inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession." St. Matthew xxviii. 18. Jesus saith, "All power is given unto me in heaven and earth." Chap. xi. 27. "All things are delivered unto me of my Father." Father." These and many more passages are found in sacred writ, in support of the dependance of the Mediator on the Supreme Eternal, and that he derives his power and glory from him. But if Christ be essentially God, all those scriptures seem without just signification.

Paul ven

It is written, that man was created in the image of God; and, by the light of the gospel St. tured to assert, that Christ is this image. The reader will do well to observe, that the image of a person, and the person, are not essentially one, but some knowledge of a person may be obtained by his true image. Christ being the image of God, it is by him we learn the nature of the Father. Christ saith, "No man knoweth the Father but the Son, and he to whom the Son revealeth him." Again, "No man cometh unto the Father, but by me." St. Paul is particular, on this subject, in his 1st Epistle to Timothy, see chap. ii. verse 5. "For there is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus." It seems, by this testimony, that St. Paul was a stranger to the notion of Christ's being essentially God, as it would be improper to call him a man, were that the case. If it be argued, that Christ is God and man both, we ask, was it the whole divine nature which constituted the divinity of Christ? If this question be answered in the affirmative, we desire to know where that divinity is which constitutes the other two persons in the Godhead. If the question be answered in the negative, and it be argued, that

the divinity which Christ possessed was an emanation from Jehovah, it is coming directly to what we contend for, viz. that he is a created being.

As we have seen, from the prophecy of Daniel, that Christ received his kingdom; so we are taught, by St. Paul, that he will deliver up his kingdom to the Father, when he has accomplished the grand object of his reign, see 1 Cor. xv. 24, 25, 26, 27, 28. "Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father: when he shall have put down all rule, and all authority, and power. For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith, all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted which did put all things under him. And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all."

Enough, perhaps, is written, on this part of our query, to make the matter plain to the reader, although much more might be quoted from the scriptures, in support of what we have argued.

We next inquire, has the Mediator power or ability, to perform the great work of atonement, which is the reconciliation of the world to God? Those scriptures, with their connexions, which we have quoted to prove the Mediator's dependency, abundantly prove the sufficiency of his power to accomplish the work in which he is engaged. If all power in heaven and earth be committed to Christ, no doubt can be entertained of its sufficiency. If the whole system of law in moral nature be subservient to the designs of the Redeemer,

and if he holds in his hands the power of moral government, it certainly must be at his option, whether men shall be reconciled to God, or not.

It may not be amiss to inquire, in this place, whether men, in their individual capacity, have the power of moral government? If they have, the great work of reconciliation might be performed by them, which would render the mission of Christ unnecessary. We ought not to suppose the Almighty ever purposed more than one way to produce the same event; if he has given ability to each individual to effect a complete reconciliation in himself, it is not consistent to believe that this work of reconciliation will be done by a Mediator; but if the work of reconciling all things to God is assigned to Christ, it is not reasonable to believe we have power to perform it ourselves. And we think it will not be deemed admissible, that we have power to hinder this work of reconciliation, as that would, in effect, deny the truth of all power being given to Christ. We ought to consider, that Christ was by no means ignorant of man; that he needed none to testify of man, as he knew what was in man. He knew the moral distance which man had wandered from God, he knew all the expense of recovering him to holiness and happiness; and it appears rational, that he knew whether he possessed ability to defray this expense or not; and if he knew he did not possess this ability, he would not have undertaken it. We ought not to suppose the Mediator would act as unwisely as a man who undertakes to build a large house, without first counting the cost, to know if he be able to finish a building so expensive; or as a king would do, who should make war on another king, without first consulting whether he were

able to contend with the double numbers which his adversary commanded.

St. Paul, writing to the Collossians, saith, of Christ, he is the first born from the dead, that in all things he might have the pre-eminence; for it pleased the Father, that in him all fullness should dwell; and that the Father had made peace, through the blood of his cross; and then informs them for what this peace was made see chap. i. verse 20. By him to reconcile all things unto himself: by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven." In Isaiah ix. 6, we have a beautiful prophetic testimony of the power and kingdom of the Saviour. "For unto us a child is

born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace." And in the beginning of the next verse, the extent of his dominion is spoken of. "And of the increase of his goverment and peace there shall be no end." There is a great number of like passages, which, in the course of this work, we shall have occasion to introduce; but enough is already quoted, to show for what this power was given to Christ, and that it is sufficient to accomplish the end intended. Again, it may be reasonable to argue, that if the Almighty committed power into the hands of Christ, for the performance of any thing whatever, if there should be found, at last, a want of power for the work intended, it would prove a want of wisdom, in the giver of such power. No one, who professes to believe at all in Christ, will dispute his power for the performance of all his will: But we wish to have the reader satisfied, in respect to this power, and in what it consists, which, to make as clear as possible, we con

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nect with our last particular in this general inquiry,

which is,

ATONEMENT IN ITS NATURE.

We have already observed that atonement and reconciliation are the same. Reconciliation is a renewal of love, and love is the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus, of which St Paul speaks, in Romans viii. 2, by which he was made free from the law of sin. The soul, when governed by the law of sin which is in the members, of which St. Paul speaks, in Romans vii. 23, is in a state of unreconciliation to the law of the spirit. And it is by the force and power of the law of love, in Christ, that the soul is delivered from the government of the law of sin; the process of this deliverance is the work of atonement, or reconciliation.

The reader will now see, with ease, that, that power which causes us to hate sin, and love holiness, is the power of Christ, whereby atonement is made. All the law and the prophets rested on this spirit of love, by which alone they can be fulfilled.

Our Saviour, in his official character, is always called by the names, which are applicable to God, manifest in the flesh. This circumstance will fully account for all the scriptures which our opponent would urge, in support of Jesus' being essentially God.

Christ came not to destroy the law and the pro -phets, but to fulfil them; the law is as far fulfilled, in the soul, as it is brought to love God, in his adorable image, Jesus; and a complete fulfilment of the law and the prophets, will effect love, in every soul, on whom the law, in a moral sense, is binding.