Chapter 2: That There Was a Breach Made Between God and Man After a Blessed Union
which the mystery of the Gospel lies. When we reach that point, we shall unfold the mystery of this reconciliation.
Sixthly, we shall discuss from what time this reconciliation has existed. "It was," saith the text, "God was in Christ"; it was not only made at that present moment but there was an eternal work between God and Christ concerning the reconciliation of man.
Seventhly, who are they that are said to be reconciled? That is, the 'world'—to wit, that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself.
Chapter 2:
That There Was a Breach Made Between God and Man After a Blessed Union In the first chapter, we have much work laid out. Some of the particulars I will pass over very briefly, for my purpose is to unfold the evangelical part of this text and to focus especially on what is plainly expressed, rather than dwelling on what is merely implied.
However, since we cannot discuss what is expressed without touching on what is implied, I shall do so briefly before moving on.
1. That which is implied is that there was a breach made between God and us after a union (I put these two together). There was, at first, a blessed union between God and mankind; God created man in a happy state according to His own image, that is, in perfect holiness and righteousness. When He had made all other
creatures, He fashioned man as His chosen creature, stamping upon him His own image, so that through man, He might receive glory from all the other creatures He had made. He intended that in this world, He would have a creature capable of knowing Him, worshipping Him, serving Him, and recognising the radiance of His glory that emanated from all His other works, and to reflect this glory back upon His face. He made man a creature fit for this work.
Man was very happy in his first creation, in that God made him, of all His creatures, capable of such a task—reflecting His own glory upon Himself, and enjoying communion with God, which no other creature in the world, except the angels in heaven, could do. The Lord loved this creature and took delight in him. It is therefore notable, as seen in Genesis 1:31, that although He declared all His other works to be good, when the sixth day came, wherein man was made, the text states that He saw everything He had made, and behold, it was "very good." Notice that it is never said "very good" until the last day when man was made. There is no such commendation of God's works until He created man; and the reason is that the Lord did not take as much delight in all His other works in this world until He had made man.
Man was the very complement of all the excellencies of God's works; for indeed, he was the end of all His works. God made all other things for man and man for Himself. God does not receive His glory,
I mean not immediately, from all the other works in the world, but only through man. Had it not been for man, He would have lost the greatest part of His glory in the rest of His works. His glory passes from all the works He created unto Himself through man. Therefore, although the works that God made—the heavens, the earth, the seas, and the like—were good in themselves, what glory could God have
derived from all these? He could have no communion with these creatures after they were made, nor could these creatures have any communion with Him. None of them could know God, take notice of Him, or actively praise Him.
God is a being of pure action, and He is not content with having His glory in a passive state; He must have His glory actively. It is true that all His creatures were made as an instrument in tune, but there was no one to play upon it. And though there is much of the glory of God in all the creatures of the world, yet if man had not been made, none could have sounded forth this glory of God. These creatures would have been dumb in that respect, like an instrument that cannot, of itself, produce any music unless there is someone to play upon it. And so it is here: God made all other creatures very good, and within them was matter for God's praise. But to ensure that this praise and glory of God might be sounded forth, He created man and gave him the skill to praise the name of God in all these creatures. In this, God delighted very much.
Thus, there was a most blessed union and a wonderful delight between God and man at first. But the truth is, this union was soon broken, and man, in a short time, became (next to the devils) the most deadly enemy that God had. Though there was initially a most blessed union between God and man, so that Adam could walk and converse with God as he did for a while, yet Adam sinned against God and turned into a most desperate enemy, both he himself and all his posterity.
Therefore, you will observe in the story of the fall of man, that as soon as Adam had sinned, the voice of God, which he had once heard in the garden, became terrible to him, and he immediately sought to hide himself. He was conscious that he had made God his enemy,
and he viewed God as his enemy, fleeing from Him as one would from an adversary. Oh, what a change this was in man's condition!
What a sad thing that God, who had no other creature in all the world to know Him, fear Him, serve Him, and love Him—and in whom He could delight and have communion—only had man. Yet this man soon turned into a rebel and enemy of God, such an enemy that God regarded him as having a nature most opposed to His own.
Likewise, man saw God as his enemy and fled from Him, so much so that God had to call after him, saying, "Adam, where art thou?"
This is the woeful fruit of sin, even of the first sin, of the fall of our first parents. Since the world began, from that very time, Adam has begotten nothing but enemies of God. And if there is any truth in the word of God, it is certain that there was never a child of Adam born who was not an enemy of God. The Scripture is as clear on this point as on any other. I could cite many texts to support this, but for brevity's sake, I will mention just one.
In Romans 5:10, it is stated, "When we were enemies, we were reconciled to God." Certainly, if any people in the world were not enemies of God, it would be those who were later reconciled to Him.
Yet the Apostle speaks of himself and all other Christians who are reconciled to God, declaring that they were once His enemies. This may be said of every man and woman in the world—that they are enemies of God. Every one of us is, by nature, an enemy to God, with an antipathy towards Him. And the enmity born out of antipathy is the greatest form of enmity; it is not an enmity caused merely by some wrongdoing in one act.
For example, two men, though they were great friends before, may have a falling out and be enemies for a while. But that is not the same as the enmity between man and God, which is rooted in man's very
nature. It is true that a sinful act first caused this breach between God and man, but that is not all. This sin brought about a natural antipathy in the heart of man towards God, an enmity as deep and fundamental as the poison of a toad in the body of a man. There is no greater enmity to human nature than man's nature is to God
Himself.
Two sheep may fight one another due to some circumstance and be enemies temporarily, but they can never have an inherent enmity as a wolf has towards a lamb, for their enmity is natural. In the same way, the heart of man is naturally opposed to God. And know this: there exists in man's nature not only a hatred of God but a deadly hatred. You might think you are exempt from this, but certainly, this is in every one of your hearts by nature, even in those who seem to have the best dispositions in the world, as you might call them. There is in their hearts a hatred—indeed, a deadly hatred—against God.
"But," you may say, "God forbid! How can we hate God?" Consider that Scripture in Romans 1, where the Apostle, in speaking of those in their natural condition, says in verse 30 that they were "haters of God." What the Apostle declares there, he means for all people, for his purpose in that passage is to show our natural condition.
Therefore, we cannot be justified by any works of our own but must be justified by faith in Christ, because we are by nature haters of God.
In the Second Commandment, this hatred is expressed, even among those who seem to be the greatest lovers of God, who would create images to worship Him and spend much on these, claiming it is for God's honour. Who would not think these people love God exceedingly? Yet, though they appear to be lovers of God, there is no commandment in which the breakers are said to be "haters of God"
except in that one. He will "visit the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate
Him." That is, those who, despite their pretence of love for Him in their false worship, actually hate Him. Therefore, it is certain that there is a hatred—yes, a deadly hatred—in the heart of man by nature against God.
"But," you may ask, "how does this hatred manifest, or wherein does this deadly hatred of God consist?" It manifests in this way: when one person hates another to the extent that they wish them dead, they wish them out of the way. They wish that person did not exist.
Such a kind of hatred exists in every man's heart naturally.
I make this plain: the very nature of God is holiness itself. If God were less holy than He is, He would lose His very being; if God were less just, He would lose His life and cease to exist. Now, I ask you, particularly you who are unconverted, have you not sometimes secretly wished in your hearts that God were not as holy as He is?
Could you not wish that God were less just than He is, that He did not hate sin as much as He does? Why would you wish this? Simply because it would grant you more liberty in your sinful ways, allowing you more freedom to indulge the lusts of the flesh.
Is this not present in your hearts at times? Consider what this implies: it is as though you were saying, "My heart is so set upon such a lust that I would rather God cease to be God than I lose my liberty to enjoy that lust." This is its plain meaning, even though you may not express it in such words, for I suppose none of you would be so abominably wicked as to state it outright. But understand that your actions speak a language as well, and God comprehends the language of your actions just as clearly as the words you speak.