66 Fourthly, He is so, as being "heir of all things1," and by this" inheritance having obtained a more excellent name, than men or angels2," they being as servants in the house of God, he as a Son"." But the most important and eminent sense in which Christ is the Son of God, remains yet to be mentioned; as, in respect of His divine nature, He derived His being from the Father by an eternal generation not as creatures do, who are made out of nothing, and were made by Him; but in a manner peculiar to Himself, and inconceivable to us: by which "all the fulness of the Godhead dwells in him"" and “he and the Father are, in the strictest union, one." For God was His" Father, with whom he had glory before the world was6:" and He "in the beginning was with God, and was God."" "God over all, blessed for ever." Of this mysterious doctrine I shall speak somewhat further under the article of the Holy Ghost: and therefore shall only say at present, that being expressly revealed, it ought to be implicitly believed; without attempting in vain to be wise above what is written: to know more than God hath enabled us. And now, 4. From all these things arises, what the Creed mentions, in the last place, His relation to us; our Lord. For being the only Son of God, He is Heir and Lord of all His Father's house. Having triumphed over the power of darkness, which held mankind in bondage, we are His by right of conquest and though "other lords have had dominion over us, we are now to make mention of his name only"" as such: having purchased us to Himself for a "peculiar people10" with His own blood; "we are not our own, for we are bought with a price11: "" and hedied for all, that they which live, should not hence forth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them and arose again1." ""For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living":" that He might be such, not in name only, but in deed and reality also. "For not every one that saith unto him, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of his Father which is in heaven3." To all others His words will be at the great day, what they were whilst on earth: "Why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say 24" Obedience, constant, universal obedience, is the only manner of acknowledging Him that will finally prove acceptable to Him and in that manner we have solemnly promised that we will acknowledge Him and serve Him all our days. Thus, then, let us ever honour Him; thus let us ascribe to Him, who is our prophet, our priest, and our King, our Saviour, our Lord and our God, Glory and dominion, for ever and ever." Amen. 66 ARTICLE III. WHO WAS CONCEIVED BY THE HOLY GHOST, BORN OF THE VIRGIN MARY. AFTER setting forth, in general, the name and offices of our blessed Redeemer, His relation to the Father and to us: our Creed goes on to recount the several particulars of what He did and suffered, what He continues to do still, and will do finally, for our salvation. The first of these is, that "the Word was made flesh." that the eternal Son of God, wonderfully joining to Himself a body and soul like ours, united 12 Cor. v. 15. 4 Luke vi. 46. 5 2 Rom. xiv. 9. I Pet. iv. II; Rev. i. 6. 3 Matt. vii. 21. "John i. 14. B the human nature with the divine in one person : thus becoming liable to the same necessities and wants, infirmities and pains; and endued with the same innocent passions, appetites, and affections, that we are on which account we read in the Gospel of His feeling hunger, and pity, and grief, and anger, nay, and increasing as in stature, so in wisdom also1: not surely in respect of that nature, which “in the beginning was with God, and was God?," but of the other, by which He was the "man Christ Jesus." Further than these facts, we are not distinctly acquainted with the extent and properties of this unparalleled union. And it is no wonder that we are not. For even that of our own souls with our own bodies hath many things in it, utterly beyond our comprehension. We must, therefore, in all reason, without insisting to know "how these things can be," confine ourselves to learn from Scripture what they are. And it hath plainly taught us, that our blessed Lord was conceived by the Holy Ghost, and born of the Virgin Mary. Concerning the Holy Ghost, there will be a proper place to speak more at large, in that Article of the Creed, which directly relates to Him. At present we are only to conceive His influence in the conception of our Saviour: which conception was not in the ordinary course of things; but God Himself being already His Father with respect to that divine nature, which He had from the beginning, became again so, in a new sense, with respect to His human nature too, by the incomprehensible operation of His Spirit. For "the birth of Jesus Christ," to use the words of Scripture, 66 was on this wise: when as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost," in pursuance of what the angel had 'Luke ii. 52. 2 John i. I. 3 3 1 Tim. ii. 5. 5 Matt. i. 18. told her, "Thou shalt conceive and bring forth a Son, and shalt call his name Jesus. Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee; therefore that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God1." And thus, in the fulness of time was accomplished, what had been intimated as early as the fall of man, by that remarkable expression, "that the seed of the woman should bruise the serpent's head2;"and what had been expressly spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, 700 years before our Saviour's incarnation, "Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a Son, and they shall call his name Immanuel: which being interpreted, is God with us." When the Scripture says that such a person or thing shall be called by such a name, it frequently means no more than that they shall have a right to be so called: that what that name signifies, shall be verified in them, shall be true in relation to them. There are many instances of this in the Old Testament. And therefore, as our Saviour's coming in the flesh was the most effectual and illustrious manifestation of God's presence with men, and favour towards them, that could be, though perhaps in common speech He was seldom, if ever called, yet in the language of prophecy He was very justly called Immanuel, or, God is with us. For in His person God was really amongst men, in such a manner, and to such purposes of grace and salvation, as He had never been before. And therefore this name agrees perfectly in sense, though it differs in sound, from His common name, Jesus, i.e., Saviour. After saying, that He was born of a virgin, the Creed adds, that it was of the Virgin Mary; not 'Luke i. 31, 34, 35. 2 Gen. iii. 15. 3 Isa. vii. 14; Matt. i. 23 that we are to seek for any particular mystery in her being called Mary, as some of the Church of Rome have imagined, and accordingly formed groundless and ridiculous derivations of the word. But indeed the name was a very common one among the Jews; by which several women, mentioned in the New Testament, and several in other histories, went and no intimation was given in Scripture of its having any especial propriety or meaning in relation to her. But the reason of inserting it into the Creed most probably was, because it is set down in Scripture; and that, by naming the particular person of whom our Saviour sprung, He might appear to be of that family, from which it was foretold He should arise, being born of this "Virgin of the house of David1." Still we are very far from thinking lowly of one whom first an angel from heaven, then "Elizabeth filled with the Holy Ghost," declared to be "blessed among women":" and who, with the greatest reason, said of herself, "He that is mighty hath magnified me, and holy is his name3." For greatly without doubt she was magnified, a high honour she received, in becoming, as Elizabeth styles her, " the mother of our Lord." But this, however singular, was not the valuable distinction of the holy Virgin. In Scripture, no advantage of any other kind is ever put on a level with that of a pious heart, and a virtuous life. On the contrary, when, on hearing one of our Saviour's discourses, a certain woman of the company," in a transport of admiration and affection, had cried out, "Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked:" His answer was: "Yea, rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it." Now of this truest blessedness the Virgin Mary enjoyed a most 1 Luke i. 27. 66 |