Likewise here is justice, justice fully satisfied in Christ. He became our surety who is God as well as man. If no creature can satisfy God, God can ; when the second person took our nature, and was our surety, and died for us, he was the glory of his justice.
And of his holiness, that he would be no otherwise satisfied for sin. It was so foul a thing, that to shew his hatred of it he punished it in his own Son, when he became our surety. How holy and pure is God. That is, what a separation is there in the nature of God from sin, considering that he so punished it in his Son, our surety, that he made him cry out, * My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?' Mark xv. 34. We cannot see the nature of God in anything in the world so much as in Christ. In Christ we see, as in a glass, his infinite sweet wisdom, his justice and holiness in hating and loathing of sin.
But the main of all is his mercy and goodness, which set him on work to contrive this great work of redemption by the incarnation and death of Christ. The infinite, rich, glorious, abundant mercy — that is the main thing wherein God is glorious now in Christ. Therefore everywhere you have these and the like titles put to his goodness and mercy. The bounty of God appeared, and the riches of his mercy, and the exceeding great height, and breadth, and depth of his love. There are no words large enough to set out the goodness and mercy of God in Jesus Christ. There- fore I will only speak of this attribute, because this bears the mastery among all the other attributes, though God be equally powerful and just ; and yet he expresseth his mercy and grace most of all in Jesus Christ, towards poor wretched man. For after the fall man being miserable and sinful, what attribute can exalt itself, but mercy to misery, and grace to sinful man in pardoning his sin ? Considering in what terms man stood, there was no other attribute could exalt itself but grace and mercy, to triumph over misery and sin. As it is in a city, those that are otherwise equal in honour, yet sometimes one bears rule above another ; and he that is now magistrate and chief, take him at another time he is inferior to others ; so since the fall the mercy of God bears ofiice, and is chief governor and commander over all the attributes of God. For as I said, what moved God to set his wisdom on work to contrive such a thing as the salvation of man-
820 angels' acclamations.
kind, to reconcile God and nnin in one person? His mercy moved Lim. "What moved bim to satisfy Lis justice ? It was that an excellent way might be made, without prejudice to any other of his attributes, for his free grace and mercy , That is it that set all the other on work. That is the main triumphing attribute, considering man now standing in that exigence of mercy. Therefore ' glory to God in the highest heavens,' especially for his free grace and mercy in Christ.
Now that you may understand this sweet point, which is very comfort- able, and indeed the grand comfort to a Christian, do but compare the glory of God, that is, the excellency and emineucy of God's mercy, and goodness, and greatness of this work of redemption by Christ, with other things.
1. God is glorious in the uork of creation. 'The heavens declare the glory of God,' and the earth manifests the glory of God. Every creature indeed hath a beam of the glory of God, especially those celestial bodies in the heavens, they praise God in their kinds, but with our mouths; they give us matter of praise. And if we have gracious hearts we take notice of it, and magnify him for his goodness. His goodness appears in the use of the creatures, and his greatness in the bulk of the creatures ; his wis- dom, in ordering and ranking of them. So that his mercy shines in all things in heaven and earth marvellously. Oh but, beloved, heaven and earth shall come to nothing ere long ; and what is all this glory of the goodness and greatness of God to us, if we be sent to hell after this short life is ended ? What comfort is it that we go on the earth, and enjoy the comforts that God gives us in this world, and then to perish for ever ? Therefore the glory and goodness of God doth not so gloriously appear in the creation of the world.
2. Nay, the glory of God's love and mercy sliined not to us so, uhen we vere in Adam ; not in Adam, for there God did good to a good man : he created him good, and shewed goodness to him. That was not so much wonder. But for God to shew mercy to an enemy, to a creature that was in opposition to him, that was in a state of rebellion against him, it is a gi'eater wonder and more glory. It was a marvellous mercy for God to make man out of the earth ; but here God was made man, he became man himself. There all was done with one word, ' Let us make man.' It was easily done. But in this, for Christ to become man for us, and to sutler many things, to be * made a curse for us,' it was not so easy a matter. Therefore herein there is a great manifestation of the glory of God's good- ness and mercy to us. For God hath set himself to be glorious in his mercy, and goodness, and grace, in Christ. He hath set himself to triumph over the greatest ill in man, which is sin, in the glorious work of redemp- tion. So that you see here the greatest glory and mercy of God appears in our redemption by Jesus Christ, the foundation of vihich is his incarna- tion. In Exod. xxxiv. 6, God doth make an answer to Moses, who desired to see the glory of God, that he might have it manifested to him, not out of curiosity, but that he might love God the more, how doth God manifest his glory to him? ' Jehovah, strong, merciful, glorious, pardoning sin and iniquity.' When God would set himself to shew his glory in answering Moses's petition, he doth it in setting out his glorious mercy and grace, and loving-kindness, in pardoning sin and iniquity, to shew that he will now have his glory most appear in the sweet attribute of mercy and compassion in the forgiveness of sins, &c. In Titus ii. 12, ' The grace of God hath appeared, teaching us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts,' &c. The grace of God hath appeared. Grace hath not a body to appear visibly; ay,