to the E PH E SI AN S. fiinated us to Adoption of Sons, as throttgh h_im, fo for him , that he "!ight have ~ company in Heaven (towhat end you lhalllee by and by.) He ts Gods Fellow; .Ser'?'. V_t. we are his Fellows. He is God's Natural Son; we are Sons by marriage with~ him. Johllt2, 24. Jefus Chrift compares himfclf to a Seed, which ( fatth he) if it dies 11ot, it remains alone. Hts fpeech tmpltes. _that he was loth, and had no mind to be in Heaven alone; No (fays he) I w 1/J have Fe/Jows there, Chrift was to have company in Heaven with him : And you !hall fee how this tended to the glory of Cluift; for he is made the end of this Decree of Us and O ur Adoption. 1 . To greaten his glory and excellency the more, by comparifon with younger Brethren, that his glory might the more appear, (as by comparifon things do ;) in that he is, as Rom.8.29. The firjl-born amo11g many Brethrm. 2. God did ordain other Sons beudes him, for I.ltm as the End, that thete might be thofe about him, who might fee his glory and magnifie him; as you have it Joh.17.24. God had given Jefus Chri{t ( by chooGng him to the Union with our Nature) an infinite glory. Now, fays Chnft there, Father, I wilt that they whom thou haft givm me be with me where_ I am, that they m~be– holdmyglory. Andin2Thej{.1.10. itisfaid, thatChnftlhall beglorifedinhir Saints, andmade wonderfttl in them that !Jflieve. Thofe that believe are Jo'r this end, that Chrift may be made wonderful in them, and alfo to them. And at the 10thVerfe of that '7 of John, I am ( fays Chrl!t) glorifed in them. l• God thus ordained us to Adoption, that Chri!t might be glorified by being the caufe of all our glory by Adoption, and iil that all we have we have it thro11gh him, as it is here. And reafon good that he fhould be the end of all, through whom we were to have all; and that we lhould be for hini. So Rom, ''·l6· they are conjoyned, [Through] him and [(or] him are all thit~gs; namely, through and for God (of whom the Apo!Ue there fpeaks.) And fo it is faid of Chri!t, [.ll«.;T;-,J and [i!, .~i;r,] as being therefore for him, becaufe throttgh him. In ColojJI.I6. you read, that God created all things in him and for him. I have lhew'd in another place , that it is meant of Cl1rilt, as fuppofed tci have an Human Nature. Anditfollowethatthe •8thVerfeof that Chapter, That he is the Head of the Body, the Cht~rch, who is the btgittning, the firfl-bor" from the dead: thatinatlthit~gshemighthave the prteminence. God fet him up to be the Head of the Body ; and if he be the Head of his Members, he is thed their End : This I g•ther out of • Cor.11. ~.compared with Verfe '7· The Head of ever~man is Chrifl; a11d the Head of the Womrm is the Mall; andthe Head of Chr~JI is God: part of the meaning whereof is, that God ordained Chri!t for himfelf, Man for Chrift, and Woman for Man ; which is mailifefi by com– paring this with what is faid at the gth Verfe, The Ma11 was not credttd for tlie Woman, l111t the WomatJfor the Man:. (He having fa id b~for~, ~hat .the Head of the Woman ts the Mtm.) He fpeaks thts mdeed of Chnfi spnonty to Man id common by the Law of Creation ; therefore he fays, The Head of [every Mall] is Chrij1, not Believers only; yet I may well draw the like Argument from thu hi.s common natural relation of Headlhip to every man, into this his fpecial relation of being an Head to his Church : That if he be their Head , that then they were created for him; they were ordained for him, and not he for them. Ada'!' (you know) was Chri!t's Type; now he was not made for Eve, but Eve for htm. And look what Adam was in Creation, that was Chri!t in Election when we were put into him. God firfi made Adam; and then feeing it was no; fit for Adam to be alone, he brought Eve as a companion for him: So did God brtng the Church unto Chn!t, as a meet companion for him ; for it was not meet that he lhould be alone: and fo we were cholen for him. As therefore the Wo– man IS called the glory of the M,m in the fame 1 Cor.tl, fo are the Saints called the f,lorycf Chrifl, 2 Cor. 8.2l. and _7ohllt7.IO. I am glon(ied i1J them (fays Chnfl,) t:!i;•. So that inElection Chrifi held the Primacy, the firft-hood; as -in D1gnay, ,o 10 Order ; tn that we were ordained for him. And fo it follows in theconcluGon of all in th-at (o!of! u 8. 7htJt ili all things hermght b,we the pre– tmnunce. ~1 2 Now
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=