Sermons Concerning the Divinity and Incarnation of Our Blessed Saviour (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated.1702 Excerpt: ... therefore he himself cannot be a Creatures unless he could be before himself: Nay the Apostle fays it expresty in this very Text in which he is called the first-bom of every Creature, or of the whole Creation, that he is before all things that is, he had a Being before there was any created Being, he was before all Creatures both in Duration and in Dignity 5 for so must he of necessity be, if all things were made by him j for as the Maker is always before the thing which is made, lo is he also better and of greater Dignity. And yet I must acknowledge, that there seems to be no small difficulty in the Interpretation I have given of this expression in which Christ is said by the Apostle to be the first-born of every Creature, or of the whole Creation 5 because in strictness of speech the first-born is of the same Nature with thole in respect of whom he is said to be the first-born: And if so, then he must be a Creature as well as those in respect of whom he is said to be the first-born: This is the Objection in its Full strength, and I do own it to have a very plausible appearance: And yet I hope before I have done, to satisfie any one that will consider things impartially and without prejudice, and will duly attend to the scope os the Apostles reasoning in this Text, and compare it with other parallel places of the New Testament, that it neither is, nor can be the Apostle's meaning in affirming Christ to be the first-born of every Creature to insinuate that the Son of God is a Creature. For how can this possibly agree with that which follows and is given as the reason why Christ is said to be the first-born of every Creature $ namely because all things were made by him: The Apostles words are these, the first-born of every Creature, or of the whole Creation, ..