ín :ontribíng an'l tteDemption. 77 illuminate our dark Underflandings that we maycon- Chap. V. ceive aright of thisgreat Myfery. The Firf thing that offers it felf toConfideration is, the compafs ofthe Divine Wifdome, in takingoccafi- on from the Sin and Fall of Man to bring more Glory to God, and to raite him to amore excellent flate. Sin in its own nature hath no tendency togood, 'tis not an apt medium, hath no proper efficacy to promote the Gloryof God : fo far is it from a dire& contributing to it, that on the contrary 'tis the moll: real difhonour toHim. But as a blackground ina Picture which in it in Piaura tu- felf only defiles, when plac'd by Art, Pets off the men n.,n a!ia brighter colours and heightens their beauty : So theevil b 9 mme of sin, which confideredabfolutely, obfcures the Glo- aac, ruin. ry of God, yet by the overruling difpofitio`n of his Providence, it ferves to illuftrate his Name, and to make it more glorious in theefteemof reafonableCrea- tures. Without the Sin of Man there had been no rea ordne place for the moll perfe&: exercife of his Goodnefs. o p!acenr. Aug, felix culpa qne tantunt & talem.mer.uit babere Redem- ptorem. Happy fault not in it felf, but by the wife and merciful Counfel of God to be repair'd in a way fo advantageous, that the Salvation of the Earth is the Wonder of. Heaven,. the Redemption of Man ravifhes. the Angels. The Gloryof God is more vifible in the recovery of lapfed Man, than if the Lawhad been obeyed, or exe- cuted. If Adam had perfever'd in his Duty,the Reward had been from Grace, for owing himfelf to God, he could receive nothing but as a gift from his Bounty 5, fo that Goodnef only had then been exercis'd, and not in its highefi: and mot$ obliging A&s, which are to fave the guilty and the miferable : for Innocence is inca- pable of Mercy. If the Sentence had been infli&ed, Jigffice had been honour'd with a folemu Sacrifice, but Mercy.
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