II. More largely ; for these words, /caTuw? rdvra 7re7roi7)fce, ' he has done all things well,' are a full and proper account of all the works of God, not only of what the Mediator did in the days of his flesh, but of whatever he did or doth as God.
I shall instance — (1.) In the work of creation ; (2.) The work of redemption ; (3.) The works of daily providence.
1. In the work of creation ; for by Christ God made the world : Jolrn i. 3, ' All things were made by him ; and without him was not anything made that was made.' All the creatures owe their beings to Christ the Son of God ; now all things were made well, and did show ■
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forth the wisdom, goodness, and power of him that made them ; for they were fit for the ends to which they were appointed : Gen. i. 31, 'God saw everything that he had made, and behold it was very good.' Every day's work apart was good, and altogether very good ; good for their kind, and good for the use and benefit of the whole in their proportion and correspondency.
2. In the work of redemption, all that Christ did was good or well done — (1.) As to the ends ; (2.) As to the way that he took to accom- plish these ends.
[1.] His end was to deliver us from all evil, and to bring us into the possession of all good.
(1.) To deliver us from all evil. There is the evil of sin and the evil after sin ; now Christ came to cure us of the evil of sin : ' Thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins,' Mat. i. 21. To deliver us from the flames of hell : 2 Thes. i. 10, 'And to wait for his Son from heaven , whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, who delivered us from the wrath to come.' And surely they that are sensible of their own misery and condemned estate cannot but give him this acknowledgment, ' He hath done all things well.'
(2.) To bring us into the possession of all good. We are often inquiring, ' Who will show us any good ? ' Ps. iv. 6. Who will find out a full and proper happiness for mankind ? Now Christ hath not only showed what is the true good, but procured it for us, and offered it to us, if we will not take up with lower tilings, but prefer the greatest good before the lesser. The chiefest and greatest is God, for beyond God there is nothing, God reconciled, and God finally and fully enjoyed. Our happiness by the way consists in our reconciliation with God, and our happiness at the end of the journey consists in the vision and fruition of God. This is happiness indeed, to know God, and to love him, and to be beloved by him. This was Christ's undertaking, to reduce man from his wanderings to God, that he might live in the knowledge and love of God now, and be brought into his immediate presence, that he might live in perfect vision and fruition of him hereafter. Our reconciliation with God through Christ is a great happiness : Eom. v. 1, ' Being justified by faith, we have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ.' But the great good is when our nature is perfected, and by its most perfect acts is employed about the most perfect object ; and is most capable of his most perfect communications of grace to us, and shall for ever remain in the presence, sight, and love of God. Now what is sweeter than this blessed presence ? Ps. xvi. 11, 'In thy pre- sence is fulness of joy, and at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.'
[2.] The way he taketh to accomplish these ends. There is his work without us ancl his work within us.
(1.) His work without us is either on earth or in heaven ; on earth by his death, in heaven by his intercession. On earth by his death, and so he delivered us from all evil : Isa. liii. 5, ' He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities ; the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed.' And bringeth us to the enjoyment of all good : 1 Peter hi. 18, ' For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might
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bring us to God ; being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit.' Christ's great end is to teach us to know and love God, and bring us to him. In heaven he is mindful of his office ; it is his work in heaven to do mankind the greatest good : Heb. vii. 25, ' Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.' After he had vindicated the justice and holiness of God, and repaired the breaches made by sin, he is gone to heaven to finish the work of man's salva- tion by his constant intercession.