An expository comment, doctrinal, controversial, and practical upon the whole first chapter to the…An expository comment, doctrinal, controversal, and practical upon the whole first chapter to the…

First, In that he is the Father of Christ, by this means he cometh to be the Father in him. For seeing Christ is ours, then he who is the Father of Christ must be our Father also, as will appear in the second place. But the first consideration of comfort is, That Gods paternal relation to us, is grounded upon the Fathers relation to Christ; Christ merited at Gods hands, that he should be a reconciled Father with us; for without Christ, God is not the Father of mercies, but a dreadful and terrible Judge, He is a consuming fire, and we cannot with any confidence draw nigh to him, but through Christ; God assumeth a new relation to us, of a Judge he becometh a Father. So that we see, this is the fountain of all our comfort: Therefore is God a Father to us, because he is to Christ; and this is the reason, why the Apostle mentioneth (as you heard) this Title so often with Doxology, because without Christ, God is not a Father; We cannot expect a drop of mercy, or the least glimpse of favour from him.

First, In that he is the Father of Christ, by this means he cometh to be the Father in him. For seeing Christ is ours, then he who is the Father of Christ must be our Father also, as will appear in the second place. But the first consideration of comfort is, That Gods paternal relation to us, is grounded upon the Fathers relation to Christ; Christ merited at Gods hands, that he should be a reconciled Father with us; for without Christ, God is not the Father of mercies, but a dreadfull and terrible Judge, He is a consuming fire, and we cannot with any confidence draw nigh to him, but through Christ; God assumeth a new relation to us, of a Judge he becometh a Father. So that we see, this is the fountain of all our comfort: Therefore is God a Father to us, because he is to Christ; and this is the reason, why the Apostle mentioneth (as you heard) this Title so often with Doxologie, because without Christ, God is not a Father; We cannot expect a drop of mercy, or the least glimpse of favour from him.

Secondly, This relation of God the Father to Christ, is of great comfort to us, because of our union with Christ. When we by faith are made one with Christ, then we have the same Father as he hath; and this is a second ground of our comfort. The Apostle calleth him, The Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, because our Lord, our Jesus, therefore God is our Father, The Devils and wicked men, because they cannot truly say, Our Christ, therefore they cannot call God, Our Father. It's then our union with Christ, that doth entitle us to God a Father, as well as Christ himself. As it's with the wise, when married to an husband, then the husbands father is her father, and what relations he hath, she is also received into. Thus it is here, when the soul by faith receiveth Christ, he is thereby made the Son of God, and a co-heir with Christ: They have now the same Father; Christ is become their brother to them: Oh what an unspeakable and glorious privilege is this, that Christ should not disdain us, or be ashamed of us, but call us brethren, and make us to have the same Father with him I Did faith improve this by lively meditation, what joy and quietness would it produce in our hearts?