a' 22o TAE ARIAN IN,VITED TO ORTISO,D,OX FAITS. 2. If the perfections that belong to that divine essence are equal or the saine in the Father and in the Son, then there is a sense wherein the Father and Son may be said to he equal in power and glory ; thqugli the Father may he properly seid to have them originally, and the Son-by commsi ication. "3. The divine nature, or Deity, may be said tohe commu- nicated to Jesus Christ the Son, by the Father's uniting the hu- man nature of Christ to his own godhead, or to some divine power or principle Of agency represented personally or byCod's actually assuming the man Christ Jesus, his Son, into, a perso- nal union wills himself; or his'own infinite wisdom, which act of Uniting he godhead to the Man Christ Jesus may be called a ooinmuniation of the divine nature. to the Son*. 4. And perhaps, this is one way whereby Christ becomes theS.on of God ; nor is it Utterly improper to 'apply the teltt here ; Fs. ii. 7. I will declare the decree, the Lord lath said unto nte, Thoti art Mil Son, this. day have I begotten thee,, Christ becomes the Son of Clod, and. may said to be begotten of the Father by a divine decree or appointment. And thus as the Father bath life in himself,, so hat/i he given to the San to have life in himself John 4. 26. That is, he bath given the favour of union with the divine nature to the manChrisl'Jesus ; and to have life in himself is one property of the divinenaturet, which now exists., the óoniplex person. 5. Thus Jesus Christ, the Son of God, becomes the most perfect image of the invisible God, the brightness of his Father' glory, and the express image of his person. The powers and, perfections with which the man Jesus is invested, by the indwell- Here let it be noted also, that the divine nature of Christ is sometimes taken inadequately for the eternal word or wisdom of God, sometimes, adequately for God, exerting or acting by his eternal word or wisdom, or godhead under the special idea of wisdom. Now it is chiefly in this latter sense that I speak of the godhead of Christis these three diasertatiost. Though it has been an opinion generally received, that the Sonahip of Christ belongs to his divine nature, supposing it to be really derived from the Father by eternal generation, yet the scripttire does no where assert this doe- trine, but it is drawn only by supposed consequences: And there are many zea- lous Trinitarians, 'sod learned writers in our day, who suppose no derivation of one person from another in pure godhead, lest it infer some inferiority in the person derived; and therefore they explain Christ's Sonship rather to signify the peculiar derivation of his soul and body fromGod the Father, or his being con- stituted theMessiah by the decree and appointment of God ; and Doctor Thomas Goodwin also supposes, " that the union of the man Jesus to thedivine nature isone reason why he is tailed the Son of God. It was by the personal union that God bestowed on the man Jesus the glory of being.his Son,". Volume LI. Book 3. Page 146. t This is not so bold a thought as Doctor Goodwin bas on this text, when he says, " It is one attribute of Christ as he is God-man, yea, as he is man taken itp into that union, to have life independently in himself, even as God the Father lath," Volume 11. Book 3, Page 199.
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