#7 Part Two: Chapter IV. Thanksgiving for the Incarnation of the Son

(Continued )  To me You were given—shall not also all things be given to me? My nature is glorified greater in You than it was disgraced in Adam through sin. Because You assumed into the unity of Your person [Christ has two natures, divine and human, in one person] that which was only accidentally weakened by Satan, You truly are flesh of my flesh and bone of my bone [Eph. 5:30]. You are my brother. What can You deny to me, to whom You are most intimately joined by the same essence of flesh and by the feeling of fraternal love? You are the Bridegroom [Matt. 22:2], who according to the good pleasure of the Heavenly Father, bound the human nature to Yourself as a bride by means of a personal covenant. With a thankful soul I proclaim and acknowledge that I too am invited to the celebration of this marriage.

I am no longer amazed that heaven, earth, sea, and all that is in them, were made by God for man, since for man God Himself ordained to become a man. Truly You cannot reject me and turn me away, since You cannot deny [II Tim. 2:13] that You Yourself are a man, and therefore my brother. Now You can never forget me because You have engraved me on the palms of Your hands [Isa. 49:16]. For Christ’s communion with humanity daily and continually makes You mindful of me. Now You can never forsake me, since You, by the closest bond of the personal union, ordained to join the human nature to Yourself. However much, therefore, my sins hinder me from coming to You for mercy, nevertheless, the communion of the two natures in Christ will not allow me to be driven away. I will depend totally upon You, who totally assumed my totality, Amen. (from The Daily Exercise of Piety by Johann Gerhard, Repristination Press, p.35-36)

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