IN these words the apostle beginneth the history of faith, and therefore goeth so high as God's ancient work of creation. His drift is to prove that faith satisfieth itself in the word of God, though nothing be seen; and he proveth it in the first instance and exercise of faith that ever was in the world - the creation.
In the words you may observe - (1.) The doctrine of the creation laid down; (2.) The means whereby we come to the understanding of it.
1. The doctrine of the creation is delivered in all the necessary circumstances of it.
[1.] The matter framed - tous aioonas, the ages, that is, the world which hath endured so many ages; the essence and duration of a thing being so near akin, they are often taken for one another: Eph. ii. 2, 'Wherein in time past ye walked, kat' aioona, according to the course of this world;' which is necessary to note against the Socinians, who to evade that testimony for the Godhead of Christ: Heb. i. 2, 'By whom. also he made the worlds,' understand it of the ages, and the collection of the church in all times.
[2.] The manner - katèrtisthai, he curiously jointed and made it, and digested it into an exquisite rank and frame.
[3.] The instrument - rhèmati theou - By the word of God. It may be taken either for his substantial word, or his word of power, by which all things were produced out of nothing; 'He spake, and it was done,' Ps. xxxiii. 9.
[4.] The term from whence God's action took its rise - ek mè fainomenoon - Of things which do not appear. ek doth not properly note the matter; and when we say, God made the world out of nothing, our meaning is not, that nothing is the matter whereof the world is made, as if God should bestow a new fashion and shape upon nothing; but only that it is the terminus a quo, not materia ex qua, as much as to say, God made the world when nothing was before; God had not any matter to work upon. There are some difficulties attending the Greek phrase, but I shall consider them hereafter.
2. The means whereby we come to understand this great mystery - pistei noumen - By faith we understand. Reason will give us a glimpse, but by faith alone we can unfold the riddle and mystery of the world's creation.
I begin with the means of knowledge as being first in the words, 'By faith we understand.' Whence observe -
1. That it is of great profit and comfort to believers to consider the creation.
2. That we can only understand the truth and wonders of the creation by faith.
The first point is a preparative to the whole discourse; it is this - Doct. 1. It is a necessary exercise for the children of God to turn their minds to the creation.
Reasons
1. It discovereth much of God. God hath engraven his name upon his works; as those that make watches or any curious pieces write their names upon them; or, as he that carved a buckler for Minerva had so curiously inlaid his own name, that it could not be razed out without defacing the whole work; so hath God. The creatures are but a draft and portraiture of the divine glory. In the creatures we may discern - (l.) His essence; (2.) His attributes.
[1.] His essence. Creation is the true note of the true God; the first cause is the supreme being; therefore creation always is avouched on the behalf of the divine majesty of God: Jer. x. 11, 12, 'Thus shall ye say unto them, The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, even they shall perish from the earth, and from under these heavens. He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched forth the heavens by his discretion.' Jonah i. 9, 'I am an Hebrew, and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry land.' Isa. xlv, 6, 7, 'I am the Lord, and there is none else; I form the light, and create darkness,' &c. and ver. 8, 'I the Lord have created it.' So the apostles: Acts xiv. 15, 'That ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God, which made heaven and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein.' Acts xvii. 24, 'God that made the world, and all things therein.' Rom. i. 20, 'For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and godhead.' This was the heathens' bible, and out of this will they be arraigned at the day of Christ: the creatures will witness against them - they discovered an eternal essence, but the world discovered it not. God at first spake to the world not by words but things, and taught them by hieroglyphics. The scriptures are but a comment upon this book of the creatures.
[2.] His attributes. They are all engraven upon the creatures, but he that runneth may read these three attributes, goodness, power, and wisdom, which call for love, reverence, and trust. epoièsen hoos agathos to chrèsimon, hoos sofos to kallistou, hoos dunatos to megiston - Basil. The goodness of God is seen in the usefulness of the creatures to man; the power of God in the stupendousness and wonderfulness of the works; and the wisdom of God in the apt structure, constitution, and order of all things. First he createth, then distinguisheth, then adorneth. The first work was to create heaven and earth out of nothing; there is his power. God's next work is a wise distribution and ordination, he distinguisheth night from day, darkness from light, waters above the firmament from waters beneath the firmament; the sea from the dry land; there is his wisdom. Then he decked the earth with plants and beasts, the sea with fishes, the air with birds, the firmament with stars; there is his goodness. Let us explain these a little more particularly.
(1.) His goodness. The creation is nothing else but an effusion of the goodness of God: Ps. cxv. 3, 'Our God is in heaven, he hath done whatsoever he pleased.' He acteth at liberty; he might have made it sooner or later; the only reason is the counsel of his own will: Rev. iv. 11, 'Thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.' Creatures work out of a servile necessity. The trinity was not solitary. God was happy enough without us, and had a fulness and sufficiency of happiness within himself, only he would have us to participate of his goodness. God's great aim was to communicate his goodness to creatures; and therefore in making the world, he did not only aim at his own glory, but the benefit of man, that man might have a place for his exercise and a dwelling for his eternal rest. A place for his exercise: Isa. xlv. 18, 'He created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited;' so Ps. cxv. 16, 'The heaven, even the heavens are the Lord's, but the earth hath he given to the children of men.' In heaven God sitteth in his palace, in the midst of his best creatures; but the earth, the round world is ours. And heaven was prepared before the beginning of the world for their place of rest: Mat. xxv. 34, 'Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.' His love was towards us before the world was, and we shall reap the fruits of it, when the world shall be no more.
(2.) His power. God brought all things out of the womb of nothing; his fiat was enough: Isa. xl. 26, 'Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number; he calleth them all by names, by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power, not one faileth.' The force of the cause appeareth in the effects, and God's power in the creatures. This is the most visible attribute: Rom. i. 20, 'For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and godhead.' Men touched with no sense or reverence of religion, yet will have this in their mouths, God Almighty.
(3.) His wisdom. The admirableness and comely variety of God's works doth easily offer it to our thoughts. In the work you may discern a wise workman: Ps. cxxxvi. 5, 'To him that by wisdom made the heavens: for his mercy endureth for ever.' So Prov. iii. 19. 'The Lord by wisdom hath founded the earth; by understanding hath he established the heavens.' The wisdom of God appeareth - (1.) In the order of making; (2.) In the order of placing all creatures.
(1st.) In making of them. In simple things, God began with those which are most perfect, and came nearest to his own essence. His first creature is light, which of all qualities is most pure and defecate, and is not stained by passing through places most impure. The first garment God put on in the creatures' eyes was light; Ps. civ. 2, 'Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment.' Then all the elements in mixt bodies; God took another method, from imperfect to perfect: first, things that have a being, as the firmament; then life, as plants; then sense, as beasts; then reason, as man. First, God would provide the places of heaven and earth, and then the creatures to dwell in them; first the food, then the beasts. Provision was made for the inhabitants of the earth, as grass for beasts, and light for all living and moving creatures. God provided for the necessities of beasts, ere he would bring them into the world. God made first plants, that have but a growing life; then beasts, fishes, fowls, that have a feeling life; then man that hath a rational life. God would teach us to go from good to better, Man was made last, as most excellent; his palace is furnished with all things necessary, and then like a prince he is sent into the world to rule and reign.
(2dly.) In disposing all things into their apt cells for the beauty and service of the whole. There are not such great beasts in the earth as in the sea, to avoid a waste of food, which would be consumed by the beasts of the land, to the prejudice of man. All things are wonderfully made.
2. It is a wonderful advantage to faith to give us hope and consolation in the greatest distresses. The whole creation is a standing monument of God's power; we see what he can do: Ps. cxxiv. 8, 'Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.' As long as heaven and earth is standing, we need not distrust God's power: Jer. xxxii. 17, 'Ah Lord God, behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power, and stretched out arm ; and there is nothing too hard for thee.' So Ps. cxlvi. 5, 6, 'Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help; whose hope is in the Lord his God, which made heaven, and earth, and sea, and all that therein is, which keepeth truth for ever'.' The works of creation are but pawns and pledges of the possibility and certainty of every thing promised. Every promise is as powerful as God's first creating word, 'let there be light,' let there be day.
3. It putteth us in mind of our duty.
[1.] To stir up in us a reverence and dread of God above the creatures. We are used to things of sense, they work with us. Make much of the creator, and the creatures shall do thee no harm: Acts iv. 24, 'Lord, thou art God, which hast made heaven and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is.'
[2.] To stir up humility to God: Rom. ix. 20, 'Nay, but O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?' Isa. xlv. 9, 'Wo unto him that striveth with his maker; let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou; or thy work, He hath no hands?' Gen. xviii. 27, 'Behold, now I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, who am but dust and ashes.'
[3.] To make us humble and kind to men: Acts xvii. 26, 'And hath made of one blood all nations of men, to dwell on all the face of the earth.' Omnis sanquis concelor, Isa. lviii. 7, 'That thou hide not thyself from thy own flesh.'
Use. It serveth to quicken us to think of the creation. But oh, how backward, cold and sluggish are we in this work! either we use the creatures as beasts, without thankfulness, and looking up to the creator; or else, as philosophers, there is more curiosity than profit in our researches: but I observe christians are coldly affected with such an argument. The causes are these -
1. We have an higher light. Sense in beasts is more acute, so reason in heathens, because it is their only light. But this should not be, we should not slight the works of God, because of a higher revelation. When a man is able to read, he should not lay aside the use of letters. The creation is a good primer for us to spell in, though not so good as the grammar of the scriptures. When we have a free use of reason, we find a good help in books; in youth, because we have no experience, we are more prone to thoughts of atheism; therefore, says Solomon, Eccles. xii. 1, 'Remember thy creator in the days of thy youth.' But excellent arguments for conviction may be drawn hence, when we have higher knowledge.
2. Because these objects are familiar and frequent. Homini ingenitum est magis nova, quam magna mirari. This is the wretched disposition of man, to admire things that are new, rather than things that are great. We give money to see strange beasts; you may think with yourselves, when you see people pressing to see a new sight, there is a greater miracle every day; we are injurious to God, when we do not glorify him in his creatures, when we do carelessly pass by such goodly works.
3. This proceeds from laziness. It is easier to read a chapter in the word, than the book of the creatures, the act is more outward and corporeal, the other putteth us to the pains and trouble of discourse: there is no duty so spiritual as meditation, therefore we withdraw the shoulder. Though this was pleasant to David, Ps. civ. 34, 'My meditation of him shall be sweet.; I will be glad in the Lord.'
4, From worldliness. Our heads and hearts are so taken up about our own work, that we have little leisure to mind God's; like a company of ants, we crawl up and down, and do not regard the great things about us.
Here I shall - (1.) Lay down motives to quicken us to this necessary work of reflecting upon the creation of the world, that was made by the power of God out of nothing. (2.) Offer directions how to reflect upon the creature with comfort and profit.
First, for the motives.
1. The creatures are apt to teach us. - All the creatures of God, they have a voice, and read a lecture to us of the glory of the divinity. The first bible was the book of nature; God spake to the world, not by words, but by things, and taught men by what he had written of his glory upon the creation. As many creatures as there are, so many letters there are, out of which we may spell God; the book is written within with glorious angels, and without with corporeal substances that discover the glory of God; it may teach us unspeakable wisdom, unmeasurable goodness, infinite power. The world is a book, God's power was the hand with which it was written, and his wisdom was the pen, and the letters are the creatures; some are lesser letters, some greater, but out of the whole there is a volume of praise to the creator. Nay, the world is not only a book, but a teacher; not only a dead letter, but a living voice: Ps. xix. 1, 'The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth his handy work.' Lesser creatures have a voice to proclaim the excellency of their creator. An ant and a gnat may take the pulpit, and preach a God to us. 'Their line is gone out into all the earth, and their words to the end of the world,' saith the psalmist, ver. 4. We should so hearken to the creature, as if we did hear God himself speak to us; 'and day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge,' ver. 2. Other preachers are soon spent and tired, but the creatures are constant preachers, always calling upon us night and day to mind God; and, ver. 3, 'There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.' Though the languages of all nations scattered over the world be very different, yet there is one book may be read in every country; the heavens speak Greek to the Grecians; they speak English to us; so many creatures, so many preachers there are of God's wisdom, power, and goodness. Nay, the creature that seems most gross, the dull earth, the heaviest and grossest element, and the mute fishes, proclaim God: Job xii, 8, 'Speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee, and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee.' Though the fishes have no sound, cannot make so much as a rude noise, though they have no voice, yet they are able to preach God unto us, and teach us, that there is a sovereign providence by which all things are guided and governed.
2. God hath made man fit to learn, he hath given us faculties to this purpose, that we may understand the creatures: Eccles. iii. 11, 'He hath set the world in their heart.' The great work of God's Spirit is to pluck the world out of our hearts; what is the meaning then of it? He hath not only given us the creature to contemplate, but an ability, an earnest desire, to search into the secrets of nature, that we may understand the voice of the creation. Men are the most considerable, and the most considering part of the world. The creatures praise God, that is, they offer matter of praise: Ps. cxlv. 10, 'All thy works shall praise thee, O Lord, and thy saints shall bless thee;' they are as a well-tuned harp, but man maketh the music. We should not be silent, when the creatures proclaim their creator. Man is made to consider all the rest of the creatures, therefore is placed in the middle of the world, that he may look round about him. Man hath reason given him; and shall man that hath reason make no more use of the stars than the creatures do, only to see by them? Man is to discourse of them. He hath given us a body bored through with five senses to let out thoughts, and to take in objects; to taste the goodness of God in the creatures, and see divinity in them, and hear the voice by which they proclaim the glory of God. A philosopher, being asked, why he had eyes? answered, Ut miracula Dei contempler. Creatures are mutes, when neglected, and vowels, when we consider them.
3. God himself delights in the view of his own works. God observed every day's work, and said, it. was good; he took a complacency in it: Prov. viii. 30, 'Rejoicing in the habitable parts of the earth.' Ps. civ. 31, 'The Lord rejoiceth in his works:' God rejoiceth in the view of his own works; therefore there is great reason for us to study and contemplate them.
4. This was God's great aim and end in making man, that he might have a witness and publisher of his own glory. That this was the aim of God, to have his works viewed distinctly, may be discovered by many things; that he did prolong his work for six days, when he might have made all things in one day. And this was the reason why he made man last, that when he was made he might contemplate all the rest of the creatures, Deus te quasi testem, laudatoremque tanti operis sui in hunc mundum induxit, Lactantius. When God had made the whole world, there wanted one to be a witness of the work, one to admire the greatness and goodness of it, therefore man is brought into the world for this purpose; when God's feast was prepared, then man was invited to come and taste. The first sabbath was appointed for contemplation; it is the sweetest rest that we can enjoy, to view the works of God. Now consider what an injury and unthankfulness will this be to God, to cross the aim of the creation, and to pass by such a goodly frame with a careless eye. If a father should build a great house or palace for his son, and he should not so much as deign to look upon it, what an ingratitude would this be! So when God hath furnished his palace with such variety of all creatures, then not to consider and regard the operation of his hands, what an unkind return would this be if you should make a sumptuous feast, and your guests will not so much as look upon your table, you would count this a great affront; so this is a great affront to the divine majesty, not to look upon his works, since the beauty and order of the creation is a feast for the mind. The world is not only the house of man, but the temple of God. Many came to see Solomon's temple from a-far, and many go to Jerusalem to see the temple of the sepulchre; you need not go so far. When the ethnics slandered the primitive christians, that they had no temple, they answered, Dei templum esse universum hoc quod cernitur - this world that we behold is God's temple.
5. The creatures signify nothing to us, if we do not consider them; without meditation we receive no good: Ps. cxlv. 10, 'All thy works praise thee.' The creatures are as a well-tuned instrument, but it is man that must make the music. The creatures, if they be not regarded, are but mutes, they make no sound. There we read the beauty, wisdom, and majesty of God: Job xii. 7, 'Ask now of the beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee.' Ask the creatures questions. Though the creatures have neither voice nor ears, yet we may consult and confer with them; when we think of them, they answer and resolve the questions put to them, though not to the ear, yet to the conscience. Ask the creatures, Is there a God? they answer, Yea. What kind of God is he? they will answer, A wise, powerful, and good God. By meditation we may easily make out these collections. It is great unthankfulness, that the creatures should proclaim the glory of God to no purpose; that we should be silent when the creatures speak. Christ said, the stones would cry if these should hold their peace. Shall the heavens declare the works of God, and shall man regard them not? Shall we be deaf, when the creatures don't cease to cry to us.
6. It is a duty that lies upon all reasonable creatures. (1.) The angels delight in this work; Job xxxviii. 7, it is said, when the earth was founded, 'the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy;' that is, when God first laid the foundations of the heavens, the angels, like birds at the break of day, welcome the dawning of the creation and the first appearances of the love of God to the creature, and still they are praising God for his essence and works. It cannot literally and properly be understood. There is but one morning star, not many; the stars were not created when the foundations of the earth were laid, not till the fourth day, Gen. i. 16. The angels are as it were spiritual stars. God is the sun and angels the stars. God is the Father of lights, and those angels are the stars derived from God. (2.) The saints of God, they make it their work. Much of the scripture is spent in this purpose. The whole book of Job is interspersed with several passages, chap. xxxvii. xxxviii. xxxix, David is a professed student in the works of God; many psalms are composed to give God the glory of the creation - Ps. viii. and xix., civ., cvi., and cxlvii. Meditation is the most spiritual part of worship, therefore to the children of God it is wondrous sweet. It is true Christ crucified is a chief object, Ephes. iii. 10, but the world created must have a room and place. (3.) The heathens by the light of nature acknowledge it to be their duty. I might produce many instances; Tully saith, Animarum, ingeniorumque naturale quoddam pabulum est contemplatio, consideratioque naturae: consideration of nature is the food of the soul, the solace and refreshment of the rational soul. Another saith, theatès egeneto toon ergoon theou ho anthroopos; the world is a great theatre wherein the creation is acted and drawn forth; God is the author, and man is made to be the spectator. Another said, Os hominum sublime dedit, caelumque tueri jussit - God has given man an erect countenance, that he might look up to heaven. Anaxagoras being asked, why he was born? answered, Eis hteoorian hèliou kai selènès kai ouranou - For contemplation of sun, moon and heavens. The sun, moon, and stars are the natural apostles; though they cannot preach Christ, yet they preach God. Heathens must be called to account at the last day for not reading the book of nature: 'He left not himself without a witness,' Acts xiv. 17; and the apostle tells heathens, when justice shall make a solemn triumph, Acts xvii. 31, 'He hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained.' What will become of us, that have not only the book of nature, but the comment of scripture? God hath unfolded the meaning of the creature in the word. We shall have many witnesses against us at the day of the Lord.
7. It is a work that is of great profit; partly to heighten fancy, and make it fit for meditation. Many find meditation a burden because of the barrenness and leanness that is in their understandings. Oh! practise upon the creation, and you will find fancy to be much elevated and raised. Anthony the devout hermit, that is so much spoken of in ecclesiastical story, being asked, how he could profit in knowledge, and spend his days in the desert without men and books? answered, I have one book I am always studying, and turning over day and night; and so I find my hours to be both pleasant and profitable; and it consists of three leaves and three letters; the three leaves of it are the heavens, the earth, and the waters. - The letters are the inhabitants of these houses. If you look into the heavens, there are stars, and angels, and fowls; if you walk on the earth, there are living creatures, and chiefly man, if you look into the seas, there are fishes. Partly because you will hereby have an excellent advantage to know God, and keep God present in your thoughts. Man is much led by sense; in the benefit of fruitful seasons, and temperament of the heavens, and plenty of fruits of the earth, you may be reading the goodness of God; in thunders, lightnings, tempests, earthquakes, hail, snow, pestilence, comets, you may read the majesty and the terrors of the Lord; in the guidance of the world, and measure of the stars, and all created beings, you may observe the wisdom of God; so that religion is as it were made sensible. And partly, you will have this profit, a sweet opportunity to compare the old and the new creation together. Eph. ii. 10, We are said to be 'the workmanship of God, created in Christ Jesus to good works.' The old world and the new heart, they are both God's work: Eph. iv. 24, 'That ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.' There you may see beauty and order brought out of nothing. Every man is a lesser world, a model of the universe; the globe in the head, the sun and moon in the eyes; there is the liver like the ocean, which receiveth all the lesser streams, conveyed by the channels of the veins. But now a new man is a new creature, a new world; instead of the sun that shines in the firmament, there is the sun of righteousness, the ebbings and flowings of the influences of grace, the air which we receive by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, and blow out again in prayers; there is the fire, by which the Holy Ghost warmeth and inflameth the heart. Many such sweet resemblances might be made.
8. If there were no profit, yet it is a matter of much spiritual delight to reflect upon the creature. Man is a creature taken with variety and beauty. Now what prospect is more various and beautiful than the works of God? when we are weary of one object we may go to another. Unclasp the book of nature, turn over a few leaves of that large volume, see what delight and contentment reason will find; when we walk abroad, these meditations will be best company for us. Look upon the spangled firmament, bestudded everywhere with stars, like so many golden nails fixed and struck into it, or like so many little holes in a thick covering, disclosing the beauty amid glory that is within. There you may see the sun like a giant rejoicing to run his course, or like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, There are the influences of the Pleiades, and the bands of Orion; there is Mazzaroth in his season, and Arcturus with his sons. There the moon like a rich diamond shines out with a foil of darkness and blackness, to set forth the lustre of it; and the constellations are as so many several families of stars; all which may ravish us with delight and wonder. If you come lower, consider the fire that burns not, the treasures of snow and hail, meteors as much feared as wondered at. There are the clouds, which Job calls the bottles of God, which, like so marry tankard-bearers, convey their influences to all the houses of the earth, or like water-pots, refresh the garden of the world. Come we lower, and there is the earth interlaid with water, enamelled and decked with flowers and grass, variety of beasts in the field, and plentiful fruits of the land. And in the sea, as the papists say of Aquinas, quot articulos, tot miracula; so many fishes, so many wonders! the number, vastness, motion, perfection of all these do loudly proclaim the praise of God. Look upon yourselves, what delight is it to contemplate our own nature! Our generation is wonderful; we are poured out as milk into the womb, curdled like cheese, fenced with skin and bones. In the body there is an admirable structure, all the members conspiring to the beauty, decency, and use of the whole: Ps. cxxxix. 14, 'I am fearfully and wonderfully made.' Then if we look upon the soul, there is a sparkle of the divinity, and beam of God. Who can trace the flights and workings of reason, and the several traverses of the spirit of a man? Look on the lesser, the most inconsiderable creatures. Pauses in music serve to make harmony, as well as the more perfect notes. Austin in some respects preferred a gnat before the sun, to see a little animated dust move up and down in such regular motions, with such handsomeness of body, eyes, feet, and wings; it mightily delights and sets out the glory of God.
Hebrews
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