214 THE PERSON OF CHRIST.
vides that a second forfeiture shall not be made of it. Wherefore the grant of it is not made immediately unto any of those for whose use and benefit it is prepared and granted. They had been once tried, and failed in their trust, unto their own eternal beggary and ruin, had not infinite grace interposed for their relief And it did not become the wisdom and glory of God to make a second grant of it, which might be fi-ustrate in Hke manner. Wherefore he would not commit it again unto any mere creature whatever; nor could it safely have been so done with security unto his glory. For —
(1.) It was too great a trust — even the whole inheritance of heaven and earth, all the riches of grace and glory — to be committed unto any one of them. God would not give this glory unto any one crea- ture. If it be said it was first committed unto Adam, and therefore to have it again is not an honour above the capacity of a creature ; I say that the nature of the inheritance is greatly changed. The whole of what was intrusted with Adam comes exceedingly short of what God hath now prepared as the inheritance of the church. There is grace in it, and glory added unto it, which Adam neither had nor could have right unto. It is now of that nature, as could neither be intrusted with, nor communicated by, any mere creature. Besides, he that hath it is the object of the faith and trust of the church; nor can any be interested in any part of this inheritance without the exercise of those and all other graces on him whose the inheritance is. And so to be the object of our faith, is the prerogative of the divine nature alone.
(2.) No mere creature could secure this inheritance that it should be lost no more ; and yet if it were so, it would be highly derogatory unto the glory of God. For two things were required hereunto ; — First, That he in whom this trust is vested should be in himself in- capable of any such failure, as through which, by the immutable, eternal law of obedience unto God, a forfeiture of it should be made ; — Secondly, That he undertake for them all who shall be heirs of salvation, who shall enjoy this inheritance, that none of them should lose or forfeit their own personal interest in it, or the terms whereon it is conveyed and communicated unto them. But no mere creature was sufiicient unto these ends ; for no one of them, in and by him- self, in the constitution of his nature, is absolutely free from falling from God, himself They may receive — the angels in heaven and the glorified saints have received — such a confirmation, in and by grace, as that they shall never actually apostatize or fall from God ; but this they have not from themselves, nor the principles of their o\\Ti nature, — which is necessary unto him that shall receive this trust. For so when it was first vested in Adam, he was left to presence it by the innate concreated abilities of his own nature. And as unto
THE INHERITANCE SECURED IN CHRIST. 215
the latter, all the angels in heaven cannot undertake to secure the obedience of any one man, so as that the conveyance of the inheri- tance may be sure unto him. Wherefore, with respect hereunto, those angels themselves, though the most holy and glorious of all the creatures of God, have no greater trust or interest than to be " ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation," Heb. i. 14. So unmeet are they to have the whole inheritance vested in any of them.
But all this infinite wisdom hath provided for in the great "mystery of godHness, God manifest in the flesh." God herein makes his only Son the heir of all things, and vests the whole inheritance absolutely in him. For the prom.vse, which is the court-roll of heaven — the only external mean and record of its conveyance — was originally made unto Christ only. God said not, " And to seeds, as of many ; but as of one. And to thy seed, which is Christ," Gal. iii. 16. And we become again heirs of God only as we are joint heirs with Christ, Rom. viii. 1 7 ; that is, by being taken into a participation of that inheritance which is vested in him alone. For many may be par- takers of the benefit of that whose right and title is in one alone, when it is conveyed unto him for their use. And hereby the ends before mentioned are fully provided for. For —
[1.] He who is thus made the " heir of all " is meet to be intrusted with the glory of it. For where this grant is solemnly expressed, it is declared that he is the " brightness of the Father's glory, and the express image of his person," Heb. i. 2, 8 ; and that by him the worlds were made. He alone was meet to be this heir who is partaker of the divine nature, and by whom all things were created ; for such things belong unto it as cannot appertain unto any other. The reader may consult, if he please, our exposition of that place of the apostle.