Chapter 14. God, Who Has No Need of Man, Graciously Bestows His Favors on Him.
Chapter 14
1. Neither, therefore, did God in the beginning form Adam as if he were in need, but that he might have someone on whom to confer his benefits. Certainly, not only before Adam’s time but even before the entire creation, the Word was wont to glorify his Father, remaining in him; he in turn was glorified by the Father, as he tells us, Father, glorify thou me with the glory which I had with thee before the world was made. Nor did he command us to follow him because he needed our service, but to grant us salvation. To follow the Savior means to partake of salvation. To follow the Light means to receive light; those, however, who are in the light do not themselves enlighten the light <and make it resplendent> but are enlightened and made resplendent by it. They bestow nothing upon it, but they receive the benefit of being enlightened by the light. Just so the service toward God bestows nothing upon God, nor does God need human service; on the contrary, he grants life, imperishability, and eternal glory to those who follow and serve him. He bestows a benefit on those who serve him, precisely because they serve him; and on those who follow him, precisely because they follow him. He, however, receives no benefit from them, for he is rich, perfect, without any need. God, nevertheless, demands service of men, in order that, since he is good and merciful, he might bestow a benefit on those who persevere in his service. For, as God is in want of nothing, so man is in need of fellowship with God. Really, man’s glory is this: to persevere and remain in God’s service. For this reason, the Lord said to the disciples, You did not choose me, but I chose you. He pointed out that they have not glorified him by following him, but they are glorified by him because they follow God’s Son. And again, I desire that they also, whom thou hast given me may be with me where I am, to behold my glory. He was not boasting vainly about this, but he wished to share his glory with his disciples. Of that Isaiah said, I will bring your offspring from the east; and from the west I will gather you; I will say to the north, “Bring here”; and to the south, “Do not hold back”; bring my sons from afar, and my daughters from the end of the earth, everyone who is called by my name. For my glory I have created and formed and made him. [He said] this, because wherever the body is, there the eagles will be gathered together. Thus we share in the glory of the Lord, who fashioned us and prepared us that as long as we are with him we might share in his glory.
2. In like manner, in the beginning God fashioned man with a view to giving gifts; next he chose the Patriarchs with a view to their salvation; then he formed the people in advance, teaching the uneducated people to follow God; then he prepared the Prophets on the earth, thus accustoming man to carry his Spirit and to have communion with God. He himself has need of no one. However, he bestows communion on those who have need of him. And as an architect he sketches the work of salvation for those who pleased him. By himself he furnishes guidance to those who did not see him in Egypt, while for those who became unruly in the desert he laid down a very apt law. To those who entered the good land, he gave a worthy inheritance. For those who converted to the Father he killed a fatted calf and put on the best robe. So by many ways he brought the human race into harmony for the symphony of salvation. With this in view, John says in the Apocalypse, And his voice was like the sound of many waters. Really, the waters of God’s spirit are many, because the Father is rich and bountiful. In addition, the Word passed through all those ways and bestowed without envy a benefit on those who were subject to him, writing for each creature an appropriate and apt law.
3. In the same manner, he decreed for the people by law the making of the tabernacle, the building of the temple, the election of the Levites, the sacrifices and the offerings, the purifications, and all the rest of the ministry. He has no need of any of these things, since he is always full of all good things, of every odor of sweetness, having in himself all the perfumes of sweet-smelling odors, even before Moses existed. Moreover, he instructed his people who easily turned to the idols, teaching them in advance by many callings that they persevere in serving God. Thus he called the people by the things of secondary importance to things of primary importance, that is, by types to realities; by temporal things to eternal things; by bodily things to spiritual things; by earthly to heavenly, as was said to Moses, Make it after the pattern, which was shown you on the mountain. Because for forty days he learned to hold fast God’s words and the heavenly patterns, and the spiritual images and the types of things to come. Paul said as much, They drank from the rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ. Again, having spoken of the things in the Law, he continued, Now all these things happened to them as a type, but they were written for our instruction; upon whom the end of the ages has come. So it was through types that they learned to fear God and to persevere in his service.