VERB 3.. Epi/71e to the I3 a nR Ews. .expretlions to this or that NatureofChrift, but in the Progrefl that he makes in the defcriptionofhis Perfon andOffices, which alonehe had undertaken. Secondly, That which the Apofile principally intends in and about the Perfon of Chrift, isto fet forth his Dignity, Preeminence, and Exaltation above all ; and that not only confiqueniially, to his difcharge of the Office ofMediator, but alto antecedently, in his worth, fitnefs, ability and [uitednefs to undertake and difcharge it, which in a great meafure depended on, and flowed from his Divine Nature. 3. Thefethings being fuppofed, we obferve thirdly, That as thefe Expreffionsare nóne of them Jingly, much lets in that conjsntlionwherein they are here placed, ufed concerning any other but Chrilt only; fo they doplainly contain and exprefs things that are morefublime andglorious, than canby the Rule of Scripture, or the ,Analogy offaith, beafcribed unto any meer creature, however ufed or exalted. There is in the word evidently a comparifon with God the Father ; he is infinitelyglorious, Eternally fubfifting in his own Perlon ; and the Son is the brightnefi ofhis glory, and the expreß image ofhis perfon. Angels are called thefins of God, are mighty in power, and excel- lem in created glory ; but when theycome to becompared with God, it is Paid they are not pure in hisfight, and he chargeth themwithfolly; job 4. 18. And they covertheir faces at the brightnefiofhis glory,Ifa. 6. z. So that they cannot befaidfa tobe. Manairo was created in the image ofGod, apd is againby grace renewed thereunto, Ephef. 4. 23, 24. But to fay a man is the expreß image ofthe PerfonofGod the Father, is to deprefs the gloryof GodbyAnthropomarphifm.So that unto Godasking that queftion,Whomwill ye compare unto me, andwhomwillyou liken meunto? we cannot anfwer of any one who is not God by nature, that he is the brightneßof bis glory, and the exprefs image of his perfon. Fourthly, Though the deign ofthe Apofile in general be to thew how-the Father expreffed and declared himfelf unto us in' the Son ; yet thiscould not be done without manifefling what theSon is in himfelf, and in refermer unto the Father, which both theexpreons do in the fide placedeclare. Theyexprefs himfuck anone, as in whom the infinite Perfe lions and Excellencies ofGod are revealed unto us. So that the fir[t Application of thewords , namely to theDivine Nature of Chrift, and the firft Branch of the fecond, confidering him as incarnate, are very well confilleñt; as ALapide grants, after he had blamed Beza for his interpretation. Theheft direction then given unto our faith in thefewords, is, by what the Son is in refpedofthe father, namely, the Brighineß ofhisglory, and the expreßimage,ÿhis perfon; 'whence it follows, that in him being incarnate, the Fathersglory and his'terfon are expreffed and manifefted unto us. Fifthly,There is nothing in thefe words that isnot applicableunto theDivine Nature, ofChritl. Some, as wehave [hewed, fuppole that it is not that which is peculiarlyin- tended in the words ; but yet they cangive no reafon from them, nor manifell any thingdenoted by them, which may not be conveniently applied thereunto. I fay, what ever can be proved tobe lignifiedby them,or contained in them, ifwe will keep our felves within the bounds ofthat holy reverence 'which becomes us in the contem- plationof theMajefly ofGod, may be applied unto the Nature ofGod as exilling in the perfonof the Son. He is in his Perfon diftinti from the Father, another, not the Father, but yet the fame in Nature,and this in allglorious Properties and Excellencies. ThisOxen/ in Nature, andDiffintïion in Perfon, maybe well [hadoived out by thefe Expreffions, He is the brightnefl ofhis glory, and theexpreßimage ofhis pertn. The Bold- nefs and Curiofity oftheSchoolmen, andCome others, in expreffingthe wayand manner ofthe Generation of the Son, by fmilitudes of our underftanding and its Ads, de- claring how heis the Image ofthe Farber in their terms, are intollerable, and full of offence, Nor arethe rigid impofitions of thefe Words andTerms, in this matter which they, or',pthcrs, have foundout to exprefs it by, ofany better nature. Yet I confefs, thatfuppofng with fome, that by the hrflexpreffion here ufed, the brightneß ofglory, theApoMe intendsto fee forthunto us the Relationof the Son to theFather, by an a1- lulonunto the Sunand its Beams,or the Light of Fire in Iron, fome reliefmay thence be given unto our 'weak underflandings in the Contemplation ofthis Mylterie, if we obferve that one known Rule, whoreufeChryjoflome urgeth in this place; namely, that in the ufe offuch Allufions, every thingof iTnperfedion is tobe removed in their Application unto God. A few inflances we maygive unto this purpofe, holding our felves unto an Allulon to theSun and itsBeams. r. As theSun in comparifon of the Bedm is ofit felt, and the Beam of the Sun ; fo Cet 2 is 53
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