A26796:350
The harmony of the divine attributes in the contrivance and accomplishment of man's redemption…
The harmony of the divine attributes in the contrivance and accomplishment of man's redemption by the Lord Jesus Christ, or, Discourses wherein is showed how the wisdom, mercy, justice, holiness, power, and truth of God are glorified in that great and blessed work / by William Bates.The harmony of the divine attributes in the contrivance and accomplishment of man's redemption by the Lord Jesus Christ, or, Discourses wherein is shewed how the wisdom, mercy, justice, holiness, power, and truth of God are glorified in that great and blessed work / by William Bates.
London: printed by J. Darby for Nathaniel Ranew and Jonathan Robinson and Brabazon Aylmer, 1674
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
Therefore an Angel was dispatched from Heaven, who appeared with a surprising miraculous light, the visible character of his dignity, to prevent the scandal which might arise from the meanness of his condition, and to assure the Shepherds that the Babe which lay in the Manger, was the Redeemer of the World. The course of his Life was a preface,1 and preparative for the Death of the Cross. He had a just right to all that Glory, which a created Nature personally united to the Deity could receive. An eminent instance of it there is in his Transfiguration, when Glory descended from Heaven to encompass him; that which was so short should have been continual, but he presently returned to the: lowness of his former condition. The fullness of the Godhead dwelt in him bodily, yet in his humble state he was voluntarily deprived of those admirable effects which should proceed from that union. Strange separation between the Deity, and the Glory that results from it! God is light, and the Son is the brightness of his Fathers ⟨p. 170⟩Glory, yet in his Pilgrimage upon the Earth he was always under a cloud. Astonishing Miracle! transcending all those in the course of Nature, yet the power of Love effected it. He was made not only lower than the Angels, 2but less than all Men, joining (Oh amazing abasement!) the Majesty of God, with the meanness of a Worm. The High and Lofty-One, whom the Prophet saw Exalted on a High Throne, 3and all the Powers of Heaven in a posture of Reverence about Him, was despised and rejected of Men: they turned their eyes from him, 4not for the lustre of his Countenance, but for shame.
Therefore an Angel was dispatcht from Heaven, who appeared with a surprizing miraculous light, the visible character of his dignity, to prevent the scandal which might arise from the meanness of his condition, and to assure the Shepherds that the Babe which lay in the Manger, was the Redeemer of the World. The course of his Life was a preface,