BOOK 2. FROM ETERNITY.
CHAPTER 1.
2.1.1. Of the Eternal Generation of our Jesus.
I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come the Almighty.
I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and what thou seest write in a book, and send it to the seven churches.
Revelation 1:8, 11
Of the Eternal Generation of our Jesus.
We must "look unto Jesus the Beginner and Finisher of our faith;" we must behold Jesus as with a steadfast eye from first to last. As he is "Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, the first and the last:" so accordingly we must look unto him. 1. He is Alpha, the Beginner, (so it is in the original) Archegon, the beginner, the inceptor, the first wheel of our faith, Heb. xii. 2. and of the end of our faith, the salvation of our souls, 2 Thess. ii. 13; 2 Tim. i. 9; Tit. i. 2. Now Christ may be called a beginner, in respect of the decree, or execution. I shall begin with the decree, wherein he begun before the beginning of time to design our happiness, for the praise of the glory of his grace, Eph. i. 6. Many depths are in this passage. To this purpose we told you. That "Jesus is God's Son, and our Jesus eternally begotten before all worlds." In this first period we shall look on him: In relation to God. (In the following section we will look on him in relation to us.)
In relation to God.
In his relation to God, "Who shall declare his generation, Isa. liii. 8. He is God's Son having his subsistence from the Father alone, of which Father, by communication of his essence, he is begotten from all eternity.
For the opening of this eternal generation of our Jesus, we shall consider, 1. The thing begotten. 2. The time. 3. The manner of begetting. 4. The mutual kindness and love of him that begets, and of him that is begotten, which brings forth a third person, or subsistence, which we call the Holy Ghost.
1. For the thing itself, it is Jesus Christ, who must be considered two ways, as he is a Son, and as he is a God. Now, as he is a Son, he is the thing begotten, but not as he is a God. As he is God, he is of himself, neither begotten, nor proceeding; the Godhead of the Father, and the Godhead of the Son is but one and the same thing, and therefore "Essentia filii est a seipso, hae ratione dici potest (auto Theos,)" The Son as he is God, he is God of himself, without beginning, even as the Father; "Essentia tamen filii non est a seipso, ideo sic non est (auto Theos.)" But as he is a Son he is not of himself, but the Son of the Father begotten of him, and hereupon it follows, that the Son is begotten of the Father as he is a Son, but not as he is a God.
2. For the time of this generation, it hath neither beginning, middle, nor end; and therefore it is eternal before all worlds; this is one of the wonders of our Jesus, that the Father begetting, and the Son begotten, are co-eternal. Wisdom in the book of Proverbs (which with one consent of all divines, is said to be Christ) affirmeth thus, "When there were no depths I was brought forth: when there were no fountains abounding with water. Before the mountains were settled; before the hills was, I was brought forth: while as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the world. When he prepared the heavens I was there: when he set a compass upon the face of the depth," Prov. viii. 24, 25, 26, 27. I was there. And a little before "The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old, I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the world was," Prov. viii. 22, 23. that is to say, from eternity; for, before the world was made, there was nothing but eternity. It may be alleged to the contrary, that the saying of God the Father, "Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee," Psal. ii. 7 is expounded by Paul of the time of Christ's resurrection. "And we declare unto you glad tidings, (saith Paul) how that the promise which was made unto the fathers, God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again," Acts xiii. 32, 33. As it is also written in the second Psalm, "Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee." But we distinguish betwixt generation itself, and the manifestation or declaration of it. Jesus the Son of God from all eternity, was begotten, but when he was incarnate, and especially when he was raised again from the dead, then was he mightily declared to be God's Son by nature. And of this declaration or manifestation of his eternal generation is that of the apostle understood.
3. For the manner of this generation of Jesus the Son of God, understand, there be two manners of begetting, the one is carnal and outward, and this is subject to corruption, alteration and time; the other is spiritual and inward, and such was the beginning of the Son of God, of whose generation there is neither corruption, alteration, nor time. But alas! "How should we declare his generation," Isa. liii. 8. O my soul, here thou mayest admire, and adore with Paul and David, and cry out, "O the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!" Rom. xi. 33. There is no searching for us into the secret counsels of God, which he never revealed in his word, but so far as he hath revealed himself, we shall in sobriety according to the light of the scriptures, endeavour a discovery of the manner of this spiritual generation of the Son of God; as thus,--
We must consider in God two things, (a). That in God there is an understanding, (b). That in God this understanding everlastingly acts or works.
(a). For the first, that God hath a most excellent understanding, or that he is understanding itself in the highest degree, is very clear; for he that gives understanding to all his intelligible creatures, must needs have it, and be it, most eminently in himself. If fire be the cause of heat in other things, it must needs be, that fire is the hottest of any thing; "Propter quod unumquodque tale, illud est magis tale." The axiom is common, but the scripture verifies it, "with God is wisdom and strength, he hath counsel and understanding," Job xii. 13. Nay, that this understanding is his very being, is very plain, "Counsel is mine, and sound wisdom; I am understanding, and I am strength," Prov. viii. 14.
(b). For the second, that this understanding in God everlastingly acts or works, is very clear; for that understanding (which is the nature, essence and being of God) is a mere act, or the first act; it is all one with the life of God. Now, as all life is active in itself, so the chief life (such as in the highest degree is to be attributed to God) must needs be active. What is the life of God, but an essential property, whereby the divine nature is in perpetual action, living and moving in itself? And hereof is that speech in scripture so often used, "As the Lord liveth," Jer.xxxviii. 16. Hereof likewise is that asseveration or oath, so often used by God, "As the Lord liveth," Numb. xiv. 21. And, As I live, saith the Lord," Rom. xiv. 11. Well then, the understanding of God being active, or working from all eternity, it must needs have some eternal object on which it acts or works; every action requires a suitable object about which it must act or be exercised; so then, if God's understanding act eternally, it must have some eternal object, and if God's understanding act most perfectly, it must have some most perfect object to act upon; and what is that but only God himself? That God's understanding should act out of himself, would argue his understanding to act upon that which is finite and imperfect. Certainly nothing is infinite, eternal and perfect but only himself, and therefore if his understanding will act upon any suitable object, he must act upon nothing but himself.
And now, we come to the manner of this high mystical, spiritual generation of Jesus the Son of God. As the understanding of God doth act and reflect upon itself from all eternity, so it works this effect, that it understands and conceives itself; it apprehends in the understanding an image of that object which it looks upon, and this very image is the Son of God. This we shall lay out by some similitudes. A man's Soul (we know) doth sometimes muse and meditate on other things; as it thinks of heaven, or thinks of earth; this we call a right, or direct, or eminent thought; but sometimes the soul doth muse, or meditate on itself, as when it thinks of its own essence, or faculties, or the like; and this we call a reflex thought; why now the soul understands itself, now it hath some idea, or image of itself, now it conceives itself; this is our phrase, "it conceives itself." There is not only a carnal, but a spiritual conception; as when I understand this or that, I say, "I conceive this or that," I have the idea or image of this or that within my soul. Or, as in a glass, a man doth conceive and get a perfect image of his own face, by a way of reflection; so God, in beholding and minding of himself, doth in himself beget or conceive a most perfect, and a most lively image of himself, which very image is that in the Trinity, which we call the Son of God. Thus you read in scripture, that Jesus the Son of God is called, (i), "the brightness of his Father's glory, and (ii), the express image of his person," Heb. i. 3.
(i). "The brightness of his Father's glory;" herein God the Father is compared unto a lightsome body, and God the Son unto a beam, or splendor sent forth, or issuing out from that glorious body.
(ii). "The express image of his person," herein God the Father is compared unto a seal, and God the Son unto an impression resulting from the seal. Now look, as wax upon a seal, hath the engraven image of the seal; so the Son of God (which the Father has begotten or conceived of his own understanding) is the very image of his Father's understanding ยง hence not only the Father, but also the Son is called understanding itself. "I have counsel and wisdom, (saith Christ) I am understanding," Prov. viii. 14. Whatsoever the Father is, the Son is; indeed the understanding in men and the thing understood, are not usually one and the same, but in God it is all one: God's conceivings and begettings are the most inward of all; the Father conceives of himself, and in himself; and his conceiving is a begetting, and his begetting abideth still in himself, because his understanding can no where meet with anything suitable, but that which he himself is, and that conveying of himself, or begetting of himself, is the second subsistence in the Trinity, which we call the everlasting Son of God.
4. For the mutual kindness and loving kindness of him that begets, and of him that is begotten, we say this brings forth a third person or subsistence in God. Now, for the understanding of this matter, we must consider two things. First, (a), That in the essence of God, besides his understanding, there is a will. Secondly, (b), That this will doth work everlastingly upon itself, as his understanding doth.
(a). For the first, that in the essence of God, besides his understanding, there is a will is very clear; for he that gives a will to all rational creatures, cannot want it himself; how should he be without will, whose will it is that we will? Of necessity it is that there should be some prime or chief will, on whose will all other wills should be; but the scriptures are plain, "I am God, and there is none else, I am God, and there is none like me. -- My Counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure," Isa. xivi. 9, 10.
(b). For the second. That this will in God doth everlastingly work upon itself, is clear; for, as doth the understanding, so doth the will; but the understanding of God doth act upon itself as the chief and most perfect truth: therefore the will of God doth will himself as the chief and most perfect good. Indeed what other suitable object can the will of God have besides himself? An infinite will must needs have an infinite good, and in this sense, as our Saviour tells us, "There is none good but one, that is God," Matth. xix. 17. Hence it is that the will of God doth reflect upon itself, and acquiesce in itself as in an infinite good.
And now we come to the manner of this high mystical, spiritual procession of the Spirit from the Father and the Son. As the will of God doth act and reflect upon itself from all eternity; so it works this effect, that it delights itself in the infinite good, which it knoweth in itself, for the action of the will is delight and liking; and this very delight which God or his will hath in his own infinite goodness, doth bring forth a third person, or subsistence in God, which we call the Holy Ghost: so that indeed if you would know what the Holy Ghost is, I would answer, "It is the mutual kindness and loving kindness, and joy, and delight of the Father and the Son," The Father by this act of will doth joy and delight in his Son, and the Son by this act of will doth joy and delight in his Father; and this is it which the Son saith of himself, and of his Father, "I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him," Prov. viii. 30. q.d. I was from all eternity his delight, and he was from all eternity my delight; the Father (as it were) from all eternity aspired in his will, and love, and joy unto the Son; and the Son (as it were) from all eternity aspired in his will, and love, and joy unto the Father; and from this common desire and aspiring of either person the Holy Ghost proceeds, which makes up the whole Trinity of Persons.
I shall lay out this by some similitude or resemblance: as when a man looks in a glass, if he smile, his image smileth too, here is but one face; and yet in this unity we may find a Trinity: the face is one, the image of the face in a glass is another, and the smiling of them both together is a third, and yet all are in one face, and all are of one face, and all are but one face; so the understanding which is in God is one, the reflection or image of his understanding, he beholdeth in himself as in a glass is a second, and the love and liking of them both together, by reason of the will fulfilled, is a third; and yet all are in one God, all are of one God, and all are but one God. In this Trinity there is neither first nor last, in respect of time, but all are at once, and at one instant; even as in a glass the face, and the image of the face; when they smile, they smile together, and not one before nor after another. -- For conclusion of all. As we have the Son of the Father by his everlasting will in working by his understanding; so we have the Holy Ghost of the love, and joy, and delight of them both, by the joint working of the understanding and will together; whereupon we conclude three distinct persons, or subsistences, which we call the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, in one spiritual, yet unspeakable substance, which is very God himself. -- My meaning is not to insist on the Father, or the Holy Ghost, but only on the Son. Yet thus far I have added, that you may better understand the manner of this generation of the Son of God; together with the mutual kindness, loving kindness, joy, and delight betwixt the Father and the Son, even from everlasting.