commands of His Father and our Father, of His God and our God; and
sacrificing Himself to His Father not as a man merely, but as a son;
not because He was in the likeness of sinful flesh, but because He
was The Everlasting Son of His Father; not once only on the cross,
but from all eternity to all eternity, the Lamb slain before the
foundation of the world. This is a great mystery; we may understand
somewhat more of it by thinking over the meaning of those great
words, Father and Son.

Now, first, a son must be of the same nature as his father,--that is
certain. Each kind of animal brings forth after its kind: the lion
begets lions, the sheep, sheep; the son of a man must be a man, of
one substance with his earthly father; and by the same law, the Son
of God must be God. Take away that notion: say that the only-
begotten Son of God is not very God of very God, of one substance
with His Father, and the word son means nothing. If a son be not of
the same substance as his father, he is not a son at all. And more,
a perfect son must be as great and as good as his father, exactly
like his father in everything. That is the very meaning of father
and son; that like should beget like. Among fallen and imperfect
men, some sons are worse and weaker than their fathers: but we all
feel that that is an evil, a thing to be sorry for, a sad
consequence of our fallen state. Our reasons and hearts tell us
that a son ought to be equal to his father, and that it is in some
way an affliction, almost a shame, to a father, if his children are
weaker or worse than he is. But we cannot fancy such a thing in
God; the only-begotten perfect Son of the Almighty and perfect
Father must be at least equal to His Father, as great as His Father,
as good as His Father; the brightness of His Father's glory, and the
express image of His Father's person.