostle.uHeb. 3. 3, 4, 5, 6. Hee is counted worthy of more glory then Moses, in as much as hee who hath builded the house hath more honour then the house. For every house is builded by some one: but hee that built all things is God. And Moses verily was faithfull in all his house, as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to bee spoken after: but Christ, as the Son, over his own house. x1 Tim. 3. 15.This house of God is no other then the Church of the living God: whereof as hee is the onelyonly Lord, so is hee also properly the onelyonly Builder. Christ therefore being both the Lord and theyMatth. 16. 18. Builder of his Church, must bee God as well as Man: which is the cause, why wee finde all the severall mansions of thisz2 Tim. 2. 20. great house to carry the title indifferently of thea1 Cor. 11. 16. Churches of God, and thebRom. 16. 16. Churches of Christ.
True it is, that there are other ministeriall builders, whom Christ employeth in that service: this being not the least of those gifts which hee bestowed upon men at his Triumphant Ascension into Heaven, thatcEphe. 4. 11, 12. hee gave not onelyonly ordinary Pastours and Teachers, but Apostles likewise, and Prophets, and Evangelists; for the perfecting of the Saints, for the Work of the Ministery, for the edifying of the body of Christ. Which, what great power it required, hee himself doth fully expresse in passing the graunt of this high Commission unto his Apostles.dMatth. 28. 18, 19, 20. All power is given unto mee in Heaven and in Earth. Goe yee therefore and teach all Nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things, whatsoever I have commanded you: and lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the World. Amen.
S. Paul professeth of himself, that hee e1 Cor. 15. 10,laboured more abundantly then all the rest of the Apostles: yet not I, saith hee, but the grace of God which was with mee. And therefore although f1 Cor. 3. 9, 10according to that grace of God which was given unto him, hee denyeth not but that, as a wise Master-builder, hee had laid the foundation; yet hee acknowledgeth that they upon whom hee had wrought, were Gods building, as well as Gods husbandry. For who, saith gIbid. ver. 5, 6, 7hee, is Paul, and who is Apollo, but Ministers by whom you beleeved, even as the Lord gave to every man? I have planted, Apollo watered: but God gave the increase. So then, neither is hee that planteth any thing, neither hee that watereth: but God that giveth the increase.
Two things therefore wee finde in our great Prophet, which doe farre exceed the ability of any bare Man; and so doe difference him from all the hLuk. 1. 70.Holy Prophets, which have been since the World began. For first, wee are taught; that iMat. 11. 27.no man knoweth the Father, save the Son, and hee to whomsoever the Son will reveale him: and that kJoh. 1. 18.no man hath seen God at any time; but the only begotten Son, which is in the bosome of the Father, hee bath declared him. Being in his bosome, hee is become conscious of his secrets, and so out of his own immediate knowledge, inabled to discover the whole will of his Father unto us. Whereas alother Prophets and Apostles receive their revelations at the second hand, and according to the grace given unto them by the Spirit of Christ. Witnesse that place of S. Peter, for the Prophets: l1 Pet. 1. 10, 11Of which salvation the Prophets have enquired, and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you; searching what or what manner of time THE SPIRIT OF CHRIST WHICH WAS IN THEM did signifie, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. And for the Apostles, those heavenly words which our Saviour himself uttered unto them, whilst hee was among them. mJoh. 16. 13, 14, 15.When the Spirit of Truth is come, hee will guide you into all truth: for hee shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever hee shall hear, that shall hee speak; and hee will shew you things to come. Hee shall glorifie mee: for hee shall receive of mine, and shew it unto you. All things that the Father hath, are mine: therefore said I, that hee shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you.
Secondly, all other Prophets and Apostles can doe no more (as hath been said) but plant and water; onelyonly God can give the increase: they may teach indeed and baptize; but unlesse Christ were with them by the powerfull presence of his Spirit, they would not bee able to save one soule by that Ministery of theirs. Wee, n1 Pet. 2. 5.as lively stones, are built up a spirituall house: but,oPsalm. 127. 1. except the Lord do build this house, they labour in vaine that build it. For who is able to breathe the Spirit of life into those dead stones, but hee, of whom it is writen;pJoh. 5. 25. The houre is comming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voyce of the Son of God; and they that heare it shall live. And again:qEphes. 5. 24. Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead; and Christ shall give thee light. Who can awake us out of this dead sleep, and give light unto these blinde eyes of ours; but the Lord our God, unto whom wee pray, that hee wouldrPsal. 13. 3. lighten our eyes, lest wee sleep the sleep of death?
And as a blinde man is not able to conceive the distinction of colours, although the skilfullest man alive should use all the art hee had to teach him; because hee wanteth the sense whereby that object is discernible: sos1 Cor. 2. 14. the naturall man perceiveth not the things of the Spirit of God (for they are foolishnesse unto him;) neither can hee know them, because they are spiritually discerned. Whereupon the Apostle concludeth, concerning himself and all his fellow-labourers; thatt2 Cor. 4. 6, 7. God who commanded the light to shine out of darknesse, hath shined in our hearts; to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God, in the face of Jesus Christ: but wee have this treasure in earthen vessels; that the excellency of the power may bee of God, and not of us. Our Mediatour therefore (who mustuHeb. 7. 25. bee able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him) may not want the excellency of the power, whereby hee may make us capable of this high knowledge of the things of God, propounded unto us by the ministery of his servants: and consequently, in this respect also, must bee God as well as Man.
There remaineth the Kingdom of our Redeemer: described thus by the Prophet Isaiah.xEsa. 9. 7. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall bee no end, upon the Throne of David, and upon his kingdom; to order it, and to establish it with judgement and with justice, from henceforth even for ever. And by Daniel: yDan. 7. 13, 14.Behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of Heaven, and came to the Ancient of dayes; and they brought him neer before him. And there was given him Dominion, and Glory, and a Kingdom, that all People, Nations, and Languages should serve him: His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not passe away; and his kingdome that which shall not be destroyed. And by the Angel Gabriel, in his ambassage to the blessed Virgin. zLuk. 1. 31, 32, 33.Behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a Son, and shalt call his name Jesus. Hee shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God shall give him the Throne of his Father David. And hee shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall bee no end.
This is that newaJer. 30. 9. Hos. 3. 5. Ezek. 34. 23. & 37. 24. David our King, vvhom God hath raised up unto hisbGal. 6. 16. own Israel: vvho vvas in Truth, that which hee was called; the Son of Man, and the Son of the Highest. That in the one respect,cEphes. 5. 30. wee may say unto him, as the Israelites of old did unto their David; d2 Sam. 5. 1.Behold, wee are thy bone and thy flesh: and in the other, sing of him as David himself did;ePsal. 110. 1. Mat. 22. 43, 44. Act. 2. 34, 35. The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, untill I make thine enemies thy footstoole. So that the promise made unto our first Parents, thatfGen. 3. 15. the seed of the Woman should bruise the Serpents head, may well stand with that other saying of S. Paul; thatgRom. 16. 20. the God of peace shall bruise Satan under our feet. Seeingh1 Joh. 3. 8. for this very purpose the Son of God was manifested i1 Tim. 3. 16.in the flesh, that hee might destroy the works of the Devil. And still that foundation of God will remain unshaken: I kEsa. 43. 11.even I am the Lord, and beside mee there is no Saviour. lHos. 13. 4.Thou shalt know no God but mee: for there is no Saviour beside mee.
Two speciall branches there bee of this Kingdom of our Lord and Saviour: the one of Grace, whereby that part of the Church is governed which is Militant upon Earth; the other of Glory, belonging to that part which is Triumphant in Heaven. Here upon earth, as by his Propheticall office hee worketh upon our Minde and Understanding, so by his Kingly, hee ruleth our Will and Affections; m2 Cor. 10. 5.casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalteth it self against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. Where, as wee must needs acknowledge, thatnPhil. 2. 13. it is God which worketh in us both to will and to doe, and that it iso2 Thess. 5. 23. hee which sanctifyeth us wholly: so are wee taught likewise to beleeve, thatpHeb. 2. 11. both hee who sanctifyeth, and they who are sanctifyed, are all of one, namely of one and the self-same nature; that the sanctifyer might not bee ashamed to call those, who are sanctifyed by him, his brethren: that as their nature was corrupted, and their blood tainted in the first Adam, so it might bee restored again in the second Adam; and that as from the one a corrupt, so from the other a pure and undefiled nature might bee transmitted unto the heires of salvation.
The same qPsal. 84. 11.God that giveth grace, is hee also that giveth glory: yet so, that the streams of both of them must run to us through the golden pipe of our Saviours humanity. r1 Cor. 15. 21.For since by man came death; it was fit that by man also should come the resurrection of the dead. Even by that man, who hath said: sJoh. 6. 54.Who so eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternall life; and I will raise him up at the last day. Who, then, t2 Thess. 1. 10.shall come to bee glorifyed in his Saints, and to bee made marvellous in all them that beleeve: and uPhilip. 3. 21.shall change this base body of ours, that it may be fashioned like unto his own glorious body; according to the working, whereby hee is able even to subdue all things unto himselfe. Unto him therefore that hath thus xRevel. 1. 5, 6.loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us Kings and Priests unto God and his Father; to him bee glory and dominion for ever and ever, Amen.
PHILIP. 3. 8.
I COUNT ALL THINGS BUT LOSSE, FOR THE EXCELLENCY OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST JESUS MY LORD.
FINIS.
End of the text · James Ussher, A Body of Divinity (1645)