PROPOSITION VIII. 133 is, the first cause and last end of all things. IIe by whom all things were made, and for whose glory they were designed. He who existed before all ; and should all things cease to be, he. would exist for ever the same Isa. xli. 4. I the Lord the first and with the last, I am he. Isa. xliv. 6. " Thus saith the Lord, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts, I am the first, and I am the last, and besides me there is no God." So the xlviii: of Isaiah, verses 11, 1g." I will not give my. glory to another. Hearken to me, O Jacob, I am he, 1 am the first, I also am the last. Yet our Lord Jesus assumes this title himself ; Rev. i. 17, 18. " Fear not, I am'thefirst and the last, I am he that livetlr and was dead, and behold I am alive for. evermore, Amen. ". And Rev. ii. 8. " These things saith the . first and the last, who was dead and is alive." Rev. i. 11. " I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last." These -verses controversy belong to Christ ; and perhaps the 8th verse also, " I amAlpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord ; which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty." HI. Attributes of God ascribed to Christ. These are omniscience, omnipresence, and omnipotence, eternity and immutability. 1. Omniscience or the knowledge of all things, and particu- larly of the heart of man, and his secret thoughts. This is a peculiar property of God ; Is. xli. 21, 23. " Produce your cause, saitk the Lord, bring forth your strong reasons, saith the king of Jacob, chew the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods." 1 Kings viii. 39. " For thou, even thou only knowest the hearts of all the children of men." Amos iv. 13. " He that formeth the mountains, and createth the wind, and declareth to man what is his thought, the Lord, the God of hosts is his name." Jer. xvii. 9, 10. " Theheart of man is deceitful above all things, who can know it ? I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, togive to every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit Of their doings. Now this universal and extensive knowledge of all things, even of the hearts and of the thoughts of men, which is so spe- cial a property of godhead, is ascribed to Jesuá Christ almost in the same words in which it is attributed to the Father, John xxi.1.7. Peter saith to Christ, " Lord, thou knowest all things, thou knowest that I love thee." John ii. 24, 25. " Jesus knew all men, and needed not that any one should testify of men ; for he knew what was in man." Mat. xii. 25. " And Jesus knew their thoughts." Rev. ii. 23: " All the churches shall know that I am he which searches the reins, and the hearts, and I will give to every one of you according to your works." Where we may remark the emphasis of this expression ; Christ dots not r3
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