To make this more clear, let us examine the several titles Christ hath to a believer.
1. By creation. So Christ hath a right to us, together with the Father and Spirit. He made the world : Heb. i. 2, ' Hath in these last days spoken to us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds.' Men and angels were the work of his hands.
In creation three things are considerable —
(1.) The absolute right it gave him; (2.) The intention of the Creator ; (3.) The obligation left upon the creature.
[1.] The absolute right that accrueth to him from hence.. The creature is wholly and solely of him and from him, and of nothing else in the world, and therefore is wholly and solely his to dispose of. There is nothing ours, but his. What joint or member of the body, or faculty of the. mind, was by thyself bestowed upon thyself, or made by thy direction and request ? It was all made by God out of nothing, therefore it is all
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his. Thy tongue is not thine own to speak what thou pleasest, nor thy heart thine to think what thou pleasest, or covet what thou pleasest, nor thy hand to do what thou pleasest, nor thy feet to go whither thou pleasest. We neither made nor can keep any of these things longer than God willeth, and therefore they must be employed for him. Self- love is God's prerogative. He alone can love himself and seek him- self, because he alone is without obligation and dependence ; but no creature was made terminatively for itself, to live to itself, for he that made it hath a right to all that we are and have ; and to use ourselves other- wise than for his glory, ultimately and terminatively, it is to rob God of his property, and defeat the great owner of his right in us. But that is not all I would speak under this head, that God has a right, but he has an absolute right, such as no other can have. They distinguish in the civil law of a twofold dominion. There is dominium jurisdiction^ et propi*ietatis, the dominion of jurisdiction over men, or reasonable creatures, who are only capable of passive jurisdiction or government. The dominion of propriety respects other things, as beasts and things inanimate. This is more absolute than the former ; for a man may dispose of his own goods more absolutely than of those things over which he hath only a jurisdiction ; as, for instance, a potter hath more power over his clay than a man over his beast, more power over his beast than his slave, over his slave than his free servant, and a man hath more power over his servants than a prince over his subjects. Now both these kinds of dominion hath God over us, not only that of juris- diction, but propriety ; and hath a more absolute power over us than the most absolute monarch, not only over his subjects and slaves, but over his goods and lands ; for they did not make these things, but acquire a right, being made. A civil right cannot be so great as a natural, and no such natural right that any man hath. A man hath not such a power over the vineyard which he hath planted as God hath over the creatures which he hath made. The husbandman can- not make a vine, but he may set it and dress it ; but God made us out of nothing. Nor is the power of the potter such over his clay, for he only giveth shape by art, but God gives our whole being ; therefore he hath an absolute power to use us as he pleaseth. I may do with my own as it pleaseth me.
[2.] The next thing in creation is the intention of the Creator. God would not let fall his right. There is nothing made by any one but he expects some use and service for it. It is irrational to do a thing be- cause we will do it, without any purpose. God being a rational agent, must have an end, and he could have no end but himself, his service, the declaring of his own glory : Prov. xvi. 4, ' He hath made all things for himself.' No creature was made for itself, but all for God. They are from him and for him : Rom. xi. 36, ' For of him, and through him, and to him are all things.' Some things God made immediately for himself, as men and angels ; other things for himself ultimately and terminatively, but immediately for man's good. And indeed the whole creation, except the angels, are subjected to our dominion or created for our use. The heavens, though not under our dominion as the beasts, yet were created for our use ; the lower heaven to give us breath, the middle heaven to give us light and heat, the highest heaven for
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our dwelling-place. The sun shineth for us, the winds blow for us, the water runneth for us, so the earth is settled for us. God is the ultimate result and issue of them, but they were made for us imme- diately. But man's obedience and service he hath reserved by a special command unto himself. He that by creation gave a being to all things, imposed an end upon them. Now this is the end imposed upon men, that they should more immediately dispose of themselves to his service and glory. Our end was not to eat, drink, trade, sleep, enjoy pleasures and honours, but to serve and honour God. That is our end ultimately and terminatively, and therefore that should be our main business. All other things keep their end for which they were created ; the sun to enlighten the world by day, and for that end he still serveth; the moon and stars to rule the night ; therefore if we were made for this purpose, to know, love, fear, obey, and serve God, this should be our business and scope ; to do otherwise is as unnatural to us as it is for the sun not to shine or the stars not to convey their light and in- fluence.