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Son, he is not therefore incarnate with the Son; he is only in his incarnate Son. A body was formed to be the future residence of the Deity, by that will which is common to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. But whilst it was determined by the will of the Father and the Holy Spirit that that body should belong to the Son, the Son, by the same will, determined that it should be his own; and thus by the united consent of all the Three, it could be the body of none but the Son.z

v. As to the question, Why the Son, and not the Father or the Spirit, assumed the human nature, it cannot be answered in a more satisfactory manner than by resolving it into the good pleasure of the Divine counsel, which is always distinguished by the most consummate wisdom. Yet, in consequence of the manifestation of that counsel to us in the Gospel, faith observes without difficulty, that it is most suitable to the Divine perfections, and most worthy of them. It is proper, in particular, 1st, That man should be regenerated and created anew," by the same person by whom he was created at first. 2dly, That he who is the personal Word of God, should publish to us those words of God in which he promised to address us in the last days, and which none but the Lord could speak.d 3dly, That he who is the Son of God by nature, should make us the sons of God by grace. 4thly, That the glorious image of God should be restored within us by him who is "the image" of the Father, and " the express image "of his person." In fine, the unbounded love of the

y John xiv. 10.
a Ephes. ii. 10.

c John i. 1.

e Col. i. 15.

z Heb. x. 5.

b John i. 3. Col. i. 16.

d John iii. 34.

f Heb. i. 3.

Father could not be more brightly demonstrat by giving his only-begotten Son to us, and for

VL. With respect to the MODE of the inc let us, in the first place, attend to its truth. of God did not become man merely in appeara in reality. He had all the essential parts of a a soul, and a body, which is expressly oppos phantom and spectre ;-and the faculties an tions of each,-in body, extension and palpabili increase of stature-in soul, a finite and lim derstanding," and a will distinct from the Divi He had also experience of hunger,P of thirst, sorrow,' which expressed itself by tears. In sh Son of man came eating and drinking, and wa in fashion as a man."

VII. Further, the incarnation of the Son of C effected, 1st, Not by a change of the Divinity i manity, for it is altogether incapable of change. absurdly have some inconsiderate men restrict perfection to the Deity of the Father: for the nature is one only; immutability is clearly asc God the Son; and even after becoming man, tinued God. 2dly, Not by the confounding natures into one; for in Christ each nature rema tinct, and has its own distinct properties. 3d

* John iii. 16.

Is. liii. 11. Mat. xxvi. 38.

* Mat. xiv. 26, 27.

m Luke ii. 40.

• Mat. xxvi. 39.

4 John xix. 28.

John xi. 35. Luke xix. 41.
"Philip. ii. 8.

Ps. cii. 27. comp. Heb. i. 12.
y Rom. i. 3, 4. 1 Tim. iii. 16.

h Heb. ii. 14, 17.

Mat. xxvi. 12.

Luke xxiv. 39.

Luke ii. 52. Mark xii

P Mat. iv. 2.

I Mat. xxvi. 37.

Mat. xi. 19.

Mal. iii. 6. James i. 1

* Rom. ix. 5.

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ated by the creation of a human nature out of nothing, or by its descending from heaven; for then he would indeed have been man, but not the son of man, nor our kinsman, nor one of the brethren; which, as we shall show immediately, it was necessary for him to become. 4thly, Nor, in fine, by a shortlived form and representation* in a body not personally united to himself; such as that in which, as we have just mentioned, he appeared of old; and that in which the pious ancients supposed, and not without reason, that the Father and the Holy Spirit also appeared. 2

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VIII. But the incarnation of the Son of God was ac

complished, by the assumption of the human nature into the individual unity of the Divine person. The Holy Spirit himself makes use of the term assumption, Philip. ii. 7." He assumed the form of a servant, and "was made in the likeness of men."+ "The form of

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a servant" does not indeed signify precisely human nature as such; for although, after his resurrection, he laid aside the form of a servant, and although, no longer concealing his majesty, he now manifests himself as equal to God, he still retains the human nature. But "the form of a servant" denotes the debased condition of humanity, or human nature in a servile state. This humble form was assumed by our Lord, when he emptied himself, and began to exist in the likeness of men; still remaining what he was from eternity, "being in the "form of God," that is, truly God, and manifested, known, and acknowledged as such. The word form denotes the real thing itself, and that made manifest.

Κατα παραστασιν.

+ Μορφήν δούλου λαβων, ἐν ὁμοιωματι άνθρωπων γενομένος.

* Gen. xviii. 1, 2.

2 See NOTE II.

IX. The same truth is intimated Heb. ii. 14. "For"asmuch then as the children are partakers* of flesh " and blood, he also himself, likewise, took part of the "same."+ Christ has the same flesh and blood which the children have, but not in the same way with them. They are partakers of it; they possess the human nature in common, and have no other nature. But Christ took part of it; after he began to have flesh and blood like them, he possessed their nature in union with another nature which he had from eternity. He existed prior to that nature into the participation of which he then came; for he was "in the beginning, when the "foundation of the earth was laid."a

x. Nor did the Apostle intend any thing else, when he said, 1 Tim. iii. 16. " God was manifest in the flesh." That is, he who is God, and could not cease to be what he was, was seen and heard, and handled in the flesh, in a human body actuated by a rational soul, which, as Athanasius expresses it, "he appropriated to himself "as an instrument personally united to him," with whose eyes he might see, with whose ears he might hear, with whose hands he might act, with whose feet he might walk among his people, and in which he might both suffer and be glorified, both die and revive: So that, on account of the very intimate union of that human nature with God the Son, the actions performed by it might be no less the actions of God than the creation or government of the universe, and it might be justly said of him when exhibited to view; "Lo! this " is our God, we have waited for him, and he will save

Κεκοινωνηκε.

† Μετέσχε τῶν αὐτῶν.

† Οργανον ἐνυποστατον ίδιοποίησε.

a Heb. i. 10.

"us; this is JEHOVAH, we have waited for him, we " will be glad and rejoice in his salvation." This expression of the Apostle corresponds with the language of the Prophet," And the glory of the Lord shall be "revealed." To this prophecy John also alludes, when he says; "We beheld his glory."

XI. John i. 14. is to the same effect. "And the "Word," which was from the beginning, which was with God, and was God," was made flesh,"* began to be man: Not by a transmutation of the Divinity into humanity, but by so close a union of human flesh with himself, that that person who hitherto was nothing else than God, now also became man. A similar phrase occurs in the account of the creation of the first man ;"And man became a living soul:"e which the Apostle renders thus, "The first man Adam was made a living "soul." Man had previously been a piece of dust; but after God had breathed into him the breath of life, " he was made a living soul," not casting off the nature and qualities of dust, but receiving a soul. After the same manner, if we may compare human with Divine things, the Word was made flesh; not ceasing to be what he was, but receiving a human nature which he had not formerly possessed. The force of this expression did not escape the notice of the ancient Doctors. Tertullian observes that," in particular, the very preface of "John the Evangelist shows what he, who was pleased "to be made flesh, had formerly been."†

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4 Εγένετο ὁ πρῶτος ἄνθρωπος Αδαμ εις ψυχην ζῶσαν, 1 Cor. xv. 45.

VOL. II.

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21.

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