If all men on earth, yea if all the Angels in Heaven had sat from the foundation of the world to this day, in counsel beating their brains, and debating this question, How man, sinful man might be delivered out of the hand of the Law, or from that condemnatory sentence under which the Law had cast and detained him, with satisfaction, or without damage to the Justice and righteousness of God, they could never have found it out, nor any thing like it. This is Gods own invention; or, if God had said to fallen man, I see thou art in a lost pitiful condition, but sit down and consider how I may do thee good, and not wrong my self, how I may relieve thee, and not dishonour my self, I will freely do it. If God (I say) had ⟨p. 408⟩given man a blank to write down what he would have done to bring this about, he could never have found it out; but must have perished for ever in his sin. The thought of a ransom in this way had never entered into the heart either of men or Angels, if God himself had not revealed it. Therefore the Apostle Peter having spoken of the great diligence of the old Prophets searching into and inquiring about that great mystery, the way and means of mans salvation, concludes (1 Epist: 1.12.) Which things the Angels desire to look into. 1The word there used notes a curious prying into that which hath some veiled or secret rarity in it. We may conceive the Apostle in that word alluding to the Cherubims, which by Gods command, to Moses, were made with their eyes looking down to the Mercy-seat or propitiatory in the Holy of holies (Exod. 25.20.) figuring the ransom in the Text, yea and expressed by the same Hebrew word. The living Angels do that which those representative Angels seemed to do, they look earnestly at the mystery of our redemption made, or ransom given by Jesus Christ. There is such an exquisiteness in this invention, the deliverance of man by Christ, that the Angels desire to look into it, even as men desire to see rare inventions. And this exceedingly commends the wisdom of God in our redemption, that it was a secret to the very glorious Angels. They did not know it, but as it was made known to them; nor did God (as it seems) make it known to them firstly or immediately, but it was revealed to them, occasionally by the revelation of it first to the Church; as the Apostle doth more then intimate, (Eph. 3.10.)
If all men on earth, yea if all the Angells in Heaven had sat from the foundation of the world to this day, in counsell beating their braines, and debating this question, How man, sinfull man might be delivered out of the hand of the Law, or from that condemnatory sentence under which the Law had cast and detained him, with satisfaction, or without dammage to the Justice and righteousness of God, they could never have found it out, nor any thing like it. This is Gods own invention; or, if God had said to fallen man, I see thou art in a lost pitifull condition, but sit down and consider how I may doe thee good, and not wrong my selfe, how I may relieve thee, and not dishonour my selfe, I will freely doe it. If God (I say) had ⟨p. 408⟩given man a blank to write downe what he would have done to bring this about, he could never have found it out; but must have perished for ever in his sin. The thought of a ransome in this way had never entred into the heart either of men or Angells, if God himself had not revealed it. Therefore the Apostle Peter having spoken of the great diligence of the old Prophets searching into and inquiring about that great mystery, the way and means of mans salvation, c•ncludes (1 Epist: 1.12.) Which things the Angells desire to look into. 1The word there used notes a curious prying into that which hath some veyled or secret rarity in it. We may conceive the Apostle in that word alluding to the Cherubims, which by Gods command, to Moses, were made with their eyes looking downe to the Mercy-seat or propitiatory in the Holy of holyes (Exod. 25.20.) figuring the ransome in the Text, yea and expressed by the same Hebrew word. The living Angells doe that which those representative Angells seemed to doe, they look earnestly at the mystery of our redemption made, or ransome given by Jesus Christ. There is such an exquisiteness in this invention, the deliverance of man by Christ, that the Angells desire to look into it, even as men desire to see rare inventions. And this exceedingly commends the wisdome of God in our redemption, that it was a secret to the very glorious Angells. They did not know it, but as it was made knowne to them; nor did God (as it seemes) make it knowne to them firstly or immediately, but it was revealed to them, occasionally by the revelation of it first to the Church; as the Apostle doth more then intimate, (Eph. 3.10.)
- 1[Greek or Hebrew].〈non-Latin alphabet〉.
