2. Look upon Christ's divine nature. Christ may be fitly compared to Jacob's ladder, Gen. xxviii. 12., which reacheth from earth to heaven. Christ's human na- ture was the foot of the ladder which stood upon earth ; his diAnne nature the top of the ladder which reacheth to heaven. Tliis being a grand article of oiu* faith, I shall amplify. I know the Arians, Socinians, Ebionites would rob Christ of the best jewel of his crown, — his Godhead: but the Apos- tolical, Nicene, Athanasian creeds, afhrm Christ's Deity ; to this the churches of Hel- vetia, Bohemia, Wittembcrg, Transylvania, &c. give their full consent ; and the scrip- ture is clear for it. He is called the ' migh- ty God,' Isa. ix. 6., " And in him dwells the fulness of the Godhead," Col. ii. 9. He is of the same nature and essence with the Father. So Athanasius, Basil, Chry- sostom; 1. Is God the Father called Al- mighty? so is Christ, Rev. i. 8., " Tlie Almighty." — 2. Is God the Father, the heart-searcher? so is Christ, John ii. 2.5., " He knew their thoughts?" — 3. Is God the Father omnipresent ? So is Christ, John iii.
13., *' The Son of Man which is in heaven.*" Christ as God was then in heaven, when as man he was upon the earth.
Quest. Is God eternal ?
Alls. Christ is the everlasting Father, Isa. ix. 6., whicli scripture, may be urged against the Corinthian heretics, who denied the pre-exist enCy of Christ's Godhead, and held that Christ had no being till he derived it from the Virgin Mary.
4. Doth divine worship belong to the first person in the Trinity? so it doth to Christ, John v. 23., Helu i. 6., "Let all the angels of God worship him." — .5. Is creation proper to the Deity ? this is a flower of Christ's crown. Col. i. 16., " By him were all things created." — 6. Is invocation proper to the Deity ; this is given to Christ, Acts vii. 59., " Lord Jesus receive my spi- rit."— 7. Is recumbency and trust peculiar to God the Father ? this is given to Christ, John xiv. 1., " Ye believe in God, believe also in me." Christ must needs be God, not only that the divine nature might sup- port the human from sinking under God's wrath, but also to give value and weight to his suff'erings.
Christ being God, his death and passion is meritorious; Christ's blood is called sanguis Dei, — the blood of God, Acts xx. 28., because the person who was offered in sacrifice was CJod as wcW as man. This is an invincible support to believers ; it was God who was offended, and it was God who satisfied. Thus Christ's person in two natures.
2d. Consider Christ's two natures in one person, God-man, 1 Tim. iii. 16., " God manifest in the flesh." Christ had a two- fold substance, divine and human; yet not a twofold subsistence, both natures make but one Cluist. A scion may be giaftcd into another tree, — a pear-tree into an ap- ])le, — which, though it bear different fruits, is but one tree ; so Christ's manhood is united to the Godhead in an ineffable man- ner; yet though there are two natures, yet but one person. This luiion of the two natures in Christ was not by transmutation, the divine nature changed into the human, or the human into the divine, — nor by mixture, the two natures mingled together as wine and water are mixed, — both the
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CHRIST THE MEDIATOR OF THE COVENANT.
natures of Christ remain distinct, yet make not two distinct persons, but one person ; the human nature not God, yet one with God.
II. Consider Christ, our Mediator, in his graces : these are the sweet savour of his ointments that make the idrgins love liim. Clnist, our blessed Mediator, is said to be " full of grace and truth," John i. 14. He had the anointing of the Spirit without measure, John iii. 35. Grace in Christ is after a more eminent and glorious manner than it is in any of the saints.
1. Jesus Christ, our Mediator, liath per- fection in every grace. Col. i. 19. He is a panoply, magazine, and st/)rehouse of all heavenly treasure, all fulness. This no saint on earth hath ; he may excel in one grace, but not in all : as Abraham was eminent for faith, Moses for meekness, but Christ excels in every grace.
2. There is a never-failing fulness of grace in Christ ; grace in the saints is ebb- ing and flowing, it is not always in the same degree and proportion ; at one time David's faith was strong, at another time so faint and weak that you could hardly feel any pulse, Ps. xxxi. 22.,* " I said, I am cut off from before thine eyes." But grace in Christ is a never-failing fulness, it did never abate in the least degree, he never lost a drop of his holiness. What was said of Joseph, may more truly be applied to Christ, Gen. xlix. 23., " The archers shot at him, but his bow abode in strength." Men and devils shot at him, but his grace remained in its full vigour and strength, — " his bow abode in strength."