To fix the crown upon Messiah's head; son than the Lord Jesus Christ; consequently, he is the selfexistent God; for, if we suppose him a mere man, with the Socinian, or a demi-god with the Arian, yet we must suppose him to be a creature; and then God the Father, in commanding him to be worshipped, commands that very act of idolatry, which he hath himself so expressly forbidden; but this supposition is absurd to an extreme, and full of blasphe my; it is highly derogatory to the divine perfections, and very unworthy of the deity. But if the Lord Jesus Christ possesses two natures in one person, not only the human, in its highest degree of perfection, but also a divine, co-equal, co-eternal, co-essential with the Father and Holy Spirit; possessing his being in and of himself alone, which is the truth, then there is the highest propriety in this command for the angels to worship him; and it does not clash in the least with the first and second commandments, because he is in unity of essence with the Father, and the Holy Ghost, that very Jehovah who forbids idol worship, and claims all the adoration of his creatures as his own peculiar right....In commanding divine worship to be paid to the Redeemer, and in ascribing the great work of creation to him, which can be the production of no less a being than an infinite God; and therefore, says the apostle, "He that built all things is God," Heb. iii. 4. God the Father gives the strongest testi. mony possible to the divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ; and whoever dares to reject that testimony, do it at the peril of their souls; and though they who do, vainly suppose they Clouding the mind....See a bright train arise Of peace divine, who made it with his blood. All thrones above; yet with sweet voice proclaim And O, sweet name, The Lord her righteousness ;|| are doing him honor; yet the truth is, they cannot offer him a more insolent, daring and aggravated affront: they give him the lie to his face; they rob him of his brightest perfections, and add to the sin of disobedience, that of high treason against the glorious Redeemer, the King of kings, and Lord of lords, whom God the Father's soul delighteth to honor. Isaiah vii. 14. † Isaiah viii. 13....1 Pet.ii. 8. † Micah v. 2. Jeremiah xxiii. 6. The Lord her strength; he who alone can be God over all,t the only potentate, The only wise, who in himself alone Hath immortality. Th' essential word,|| Man amongst men, yet in whose person shines Girt with omnipotence, he rules o'er all. The incommunicable names and things Of heaven's Jehovah. Has Lothario heard Who died on Calvary? Has he not seen While yet their message is not theirs, but his And sets his royal seal, the seal of heav'n * Isaiah xlv. 21. † Rom. ix. 5. John i, 6. 2 Tim. vi. 15, 16. Is the eternal self-existent JAH. The great first cause: to whom creation owes Has he e'er err'd, or brought a false report? Ascribes the names, the glorious characters, ; A creature of a day; a worm of earth, In this great contest, is it earth or heav'n? No! just and true art thou, Almighty king; A God of truth, without iniquity. 'Tis the proud reas'ning insect of the earth; The mite drop'd down from the Creator's hand Deep in the bosom of his universe; (Less in his sight than is the grass-hopper)* The nature of the infinite I AM! His purblind reason cannot comprehend Behold the Son of man in robes of light, Walking amidst the golden candlesticks: Celestial splendors shine around his head! Girt with omnipotence; his flaming eye Darts lightnings round, piercing the heights of heav'n, Like polish'd brass his feet; so firm he stands In all th' immutability of God. His hand supports the stars, and from his lips Declares his grand essential dignity. "I am the first, the last, the great I AM. The Alpha and Omega. Lord of ALL. Isaiah xl. 15, 17, 22. |