The Image of God Wherein Man was Created, Text

The Image of God Wherein Man was Created · Text

p. 1DISSERTATION. Of the Image of GOD wherein Man was created.

GENESIS. I. 27.

So GOD created Man in his own Image, in the Image of GOD created He him, Male and Female created He them.

THree things are here ſaid concerning Man, that he is a Creature, that he was made Male and Female, and that the firſt Man and Woman were created in the Image of GOD. The laſt thing is doubled in the Text, partly to expreſs the double Pleaſure of God in his Work, and alſo to put a double Honour on it: But more eſpecially to impreſs on the Hearts of the Sons and Daughters of Men a high Senſe of the Dignity done 'em, and of the great Love of GOD to them in their Creation.

p. 2It is a Matter of great Importance to the Children of Men, and to be for ever kept by them in a religious Remembrance, that God made our Firſt Parents, both Adam and Eve, in His own Image, in the Image of God.

He made them alike Humane Souls, which know no Difference of Sex when out of the Body, but are as the Angels; of Whom nothing higher or more glorious can be ſaid in their Original bleſſed State, than that God made Them, as He did us, in his own Image. Man was made a little lower than the Angels, but like them crowned with this Glory and Honour **Pſalm viii. 5.Ps 8:5.

Man is Male and Female. Neither is the Man without the Woman, nor the Woman without the Man in the Lord ‡‡1 Cor. xi. 7, 11, 12.1 Cor 11:71 Cor 11:111 Cor 11:12: That is to ſay, neither in the Day of his Creation, nor in thoſe of his Propagation thro' all paſt and future Generations: As it follows, For as the Woman is of the Man, even ſo is the Man alſo by the Woman; but all things of God. When therefore it is added, that the Man is the Image and Glory of God, but the Woman is the Glory of the Man, the Apoſtle explains himſelf only to give the Man his Preheminence in point of Authority and Dominion: This one Thing in the Image of God excepted, the Woman equally ſhines in the Glory of all the reſt.

So are Mankind conſtituted & propagated. Adam was firſt created, and then Eve; he out of the Duſt of the Ground, and ſhe taken out of his Body. So ſhe became Bone of his Bone, and Fleſh of his Fleſh. But their equal and greater Glory was, that God made them alike living Souls, immortal Spirits, in a Perfection of Knowledge, Holineſs and Goodneſs, and conſequently of Happineſs and Bleſſedneſs, ſuted to their Earthly State, with Dominion over the Creatures. Moſes gives us this Account of the Image of p. 3God wherein Man was created, if you compare, Gen. i. 26, 28. with Chap. ii. v. 7.15, 16, 17, 20, 23. And keeping my Eye upon this pure Word of God, it appears plain and evident that the Image of God on Man, in the Day when God created Him, conſiſted in the following Things.

I. GOD made Man a Spirit, a living Soul, and this was his Likeneſs to his MAKER, the Image of God upon him.

If you ask, what God is? Chriſt has revealed Him, John iv. 24. God is a Spirit. And if you ask, what Man is, Moſes tells us, He is a living Soul. In his Soul he bears the Image of God, and not in his Body. His Body is of the Duſt and returns to it, when his Spirit returns to God, the Infinite Spirit, the Father of Spirits, the Lord, Ruler and Judge of Spirits, the only Portion and Felicity of Souls.

God claims the Soul for his own, even all Souls, the Soul of the Father and of the Son **Ezek. xviii. 4.Ezek 18:4. This unſeen Part of Man bears the Image of the Inviſible and Incorruptible God. Were the Body a thouſand times more elegant and wonderful a Form than it is, or even as it will be after the Reſurrection, yet it were utterly impoſſible and unlawful to conceive of it as any Likeneſs of God. As when God would be ſeen in the Mount by the Elders of Iſrael, they ſaw no manner of Similitude ††Deut. iv. 12.Deut 4:12. The Face and Eye and Hands of Men are full of Spirit and Life, from the living Spirit within that animates and acts 'em. Theſe are attributed to God in Scripture in way of Accommodation to Souls here in the Body. But the firſt thing in the Image of God on Angels and Men is Spirituality. What ſhould be the Likeneſs of the Living God, but a living Soul or Spirit?

p. 4Indeed we little know what our Souls are: Yet we are ſure that we are ſuch, becauſe we think, reaſon, remember, reflect, foreſee, hope, fear, &c. What the Spirituality of God is, is far more inconceivable to us. He is Infinite, filling Heaven and Earth. Whither can we go from His Preſence and Spirit ‖‖Pſalm cxxxix. Prov. xvi. 2.Ps 39Prov 16:2? The Rays of Light, the Wings of the Morning are not equal to the Thoughts of Men, for Brightneſs and Swiftneſs. In one Moment of Tho't my poor Mind reaches the third Heaven, a million times beyond the Sun in its Zenith. This Soul is a poor, low feeble Image of the Immenſity, Spirituality and Omniſcience of God. HE ſearches the Heart of Man, weighs his Spirit, and knows his Tho't affar off. This is too wonderful for us, it is high and we cannot attain to it.

Let our Souls pauſe and imagine what an Incomprehenſible Spirit GOD is! What is his Name, and his Sons Name, if thou canſt tell **Prov. xxx. 4Prov 30:4. HE is that He is, has Life in Himſelf, and in Him we live and move and have our Being ††Exod. iii. 14. John v. 26. Acts. xvii. 25.28.Exod 3:14John 5:26Acts 17:25Acts 17:28. The Worlds of Spirits, and ſo the Corporeal Univerſe, are his Workmanſhip, continually ſuſtained and governed by Him. His active Eſſence therefore intimately pervades and penetrates the immeaſurable Frame! GOD is Life, Light, Mind, Self-exiſtence; Glory, Bleſſedneſs, Perfection; incomparable, inconceivable. To Whom can we liken Him, or what Likeneſs can we compare unto Him? Singularity and Onlineſs is his Glory. There is One God, and no other than He.‡‡Religion of Ieſus delineated.

We ſhould not have dar'd to ſay of God that He is a Spirit, or to have call'd Spirits his Image and Likeneſs, if He Himſelf had not ſo ſpoken to us of p. 5Himſelf. Yet is there no other Image whereby our Minds can repreſent Him to themſelves, but from their own ſpiritual Nature, Powers, and Operations. This therefore muſt be the firſt thing in the Image of God of Angels and Men, Spirituality. In this Glaſs we ſee the firſt Shadow of God. Our Souls diſcern it by Reflection on themſelves. We then look without, look abroad, and ſee thro' the Eyes of the Body Images of Wiſdom, Power and Goodneſs, in every thing Material and Viſible. We ſee the Work of ſome perfectly wiſe, good, Almighty Intelligence. — It is in and from it ſelf, that the poor finite Spirit of Man, conſcious to its own Underſtanding and Affections, and enlightned from the Spirit and Word of God, conceives and infers what a tranſcendent Being and Spirit God is; the Framer of the Univerſe, and the Former and Father of all Spirits. It is becauſe we in our Souls bear ſome Image of God, that we can at all apprehend & know that God is a Spirit. The Beaſts have Eyes to ſee the Fields of Graſs and Corn as much as we, but not having our Souls to diſcern the Eternal Power and Godhead from the Things that are made, their Spirits are not the Likeneſs of God as ours are.

And yet the ſpiritual Nature of Angels and Men is not to be compared with the Spirituality of God, or the Simplicity of his Eſſence. The groſſeſt Matter that our Eyes behold is not ſo much below the Soul of Man, as that is below the Spirituality of the Divine Nature. Never the leſs in the Faculties of the Humane Soul we plainly ſee ſome Reſemblance of the Infinite Eternal Spirit, the Maker and Preſerver of all Things, viſible & inviſible. And this is the firſt and moſt obvious part of the Image of God upon us in our Creation, that we are Souls or Spirits. God who made us this Soul **Jerem. xxxviii. 16.Jer 38:16, herein has p. 6made us in his own Image, after his Likeneſs; for He is THE SPIRIT, and the Father of Spirits.

God is a Spirit in a Senſe far ſuperior to that wherein Angels are to be ſo called. He maketh his Angels Spirits ‡‡Pſalm. civ. 4.Ps 4:4. I doubt not but God is more Inviſible to them, and in Compariſon of them, than they are to us and in Compariſon of us. Created Spirits are compounded Beings if compared with their MAKER; they are made what they are, and He who made them can if he pleaſe annihilate and diſſolve them again. But there is an ineffable, inconceivable Simplicity of Eſſence in the Divine Nature, which infinitely diſtinguiſhes His Spirituality from that of all Creatures.— Angels and Souls are Spirits but they ſingly occupy a ſpace, and paſs from place to place, with an incredible Swiftneſs, like Rays of Light; but the Inviſible God is an Immenſe Being filling Heaven and Earth, always preſent and the ſame in all Places. This is as far above Souls or Angels, as they are above Bodies.

It is a moſt juſt and glorious Account that God gave of Himſelf to Moſes, I AM THAT I AM. He is what no One elſe is or can be; He is alone what He is; what all his Creatures can but poorly repreſent, and leſs can underſtand; even as the Shadow of a Man does but poorly repreſent him in his Life, Look, Thought and Speech. — God is ſingly the Spiritual BEING, and there is none like Him, none beſide Him. As there is none Good but One which is God, ſo is there but One only Spirit in the Univerſe, who filleth all in all **Eph. i. 23.Eph 1:23.

Thus the Lord our God is ONE LORD, and the Knowledge of HIM is too wonderful for us; it is high, and we cannot attain to it: yea how little do we know of our own Spirits, which are made for p. 7the Knowledge of Him? It is but as thro' a Glaſs darkly that we ſee any thing of GOD. The Ideas of Infinite, Eternal, Unchangeable and Selfexiſtent are the Proof and Illuſtration of his Spirituality. We can only explain and confirm the One from the other. As what Man knoweth the Things of a Man, ſave the Spirit of Man that is in him? even ſo the Things of God knoweth no Man, but the Spirit of God ††1 Cor. ii. 11.1 Cor 2:11: Which Things we therefore ſpeak, not in the Words which Mans Wiſdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghoſt teacheth, comparing ſpiritual Things with ſpiritual.

There is therefore unto me no Account of the Spirituality of God like unto the following Texts of Scripture. Exod. iii. I AM, that is my Name. xxxiii. 20. Thou canſt not ſee my Face. 1 Tim. vi. 16. Whom no Man hath ſeen, nor can ſee. Heb. iv. 13. All things (even all Souls and Spirits) are naked and open before Him. Pſalm. cxxxix. Thou underſtandeſt my Tho'ts afar off. 1 Cor. xii. 11. That One and Self ſame SPIRIT divideth to every one ſeverally as He will. So does the One Immenſe Being in all Worlds, viſible and inviſible, to every Creature, ſuperior and inferior, as the one Creator, Preſerver, Governour, Judge, Sanctifier and Saviour of all. — This is Light without any Darkneſs at all, Light unapprochable and full of Glory. **1 John. i. 5.1 John 1:5There can be no more glorious and convictive Light given us into the Spirituality of God than St. Paul's noble Diſcourſe to the Men of Athens, Acts. xvii. While the Eye reads it, the Soul ſees and feels what a SPIRIT God is: it ſeeks and feels and finds Him within it ſelf: "GOD that made the World and all things in it, Lord of Heaven and Earth! who dwelleth not in Temples made with Hands, nor is worſhiped by us as tho' he needeth p. 8any thing; for He giveth unto all Life and Breath and all things, and hath made of one Blood all Nations of Men, and hath determined the Times and Bounds of every ones Habitation; for He is not far from every one of us, for in Him we live and move and have our Being; for we are his Offspring. See here an immortal, enlightned, ſanctified Spirit! that it is ſome Image, ſome Shade of the Eternal, Immenſe, moſt Holy Spirit, which is GOD.

II. God made Man in his own Image in reſpect of Intellect and Underſtanding, Knowledge and Wiſdom.

God is the Only-wiſe ††Rom. xvi. 27. Job xxxvi. 4., Pſalm. cxlvii. 5.Rom 16:27Job 36:4Ps 47:5perfect in Knowledge, and his Underſtanding is infinite. So his Word ſpeaks of Him, and his Works declare it of Him. He that formeth the Eye, ſhall He not ſee? and He that teacheth Man Knowledge ſhall He not know? There is not a Soul ſo brutiſh **Pſalm. xciv. 10.Ps 94:10as not to allow this.

Man, in his Soul and Body is the moſt eminent Diſplay of the Knowledge and Wiſdom of God here on Earth. The Mind and Eye of Man ſurvey the Heavens, Earth, Seas and all the Creatures, and ſee how in Wiſdom God hath made them all ‡‡Pſalm. civ. 24.Ps 4:24. Then we behold our Selves alone, among all the Creatures here on Earth, capable of this Underſtanding, and are led to ſay unto our Selves and unto God, Where is God my Maker! that teacheth me more than the Beaſts of the Earth, and maketh me wiſer than the Fowl of Heaven.

Man in his firſt State was happy and glorious in a Perfection of Knowledge and Wiſdom, proper for an imbodied Spirit. He had not the Knowledge of Angels, for he was made lower than they; but he was wiſe as an Angel in Fleſh ſhould be. He was created with a due Knowledge of God his Maker, of p. 9Himſelf, and of the Creatures about him. God ſpake to our firſt Parents, and they to each other in an admirable manner, as is related by Moſes. Their Minds were full of Light, the Law of God was in their Heart, and they were in the Poſſeſſion of their own Souls and of Intellectual Happineſs. They wanted no more Knowledge of Good at the Time, and to be ſure needed no Knowledge of Evil.

This Underſtanding of Man was a Beam from the Light of the Knowledge and Glory of God upon him. God made him like Himſelf an Intellect, an Intelligence; the Inſpiration of the Almighty gave him his Underſtanding. In his Light Man ſaw Light. And now Souls are renewed in Knowledge after the Image of God ‡‡Col. iii. 10.Col 3:10. They are renewed into the Likeneſs, in part, wherein they were firſt created. As they grow in holy Knowledge, they are changed more and more into the Divine Image from Glory to Glory **2 Cor. iii. 18.2 Cor 3:18.

The Devil tempted our Parents to aſpire after more Knowledge, and ſo they fell. The Father of Light had given them as much of this perfect Gift as was good and fitting for them. This ſhould have highly contented them, and filled 'em with Delight and Thankfulneſs. And ſo it did, until the falſe Fiend perſwaded them to think, that GOD forbid 'em the Tree of Knowledge left it ſhould make 'em wiſer and better than they were. Alas! they found nothing by it but the Knowledge of Sin and Miſery, of which it was their Happineſs to be ignorant; and they loſt the Knowledge of all the Good which they before enjoyed. We remain miſerable, and periſh in our Ignorance of God, unleſs we are renewed after Him in Knowledge. True ſpiritual Wiſdom is reſtored in the Regeneration of Souls. God gives the Light of the Knowledge of his Glory in the Face of p. 10JESUS CHRIST‖‖2 Cor. iv. 6. Rom. xv. 14. Mat. vi. 23. Eph. i. 17. Col. i. 9.2 Cor 4:6Rom 15:14Matt 6:23Eph 1:17Col 1:9. They who were ſometimes Darkneſs, are made Light in the Lord. They are full of Goodneſs, filled with all Knowledge.

That the Soul be without Knowlege, is not good. It is very evil to it to be ſo. What is a dark and blind Soul good for! the Light that is in it is Darkneſs. The Light of Life is from the Father of Glory, the Father of Chriſt, the Eyes of our Underſtanding being-enlightned, to know the Hope of his Calling. God gives the Spirit of Wiſdom and Revelation in the Knowledge of his Son. This is the Image of the Father reſtored in his Elect. So they become again the Children of God; filled with the Knowledge of his Will, in all Wiſdom and ſpiritual Underſtanding.

What a bright Account is this, given by the Holy Ghoſt, of the Image of God on the Soul of Man, in reſpect of Knowledge! Not only has Man an Underſtanding which reflects on its own Acquirements, and (as an excellent Divine **Mr. Willard on the Catechiſm.of our own ſays) "reads its own Knowledge, and communicates it to others; but the true and high Glory of this created Intellect is, "that it is capable of knowing God unto Eternal Life; for this is Life Eternal to know Him the only true God and Jeſus Chriſt whom be has ſent. And if Souls regenerated by the Spirit of God receive from him a ſanctified Mind, a ſpiritual Diſcerning of Things relating to their own Duty and Happineſs; how much more muſt we ſuppoſe our firſt Parents in their ſtate of Integrity and Perfection to be bleſs'd with a moſt holy Knowledge and ſpiritual Diſcerning?

But there is another of the Divine Attributes, which in the Scripture Account of it and in the enlightned Mind of Man, excels in Glory, and is yet more eminently p. 11the Divine Likeneſs on the Reaſonable Creature, and that is Holineſs, Goodneſs & Righteouſneſs. I go on therefore to ſay,

III. Man was eminently created by God in his own Image, after his Likeneſs, in reſpect of Sanctity and Holineſs, Integrity and Rectitude.

There is a moral as well as intellectual Perfection. The Bleſſedneſs of God and his Glory lies in both. HE is infinitely and unchangeably poſſeſs'd of both. Nor is there any poſſible Perfection of Souls or Angels, but it muſt be both in Mind and Underſtanding, and alſo in Will and Affections. This is to follow the Dictate of that, and then the Light of God rules in the Heart; which is what we are call'd to by the Voice of Reaſon and Scripture‡‡Col. iii. 15.Col 3:15. Then all is regular, wiſe, juſt, perfect.

There is none Holy as the Lord. He is glorious in Holineſs. Holy, Holy, Holy, is his Name ††Exod. xv. 13. Iſaiah vi. 3. Act iii. 14. Dan iv. 13.Exod 15:13Isa 6:3Acts 3:14Dan 4:13. Chriſt is the Holy One of God, and all the Angels of Heaven are holy Ones. They proclaim the equal Holineſs of Father Son and Spirit, while they treble the Praiſes of the Divine Holineſs. What then ſhould be the Image of God on the Seraphims but their Holineſs? while with cover'd Faces they make the Superlative Holineſs of God the Subject of their Adoration. They never ceaſe from this**Rev. iv. 8.Rev 4:8, They reſt not Day and Night ſaying, Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty! which art and waſt and art to come. The Work of Saints on Earth is juſt the ſame‖‖Pſalm xcix. 9. xcvii. 12.Ps 99:9, Exalt the Lord our God and worſhip at his Footſtool, for the Lord our God is holy. And again, Give Thanks at the Remembrance of his Holineſs.

This renders God fearful in Praiſes, that He is glorious in Holineſs. "A perfect Underſtanding muſt p. 12have a perfect Will, and where the Mind and Will is perfect there muſt be perfect Holineſs. Therefore is the Name of God moſt holy and reverend. He muſt needs be Holy in all his Works. He muſt needs then make Angels and Men holy. They could not come other out of his holy Hand. The Impreſs and Stamp of his Holineſs muſt be upon them. Being capable of this Image of God, and it being neceſſary to their Perfection, they could not poſſibly be deſtitute of it. If every Word of God is pure, ſo is every Work. He cannot look upon Iniquity, he is of purer eyes than to behold it, he hates and loaths it, and loves Righteouſneſs. This bears his own Likeneſs, and is therefore lovely in his Eyes, for he infinitely loves Himſelf. We read, The Lord loveth the righteous: why? but becauſe He is Himſelf righteous, and thoſe that love and do Righteouſneſs are like to Him. This one Thing is eaſily found‡‡Eccleſ. vii. 29.Eccl 7:29, nor is all the Wiſdom of Solomon needed to find it out, that God made Man upright. He could not make him otherwiſe. This Uprightneſs in the Creature is the Image of God upon it. Men are Partakers of a Divine Nature, in the Regeneration of Souls**2 Pet. i. 4. Pſalm. xxv. 21.2 Pet 1:4Ps 25:21. They are made upright and ſincere in the Sight of God. Integrity and Uprightneſs preſerves them, and they eſcape the Corruption that is in the World thro' Luſt, and add to their Faith, Vertue, Knowledge, Temperance, Patience, Godlineſs, brotherly Kindneſs and Charity. The Sons of Men (you ſee here) are capable of ſuch a Glory and Likeneſs to God as to become again Partakers of the Divine Nature. This cannot poſſibly mean any thing more or leſs than ſome Reſtoration of the Image of God in them. The Loſs of that Image is ſuppoſed, and it is ſaid to be the Want of Original Righteouſneſs & the Corruption of his p. 13whole Nature. He has corrupted himſelf thro' Luſt, and the World lies in this Corruption, it is propagated from Age to Age, and common to all Places. But then there is thro' Grace an Eſcaping out of this Corruption, which ſome are made Partakers of, thro' Sanctification of the Spirit. That is to ſay, they are made holy, vertuous, wiſe, temperate, patient, godly by the Power of Divine Grace, making a glorious Change in them; whereby they do again partake of that Divine Nature which was the Likeneſs of God upon Man in his firſt Creation.

This is the true and genuine Meaning of St. Peter's Words, repeated in the next Chapter ††ver. 20.They have eſcaped the Pollutions of the World, thro' the Knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jeſus Chriſt. Theſe the Holy Ghoſt calls‡‡Rom. vi. 6.7.2 Cor. v. 17. Gal. vi. 15. Eph. iv. 22.Rom 6:6Rom 6:72 Cor 5:17Gal 6:15Eph 4:22 new Men and new Creatures; being renewed in the Spirit of their Mind; the old Man being put off, which is corrupt according to deceitful Works, and the New Man put on, which after God is created in Righteouſneſs & true Holineſs. See here the Image of God wherein Adam was created, and into which the Elect of God are recovered by the Power and Efficacy of the Goſpel, which calls us with a holy Calling, from Uncleanneſs unto Holineſs. This is the Image of God's dear Son, and this is his Calling,**1 Pet. i. 15.16. Rom. viii. 29.1 Pet 1:151 Pet 1:16Rom 8:29 Be ye Holy, for I am Holy. So we are made Children and adopted in Chriſt; for the HOLY ONE will put no other among his Children, but thoſe in whom he puts this Likeneſs to Himſelf, his Son and Spirit.

Holineſs is the eminent Glory of the DEITY. It is not Knowledge or Power that gives Likeneſs to God, ſeparate from Holineſs, Juſtice, Goodneſs and Truth. It is in theſe moral Perfections that the p. 14Lord paſſes before us, proclaims his Name and ſhews his Glory, from the Beginning of the Bible to the End of it. Devils retain a vaſt Knowledge, void of Wiſdom becauſe deſtitute of Holineſs. Angels ſhine in the Purity and Wiſdom of God, becauſe they are holy in all the Uſe they make of their Underſtanding. And ſuch is the Renovation of Man after God in Knowledge and Holineſs together, transform'd by the renewing of his Mind **Col. i. 9,—15.Col 1:9.

Pauſe here a Moment and reflect, — It is in our Souls and Spirite that we muſt look for any Likeneſs or Image of God, moſt High moſt Wiſe and Holy! and it is eſſential to every created Spirit in its firſt Exiſtence to be like God the Father of Spirits, as his Offspring, in Underſtanding and Will, in a Rectitude of both; Which is to ſay, in Integrity and Uprightneſs, in moral and intellectual Perfection together; for they are inſeparable, are loſt together and are recovered together: They come from Heaven, prepare for Heaven, and are unchangeably and eternally in Heaven — Let God be dear and honoured to us, and our Souls be dear and prized by us, from the Conſideration of what God at firſt made them; ſo wiſe and knowing, holy and righteous. God made them for Himſelf and like Himſelf; in his Image and for his Glory; and for their Bleſſedneſs in his Likeneſs and Love for Evermore. This we ought to have preſerved and been ever happy; now let us ſeek to recover it in the Way of Goſpel Perfection, (by Regeneration, Repentance, holy Obedience, and by Faith in a better Righteouſneſs than our own) ſetting the Life and Laws of Chriſt ever before us; and we ſhall become wiſe, holy and bleſſed, in a Meaſure of Conformity to Chriſt, who is the Image of the Inviſible God, the Firſt-born of every p. 15Creature; which is the whole End, Aim and Fruit of the Miniſtry of the Goſpel, of Sabbaths and Ordinances, the Word, Sacraments and Prayer.

In ſhort, the moſt full and perfect Reſemblance of created Spirits unto the One infinitely wiſe and good SPIRIT, theri Former and Father, can be no other, either more or leſs than this, — the Mind and Will of the Creature agreeing perfectly after his Meaſure and Manner, to the Wiſdom and Rectitude of the CREATOR: So that the Soul at firſt received a Stamp and Impreſs of God, even as the Wax does of a Seal, as well in its Will and Affections as in its Intellectual Powers; even a gracious Habit, to propoſe cleave to and proſecute the higheſt and beſt End, in the moſt proper and direct Means: So that as God ever acts for his own Glory in his Creatures Happineſs, ſo the Soul of Man in its Conformity to Him acts for the Glory of God and its own Bleſſedneſs in his Favour. This muſt be the firſt and great Commandment of the Lord God to the Soul that he has made, and its laſt Happineſs and Perfection, its Likeneſs to God and Union with him; "Thou ſhalt love the Lord thy God with all the Underſtanding and with all thy Heart. The Soul cannot cloſe more with God, nor receive more of Him. — As will further appear by our going on to conſider,

IV. God created Man in his own Image, after his Likeneſs, in reſpect of Dominion. Theſe are the expreſs Words of Moſes, "God ſaid, Let Us make Man in Our Image, after Our Likeneſs, and let them have DOMINION.

God is LORD of all! this is his Glory and unalienable Right, to reign and rule. He cannot deny Himſelf, and wo to his Creation ſhould his Government and Providence ceaſe. His is the Power and Kingdom; He is GOD over all; the Moſt High, Poſſeſſor of Heaven and Earth. Heaven is his Throne, p. 16and the Earth his Footſtool. Angels, Authorities and Powers are all under his Feet. He is the One Lawgiver and Judge, the Lord of Hoſts and King of Glory. Wiſdom and Might are His: his Dominion is an Everlaſting Dominion, and his Kingdom from Generation to Generation.

Intellectual and moral Creatures carry an Image of God's Dominion in their Nature. They are made for Rule and Government in their Places. Angels are therefore called Dominions and Thrones, Principalities and Powers. And Man was in like manner made for Government here on Earth. The Fear of him was put upon the Creatures, and they herein are put under his Feet. God firſt ſaid to him, Have thou Dominion, and then bro't them to Adam to give them Names. So he gave him Poſſeſſion of them all. This is celebrated in the Eighth Pſalm; the Glory is given to God and all Pride is hidden from Man: "What is Man that Thou art mindful of him! Thou haſt made him a little lower than the Angeis, and haſt crowned him with Glory and Honour.

Man is made for Dominion in his Place as Angels are in their. Rational and moral Powers are given to be ſure to be uſed and applied, to great and good Ends and Purpoſes, reſpecting God, Self, and Fellow Creatures, in one World or other. The Application of theſe Powers muſt be in Subjection to God, the Government of our Selves, and a righteous Conduct toward others, below or above us, or on a Level with us.

But principally Man's Glory is, that he is made for Self-Government, for Rule over himſelf, for a Poſſeſſion of his own Soul, the Government of his own Mind and Will, Deſires and Appetites, Thot's, Words and Actions.

This was the Dominion he was principally deſigned for, and inveſted with. The Law of his God put within him, and given to him in Words as ſoon p. 17as he found himſelf in Being, ſufficiently told him this. It ſpake indeed plainly his Subjection to-God, that he was made for Obedience and a reaſonable Service; But it ſpake alſo his Preheminence above the Creatures put under him, in a diſtinguiſhing Power for the Rule of his own Actions, with Underſtanding and Choice, Liberty and Freedom, and from a Conſcience of right and wrong.

Underſtanding and Wiſdom, the Power of Tho't and Conſideration was given to Man for this End. "The Lord God put the Man into the Garden to dreſs and keep it, and He commanded the Man, ſaying &c. Thus Man was made under the Law to God, a Law to himſelf, and was both able and inclined to do the Will of God, and to govern himſelf thereby. And this Power for Self-Government, by the Light and Law of God within him, and by the Will of God revealed to him, was the Image of his God upon him.

For the Divine Dominion and Government is in the Perfection of Wiſdom and Righteouſneſs. The Sceptre of his Kingdom is a right Sceptre. He does according to his Will in the Armies of Heaven, and among the Inhabitants of the Earth; but his Will is perfect, his Ways are Truth and Judgment, He is holy in all his Work, juſt and right is He.

Therefore the Subjection of Man to God is his governing Himſelf, in all his Thot's Words & Actions, in a wiſe, righteous and ſuperiour manner; as becomes a Creature in the Likeneſs of God, and made for Authority and Rule on Earth.

Our Lord therefore tells us that he came into our World to recover Man into his Original Freedom and Liberty. "If the Son make you free, ye ſhall be free indeed **John viii. 36. Rom. viii. 21. Luke xvii. 21.John 8:36Rom 8:21Luke 17:21. Man by his Fall loſt that Dominion p. 18over, and Poſſeſſion of himſelf, wherein God had made him. The Son of God came to reſtore him into the glorious Liberty of the Sons of God. The Image of the Heavenly Father is reſtored in thoſe Souls, whom his Grace recovers from the Bondage of Sin and Satan, into his own Kingdom, which Kingdom of God is within us. It makes Men Kings and Prieſts to God. They uſe Themſelves, and all his Creatures, to the Creator's Glory. This was that Original Dominion in which and for which Man was made. His Original Wiſdom and Righteouſneſs was given Him for this End. So God qualified him for the Rule to which he called him. He gives no Right but for his own Glory from his Creatures, and for their Happineſs in a regular ordering and conducting themſelves.— And this leads me to another Point, wherein the Image of God conſiſted in Man's Original Stace of Knowledge Holineſs & Dominion, and that is

V. His Original State of Happineſs and Bleſſedneſs. —God is the bleſſed Being; infinitely, eternally and unchangeably happy; being poſſeſs'd of all poſſible Perfection and Glory for ever and ever: "God over all, bleſſed for Evermore ††Pſalm. cxix. 12. Rom. ix. 5.Ps 19:12Rom 9:5. He made Man happy, and for Happineſs everlaſting: He forbad him that which he knew would make him miſerable: For he knew that Miſery muſt lie in the Loſs of the Divine Likeneſs.

A miſerable Creature could not come out of the Hand of the bleſſed God: He could not make a living Soul ſo unlike Himſelf, ſo contrary to Himſelf. —The Creature muſt make it ſelf miſerable, if ever if become ſo. Angels and Men have made themſelves ſo, againſt the Commandment of God, by their own Sin and Tranſgreſſion. They have wickedly p. 19choſen Evil under the Notion of Good, and thereby brought Miſery upon themſelves. But God required 'em to chuſe only what is good, and to refuſe the Evil. God made 'em in the Knowledge of Good, and ignorant of Evil.

Man was made innocent, wiſe and holy, and therefore neceſſarily happy. He was made bleſſed for ever, in caſe he did not commit Sin, from which Miſery naturally flows, and with which it is neceſſarily connected.—Man was made happy both as to Soul and Body: He wanted nothing for either. He had Wiſdom and Purity within, Peace & Joy, Content and Pleaſure. Without him he had a Paradiſe, a Garden of God. Every thing grew there, pleaſant to the Eye, to the Smell and to the Taſte. His Eye beheld a Creation of God's in Perfection. He had a charming Tongue and Voice to praiſe Him. The muſical Birds, happy in the Branches, ſinging and feaſting there, were but an Emblem of their Owners Liberty and Freedom to what was good and joyous. Man was a thouſand fold more a Pleaſure to himſelf in all his Tho'ts and Words! in his Contemplations of God in his Works, in his Knowledge of his Will, in his Senſe of the Divine Favours and Bounties to him, in a Heart full of Gratitude to God, and with a Tongue tuned to his Praiſe, to magnify Him with Thankſgivings.

Every intellectual and moral Pleaſure attended Man in his Paradiſaic State, as well as every ſenſitive Delight. "He feaſted (ſays One) on the Loving-kindneſs of God, better than Life, and on all the Sweets of an untarniſhed Creation.— God bleſſed him in the Day he made him, for he ſaw him in a bleſſed State, and required him to keep himſelf in that State and be happy. God bound himſelf to bleſs him, if he kept himſelf in his Love. As a Means of preſerving himſelf herein, God gave him his Sabbath and his Covenant: He bleſſed every p. 20Seventh Day to him, for a Time of ſpecial Communications of his Grace and Love; and none of us can imagine what a bleſſed Day every Seventh would have been to Man in his State of Innocence & Holineſs; what Viſits and Viſions from Heaven Man had enjoy'd thereon. It may be a Flavel, or an Henry the Elder, may ſometimes have taſted a little of like Rapture.

Real and ſenſible Communion with God is the proper Bleſſedneſs of Souls. A meaſure of it remains to fallen recovered Man in his ſecret and publick Devotions. Becauſe thy Loving kindneſs is better than Life my Lips ſhall praiſe thee: Thus will I bleſs thee while I live, I will lift up my Hands in thy Name: My Soul ſhall be ſatisfied as with Marrow and Fatneſs, and my Mouth ſhall praiſe thee with joyful Lips: My Soul followeth bard after thee, thy right Hand upholdeth me **Pſal. lxiii. 3, 4, 5. Heb iv. 3.Ps 63:3Ps 63:4Ps 63:5Heb 4:3. Believers in Chriſt do enter into this Reſt, but it comes vaſtly ſhort of a Sabbath in Eden, or the Heavenly Sabbatiſin.

No doubt but the Image of God was viſible upon Man in his Earthly Paradiſe, and ſenſible to himſelf in his inward Frame. His Mind was full of Light, his Heart of Joy; which beam'd out in his Eyes and Face, and flow'd over from his Mouth and Tongue. The Abundance within irradiated the whole Body. If Moſes Face ſhone in the Mount with God, how did Adam's in the Garden of God! The Ioy of the Lord was a Covering of Glory on Him: It fell off in the Hour he ſinned, and he ſaw himſelf naked. Our Parents look'd aſtonied at one another to ſee the outward Change upon themſelves, as well as from what they felt within. They ran to the Fig-Leaves to hide their Shame.

Thus Man loſt the Image of God in the ſenſible Loſs of his Happineſs. Miſery is the Image of Satan. p. 21Such is Guilt to a Soul: Pollution attends it: Grief and Shame are the inevitable Conſequent. The Evils of the World, with Death in the Rear of the woful Train, ſhows us the Loſs of the Divine Likeneſs wherein we were created. For we were made for immortal Life and Happineſs, and lo Miſery and Death have invaded us! Which leads me to add,

VI. And laſtly, God created Man in His own Image in reſpect of Life and Immortality. God made Adam a living Soul that can never die, a natural Image of HIM who only hath Immortality. And God covenanted with Adam that tho' his Body was corruptible in it ſelf, yet He would preſerve it in Health, Eaſe and Strength, and it ſhould never ſee Death in caſe he never ſinned. God gave him therefore the Tree of Life to eat of, a Sign Pledge and Means of Immortality to his Body, and of the Continuance of Happineſs to him in Soul and Body all his Days on Earth; and I doubt not it was alſo a Seal and Aſſurance to him of a Tranſlation to a better World, a better Paradiſe in due Time.

Man could not but begin to be becauſe he was a Creature; no more could the Angels of Heaven. God only is Eternal, from Everlaſting to Everlaſting, without Beginning or End. Spirits that can never ceaſe to be, yet once were not. By God were the Inviſible Thrones and Dominions above created, and ſo likewiſe the Spirits in Fleſh. Both were made for an everlaſting Exiſtence and Duration. The Word of God's Power upholds them in Being, whether in a holy and happy State, or in their ſinful and miſerable Condition. This Immortality ſimply conſidered is a ſignal Likeneſs of the Everlaſting Father upon his Offspring. Angels are in this Image of God upon them for ever and ever: Their Being, Glory, Bleſſedneſs, Joys are ſure of an everlaſting Duration. And Souls that are here ſanctified in p. 22Jeſus Chriſt are ſure of going to Him at Death, and of Bleſſedneſs in his Likeneſs for Evermore.**Pſalm xvi. 9, 10, 11. lxxiii. 23, —26. John xiv. 1,—4. 1 Cor. xv. 16,—23, 45,—ult. 1 Joh iii. 2.1 Pet. i. 3. Rom ii. 7.Ps 16:9Ps 16:10Ps 16:11John 14:11 Cor 15:161 John 3:21 Pet 1:3Rom 2:7 This Life and Immortality is bro't to Light by the Goſpel, and we are begotten to the lively Hope of it by the Reſurrection of Jeſus Chriſt from the dead. The Promiſe which GOD hath promiſed is this Eternal Life, in Soul and Body united, unto all them that by patient Continuance in well doing, ſeek after it.

And this ſhows us the Original State of Man; to what Life and Happineſs he was deſigned and prepared in his Creation, in Conformity to the Life and Bleſſedneſs of his MAKER, even for an everlaſting ſeeing ſerving and Enjoyment of Him. This therefore was an eminent Part of the Divine Image and Likeneſs on our Firſt Parents, in the Day when they received their Being. They knew themſelves made for Immortality, and that their preſent happy Circumſtances could never ceaſe, but might increaſe for ever and ever, and be changed for better and better, higher and highe: to Everlaſting. Death therefore was ſet before them to deter them from Sin; Death bodily and ſpiritual; not a Period to their Exiſtence but to their Happineſs; which alone is to be called Life; for to exiſt in Miſery, in any great Degree of it, is Death rather than Life, and a reaſonable Creature would chuſe Strangling ‖‖Job. vii. 15. Pſalm. xlix. 19. Rev. xx. 6, 14. Mark. ix. 44. Jude. v. 6. Luke iii. 17. Iſai: xxxiii. 14.Job 7:15Ps 49:19Rev 20:6Rev 20:14Mark 9:44Luke 3:17, rather than ſuch an Exiſtence. — We read therefore of the Soul in a State of Miſery, that it ſhall never ſee Life; and the ſecond Death has power over it. The Curſe comes on that Soul in the very Letter of it, "In dying thou ſhalt die. The miſerable Spirits in Hell are for ever dying, and yet never die; never p. 23ſee an End of their Miſery; their Worm dieth not, and the Fire is not quenched. Here is the Loſs of the Image of God to the uttermoſt. For God lives in the Perfection of Bliſs, in ineffable inconceivable Bleſſedneſs, for ever and ever: And ſo do Angels and glorified Spirits in His Likeneſs and Favour: They have an Eternity of Happineſs before them: But ſinning Angels, and impenitent damned Souls, are in everlaſting Chains of Darkneſs, reſerved to unquenchable Fire and everlaſting Burnings. The Image of Immortality upon them is an everlaſting Curſe! the Reverſe of that Living Happy Soul which God at firſt made us.

Indeed there is no Image of God's Self-Exiſtence, his neceſſary Exiſtence, his Independent Eſſence, his proper Eternity and Unchangeableneſs, in the immortal Nature of Angels or Men, or in the happy Immortality of holy Spirits. God is the High and lofty ONE that inhabiteth Eternity; having Life in Himſelf. Only the Eternal Word and Spirit who are One with the Father, are alſo the Brightneſs and expreſs Image of his Eternal Glory. Yet every immortal Spirit is an Image of the Vital Being from Whom it came; in Whom alone is the Origine of Life, and the Life is the Light of Men and Angels: i. e. the Living God is the Spring and Fountain of it; as the Pſalmiſt ſings, "For with Thee is the Fountain of Life **Pſalm xxxvi. 9. John. i. 4. Iſai. lvii. 15.Ps 36:9John 1:4Isa 57:15. When Man recovers his firſt and proper Immortality, as the Righteous ſhall do at the Reſurrection, then the Image of God will be perfectly reſtored in him, never to be loſt again.

And thus we have ſaid ſomething (O how little a part) of the bleſſed Image of God wherein Man was created: A little lower than the Angels, but like p. 24them living Spirits, in a ſufficient Degree of Knowledge and Wiſdom, Purity and Goodneſs, Greatneſs and Dominion, Happineſs and Bleſſedneſs, and in Immortality which was the Crown of all: For this Wiſdom, Holineſs and Bleſſedneſs would have remained with him for ever and ever. Like GOD he had been the ſame, and his Years without End; only there had been a perpetual Increaſe in Perfection & Bleſſedneſs, if he had preſerved his Innocence.

And now, O Sons and Daughters of Men, contemplate this your Original State, and mourn the Loſs of it! bewail and condemn your Selves, and give Glory unto God who made you ſuch, and for an ever-during Felicity.

DEATH, Death is the dreadful Sign and Teſtimony to us of the Loſs of God's Image and Likeneſs! Bodily Death is ſo, Spiritual Death more! A dying Body, under miſerable Diſeaſes, and preſently forſaken by the living Spirit, is a viſible, ſenſible, ſorrowful Spectacle of the Loſs of God's Image: But a dead Soul, under the Miſery of ſpiritual Luſts, and the Sentence of God to Eternal Death, is a thouſand-fold more hideous Spectacle of the Loſs of God's Likeneſs. Let Senſe look upon a dead Corpſe, and let it ſay if the Image of the Living God is not departed, in this Puniſhment of Sin! but let Faith look into the State of the Dead, and ſee Souls in the Place of Miſery for ever and ever; and then behold the utmoſt Loſs of Life, of God and of Bleſſedneſs! Here, here is the Image of God loſt to the uttermoſt! look on this and cry out, on Adam's Sin (as ſome have done) O Adam! "what haſt thou done! — But rather lay thy Hand on thy own Heart, O Sinner, and ſmite on thy own Breaſt, and cry out of thy own Sins, and feel thy own Plague, who wilt not come to Chriſt that thou may'ſt have Life! wilt not ſubmit p. 25to the Terms of the Goſpel, for the recovery of this, and more than this, thy Original Knowledge, Holineſs, Dominion and Bleſſedneſs in an Everlaſting Paradiſe.

God is ready to reſtore our Souls; the Means of Grace and Holineſs teſtify of it to us from Day to Day: What mean our Sabbaths, Sermons, Sacraments, the Word and Prayer, but a holy and happy everlaſting State for Soul and Body, if we will but accept of ſo great Salvation! Read the Account of a better Paradiſe for every One who will but ſeek it, by a timely Submiſſion to the Son of God, the Second Adam, the Lord from Heaven, who came to ſeek and ſave that which was loſt, and to reſtore that which be took not away: Your Bible cloſes with the Account of this Caeleſtial Paradiſe, and of the Image of God on Man in the Heavenly Places! and how could the Revelations of God to Man end more holily and gloriouſly! Revel. xxii. 1,—6. And he ſhewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as cryſtal, proceeding out of the throne of God, and of the Lamb. In the midſt of the ſtreet of it, and of either ſide of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there ſhall be no more curſe: but the throne of God and of the Lamb ſhall be in it; and his ſervants ſhall ſerve him. And they ſhall ſee his face; and his name ſhall be in their foreheads. And there ſhall be no night there, and they need no candle, neither light of the ſun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they ſhall reign for ever and ever. And he ſaid unto me, Theſe ſayings are faithful and true. And the Lord God of the holy prophets ſent his angel to ſhew unto his ſervants the things which muſt ſhortly be done.

p. 26But I am not willing to finiſh on a Subject ſo pleaſant and profitable as this is, without going into ſome more particular Reflections.

I. O what a brave, good, great and happy Creature, was Man in his firſt Eſtate!

See, you Sons of Adam, and Daughters of Eve, what your firſt Parents were, and you in their Loyns! how crowned with Glory and Honour, as the Pſalmiſt ſings! or as the Evangeliſt ſpeaks, "Adam, the Son of God! He that in his Goſpel had wrote this, might well in his Acts quote that Paſſage of the Poet. "For we are his Offspring! — If then we are the Offspring of God, and were at firſt created worthy of ſuch a Style, being made in his Image and Likeneſs; then what an Angel in Fleſh was Man in his firſt State! wiſe, holy, happy and immortal! an imbodied Spirit made for the Knowledge and Viſion of God, and in a Dominion over the Earth and all the Creatures on it. Man was a Brother of Angels; only in a Body of Fleſh, and a Candidate for their heavenly Glory. He was a grand and auguſt Creature in the Eyes of his Maker, good in his Sight, high in the Eſteem of good Angels and the Envy of evil ones.— We talk of noble and royal Blood now in our fallen, corrupt and dying Condition; under our Diſeaſes and Pains, Leproſies and Ulcers; but we were indeed in our firſt Eſtate Children of the moſt High, Sons of Glory, for immortal Dominion. Here was the true Honour, which came from above, and had returned to God and Heaven, and left us in high Dignity & Royalty everlaſting, with the Image of the King of Glory on us, a never fading Crown. Our Bible does us the greateſt Honour in this Account of our Original State; but the Glory is altogether unto God in the Perfection and Excellency of his own Works. So God created us, and unto Him be Glory. "Thine O Lord, is the Greatneſs and the Majeſty!

p. 27II. O what a great and good and holy and bleſſed Being is the LORD OUR GOD, who made Man in his own Image and Likeneſs! Of his own Heart, and overflowing Fulneſs, He did this! "O Lord, our Lord; how excellent is thy Name in all the Earth! So the Pſalm begins and ends, which is the Contemplation of Man in his State of Dominion. The Glory of God herein is alſo above the Heavens, above the Praiſes of Angels there. We poorly liſp, like Babes and Sucklings at his high Praiſes, for our Souls are not what they once were! yet had we the Tongues of Angels we could not render Him the Glory due unto his Name, which is exalted above all Bleſſing and Praiſe. It ſhould be a Pleaſure to us, that there are higher Orders of Creatures to praiſe and ſerve God better. We ſhould awake up our Glory, and do our beſt, and live on the Hope of doing better and better for evermore. "Be thou exalted, O God, above the Heavens! let thy Glory be above all the Earth ††Pſalm. cviii. 4, 5, 6. cxlviii. 1, 2, 11, 12, 13.Ps 8:4Ps 8:5Ps 8:6.

[Under this Head I will inſert the learned and pious Peter van Manſtricht his Reaſons **Theoreticopractica Theologia, p. 378.of God's making Man in his own Image.

1. To contemplate and delight Himſelf in Man, as in a Glaſs or Effigy: As we read Prov. viii. 31. that in the Day when He appointed the Foundations of the Earth his Ioy was in the habitable Parts of it, and his Delights in the Sons of Men.

2. As it were to propagate Himſelf, were any thing like that poſſible, in Creatures bearing his Likeneſs. As it is in the Nature of all Good to communicate of it ſelf, and propagate its own Likeneſs. It is ſo in every inferior Life here known to us, in Conformity doubtleſs to the Firſt and moſt perfect.

3. That he might have on this Earth, as in p. 28every other habitable Globe he doubtleſs hath, Thoſe that ſhould know and love and worſhip Him for what he is in Himſelf and is to them: which they would never do without an Impreſs of Himſelf on them, ſenſible to themſelves.

4. That He might have on this Earth of ours Thoſe with whom he may converſe, as a Father Friend and Benefactor, and make bleſſed by Communion with Himſelf, thro' Time here and to Eternity: which Friendſhip and Converſation cannot be without Likeneſs, any more than Man can converſe with the brute Creatures which are ſo unlike to him. Simile enim| ſimili gaudet. Man therefore that is made to live to God, and for ever with him, and to find his Bleſſedneſs therein, muſt needs be in the likeneſs of God, wiſe, holy, juſt and good.

5. That Man may have within Himſelf a Perception and Conviction of his Creator's moſt high and infinite Perfections; his Simplicity, Inviſibility, Immortality, Underſtanding, Will, Wiſdom, Juſtice, Holineſs, Goodneſs and Dominion; and have theſe always in Remembrance, and before his own Eyes, in the Image of them on himſelf.

6. That we may know and be convinc'd that none of our Evils come from God, but are altogether of our Selves, and that in Contradiction to the Will of God, and therefore in Rebellion againſt Him, which the Glory of his Holineſs and Dominion muſt ſee puniſhed. Prov. xvi. 4. The Lord hath made all things for Himſelf, yea even the wicked for the Day of Wrath.]

III. See the true Baſis, and a ſtrong Foundation for the whole moral Law, in both the Tables of it; the Love of GOD, and of our Neighbours; and I may add the true Love of our Selves alſo. For if God made Man in His own Image & Likeneſs, how ought Man to love God, Himſelf, and his Neighbours?

p. 291. He ought to love the LORD his GOD with all his Heart, and with all his Soul, and with all his Mind, and with all his Might ††Deut. vi. 4, 5. x. 12, 15, 20. Matth. xxii. 37. Pſalm. cxxxix. 14, 17. lxxiii. 25.Deut 6:4Deut 6:5Matt 22:37Ps 39:14Ps 39:17. This muſt neceſſarily be the firſt and great, Commandment and indiſpenſable, Duty of all Creatures, in all Worlds, made in the Image of God. For they are made to love what is good and lovely; and the Original of Good, the Perfection of Beauty, to be ſure firſt; the moſt perfect and ſupreme Good with the higheſt Affection. Deſire and Delight. Beſides, that the Relation of an Offspring is a Bond to Love, in the higheſt Degree, by the Acknowledgment of all Mankind. A Child is bound to love his Parents with his firſt and beſt Affection, becauſe thro' Them he receives his Being, and is begotten in their Likeneſs. If God then be a Father (and have we not One Father? has not one God created us?) this muſt be the Honour due from us; and our great Honour it is to be permitted to love the Greateſt and Beſt of Beings, for this Reaſon, becauſe He has made us in his own Likeneſs? No wonder this is his Law to us, and this his Grace and Favour to us, to require our Love? "My Son, give me thy Heart! Is He not thy Father, that hath made thee? that has faſhioned thee in the Womb, with the ſame wonderful and precious Thot's unto thee, as to thy Firſt Parent when he ſpake firſt of forming him, "Come let us make Man, in our Image, after our Likeneſs. O what is there that is lovely in us but that, and who ſhould be the Object of our Souls Love but this Bleſſed Being? "Whom have I in Heaven but Thee? and there is nothing on Earth that I deſire beſide Thee.

Did ever any Prince make a Law that his Subjects ſhould love Him‡‡Henry on Deut. vi.Deut 6? yet ſuch is the Condeſcention p. 30of the Divine Grace that this is God's firſt Law to Man.

Let me turn the Queſtion, and ask — Was there ever any King that did not expect and require the Love of his own Children? So high and near a Subject as a Child muſt needs love, as well as fear; and it is the Glory of Kings to be lov'd as well as fear'd.

But if we are made in God's Image, let our Love be regulated hereby. Our Deſire muſt be toward Him, out Delight in him, our Dependance on him, and to him we muſt be intirely devoted. It muſt be a comſtant Pleaſure to us to think of Him, hear from him, ſpeak to him and ſerve him. We muſt love him with an intelligent, intire and ſuperlative Affection. We have had Fathers of our Fleſh and we gave them Reverence; ſhall we not love the Father of our Spirits and live?

2. Our being made in the Image of God teaches us to love our Selves, to love our own Souls, with a high Eſteem and Value, with a rational tender and fervent Affection. God made us to love our Selves for his ſake, for his Image on us and Glory from us. God is Himſelf Love ††1 John. iv. 8.1 John 4:8: What more amiable Idea can we have of Him? what a delectable Object is He by this Account of Him? How lovely is He to Himſelf and to all Intelligent Beings! He is in the firſt place Love with Regard to Himſelf, in a moſt perfect bleſſed everlaſting Self-love. He neceſſarily, infinitely and unchangeably loves Himſelf; whether we conſider Him in the Ineffable mutual Love of Three Divine Perſons, One in God-head and Glory; or in his infinite Complacence in his own bleſſed and glorious Perfections. He has revealed Himſelf thus to us, "I the Lord thy God am a jealous God! which ſpeaks Self-Regard in the higheſt Degree. He cannot p. 31deny himſelf, nor give away his Glory. He has made all Worlds, and all, Rational Beings for his own Glory. He has made us like Himſelf, with an invincible Principle of Self-love, but firſt for his own Praiſe from us, without which we can never be perfect and happy.

It is evident that the Principle of true Self-love in us is Part of the Image on God on us; for by this we govern our Selves, our Appetites, our Will and Affections, by the Will of God, for his Glory and our own Good, preſent and future. As ſoon as Adam was created he was forbidden to Sin againſt his own Life; "In the Day thou eateſt thou ſhalt ſurely die." In our fallen State God addreſſes to this ſame Principle, in its Remains within us, "Why will ye die? In Regeneration Souls are recover'd to the true Love of Themſelves. As God is glorious Self-love, ſo is Man in his | primitive and ſaved State. The greateſt Self-good we can propoſe to our Selves, is to be like God, and to have him well pleaſed with us. That is to ſay, to be good and do good, as God is and does.

We ſhould love nothing in our Selves but what is agreable to God, and an Exhibition more or leſs of his Image on us. We ſhould hate and loathe in our Selves whatſoever is contrary to God, his Nature and Will made known to us. We muſt deny our preſent carnal Self, which is Enmity to God, is not ſubject to his Law, nor indeed can be **Rom. viii. 2, 6, 7, 13. John iii. 7. Gal v. 24. Col. iii. 5.Rom 8:2Rom 8:6Rom 8:7Rom 8:13John 3:7Gal 5:24Col 3:5, without a holy and bleſſed Change wro't in us by the Spirit of God. Hence we are required to mortify our Members, and to crucify the Fleſh with its Affections and Luſts. Theſe are not our Self, but the Corruption and Enemies of our Soul.

p. 32O that we did but know our Selves, and love our own Souls! we ſhould then ſeek the Image of God within our Selves, and ſet a juſt Value on it. The Want of this is the real Hatred of our Selves and of God: Proverbs. viii. 36. He that ſinneth againſt Me wrongeth his own Soul, all they that hate Me love Death.

3. We muſt love our Neighbour as our Selves, for he is made like us in the Image of God. Therefore honour all Men, and therefore love the Brotherhood. **1 Peter. ii. 17.1 Tim. i. 5. Luke x. 29. Deut. x. 18. Gen. ix. 6. iv. 10 John. xiii 34 1 … 8, 9. iv. 7, 8. v 1.1 Pet 2:171 Tim 1:5Luke 10:29Deut 10:18Gen 9:6John 13:34Have we not all one Father, has not One God created us? And have not Saints One Redeemer & Sanctiſter, whoſe Image is renewed on them all! The End of the Commandment is Charity (the Love of God and of our Neighbour) out of a pure Heart, a good Conſcience and Faith unfeigned.

Say not, Who is my Neighbour? Let Humanity be found in us, for the ſake of that Image of God wherein Man was created. We muſt love the Stranger, for the Lord loveth Him. Contempt of Men is Contempt of God, and Cruelty to Men is odious to God. So is all Injuſtice and Unrighteouſneſs. The laſt Injury to Man is in his Life, and this is forbidden from the Beginning, and revenged by God, for this Reaſon, "For in the Image of God made He Man! therefore whoſo ſheddeth Mans Blood, by Man ſhall his Blood be ſhed. No | wonder that the Blood of Abel cried ſo from the Ground againſt wicked Cain, and that God has ſet ſuch a Mark and Brand upon his Name for ever. Benevolence and Beneficence ever was and is the Law of Nature, of Moſes and of Chriſt. Love is the fulfilling of the Law. As we have Opportunity let us do good to all Men, eſpecially to the Houſhold of Faith.

p. 33Chriſtians are under a more ſpecial Law of Love than others, from the Knowledge of God and his Love in Jeſus Chriſt, that great Love wherewith he has loved us; and from the Example and Law of Chriſt, "A new Commandment give I unto you, that you love one another, as I have loved you that ye love one another. And how is this new Commandment inforced and urged on us in the New Teſtament? but from the Image of God reſtored by Grace in the Godly. Therefore we muſt love the Brethren, and to Godlineſs add Brotherly Kindneſs. We ſhould be able to ſee God in one another, and we muſt love the Godly in Chriſt Jeſus for the ſake of his Spirit in them, and their Likeneſs to Him. As Aaron and the Elders of Iſrael looked on the ſhining Face of Moſes, when he came down from the Mount, with Wonder and great Reverence. The Apoſtle of Love, who had lain in the Boſome of Jeſus, vehemently urges the Law of Chriſtian Love from the Image of God renewed in the Saints. Every one that loveth Him that begat, loveth him alſo that is begotten of Him: Beloved, let us love one another, for Love is of God, and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God; he that loveth not, knoweth not God, for God is Love. If we love one another God dwelleth in us, and his Love is perfected in us: We know that we have paſſed from Death to Life becauſe we love the Brethren: he that loveth not his Brother abideth in Death. Such was the Love of this bleſſed Apoſtle to the Elect Lady and to Gaius; for the Truths ſake, which dwelleth in us and ſhall be in us for ever. It goes to Heaven with us, and is the Image of God on Angels and Saints there for ever and ever. Charity never faileth, but remains and is perfected when that which is perfect ſhall come; when Prophecies and Tongues, and Faith and Hope ſhall ceaſe and vaniſh away. 1 Cor. xiii. 8, 10, 13

p. 34How odious then ſhould the want of Love be among Chriſtian! who as God for Chriſt's ſake has loved them, ſo they ought for his ſake to love one another. This Love ſhould not be in Word or in Tongue, but in Deed and in Truth, with a pure Heart, fervently. **1 John. iii. 18 1 Pet. i. 22. Jam. iii. 9. Rom. xii. 9, 141 John 3:181 Pet 1:22Jas 3:9Rom 12:9Rom 12:14The Tongue is an unruly Evil, full of deadly Poiſon, when not under the Law of Kindneſs; therewith Men bleſs God even the Father; and therewith curſe they Men which are made after the Similitude of God. Can there be any thing more a Contradiction, and an Abomination than this. Let Love be without Diſſimulation, bleſs and curſe not. But if ye have bitter Envying and Strife in your Heart, glory not in Words of feigned Love, and lie not againſt the Truth. This is earthly, ſenſual, deviliſh. So diſtant is it from and oppoſite to the Likeneſs of God and Heaven.

How excellent are the Precepts and Directions of our Holy Religion ‡‡Epheſ. iv. 26, — 37. Col. iii. 8, 9, 12, 13.Eph 4:26Col 3:8Col 3:9Col 3:12Col 3:13! Be angry and ſin not; let not the Sun go down upon your Wrath: Neither give place to the Devil. And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are ſealed to the Day of Redemption. Let all Bitterneſs, and Wrath, and Anger, and Clamour, and evil Speaking, be put away from you with all Malice; and be ye kind one to another, tender hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Chriſt ſake hath forgiven you. So does the Image of God on Man teach him to love God, Himſelf and his Neighbours, more eſpecially Thoſe in whom the Image of God is renewed in Righteouſneſs and Holineſs.

IV. I go on to infer the dreadful Loſs to Man by Sinning againſt God, and the poſitive Miſery that he p. 35has bro't upon Himſelf. He has loſt the Likeneſs of his God! O how vaſt was this Loſs! how dreadful this natural and inevitable Puniſhment of Sin! He aſpired to be as God for Knowledge and he loſt that bright Underſtanding which God had given him. Sin got him nothing but the Knowledge of Evil, and it loſt him the Knowledge of God. Man loſt his Original Righteouſneſs. This Glory departed from him. He was a living Temple and Palace of God, and the Spirit of God dwelt in him; but he polluted himſelf and became a Stye of unclean Luſts, the Habitation of Devils. Sin extinguiſh'd the Light of God on him, in Mind and Body; and Darkneſs cover'd him, the Shadow of Death ſtain'd him. He loſt the Poſſeſſion of himſelf, Dominion over himſelf, and became a Slave of Satan. The Creatures loſt their Fear of him, which the Majeſty & Luſtre of his Face before commanded, and he loſt that Knowledge of the Creatures which God had given him for Empire over them. They grew ſurly and fierce toward him, as he had loſt his Reverence and Fear of God. He loſt his true Happineſs in his Original Rectitude; his Peace within and Joy in God was gone; the Terrors of Guilt ſeiz'd and ſtung him, and he fled from God; was afraid and hid himſelf. His Immortality indeed remain'd, but what Joy in that, when Innocence and Purity was gone! Immortality in Sin and Guilt, under the Loſs of God's Image and Favour, unlike God and abominable in his Sight,—it was but the greater Miſery to be immortal in ſuch Circumſtances. To ceaſe to be at all, were the thing now to be deſired! even to loſe Immortality too with the Likeneſs of God! for in his Favour is Life, and his Likeneſs is better than Life. We may take to our Selves in our Apoſtacy from God, thoſe Words of the Prophet, Iſaiah. xiv. 12. How art thou fallen from Heaven, O Son of the Morning! thou that didſt ſay in thy Heart, I will be as the p. 36Moſt High! how art thou bro't down to Hell, to the ſides of the Pit! — But then the Miſery of Man by the Fall is not only the Loſs of God's Image, but a Contrariety and Enmity to God. We are alienated **Epheſ. iv. 18.1 Cor ii. 14. Rom. viii. 7. Matth. vi. 23. Joh. iii. 1….Eph 4:181 Cor 2:14Rom 8:7Matt 6:23John 3:1from the Life of God through the Ignorance that is in us, our carnal Heart is Enmity to God, is not ſubject to his Law, nor indeed can be of it ſelf. The natural Man receiveth not the Things of the Spirit of God, for they are Fooliſhneſs unto him; neither can he know them, becauſe they are ſpiritually diſcerned. The Light that is in the wicked is Darkneſs; and how great is that Darkneſs! which is lov'd and choſen rather than Light! — This is that Corruption of our whole Nature, "which is commonly called Original Sin", from which the Rebellions of our Lives againſt the Will of God do flow; even all our Tranſgreſſions in Tho't, Word and Deed — This is the Scripture ††Geneſis vi. 5. Jerem. iv. 22. Prov. i. 22. Pſalm. x. 4. xiv. 3. Rom. vii. 18, — 24.Gen 6:5Jer 4:22Prov 1:22Ps 10:4Rom 7:18Account of our Contrariety to God by Nature and wicked Works. We are wiſe to do Evil, but to do Good we have no Knowledge. We even hate the Knowledge of the Holy. God is not in all our Thoughts. The Imaginations of our Hearts are only evil continually. We are all gone aſide, we are altogether become filthy, there is none that doeth Good no not one. I know that in me, dwelleth no good thing; the Good that I would I do not, the Evil that I would not that do I! O wretched man that I am. who ſhall deliver me from the Body of this Death? — This Soul-Miſery is the dire Conſequent of the Loſs of God's Image. It is the Image of Satan on us, who deceived us into our Revolt from God. This is Sin's Dominion and our natural Bondage. And our neceſſary Immortality is an infinite Addition to this State of Sin and Miſery, were there no Deliverance from it.

p. 37In one Word, For what is it that the Sons of Men exchange the Image of God in their Eſtrangement from Him, and in their Rebellions againſt him! O 'tis for the Image of a Brute Beaſt in their fleſhly Luſts, and for the Likeneſs of unclean Devils in their ſpiritual Luſts! a miſerable Exchange be it the Filthineſs of the Fleſh or Spirit. But there is no avoiding either, if we leave God or will not return to Him; we muſt take our Lot, nay our own Choice, and become both Brutes and Devils, and periſh like 'em.

Wherefore,

V. Here is abundant Matter and Cauſe for that Evangelical Repentance, Humiliation, holy Mourning, Shame, Fear, Confeſſion, Deprecation, and Agony of Soul after Pardon and Renovation, which the Goſpel teaches and requires. The Doctrine of our Salvation muſt be a Doctrine of Repentance & Return to God. In this the Kingdom of Heaven returns to us. There is no other poſſible Way for it. Repentance unto Life muſt be granted, revealed and publiſhed to us; and it muſt be wro't in us, we muſt be bro't into it. By what other Means can a Soul ever recover out of a ſtate of Sin? Therefore Moſes and the Prophets, the Baptiſt and the Holy JESUS, came all preaching Repentance. We muſt mourn for every ſingle Act of Sin committed by us, how then ought we to bewail the Sin of our Nature, which is the Spring of all the Impurities of our Life! It is only Faith in our Lord Jeſus Chriſt **Pſalm cxxx 4. Rom. iii. 25, 26. Zech. xii. 10. Pſal. li. 1, 5, 7.Ps 30:4Rom 3:25Rom 3:26Zech 12:10Ps 51:1Ps 51:5Ps 51:7that draws forth this Repentance toward God, ſhewing us that there is Forgiveneſs with Him that he may be feared; "Whom God hath ſet forth to be a Propitiation, thro' Faith in his Blood, to declare his Righteouſneſs for the Remiſſion of Sin; that he might be juſt and the Juſtifier of him which believeth in Jeſus. See here the Fountain opened for Pardon and Cleanſing, in the Exerciſe of p. 38Faith and Repentance! See it decribed by Zechariah and exemplified in David; The Prophet gives the Promiſe of it, the Pſalmiſt practiſes it. "I will pour (ſays the Promiſe of God) upon the Houſe of David, and on the Inhabitants of Jeruſalem the Spirit of Grace and of Supplication, and they ſhall look upon Me whom they have pierced and they ſhall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only Son, and ſhall be in Bitterneſs for him as one that is in Bitterneſs for his Firſt-born. So the Pſalmiſt practis'd in the Day of his great Repentance. "Have Mercy upon me, O God, according to thy Loving kindneſs; according to the Multitude of thy tender Mercies blot out my Tranſgreſſion! Waſh me thro'ly from mine Iniquity, & cleanſe me from my Sin; for I acknowledge my Tranſgreſſions, and my Sin is ever before me!— Behold I was ſhapen in Iniquity, and in Sin did my Mother conceive me! Purge me as with Hyſſop and I ſhall be clean, waſh me and I ſhall be whither than Snow!—Create in me, O God, a clean Heart, and renew a right Spirit within me!— Reſtore to me the Joy of thy Salvation, and uphold me with thy free Spirit.

VI. Learn we the Miſery of Devils, which to be ſure muſt be equal to, if not much greater than fallen Man's, in the Loſs of God's Image & Likeneſs, and in the Infliction of his Wrath and Curſe. And yet not greater than theirs who deſpiſe the Goſpel and periſh under the Light thereof: For Devils never ſinned againſt an Offer of Mercy or Means of Grace, that we know of. The Son of God took not their Nature, to put them in a Way for the Recovery of their primitive Holineſs and Glory. They ſaw him indeed in our Nature, but it was with Hatred and Indignation, which added to their Guilt and Judgment. They tempted him in Hope to have defeated the Deſign of our Redemption; but finding nothing in Him, and prevailing nothing p. 39againſt him, they trembled before him and hated him the more. Math. viii. 29. What have we to do with Thee, Jeſus thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the Time? They thus abhor'd from the Brightneſs of the Image of the Father in Him; "I know thee who thou art, thou holy One of God! In this their Uncleanneſs, and Enmity to God and Chriſt and Holineſs, they remain odious and accurſed for Ever; and the Son of God in our Nature and in our Air will ſentence 'em to the everlaſting Burnings.

VII. See we then the Glory of the Man CHRIST JESUS, the ſecond Adam. The firſt Adam in all his Glory was not to be likned, or compared to Him. The firſt Adam was in his beſt Eſtate of the Earth earthy, the ſecond Man is the Lord from Heaven; the firſt Adam was made a living Soul, the ſecond Adam a quickning Spirit **1 Cor. xv. 45, 47. Col. i. 5.2 Cor. iv. 6. John. i. 14. Col. i. 13. Prov. xxx. 4. Col. ii 9.1 Cor 15:451 Cor 15:47Col 1:52 Cor 4:6John 1:14Col 1:13Prov 30:4Col 2:9. There is as much Difference between the Image of God in meer Men, and that in the Man Chriſt Jeſus, as there is between Earth and Heaven, between God and his Creature, between a living Soul and Him that made it, between Him that has Life in Himſelf and communicates Life natural and ſpiritual, and him that receives it. Accordingly we read of CHRIST, that He is the Image of the Inviſible God, the Heir of all things, the Brightneſs of the Fathers Glory, the expreſs Image of his Perſon, having by Inheritance a more excellent Name than Angels, the Object of their Worſhip; And yet they are Dominions and Thrones and Principalities and Powers: To the SON it is therefore ſaid, "Thy Throne, O GOD, is for ever and ever! Agreably we read again, of the Light of the Glory of God in the Face of Jeſus Chriſt, and that his Glory was beheld as the Glory of the Only-Begotten of the Father.

p. 40Such is the Image of the Eternal Father in his dear Son, by an ineffable Communication of Eſſence, or by an unſearchable Self-exiſtence, is not for us to ſay! for what is his Sons Name? if thou canſt tell.

Was Adam created wiſe in the Likeneſs of God? Chriſt is the Wiſdom of God; the Serpent with all his Subtlety could not beguile him, neither in the Deſart nor in the City. Was Adam made holy in the Likeneſs of God? Chriſt was the Holy One of God; ſeen and confeſſed to be ſo both by Angels and Devils. Was Adam made Lord of the Creatures on Earth? Chriſt is ſet down on the Right Hand of the Majeſty in the Heavens; Angels Authorities and Powers being made ſubject to Him. And was Adam made bleſſed and happy in the Likeneſs of God? of Chriſt we read that God has made Him moſt bleſſed for evermore. — In one word, the incommunicable Glories of the Eternal and Unchangeable Godhead are in Chriſt, in whom dwelleth the Fulneſs of the Godhead bodily. — But let us deſcend to the poor Members of Chriſt on Earth.

VIII. What muſt we then think and ſay of the Saints on Earth? of Souls Regenerated by the Spirit of God, converted from Sin and ſanctified to God; adopted in Jeſus Chriſt, pardoned and juſtified; again made Children and Heirs of God! Why, the Image of God is in part reſtored in them, and will ſoon be perfected in 'em. How elſe ſhould God juſtify them, put 'em among his Children, and declare them Heirs of Heaven? Well might the Apoſtle John ſpeak with Admiration of this new Creation of God, the Conformity of renewed Souls to the Image of the Son of God, and their Adoption in Him††1 John. iii. 1, 2, 3. Rom. xii. 2.1 John 3:11 John 3:21 John 3:3Rom 12:2; Behold what manner of Love the Father hath beſtowed on us, that we ſhould be called the Sons of God! p. 41therefore the World knoweth us not, becauſe it knew Him not: Beloved, now are we the Sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we ſhall be; but we know that when He ſhall appear we ſhall be like him; for we ſhall ſee him as he is: And every One that hath this Hope in him, purifieth himſelf even as He is pure.

See the Bleſſedneſs of a State of Grace here and of Glory for ever! the Image of God is begun in this Life, and will be perfected in the next. The Sanctified in Jeſus Chriſt are renewed in Knowledge, and made Light in the Lord; they are after God created in Righteouſneſs, are made free from Sin and are tranſlated into the glorious Liberty of the Children of God. They are begotten to the lively Hope of the Inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reſerved in Heaven for them. Thus does the Holy Ghoſt magnify the Regenerate State, and ſet it before the Eyes of Men in a Divine Light, that all may ſee the Neceſſity and Excellency of the true Salvation of Souls; which is the Recovery of the Image and Likeneſs of God, wherein we were at firſt created. So that all the Precepts and Directions of the Goſpel do at laſt expire in thoſe Words to the Romans, "And be ye transformed by the renewing of your Minds, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable and perfect Will of God.

IX. Think and infer from all, what Heaven is, and what the Caeleſtial Glory and Bleſſedneſs will be found by the happy Partakers thereof! then the Image of God and Chriſt will be perfected in the Saints! They will ſhine forth in the Kingdom of their Father, wiſe holy bleſſed dignified for ever & ever. And this glorious Likeneſs to God will be for ever growing in 'em, to their increaſing Joys for ever and ever.—This is Heaven, Paradiſe regain'd, the Jeruſalem from above, with the Glory of God upon it. This is Viſion, to be more and more like God, by ſeeing Him as he is. This is to know even as we are known; to ſee p. 42the Face of God in his Name and Image on us. This is the Tree of Life, with all manner of Fruit; and this the Water of Life from the Throne of God and of the Lamb: And there can be no more Curſe, no more any Loſs or Want for ever of the Likeneſs and Love of God; but the higheſt Bleſſedneſs in the everlaſting Enjoyment of both; and they ſhall reign for ever and ever. Revel. xxii. 1,—5.

And here let us contemplate, for a Moment, the UNITY of the Scriptures of God; how they begin and end, and thro' every Part agree and are one in This; "Man created in the Image of God and moſt happy therein; but preſently miſerable by ſinning againſt God in the Loſs of God's Likeneſs and Favour: Then the Seed of the Woman is revealed, recovering Souls into the Favour of God, by renewing them in Knowledge and Holineſs, after the Image of Him that created them, and ſo making them meet for the Heavenly Paradiſe.—Whoſoever looks through the Book of God, may eaſily ſee this one Line drawn thro' the whole of it; than which nothing can be more worthy of God, nor more neceſſary for us, and level to us.—And I know no more ſhort and plain Argument of the Authority of the Holy Scriptures than this View of their Unity gives unto us. Such a Unity of Deſign, in all the Parts of Scripture, tho' written by different Perſons, in different Ages, and in ſuch a Manner as the Scripture is delivered, Hiſtorical, Doctrinal, Legiſlative, Prophetical, Devotional, and Hortatory; ſeems utterly inconſiſtent with either Impoſture or Enthuſiam; one or other of which muſt be the Charge that Infidels bring againſt our Belief of their Inſpiration of God.

"Shew if you can (ſays a late learned Writer**An Eſſay on the ſeveral Diſpenſations of God to Mankind.) a ſingle Enthuſiaſt that is conſiſtent with himſelf thro' p. 43many Volumes. If then it ſhall appear, that there is one worthy and noble Deſign purſued thro' the Books of the Old and New Teſtament, by one wiſe plain and ſimple Mean, tho' they had forty or more different Authors and were not written in leſs than ſixteen hundred Years; it will amount to the cleareſt Demonſtration that the Bible muſt be from HIM who exiſts thro' all Ages, and ſees all that is paſt, preſent and to come, who has always the ſame View, &c." Thus He.

Upon all therefore, as the natural Reſult and Conſequence of what has been ſaid,

X. And laſtly, How dear and precious, infinitely ſo, ſhould Chriſt and his Goſpel be to us? and what can we think or ſay of our Selves if we refuſe Him in the Propoſals of it?

The Deſign and End of Chriſt's coming into the World is to reſtore the loſt Image of God in us, and to recover us into the Divine Likeneſs, Love and Favour; to our primitive Holineſs and Bleſſedneſs, Dominion and Glory, and to a far more exceeding and eternal Weight of Glory. He took our Nature and died in it to make us New Creatures, ſuch as God at firſt made us; His Workmanſhip a ſecond time, created in Chriſt Jeſus unto good Works. He came to deliver Souls from the Power of Satan, and to bruiſe the Serpent's Head under the Feet of his Elect, that they ſhould trample on the Lion and the Dragon. He gave himſelf for us to redeem us from all Iniquity, and to purify unto himſelf a peculiar People zealous of good Works ‡‡2 Cor. v. 17. Gal. vi. 15. Eph. ii. 10. Rom. xvi. 20. Pſal. xci. 13. Tit. ii 14. Pſal xl 8. Rom. vii. 22.2 Cor 5:17Gal 6:15Eph 2:10Rom 16:20Ps 91:13Titus 2:14Ps 40:8Rom 7:22. This ſhould make Chriſt glorious in our Eyes that he ſaves only in this Way of Holineſs thro' Sanctification of the Spirit, and Obedience to the Truth: So that every renewed Soul can ſay p. 44after him, "Lord, thy Law is within me, I delight to do thy Will, O God. O what a Change is this! into the Likeneſs of Man's Original State! "I delight in the Law of God after the inward Man.

For this Cauſe ſhould the written and preached Goſpel be very dear to us; it being the declared End, Uſe, Power and Efficacy thereof, to reſtore the loſt Image of God in us. It is the bleſſed Means of holy Knowledge and ſaving Illumination; and of the Purification of Souls for Communion with God: Ye have purified your Souls in obeying the Truth **1 Pet. i. 22. Pſal. cx. 2 3. Rom. i 16. Hebrews il. 1, 2, 3. 2. Cor. iv. 3, 4.1 Pet 1:22Ps 10:2Rom 1:162 Cor 4:32 Cor 4:4. It is the Means of ſpiritual Dominion, Freedom from Sin and Liberty to what is good and holy: Thy People ſhall be willing in the Day of thy Power, in the Beauties of Holineſs. It is the Means of infinite Bleſſedneſs unto Souls in the Likeneſs and Love of God. He that hath my Commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me, and he ſhall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifeſt my Self to him.

We ought therefore to give the more earneſt Heed to the Things which we have heard, to the Doctrines Precepts and Motives of the Goſpel, leſt at any Time we ſhould let them ſlip out of our Minds and Hearts; for how ſhall we eſcape if we neglect ſo great Salvation? the Recovery of the loſt Image of God in our Souls, and thereby the Pleaſure and Delight of God in us, which ſuppoſes and ſecures a ſtate of Holineſs and Happineſs everlaſting. What can God himſelf propoſe better for us than ſuch Salvation? the ſame Felicity which he at firſt made us for and made us in. What can our own Souls deſire or wiſh for beyond this, or any thing beſide it? to have the Likeneſs of God reſtored in them, or to be reſtored in his Eye and Heart! and by this Means to be made meet for the Viſion of God, and for Bleſſedneſs p. 45in Him to all Eternity! And indeed there is no other Way to the true and proper perfect Happineſs of Man; for without Holineſs no Man can ſee God. Without Likeneſs there can be no Love; no Love in God to us, no Love in us to God, and both are neceſſary to the Felicity of Souls, whether in the Body or out of it.

O the Miſery of Souls then, who by their Diſobedience and Impenitency under the Goſpel do in Effect ſay to God, "Depart from us, we deſire not the Knowledge of Thee; the Recovery of Likeneſs to Thee or any Communion with Thee! O the Miſery of that Soul, which having loſt the Image of God and his Love, is content in the Want of it; ſeeks not the Recovery of it, nay refuſes the Means thereof! If our Goſpel be hid, it is hid to them that are loſt, in whom the God of this World hath blinded the Minds of them that believe not, leſt the Light of the glorious Goſpel of Chriſt, who is the Image of God, ſhould ſhine into them. The ſame Serpent, the Devil, and Satan, who deceived our firſt Parents into the Loſs of God's Image, ſtill blinds and hardens Sinners, under the Light of the preached Goſpel, and they wilfully refuſe the Recovery of it in their own Souls. Sinners chuſe to periſh under Ignorance of God, Luſt, Servitude and Death; when Light, Holineſs, Liberty, Glory Honour and Immortality are ſet before them and tender'd to 'em. They periſh therefore without Excuſe, and everlaſting Remorſe will be their Torment. The Sacrifice of Chriſt will be ſo far from ſaving them, that his Blood cries againſt them, and will inflame their Conſciences for Evermore. As it is written, Hebrews x. 26,—31.

How earneſt therefore and inſtant ſhould we be in ſeeking the Recovery of the loſt Image and Likeneſs of God, with our whole Soul? the Beginning of it in this Life, tho' here we can but know in part and propheſie in part, underſtand as a Child and ſpeak p. 46as a Child; yet the Infant bears the Image of the Parent; the Perfection of it in the Life to come, where that which is perfect ſhall come, and that which is in part ſhall be done away; and we ſhall ſee Face to Face, and know even as we are known ‡‡1 Cor. xiii. 9, 10, 11, 12.1 Cor 13:91 Cor 13:101 Cor 13:111 Cor 13:12." Deliver my Soul from the Wicked, prays the Pſalmiſt, from Men of the World which have their Portion in this Life; As for me, I will behold thy Face in Righteouſneſs; I ſhall be ſatisfied when I awake in thy Likeneſs **Pſalm. xvii. 15.Ps 17:15. They are ſure to ſhine in the Divine Likeneſs for ever and ever, who here behold the Face of God in Righteouſneſs, How Divine and God-like therefore, how full of Grace and Benignity to us, are the Exhortations ††Rom, xii. 2. 2 Cor iii. 18. Eph. iv. 24. Col. iii. 10. 2. Pet. 1 3, 42 Cor 3:18Eph 4:24Col 3:102 Pet 1:32 Pet 1:4of the Goſpel, with reciting which I will conclude, as carrying in them a Light and Authority, a Majeſty and Goodneſs which no Words of Man can pretend to: And be ye transformed by the renewing of your Mind, that ye may prove what is that good, & acceptable, and perfect Will of God: And be renewed in the Spirit of your Mind, and put on the new Man which after God is created in Righteouſneſs & true Holineſs; and is renewed in Knowledge after the Image of Him that created him: According as his Divine Power hath given unto us all Things that pertain unto Life and Godlineſs, through the Knowledge of Him that hath called us to Glory and Vertue; whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious Promiſes, that by theſe you might be Partakers of the Divine Nature, having eſcaped the Corruption that is in the World thro' Luſt: Give all Diligence therefore to add unto your Faith Vertue, Knowledge, Temperance, Patience, Godlineſs, Brotherly-kindneſs, Charity; for if theſe Things be in you and abound, they make you that ye p. 47be neither barren nor unfruitful in the Knowledge of our Lord Jeſus Chriſt. "Now the LORD is that Spirit, and where the Spirit of the LORD is there is Liberty: We all with open Face, beholding as in a Glaſs the Glory of the LORD, are changed into the SAME IMAGE, from Glory to Glory, even as by THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD.

Addenda.

As a Marginal Note Page …

**Eſſay on the ſeveral Diſpenſations of God to Mankind. p. 8.THE Image of God in the Old and New Teſtament, generally, if not every where, ſignifies the Repreſentation of God's Dominion. See Gen. ix. 6.1 Cor. xi. 7. Col i. 15 See alſo to this purpoſe Eccleſiaſtic. xvii, 3, 4. And from hence it is likewiſe that Princes are figuratively called the Sons of Sons; eſpecially ſuch as exerciſe their Dominion with Juſtice and Mercy; (Pſalm lxxxii. 6, 7. John x. 33,—37.) tho' they are not poſſeſs'd of Bliſs Glory and Immortality.

FINIS.

End of the text · Benjamin Colman, The Image of God Wherein Man was Created (1736)