“16. But in this state the _infinite mercy_ of God met him. That love which at _first breathed_, a holy and divine soul into him, now again breathed a spark, or ray of divine light into him in the declaration of a _serpent bruiser_: which spark of life should in time do all that which _Adam_ should have done; that is, should bring forth a _generation_ of men, that should become _Sons of God_, and take possession of that kingdom from which the angels had fallen. “17. Here began the merciful mystery of man’s redemption; for this seed of divine life, was the Holy Jesus, who from that time, stood in the place of the first man. And from that time it may be said in a true sense that the _incarnation_ of the Son of God began; because he was from that time entered again into the human nature, as a seed of its salvation, tho’ not made manifest, till he was born in the Holy Virgin _Mary_. And in this sense St. _John_ says of him, _that he was the true light, which lighteth every man, that cometh into the world_. Because every man has from him this light, which if it is duly attended to, is our certain guide to Christ, born in the fulness of time, and sacrificed for us upon the cross. “18. What we want from Christ, as our Redeemer, is manifest by that which he gives to us, namely a redemption from the _hell_ that is in our souls, and from the death and corruption that is in our bodies. “19. We are no more created to be in the sorrows, and anguish of an _earthly life_, than the angels were created to be in the _darkness_ of hell. It is as contrary to the _will_ of God towards us, that we are out of paradise, as it is contrary to the design of God towards the angels, that some of them are _out_ of heaven, prisoners of darkness. “The sickness, pain and corruption of our bodies, is brought upon us by ourselves, in the same manner as the dark, hideous forms of the devils are brought upon them. * How absurd, and even blasphemous would it be, to say, with the scripture and the church, that we are by _nature, children of wrath, and born in sin_, if we had that nature which God at first gave us? What a reproach upon God to say, that this world is a _valley of misery_, a shadow of death, an habitation of _disorders_, _snares_, _evils_, and _temptations_, if this was an original creation, or that state of things in which God created us? Is it not as consistent with the goodness of God, to speak of the _misery_ and _disorder_ that holy angels find above, and of the vanity, emptiness and sorrow of the _heavenly state_, as to speak of the misery of _men_, and the sorrows of _this world_, if man and the world were in that order, in which God at first had placed them?