Chapter 14

§ 1.

Thus God formed Adam at first, not as standing in need of man but that He might have one on whom to bestow His favours.¹ For, not only before Adam, but even before the whole creation, the Word was giving glory to His Father, abiding in Him, and was Himself glorified by the Father:² according to His own saying, Father, glorify Thou Me with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was made.

Not as wanting our attendance did He give command to follow Him, but in order to bestow on us salvation. For to follow the Saviour is to partake of salvation, and to follow the Light is to receive the Light. But they who are in the light do not themselves enlighten the light, but are enlightened and shone upon by it. They indeed contribute nothing to it, but receiving the benefit, they are enlightened by the light.

So also is absolute subjection to God; to Him indeed it contributes nothing, nor hath God need of the homage of men, but He Himself on such as follow and serve Him bestows life and incorruption and eternal glory; doing good to those who serve Him for their service, and to those who follow Him for their attendance, but not receiving good from them; for He is rich, perfect, and without need of anything. But to this end doth God require service from men, that because He is good and merciful, He may do good to those who abide in His service. For as truly as God is in need of nothing, so truly is man in need of Communion with God: This being the glory of man, to persevere and abide in God’s service. And therefore the Lord said to His Disciples, You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you:³ intimating that they in following Him were not adding glory to Him, but that in following the Son of God they were receiving glory from Him.⁴ And again, I will that where I am, there also should these be, that they may behold My glory: not idly glorying in these things, but desiring to impart His glory to His disciples; of whom also Esaias saith,⁵ I will draw thy seed from the East, and will gather thee from the West; and will say to the North, Bring near, and to the South, Keep not back: draw hither My sons from far, and My daughters from the ends of the earth, all whosoever are called by My Name. For in My glory I have prepared, and formed, and made him.⁶ And this because wheresoever the carcase is, thither will the eagles also be gathered, partaking in the glory of the Lord; Who both formed and prepared us hereunto, that being with Him, we may partake of His Glory.

§ 2.

Thus God also from the beginning framed man because of His own bounty;⁷ and chose the Patriarchs for their own salvation; and formed His first people, teaching it, indocile as it was, to follow God; again He provided that there should be Prophets on Earth, accustoming man to bear His Spirit, and to have communion with God. Not as needing any one Himself, but as granting Communion with Him to those who need Him. And to those who pleased Him, He as an architect, delineates the fabric of salvation; and to those who see not in Egypt He gives guidance of Himself: bestowing also on such as were restless in the desert, a Law most suitable for them, and to such as entered into the good Land vouchsafing a meet inheritance: for them also who are converted to the Father He kills the fatted calf,⁸ and gives them the chief robe; in divers modes blending the race of man into a Harmony of salvation. And therefore John in the Revelation saith,⁹ And His voice as the voice of many waters. For the Spirit is truly many waters, because the Father is rich, and because He is great.

Now the Word, passing through all these persons, did without grudging vouchsafe to be profitable to those who were in subjection to It; for every sort of men writing down a becoming and suitable Law.

§ 3.

And so He appointed unto the people the making of the Tabernacle,¹⁰ and the building of the Temple, and the election of the Levites, the sacrifices also and oblations and cautionary precepts, and all the rest of their service by the Law.¹¹ It is true, He needs Himself none of these things; for He is alway full of all good things, and hath in Himself all odour of sweetness, and all breathings of pleasant incense, even before Moses was. But He was schooling the people, apt easily to return to idols, by many callings instructing them to persevere and serve God: by things of the second order calling them to things of the first; i.e., by the typical to the true; and by the temporal to the eternal; and by the carnal to the spiritual; and by the earthly to the heavenly;¹² as was said also to Moses: That thou shalt make all things after the pattern of those things which thou hast seen in the mount. He namely for forty days was learning to hold fast¹³ the words of God and heavenly tokens¹⁴ and spiritual images, and foreshadowings of things to come:¹⁵ as Paul also saith, For they drank of the rock that followed, and the rock was Christ. And again after specifying the things in the Law,¹⁶ he inferred, Now all these things came unto them in figure: and they are written for our correction, on whom the end of the worlds is come. Thus by types they learned to fear God, and to continue in all kinds of obedience to Him.