48 MEDITATIONS AND DISCOURSES and is by an emanation of power and goodness from the divine nature in the person of the Father, as he is the fountain of the Trinity, whence he is said peculiar- ly to be the Creator of all things; yet the immediate operation in the creation was from theSon, the power and wisdom of the Father, John i. 1, 2, 3. Col. i. 16. Heb, i. $.. And as upon the first productionof the mass of the creation, it was under the special care of the Spirit of God to preserve and cherish it, unto the production of all distinct sorts of creatures, (Gen. i. 2.) so in the continuance of the whole, there is an especial operation of the same Spirit inall things. Nothingcan subsist one moment, by virtue of the dependence which all things have on one another, without a continual emanation of .power. from him. Psalm civ. 29, 30. 44 Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled; thou takest 4i. away their breath, they die, and return to their dust. 44 'Thou sendest forth thy Spirit, they are created: and 44 thou renewest the face of the earth." By these divine communications in the production and preservation of the creature, doth God manifest his glory, and by them alone in the way of nature he doth so; and without them although he would have been for ever essentially glorious, yet was it impossible that his glory should be known unto any but himself. Whereforeon these divine communications doth de- pend the whole manifestation of the glory of God. But this is far more eminent, though not in the out- ward effects of it so visible in the new creation as we shall see. I. All goodness, grace, life, light, mercy, and pow- er, which are the springs and causes of the new crea- tion, are all originally in God, in the divine nature, and that infinitely and essentially. In them is God, eternally or essentiallyglorious, and the whole design of the new creation was to manifest his glory in them by external communicationsof them and from them. 2. The first communication of, and from these things, is made unto Christ as the head of the church. For in the first place, it pleased God that in kiln shouldall the fulness ofthese things dwell, so as that the whole new creation might consist in him. Col. i. 17-19. And this was the first egress of divine wisdom for the mani- festation of the glory of God in these holy propertiesof his nature. For, 3. This a munication was made unto him as a re- pository and treasury of all That goodness, grace, life, light, power, and mercy, which were necessary for the constitution and preservation ofthe new creation. They were to be laid up in him, to be hid in him, to dwell in him; and from him, to be communicated unto the whole mystical body designed unto him, that is the church. And this is the first emanationof divine power and wisdom for the manifestation of his glory in the new creation. This constitution of Christ as the head of it, and the treasuring up in him all that was neces- sary for its production and preservation, wherein the church is chosen and preordained in him unto grace and glory, is the spring and fountain of divine glory in the communications that ensue thereon. 4. This communication unto Christ is, .(I.) Unto bis person; and then, (2.) With respect into this of- fice. It is in the person of Christ that all fulness doth originally dwell. On the assumption of human nature into personal union with the Son of God, all fulness dwells in him bodily: Col. ii. 9. And thereon receiv- ing the Spirit in all fulness, and not by measure, all . the treasures of wisdom and knowledge were hid in him, Col. ii. 3. and he was filled with the unsearchable rich- es of divine grace, Eph. iii. 8 -11. And the office of Christ is nothing but the way appointed in the wisdom of God, for the communication of the treasures ofgrace, which were communicated unto his person. This is the end of the whole office of Christ in all the parts of it, as he is a priest, a prophet, and a king. They are, I say, nothing but the ways appointed by infinite wisdom for the communication of the grace laid up in his per- son unto the church. The transcendant glory hereof, we have in some weak measure inquired into. 5. The decree of election prepared, if I may so say, the mass of the new creation. In the old creation, God first prepared and created the mass or matter of the whole, which afterwards by the power of the Holy Spi- rit, was formed into all the distinct beings whereof the whole creation was to consist; and animated according to their distinct kinds. And in order unto the production and perfecting of the work ofthe new creation, God did from eternity in the holy purpose of his will, prepare, and in design set apart unto himself, that portion of mankind where- of it was to consist. Hereby they wereonly the pecu- liar matter that was to be wrought upon by the Holy
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