the knowledge of his glory in the face of Jesus Christ®." There is an instant of time, however unknown to us, when the new man as well as the old, receives the vital principle; a moment, wherein we are " quickened from the dead," and " pass from death unto life :" but the work of grace is carried on in a constant progression, and " the inward man is renewed day by dayf."]
2. In the order —
[Light was the first thing that was produced in the ma- terial world : and, after that, the confused chaos was reduced to such a state as that there should be an harmony in all the parts, and a subserviency in each to the good of the whole. Thus light is first darted into the mind of the regenerate man^; a view of his guilt and misery is given to him, and then his disorderly passions, which blinded his judgment and sensual- ized his soul, are rendered subject to reason and religion'^.]
3. In the end —
[The world was formed by God for his own glory : as all things were by him, so also were they for him '. It is for this end also that he renews the souls of men after his own image. He rejoices indeed in the good of his creatures, and in a sub- ordinate measure may propose that as the end of his dispen- sations : but we are assured his principal intent is, to shew forth the exceeding riches of his own grace, and to exalt him- self in the eyes of his redeemed people*^.]
We are at no loss to understand the preceding figure, since we have, in the text, its import,
II. Plainly declared —
Justly is a work of grace represented as a new cre- ation ; for, as in the reduction of the confused chaos to order and beauty, so also in the restoration of the soul after God's image, " old things pass away and all things become new." The Christian experiences this change,
1. In his views of every important subject —
[He once judged sin to be a light and venial evil : if it
were of a very gross nature indeed, or committed against
himself in particular, he might feel some indignation against
it : but if it were not reprobated by the world, or injurious to
e 2 Cor. iv. 6. ^ 2 Cor. iv. 16. e Col. Hi. 10.
h Eph. i. 17, 18. Col. i. 9, 10.
i Col. i. 16. Rev. iv. 11. ^ Eph. ii. 7.