A Complete Body of Divinity, Sermons · 40 (Question 10 cont.)
SERMON XL.
II. THE Time & Order of Man's Creation. After God had made an End of Creating all other Kinds of Beings, He laſt of all made Man; God finiſhed His Six Days Works by Creating this Creature: There is a great deal of Wiſdom and Goodneſs of God ſhines forth in the Order of the Creation: Now there are Two Reaſons why Man was made Laſt,
1. BECAUSE the World was to be His Temment and He the Landlord; and the Creatures were to ſerve Him. Though all things were made ultimately for the Glory of God; yet in the Order of their Being, there was a Subordination of them, and they were to ſerve God, in ſerving of Man. The very Angels of Light were not wholly exempted from this Employment. Heb. 1.14. They miniſter to the heirs of ſalvation. This therefore is not improbably ſuppoſed to be the Tryal upon which Apoſtate Angels fell from their Stations. The Earth … for him to dwell in A while, and Heaven for … Eternal Abode: The ſeveral Creatures were for his Comfort and Delight: God therefore prepared and furniſhed all for his welcome Entertainment; every thing was made ready for his Coming: So that when he was made, he found an Habitation every way furniſhed & fitted for his Entertainment; and all this to lay him under the moſt forceable Obligation to ſerve his Munificent Creator. See that, Pſal. 8.4, &c.
2. BECAUSE Man was made nextly for God and his Service, and to employ the other Creatures in it. There was no other ſort of Being made after him, to ſhew, that he was made for no other Created Being. The Creature is to look forward; and there was nothing ſtood between Man and God, to give him to underſtand, that nothing ſhould intercept his Heart, but that he ought to make God his immediate End; And that by his improving of other things for the Glory of God, he ſhould help them to ſerve to their ultimate End: This therefore is that which Man, who had loſt it by the Fall, is reſtored again unto by the New Creation. Iſa. 43.21. This People have I formed for my ſelf, they ſhall ſhew forth my praiſe.
USE. THIS ſhews us the Folly and Ingratitude of ſinfull Man, and conſequently how Vile a thing Sin is.
1. IT is Great Folly. How degenerate are we become in that we have made our ſelves Slaves to the Creature, which was made to ſerve Us. This is to look backward and not forward; and by this means, there is a Rout and Diſorder brought upon the whole Creation; & thus things are obſtructed and diverted, and ſo made to loſe their End▪ as much as in us lies. Other things look forwards as far as they can towards their Laſt End; but Man who ſhould bring them to God, and offer them unto Him, hath turned them, and Idolized them, and thereby robbed God of his due Glory: and what's madneſs is it to make himſelf a Servant to his Servants.
2. His woful Ingratitude. What could God have done more, to oblige a Creature to be Faithful unto Him, and cheerful in His Service? And that yet after all this he ſhould depart from his Obedience, and take up Arms of Rebellion againſt his Creator and Benefactor muſt needs be matter of greateſt Aſtoniſhment; Iſa. 1.2. Hear; O Heaven, the Lord hath ſpoken, I have nouriſhed, and brought up Children, and they have rebelled againſt me. And ſhall not this ſerve to abaſe us deeply?
III THE Different Sex in which God Created Man, Male and Female, Gen. 1.27. I ſhall here only make a few Remarks.
1. ADAM was Firſt made as the Head of Mankind. There was ſome Diſtance obſerved in the Creation of theſe Two, becauſe God would give to the Man the Priority, in the Covenant that paſt between them, and a Superiority in the Relation between him & the Woman. 1 Tim. 2.13. For Adam was firſt formed, then Eve.
2. MAN's Neceſſity required that he ſhould have one of his Kind for his ſuitable Converſe; Gen. 2.18, 25. And the Lord God ſaid, it is not Good that man ſhould be alone, I will make him on help meet for him, &c. Man was made a Sociable Creature, and Solitarineſs was neither ſafe nor comfortable for him; now the Beasts were before him, and not fit for Rational Communion; the Angels were Inviſible, and therefore not ſuitable for familiar Converſe; no Being was ſo fit as one of his Kind.
3. MAN's Conveniency required, that this Companion of his ſhould be a Woman: no other could have anſwered all the Ends of Human Society. Men were not made as the Angels, all the Individuals at once; but were to be Propagated in their Generations: ſuch a one therefore could only be a meet help for him, Gen. 2.18.
4. GOD's Deſign of treating with Man, required that there ſhould be but One Man, and, One Woman at Firſt: becauſe he would Indent with Mankind in a Covenant in One Head; for which reaſon all were to proceed from One Original: Our Firſt Parents were One Fleſh, and were the Root from which all Men were to ſpring; and therefore muſt be but One.
5. THE Woman was taken out of the Man; Partly that all might derive Originally from One, Partly that ſhe might be the more Dear and Precious to him, and Beloved by him as a piece of himſelf: Gen. 2.22. The Rib which the Lord bad taken from Man, made he a Woman.
USE 1. LEARN hence, That Marriage is Honourable. Heb. 13.4. Marriage is honourable in all, &c. God provided for this at Firſt, and Himſelf Solemnized the Firſt Marriage that ever was: They then that ſpeak reproachfully of it do both impeach God's Wiſdom and Truth
USE 2. THIS may … Man & Wife when they attain the End of their Creation, viz. When they afford each to other all that needful Help, which was the Reaſon of their being Made: When they Love one another entirely: When they ſeek the Temporal and Eternal Good of each other: When they carry it ſuitable in their Place, and Live together as the Joynt Heirs of Salvation: If they do otherwiſe, they turn that into a Curſe which was provided as the beſt outward Bleſſing of Mankind.
IV. THE Adjunct perfection which was beſtowed upon Man in his Creation, viz. God made him after his own Image, with Holineſs, Righteouſneſs & Knowledge. The Perfection of a thing is, when it is made compleatly fit to attain its End: thus was Man Made: Eccl. 7.29, God made man upright—. I call it his Adjunct Perfection, becauſe it was not eſſential to his Humanity, but ſeperate from it, that remaining entire: but tho' it was not Natural, yet it was Con-natural, or due to his Nature at Firſt, with reſpect to the End that he was made for: This will more fully appear in the Conſideration of the Nature of this Image, of which there are divers Notions among Divines: I ſhall here conſider it under the Notion of that which ſome call the Moral Image, to which I think that in ſtrictneſs ought to be reſtrained: And it is thus Deſcribed;
THE Image of God on Man, was that Moral Rectitude which was imprinted on his whole Nature, making him in his Manner & Meaſure fit to Reſemble, and able to Serve God.
FOR a more full explaining this Deſcription, we may take diſtinct Notice of the ſeveral things contained in it
1. IT is Man's Rectitude, or his Moral Goodneſs. For the Goodneſs of a thing is its Perfection, by which it is rendred capable of ſerving to the End and Uſe for which it was made. Every Creature was made Good, Gen. 1.31. Man was made a Moral Agent, a Cauſe by Counſel, and therefore muſt have a Moral Goodneſs in him: And it is contrary to the Wiſdom of God, to make a Creature for an End, and not to fit it to Serve thereunto.
2. IT was an Imprinted Goodneſs or Rectitude. For the Image of God was not properly Man's Nature, or the Faculties of his Rational Soul, as ſome have thought; becauſe thoſe remain not only in Fallen Man, but even in the Damned themſelves; whereas the Image is loſt in Adam's Poſterity, and is therefore reſtored and renewed again by the Grace of God in Regeneration: It was then a Stamp and Character of Divine Goodneſs left upon the Nature of Man, making him able to perform the Service that was required of him: and it was not implanted by the Rule of Nature, but by the Rule of Divinity; neither was it from the Principles of Nature, for then it was inſeperable: Hence it may in ſome ſenſe be called Natural, in other Supernatural; Natural, as it is due to the Nature of Man made for ſuch an End, without which he could never have attained it; and Supernatural, being a more Glorious Excellency than the hate Principles of Nature can exert.
3. THIS Rectitude was imprinted upon the Whole Nature. All his Faculties and Powers both of Soul and Body, received the ſtamp of it: Man therefore, and not this or that part of him is ſaid to be in the Image of God, Gen. 1.16. Nor indeed would it elſe have been ſufficient for the Deſign of it; for tho' the Soul and Powers are mainly concerned in Serving of God, yet the Body was to be the Soul's Inſtrument in the Performance of it; and therefore God requires Service from the Whole Man: 1 Cor. 6.20. Glorify God with your Bodies & Spirits. And the Body in particular; Rom 12.1. — Preſent your Bodies a Living Sacrifice, &c. The Whole then muſt be furniſhed and ſitted for it.
4. IT was that, whereby Men was ſitted is reſemble, and enabled to ſerve God in his Manner and Meaſure. He could imitate God in his Glorious Moral Perfections; he could take him as his Pattern and Work after Him; and for this Reaſon are the People of God bidden to imitate the Divine Perfections; Matth. 5. ult. Be ye perfect as your Father in Heaven is perfect. 1 Pet. 1.15. Be ye Holy, for I am Holy This is to be like God, this is to be Perfect, 1 Joh. 4.17.—Becauſe as he it, ſo are we, in this World. Man had the Impreſſion of the Intellectual and Moral Vertues of God upon him, whereby he was able to reflect them: There are the Footſteps of God's Attributes upon the Works of Creation, but Man is a Farelion that receives thoſe Reams upon him, and returns them back again to the Glory of his and their Maker. He was not only able to Read, but alſo to Write after His Copy, and comes as near as was poſſible; 1 Pet. 2.21. Leaving us an example, that ye ſhould follow his ſteps. 1 Cor. 11.1. Be ye followers of me, even as I alſo … of Chriſt And in ſo doing, he was able to Serve God; which is nothing elſe but an Application of theſe Divine Vertues to the Rule given to direct the Employment of them: Only we muſt obſerve that he could only do it in h… Manner & Meaſure: His Manner, that is as a Creature which muſt have a Rule to direct it, and Habits of Vertue in him to enable him, and theſe alſo ſeperable from him: And in his Meaſure, this Likeneſs implys not an Equality or Identity of Nature and Ability: It muſt be the Meaſure of a Created, and not an Increated Perfection: God is Infinite, Man is Finite, and all his Perfections limted: However it was ſuch a Meaſure as anſwered … End; and a vaſt Meaſure it was …, Pſal. 119.96. I have ſeen an end of … Perfection, but thy Commandment is exceeding broad. Thus ſhews that Man had a vaſt deal of Created Grace in him, becauſe by Vertue of this Image he was able to keep it all, in its full Latitude. Now this Image is ſaid to conſiſt in Knowledge, Righteouſneſs and Holineſs: Such as it is in their P…novation, ſuch it was in Creation: But this it in Knowledge, Col. 3.10. Righteouſneſs & Holineſs, Eph. 4.24.
1. IN Knowledge: This refers to the Underſtanding, and comprehends under it all the Intellectual Vertues fitting him to diſcern, approve of, and regulate himſelf a…ight to the doing the Will or God. He had a Sanctified Underſtanding, diſcerning the Rule, and the Excellency of it, it's ſuitableneſs to his Nature, and the Infinite Wiſdom of God ſhining in it! He had a Spiritual diſcerning of all that was needfull to his Happineſs: This fallen Man hath loſt; 1 Cor. 2.14. The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, &c. And thus Agar complains, Prov. 30.2. I am more bruitiſh then any Man, and …ve nor …. Underſtanding of a Man: Which argues that Adam had a vast Meaſure of it.
2. IN Righteouſneſs & Holineſs: Theſe refer to the Will and Affections, and influenced the whole Man: and ſo it was a Power and Inclination to cloſe in with God entirely as his Chief Good and Laſt End, and ſo of fulfilling ſhe whole Law: In thus doing he was to be Happy. The Law of God is divided into Two Tables, in the one is required a full cloſing of the whole Man with God, in the other a ſubordinate Love to our Fellow-Creatures Matth. 22 37, 38. Then ſhalt love the Lord thy and with all thy Heart, and with all thy Soul, and with all thy Mind; this is the firſt and great Commandment; and the ſecond is like … it, Thou ſhall Love thy Neighbour as thy ſelf. The Principle enabling Man to do the former, is called Holineſs; that which fits him to the letter, is called Righteouſneſs in Scripture. Now this Principle in the Will not only enabled, but alſo enclined the Man to the exerciſe of theſe: It diſpoſed it to make ſuch a Choice, and renounce whatſoever was contrary; to Chooſe the Good, and Refuſe the Evil, by a Free, Full and Perfect Elicit Act: In the Affections and outward Man, it was that which enclined him to an entire Subjection to the Commands of the Sanctified Underſtanding and Will, without the leaſt Reluctancy, or being preſt to Obey them; ſo that he was in a Readineſs for every Good Work. The Body as well as the Soul, the Senſible as well as the Rational Powers were fit for their Buſineſs, and there was no Pravity or Diſorder in this whole Frame; but he was every way ſitted, both to Will, and to Do, according to the Diſcretion of his Maker. That Man at Firſt had ſuch a Power and Principle as this is, needs no other Evidence, than that leſs than ſo, could not have ſitted Him for his End, or denominate him Good, in the Station he was put into, under the ſpecial Government of God.
USE 1. THIS calls to Soul humbling conſideration, of the great Loſs that we have ſuſtained by the Fall: Was it thus with Man when he newly came out of the hands of God by Creation? How fearfull a Change then hath the Apoſtacy made in the World? Where is there any thing of this to be found in the Natural Man? He was once an Ornament to the Creation, but now a Diſgrace: He was once the Delight of his Maker, but now fearful to Him; one be was able to Glorify God and be Happy, how he can … nothing but full ſhort of his Glory, and is become Miſerable; and for aſpiring to be like his Lord, is made a Servant to his Servants: That once orderly Frame is now full of Confuſion-Reaſon is dejected at the feet of Senſe; God is rejected, the Creature made Choice of; Holineſs and Righteouſneſs hated, Sin loved; Man is Metamorphiſed into a Beaſt or Plant, if not worſe, and become the very diſmal and doleful Ruins of himſelf: And … we think of this without Confuſion of Face.
USE 1. THIS … us what is the great Good which we …ght … ſeed after the R…ry of: We have Loſt a great many things, but this is the Jewel of … Value, the heage of God; whereby only we can be…ble to as …in our End, and be made Happy: Poor Man lavours in vain to recover … Miſery by any …her Attempts: tiſ this be reſtored we are unproſitable Creatures, and muſt needs he …ſerable: Bleſſed be God who hath through Chriſt made it a F…ſſ…i in, and in the Goſpel pointed as the Way how it may be obtained: What have we then to do but earneſtly and reſtleſly to ſeek it of him, by the Renovation of his Spirit.
[MARCH 24. 1690]