of their State by Creati011. CHAP. II. The Creatures were not from Eternity exifiing if: GOD. SOme·Piato•ic Divines, have fancied the Creatur~s to haye been exifient in God, and with God, from Etern1ty: And the1rCreauon to have been but God's putting them forth ofHimfelfinro a vitibility, who yet when they thus lay hid, were then in as true a way of Being, as now they arc. I will not enter into that Conrroverlie, which the Schoo!men have fiir'd, whether a CreaiUre m'ght have been from Eternity, or no. Only firfi wt fJy, that it is an Incommunicable Attribute of God, that H~ inh.tblts Etermty, as 1t imports, that he both dwelt Himfelf alone from Eter– nity, when there were none ofrhefe Made·things, ro dwell in, or with him ; no Hea,.ens or Earth to fill : As alfo, that He is Eternity alone to Himfell; and dwelt mH mfel[ We do thus far acknowledge, that all things were in God's Foreknowledge and Decree ; in Effi volito,as AqnintU fpeaks. So alfo in Afls I 5. 18. Known unto Godart all hH worksfrom th( begitmiltg. And to fay, That a/J things were in God virtually, (as they would mince it, and difiingui!h upon it; is but to fay, they Have a Being in the Power of God, as worms have in the Sun (which it will bring forth to Morrow) and fo all things that nevor were, and that never fhall be, but were and remain meer poffibt!:a, thir.gs only po/Iible m•v be faid to be in God. Butto the Point it Jelt: Eternity in God, and the Creature• being in time, is made a Vafi and broad dillinCl:ion between God and them. Pfal. 90. 2 , Btfore tbe Mounta:ns were brought forth, or ever thou hadflformed tbe Earth: Eva1from Everlajli11g, to Ever/1{/ing, thou art God: His Arms fpanned both Eternities; (they are called, The Everlafling Arms, Deut. ~ ~· 27,) whereas the befi of Creatures have but halfan Eternity, they are to Everlafiing, but not from Ever! afling; this is proper to God only, in oppolition to the Creatures, for 'twas before they were brought forth. And their being to Evcrlafiing,is derived from God, for ofhim it is faid, I Tim. 6.17• Wbo only hJth immortality, that is, ofHim– felf. 2. Upon the fame account, it's madt the diff'renct bet~ttll Chrifl midthe Crtntures, That he is from Eternity, not they; and this, becaufe he is God. Pfal, 102. 24, 25. (Which in the Firfi of the Hebrew.r, is applied by Pmd · untoChrifi) Ijaid, Omy God, take me 11ot away i11 tbelhidfl ofmydrtys, thy years art throughottt all Generatio>:r: Of old bajl thou laid tht Fomidatio?Js of the E.rth : Others Read it, [Before thor< taidf/ the Fouudmio11s of the E arth.] T he word Lepanim, or ofOld, refers to the words afore, thus, Thy yearr are throughout all Get~tralio?Js, afore thouJaidjltbe FoundatioJJs ofthe Earth. And here alfo is found, a general oppotition to all Creatures; for as he h•d mentioned the Earth, {o he mentions the Htavm.r, (as it follows) andtht Heavens are the work ofthy hands; now, the Heavens, and the Earth , comprehend all. Again! ~ly This very fame difference and difiincbon of the Creatures and Chrifi, IS held forth in 1ohtJ x. 1. compared with Ht6rtws I. where thefewords of the P{:tlmtf/ are cited, In John I. Tier f. x. thewing Chrifl's peculur dtgntty, and'his being God, he fays, He WM in the 6t~m11i11g: The fame Beginning which Mo('< meant, when he faid, lll tbt hsnmi11g God Created; which notes out Exi()ence afore; and it is fpnken in oppofirion to the World as made, SoVer(: IO. thr World <vMmade by h1m: Which that in that firft of the He6rrws fully clears and explains, anfwering both roJoh?t and the PfaJ. 5 ~I Chap. 2. ~
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