What was the end of our blessed Saviour in this his gracious dealing ? * That the love wherewith thou lovest me may be in them, and I in them,* In unfolding of which words, I propounded these general heads, to omit other things. First, That God doth love Christ, because he is the first object of his love, his own image ; for he represents God's attributes, and whatsoever is good in him, every way exactly. He is the Jedidiah, the beloved of the Lord. He is the true Isaac, the true matter of joy. He is the first Son, the first beloved. This was the first thing we unfolded and made use of. The second was this, lltat after Christ, God loves all that are Christ's with that love ivhcreivith he loves Christ. There is a former love, indeed, of God, to give us unto Christ ; but I speak of the carriage of our salvation, all which is in Christ, He loves Christ, and he loves us in Christ, and not otherwise. There is a love that moved him to give Christ, but this love must concur with the other attributes. It must be such love and mercy, and so apprehended, as must be without offering violence or wrong toother attributes. His justice and his holiness must not be wronged. And there- fore though he bare love to those whom he knew before all worlds ; yet in the carriage of salvation he intended actually so to set his love upon them, as that it should be in one that should make satisfaction for them, being considered as sinners in themselves. And God would have, in our salvation, the glory, as of infinite love to man, so of infinite hatred of sin, and likewise of infinite wisdom, in reconciling these together. His infinite hatred to sin, how could he shew it more, than that rather than he would * That is, ' conscientious.' — G.
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not have it punislied, liis Son must become incarnate, to bo a surety for sin and to take it away ? How could he shew his infinite love more, than by giving such a gift as Christ, and his infinite wisdom, than to devise such a way as to bring these two together, justice and love, to reconcile them ? So though God loved a certain company whom he foreknew to everlasting life, yet he intended, in the carriage of their salvation, to do it with the manifestation and glory of his attributes, that no attribute might be wronged nor complain, and that justice might fully be satisfied ; but especially that his mercy and love miglat triumph. For what in God stirred up a fatherly heart ? What stirred him up to reconcile justice and mercy, but love, that set on work all other attributes, his mercy, and love, and goodness ? God loves us in Christ therefore, and only in Christ ; because in Christ only his wrath is satisfied. Christ only is the mediator, the only treasury of the church to convey all to us. The adopted sons have their excellency, and all that they have, in the virtue of the natural Son. But this I have unfolded at large heretofore, and shewed the use of it last day ; this was the second thing.
The third general thing out of the text is this, that the love of God to us is ill Christ, loving us in him, as electing us, and doing all good to us in him. It is the ground of all other favours and graces whatsoever. And therefore he sets it here for all in all, ' I have declared, &c., that the love wherewith thou lovest me may be in them,' &c. What ! doth he not say, that I might be merciful to them and pitiful, and that they may have other graces that love me ? What needs all this ? He sets down the spring of all, ' I have manifested thy name,' thy gracious name, that in the apprehension of that they may find my love. And so", when we feel the love of God and of Christ, know that all other graces flow from thence ; for indeed all graces wrought in us issue from God's love to us first. Whence comes pity, and mercy, and love, but from God's shining in our hearts first by his love, that doth mould and frame the heart to all duties and graces whatsoever, and to the first grace to love God ? For how can we love him unless we have an apprehension of his love first ? You know iron, and stones, and things that are cold of nature, if they have any heat, we say it is the sun that hath heated them, or the fire that hath warmed them, because intrinsecally they have no heat. So when there is any good- ness in the creature, any pity, mercy, or love to God, or to those that are his, it implies, that there hath been first the fire, the light of God's love to us. And therefore, saith Christ, ' I have manifested thy name to them, that thy love may be in them.' This love in them will be enough to set them on fire on all good things whatsoever. ' We love him, because he loves us first,' 1 John iv. 19. We know him, because he knows us first, Gal iv. 9, and we choose him, because he chooseth us first. We joy and delight in him, because he joys and delights .in us first. All is a reflex from him, whatsoever of good comes from us. This was the third thing. We made thence use of it, and so brake off. To go on. The fourth thing ■which I propounded to speak of out of the words is this, that this love of God to 7is mag he knoivn, and ought to he known of us.