A Complete Body of Divinity, Sermons · 41 (Question 10 cont.)
SERMON XLI.
V. THE Prerogative which God beſtowed upon Man in his Creation; He gave him Dominion over his Creatures. Some make this to be part of the Image of God, and therefore they diſtinguiſh it into Internal and External; and reckon the Power given to Man over the other Creatures to be the External: but we hall find in the Hiſtory, that there was ſomething diſtinct from, and coming in upon the Image; Gen. 1.26, 28. Here take theſe Concluſions:
1. GOD both abſolute Lordſhip over all Creatures. He Made them, and he may Order or Diſpoſe of them according to His Diſcretion, appoint them to what Service He ſees meet: The Right of Creation is ſuch as makes them wholly Subject: He that gives a thing its Being, may allot its Service too: Pſal. 1…0.2, 3. Serve ye the Lord: Know that he hath made us. If it be of Him, it is for Him.
2. GOD made Man nextly and Immediately it Serve Him Actively. Man was made for Moral Obedience, to Glorify God by a Rath…nal Conformity to his Commands: and for that Reaſon be gave him a Principle of Reaſon, and Adorned it with His own Image, that he might be compleatly fitted for that Service, as we heard in the Former.
3. GOD to Encourage him in his Obedience, made the other things nextly for Man. This eſpecially reſpects the Viſible Creation, or Creatures in the Lower World, enumerated, Pſal. …. 1. &c. Beſide the Laſt End of things, here are S…rdin…te Ends: All was for God ultimately; but there is an Order of Beings, in which one is for another, and ſo they come to be for the Laſt: And here God would have other things to Serve Him in Serving Man.
4. HENCE GOD gave to Man the free Liberty of Uſing thoſe things for his Comfort: And this is one part of his Dominion over them. They are for his Uſe, and were therefore at his Diſpoſe: God beſtowed them as a Gift upon Him, Gen. 1.29. So that by Vertue of this Donation …e might Uſe them at his Diſcretion.
5. THE Creature was deſigned to Serve God, in Serving Man. Man was not the Laſt End of any thing; it was all for God: Prov. 16.4. The Lord made all things for Himſelf. Man was therefore to Improve the Creature ſo as it might Glorify Him: he was to bring to Him the Tribute from every other thing; to gather up his Rents in the World, and Pay them in faithfully to Him: nor can the Creature attain its End but by being ſo uſed.
6. GOD for this End andowed Man with Giſts fitting him for this Government. This was done, Partly in making him a Reaſonable Creature; by the Exerciſe of which Reaſon he was able to know the Nature and Uſe of theſe things, and accordingly to Improve them: But Principally by Vertue of the Image of God which He conſerred upon him; which fitted and diſpoſed him to apply theſe Rational and Moral Powers of his to the right End, which otherwiſe he could not have done: Man then had a Spirit of Government in him at the Firſt.
7. GOD having thus fitted Man, gave him a Charter of Government over theſe Creatures: We have it expreſſed, Gen. 1.28. God delegated to Man a Power under Himſelf, whereby he became Vicar, and had Authority over the Works of his hands; Pſal. 8.6. Thou madeſt him to have Dominion over the works of thy hands, &c. Hereby they all come to be in Subjection to him: and for the Specimen of this Authority, He brought them all to Adam to give them their Names; Gen. 2.19. Now the Impoſition of Names is a Note of Authority.
8. HENCE, During Man's Integrity, All the Creatures were in entire Subjection to him. They all came and did him Homage when they received their Names from him; and God put into them a Paſſive Obediential Diſpoſition. Even ſince the Fall there is a Fear & Dread upon them; Gen. 9.2. The Fear & Dread of you ſhall be upon every Beaſt of the Earth, &c. But before there was a Spontaneous Subjection; there was ſuch an Inſtinct in them.
USE 1. HENCE then we may Infer, Hoto Unreaſonable a thing Sin is. That when God had Made Man ſo glorious a Creature, and beſtowed ſo much Bounty and Honour upon him, gives, him together with his Image to enable him alſo a whoſe Words to encourage him to Serve his Ma… … ſhould for all this fall from his Allegiance, and revolt from his God, is the moſt unaccountable piece of Ingratitude that can be thought of: Did the Prophet ſo expoſtulate with David, … Sam. 12.7. Thus ſaith the Lord, l…r…nted the King — Wherefore haſt then diſ…ſed the Commandment of the Lord. &c. May not God ſo expoſtulate with Man.
2. THE reaſon Why the Creation groans under its Scr…tude. It doth ſo, (Rom. 8 22.) not becauſe Man makes uſe of it for his Service, for that it was Made for; but becauſe he doth it not for God's Glory, but to his diſhonour; ſo that the Creature is abuſed by being diverted from its Laſt End, to the contrary, and therefore it is ſaid to ſuffer Vanity: And let all that abuſe it to their Luſts conſider of it.
3. THAT the Creatures Rebellion againſt Man ſhould humble him. It was not ſo at Firſt: When therefore ſome Creatures Serve us unwillingly, others do us Harm, and others with hold their Service from us; it ſerves to convince us of our Rebellion againſt God, and ſhew us what a wofull Miſchief the Apoſtacy hath brought Man under.
4. THAT Crucity againſt the Creature is unbecoming Man. It is our Fellow Creature, made for the Glory of God, as well as We, became ours by God's Donation, made to Serve us not to be Abuſed by us; put under out Dominion, and therefore to be govern'd according to the Rules preſcribed by God: For Man to uſe Cruelty unto the Creature, is for him to degenerate from a Rightful Prince and become a Tyrant.
5. HOW Prepoſterous a thing is it for Men to make themſelves Slaves to the Creatures. What is this but to become a Servant to thoſe things which were made to Serve him? Let us be aſhamed of it, and endeavour to recover our Dominion; i. e. Let us in Heart be above them, no longer to Serve them, or our Luſts by them, but making them Serve us, in helping us in the Service of God.
VI. IT follows that we conſider Man's End; (for tho' it be not mentioned in the Anſwer, yet it is to be inferred from it.) God makes nothing in vain; and by the Manner of his make, the Nature that was given him, the Perfection that was beſtowed upon him, and the Rank he was placed in among the Creatures, we may gather what his Special End was; and accordingly take it up in This Deſcription:
IT to is that, whereby He, as the Head of the Lower World, was to direct himſelf, and improve the other Beings, to the Glory of his, and their Creator: This may be dilated in the following Propoſitions.
1. MAN was the Head of this Lower World. He was the Chiefeſt of all Viſible Creatures; There were none above him, but God gave him a Lordſhip and Dominion over them; and this plainly ſaith, That he could not be for them as his End. The End is Superiout to the thing which ſerves to it; it muſt not look beneath but above itſelf for its End: If theſe were made for Man then he could not be made for them.
2. HENCE, Man was made immediately for God. All things by the Law of Nature are to ſerve for ſome End, elſe they ſhould have their Being in vain: for of that which hath no End, there is no Uſe. Now the End of the Creature muſt be ſomething without it ſelf: herein it differs from God; as he is from no other, ſo He can be for no other, but muſt be his own laſt End; He depends upon no other, and therefore can ſerve no other: but every Creature is from another, and muſt therefore be for another; it depends elſewhere, and for that Reaſon muſt pay its Service elſewhere: Man therefore becauſe he is a Creature cannot be his own laſt End. Again the End of a Creature is ſomething better than it ſe…f…e End is more Noble than the Means: it canon then be any thing beneath it: and upon this ſcore Man may not look downward on other Creatures as his End, becauſe they are beneath him. And upon the whole he can have no other Immediate End but God: not the things of the World, becauſe they are put under him; not himſelf, becauſe he is a Creature; not the Angels, becauſe tho' he was made a little below them in dignity of Nature, yet he was not ſubjected to them in the order of Gabernation, yea they were to be miniſtring Spirits for him: God alone is his Sovereign & above him, he is therefore for Him and for no other.
3. GOD's End and Deſign in the Creation is His own Glory. Prov. 16.4. The Lord hath made all things for Himſelf. i. e. The Declaration and Manifeſtation of His great Name; that He might be known in the World as ſuch a God, and reverenced accordingly; and but for this no Creature had ever been made, Rev. 4.11. For thy pleaſure they are and were Created.
4. HENCE, Man's next End & Work was is Direct himſelf Immediately to the Advancemen and Declaration of this Glory of God. This was to be his proper Work & Employment; it was the Buſineſs he was to be conſtantly occupied about: That which is the End of Mans Renovation, was certainly the End of his Creation; and what that is, ſee, Iſai. 43.21. This people have I formed for my ſelf, they ſhall ſhew fort…y Praiſe. That is therefore declared to be properly Man's wiſdom, Job 28.28. Unto man be ſaid, the ſear of the Lord that is wiſdom, &c. How he was to Glorify God will be conſidered afterward under the Head of Government.
5. HE was alſo to Improve the other Creation in this Way and to this End. It was not enough that he himſelf Served God, but he muſt alſo lead them to this Service.
1. THE other Creatures though they were nextly for Man, yet ultimately for God. God in giving Man the Dominion over them, and Uſe of them, doth not give away his Right to, or Property in them: tho' they were by this Means Subordinated, yet they did not loſe their reſpect to their Laſt End: God ſhould then have parted with his Prerogative which his Holineſs will not admit of: they are all His ſtill, and Man himſelf too: And if he be not his own but anothers, ſo then is all that he Poſſeſſeth: God expects a Glory from the World. He expects a Tribute to be paid Him from all his Creatures: His Works muſt Praiſe Him, as well as his Saints Bleſs Him.
2. HENCE ad the Service that they do for Man is intentionally in order to the Glory of God. I do not mean that the Creatures themſelves have any ſuch Active Intention, for then they muſt be Rational; but I intend according to the Natural Order, and Subordination of Beings, in which there was an Impreſſion of the Rule of Nature upon them, which leads them all in their blind Obedience to aim at the Glory of God tho' unknowingly: They do therefore diſcover that of God to Man which ſhould direct and ſtimulate him to Glorify God by them and for them; Pſal. 19. beg. Man may therefore ſee a great deal of God in their Natures, and the Benefit he hath of them.
3. HENCE whatſoever Service Most received from the Creature, he was to reflect it back to the Honour of the Creature. He was to Govern as God's Lieutenant in the World: All the Service which Man hath paid him by the Creature, is the Creature's Obedience to God; it herein follows the Rule of Government imprinted on i… Nature; it Serves him becauſe God hath … him over it, and that can gono further: It therefore now remains Man's Buſineſs to receive this Homage, and bring the Acknowledgment of it to God: We are bidden to Honour God with our Subſtance: And thus Man attains his End. as he is ſet above the other Creatures, and helps them to attain theirs.
USE 1. AND will not this give us oceaſion to See & Lament the Miſerable Eſtate of Man by the Fall, who is thereby diſabled from Serving to his High & Glorious End. When we confider what we were made for; and conſider how utterly we are come ſhort of Ability to perform my thing of it, yea are fallen to be quite Croſs to it; and inſtead of Serving God we Serve our ſelves and our own Luſts; Inſtead of laying our ſelves out for his Glory, we do all we can to Diſhonour Him; and refuſe to pay Him any of the Homage or Tribute that is due to Him: What Tears are ſufficient to bewail this forlorn …ate? How unhappy are all they that are ſo, and neither ſee nor bewail it? Were their Eyes opened, and their Hearts touched, they would not but cry out of their own Wretchedneſs. Rom. 3.23. All have ſinned and come …ort of the Glory of God.
USE 2. THIS …ells us wh…t Mat…z … the…e are in the Word, that L… in …. …rity is the Loſs of an …ad: All they who do not Serve for the End they were made for muſt me…s Live in Vain: Well might the Pſalmiſt ſay, Pſal. 14.4. Have all the …kers of in …oty … Knowledge? How few are they that knew or think what they came into the …orld …or? but ſuppoſe it was only to Serve their Carnal Appetites, to drench themſelves in Sinfull Pleaſures, to enſlave themſelves to the Creature, and Live to the World and the things of it; as if Man's whole Buſineſs wa… to Eat, and Drink, and …lay. And whoever you are that riſe no higher then this; Know it, that you are Vein Creatures; you are good for nothing.
USE 3. SEE here it …ſe Accourn el… …o Vanity of the Creature is like to be charged another Day; viz. of Sinful Man. There is an Unto rſal Vanity which like an overflowing Deluge hath covered this lower World; and all theſe Creatures ſutler under it: The Apoſtle tells us it is not the Creature's Fault, that doth not patient…y ſuſtain it, but gro…ns under it; (Rom 8.10.21, 22) that Acts up to its Ability, Serves to its End; but being to paſs …ro' the hands of Sinful Man, it is there ſpoiled: Ti… ſtands pointing to God and his Glory, but Man takes it, and makes it Serve himſelf; ye… & Arres it in Rebellion againſt his Maker. Let Sinnert then think of the heavy Account they have to give in, when all the Creatures that have Served them in Vain ſhall teſtify againſt them; And all the Vanity which hath been brought upon them, ſhall be laid to their Charge: Let this awaken Sinners to B…wa…l and Repent of their Folly, and ſeek God's Pardon in Chriſt: And let it teach us all to ſee to our ſelves …ow to Uſe the Creatures of God; that they be not Abuſed, but Improved to his Glory; that ſo they may not riſe up in the Judgment againſt us.
[APRIL …1. 1691.]