The Father loveth the Son
There is such a relation as that of Father and Son subsisting
between the first and second persons in the Trinity; which is not
by constitution and appointment: or arbitrary, arising from, and
depending on the will of the first, but is natural and necessary;
the second person being begotten by the first, and is of the same
nature, and equally a divine person: and which relation is the
foundation of the distinction of their persons; and which existed
from all eternity, and co-existed with their being and essence;
and is what no other stand in, angels or men, in such sense as
the second person does; and is not to be conceived of, expressed
and explained by us: and from this relation arises love; hence,
the Son of the Father is his dear Son, the Son of his love; as he
must needs be, since he is of the same nature, has the same
perfections he has, and is the brightness of his glory, and the
express image of his person: and hence he continues to love him
in every form and appearance of his; in every office he sustains;
in every state and condition into which he comes: he delighted in
him as his elect, as chosen and appointed by him to be the
Saviour of his people; he took pleasure in him as the surety of
them, and when he saw him engaging as such, and declaring it was
his heart to do his will, and work out their salvation; he loved
him when he appeared in human nature, the form of a servant; and
in his state of humiliation, more than once he declared, by a
voice from heaven, that he was his beloved Son, and particularly
at his baptism: and indeed, as in that, so in every thing else,
he always did the things that pleased him; he loved him when he
laid down his life for the sheep: when he was bruised, and his
soul made an offering for sin; he loved him when on the cross,
and even when he hid his face from him; when lay in the grave he
left him not, nor would he suffer him to see corruption; he
raised him front the dead, and gave him glory; exalted him, and
received him into heaven with a welcome, and placed him at his
right hand; and now looks with pleasure upon him, upon his
person, his sacrifice, blood, and righteousness: and this love is
a love of complacency and delight, and is from everlasting to
everlasting; the evidence of which lows, and hath given all
things into his hand;
or "by his hand"; as the doctrines of the Gospel, the gifts of
the Spirit, grace, and glory: or rather, "into his hand"; with
which he, being the Son of God, a divine person, is fit to be
entrusted, which otherwise he would not be: (panta) , "all", includes "all
persons"; all the angels, the good angels which are chosen in
him, and he is the head of; and by whom they are confirmed in the
state they are: and who are at his command and beck, and minister
to him and his. The evil angels, though they have broke away from
God, and rebelled against him, yet are, in some sense, in the
hands of Christ, and under his power: as appears by his
dispossessing them from the bodies of men on earth, his spoiling
them on the cross, and triumphing over them in his ascension to
heaven, and by his binding Satan a thousand years. All men are
given to him; the elect in a special sense, as his bride and
spouse, as his children, and as his sheep; hence, he died for
them, and effectually calls them, and brings them to himself; and
they shall never perish, or be plucked out of his hands, but
shall have eternal life. And wicked men are, in a sense, given to
him; their wrath he restrains, and makes it to praise him; he
rules then with a rod of iron, and breaks them in pieces as a
potter's vessel. And "all things" also are given into his hands;
all temporal things, the things of nature and providence; the
light of nature, and all the gifts and attainments of it; all the
good things of the world, and which are wisdom's left hand
blessings; and Christ disposes of them to his people in mercy,
and as covenant ones: all spiritual things are in his hands; all
the gifts of the Spirit, and the fulness of all grace,
sanctifying, justifying, pardoning, adopting, and persevering
grace; all the promises and blessings of the covenant; the
government of the church, and the judgment of the world; all
power, both in heaven and in earth; the salvation of the elect,
and their eternal inheritance, happiness, and glory. For all
which, creature, angels or men, are fit, only the Son of God.