-------·----------------~-------------------------- :'0 Of the Creaturu, and the Condition ~ td ajol'e all worldi.. And I fudged it greatly conducible to thisend, to begin· nooK 11. next to fet out the nght and true meafurc of our ftate and condl!lon, by vir' "" ~of ourfirfi Crearion, as we came forth out of God's handsfirft, with the dues · and priviledges belonging to it i and not of ou.rs only : but of the Angels by their firfi Creation. By the view and' compare of wluch, we !hall be cJpaci· tated aod enabled to deftroy an infinite weight of thor St~percr.ation GraC< added by EleClion, that was ordained us, os it were, over the head oJ m' et N rltural or Creation Goodnrfs: And we lhall find; that it is not only,That we arc ftnful and fain that affords maiter a 0 d o.ccafion to exalt Superrarural Grace, but even our Jirf1 original mid brf1 rj7rlle that preceded it. This firfi E(\ate I would term, upon many accounts, the Ejlal! of purt N,: tur< by Creation Law; and as rightly as our Divines do calf tlie Covenant we were by Creation brought into, FtEdU! Naturtf!, the Covenant of Naturr, which is founded upon an eqmtable entercourfe fer'up betwtxt God the Crta· tor, and his intellige.nt unfaln Creatures, by virtue of ~he Law of his creating them, and as by tltelt Creatton they came forth of lm liands. . Cod dtaling with the Creature fl!lgly and fimply, uponthe terms thcreof)ond the Creature being bound to deal with God according to that Bond and Otl gatiw which God's having created him in his Image, with fufficient power to itand, and ha– ving raifed him up thereunto out of pure nothing, lays upon him. And in the Subflance of it, the Law was one and the fame in commo;1 tou• Men, and the Angels, in and by their Creation. Now, that eflate of the Angels, the Apome .7udecalls their FIRST, er rather ORIGINAL Ef/ate, whichtheywereendowedwirh from their ve. ry beginni• ,, .nu was by Original ~u(\ice, their due, or their nrlturat rjlatr, that is, which they had from, by, or with their Creation, and by the Law thereof: which Eftate being alike common to the good Angels , as well as the bad, before they left it, as the Apo!\le Jud< fays, is one part ofthe diflin<'l:,on between the Eflate which ihe Angels, whicb arc llill good and !landing, have by EleClion, as inTimothy, and this other pm, of the original ellate or Good· nefs, which in common they had by Creation. And according to the true intent and import of the fame di(\inction, I may ftile this Goodnrjs 67 C '.-rion mans origmal Ef/atf, and ours, and AdrJm's firfi Natural e(\ate, in that Hollnefs and Righteoufnefs, as we did come forth of God's hands. And if Adamhad flood, and his Chtldren hadbeen b<gotten holy of him, (which is fuppofable by the Law of Creation they might have been) it might have been faid of them, That they had been holy and nghttoU! by flrJture, as truly as the Apo(\le dorh the contrary, fpeaking of men now fain, T hat they areChitdrrn of wrath 6y nal11rt: yea, this tarter is founded _upon the form~r. Now, what e(\ate we his Children 01ould have had (in that {uppofal) by Generation, 1he fame, and no other, Adam he had by Creation, And as of us, it would have been faid, That we had that Holincfs by our Crea· tion, although we had received it by nat'-ral Generation.from him ; yet it woufcfnavebeenthefame, every way, andnoother, (asto the !i.re it fdf) 'l'hich we his Children 1hould have had; only the way of Produdion ihould have dilfaed, that his was 6y Crtation, ours 6y 6irth: Yea, and it was given him by Crea1ion, to conveyit to_ usby birth; and in that re(pect it might, and lhoulcfhave been termed thetr prtmtttve, lirfl, ortginat, naltlrat (ondlii Qil in him, and his Children to be begotten by him. The lirfl Covmant of Works. under which Adamwas created, is termed by Divines, FtEdtu N tltur.e, the Covt11ant ofNature, that is of Man's Conditi– on, which-from and by his Creation, was natural to him;'yet I would rather call it, The Crtation Law,]U! Crtatiotti4; or of what was equitable bet\\<cen God, conlidered meerly as a Creator, orr one part; and his intell igent Crea– tures that were endued with underftanding and will, on the other, fimply con· lidered as fuch Creatures, ·whether Angels or Men. The meafure of which Law, in general', Jay in in tquitablt 'tranfaction between C'od and them, '" on· gruitY, ~·. ~u~nefs, mcetnefs, on either pan. On
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