Presbyterian Church -- Sermons; Sermons, English; Theology -- Early works to 1800; Theology -- History -- 17th century
it is that the most part of people lie still astonished, or rather stupid
and senseless, after this great fall of man, because they never look
upward to the place and dignity from whence man did fall. It is certain,
you will never rightly understand yourselves or what you are, till ye know
first what man was made. You cannot imagine what your present misery is,
till you once know what that felicity was in which man was made,—“let us
make man in our image.” Some have called man μικροκοσμος “a little world,”
a compend of the world, because he hath heaven and earth as it were
married together in him—two most remote and distant natures, the dust of
the earth, and the immortal spirit, which is called the breath of God,
sweetly linked and conjoined together, with a disposition and inclination
one to another. The Lord was in this piece of workmanship as it were to
give a narrow and short compend of all his works, and so did associate in
one piece with marvellous wisdom, being, living, moving, sense and reason,
which are scattered abroad in the other creatures, so that a man carries
these wonders about with him, which he admires without him. At his bare
and simple word, this huge frame of the world started out of nothing, but
in this, he acts the part of a cunning artificer,—“Let us make man.” He
makes rather than creates, first raises the walls of flesh, builds the
house of the body with all its organs, all its rooms, and then he puts in
a noble and divine guest to dwell in it. He breathes in it the breath of
life. He incloses as it were an angel within it, and marries these
together in the most admirable union and communion that can be imagined,
so that they make up one man.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account