CHAPTER II.

Creation, Primitive State of Man, and his Fall.

SECTION 1.-CREATION.

1. Of the world. God created the world and all things that it contains, for his own pleasure and glory, and the enjoyment of his creatures.(a)

2. Of the angels. The angels were created by God(b) to glorify

(a) Rev. 4:11. Thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are, and were created. Isa. 43:7. I have created him for my glory. 1 Tim. 6: 17. The living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy.

(b) Col. 1:16. For by him were all things created that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible..

him, (c) and obey his commandments.(d) Those who have kept their first estate,* he employs in ministering blessings to the heirs of salvation, (e) and in executing his judgments upon the world. (f)

3. Of man. God created man, consisting of a corporeal body and a

(c) Rev. 7:11. And all the angels stood round about, and fell before the throne on their faces and worshipped God.

(d) Ps. 103:20. Bless the Lord, ye his angels,that do his commandments.

(e) Heb. 1:14. Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation. Dan. 6:22.

(f) 2 Sam. 24:16. The angel stretched out his hand upon Jerusalem to destroy it. Rev. 16:1.

*Jude 6. And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness, unto the judgment of the great day.

thinking, rational soul.(g) He was made in the similitude of God to glorify his Maker. (h)

SECTION II.-PRIMITIVE STATE OF MAN AND HIS FALL.

Our first parents, in their original state of probation, were perfectly righteous: they naturally preferred and desired to obey their Creator, and had no preference or desire to transgress his will, (a) till they were

(g) Gen. 2:7. And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. Mat. 2:11.

(h) Gen. 1:27. So God created man in his own image; in the image of God created he him. 1 Cor. 11:7. Man-is the image and glory of God.

(a) Eccl. 7:29. God hath made man upright.. Gen. 1:27. God created man in his own image. Eph. 4:24. Col. 3:10.

REMARKS. This image cannot be the body of man, as God has no definable configuration

deceived, inclined, and influenced by the tempter, to disobey God's com

with which it can be compared. But it can be traced, 1. In his intellectual powers. God is an intelligent, indivisible, immaterial, and self-directing existent, who possesses a will, judgment and memory. In these respects, the soul of man was made in the image of God. The soul is intelligent, or capable of receiving and imparting knowledge; indivisible, or not capable of being separated into parts; and immaterial, or not composed of matter. It is a self-directing existence, as it has the power of determining how to act when different motives are placed before it. It also has the power of originating motives. Hence man is a free, moral agent; and accountable to his Maker as such. He possesses a will, memory and judgment. God can exist independently of matter, so can the soul of Mat. 10:28. 25:46. 22:32. 2. In his moral qualities. His intellectual powers and his passions were duly tempered, so that they were free from every thing improper, low, base, mean, or sinful. This image consists in knowledge, righteousness, and true holiness. Eph. 4:24. Col. 3:10. From this, it may be inferred, that man in his primitive state was wise in his mind, holy in his heart, and righteous in his actions. Man, thus created, was

man.

mands. Previously to this, the only tendency of their nature was to do righteousness. the first transgression, the state of trial, under which the posterity of Adam come into the world, is so far different from that of Adam, that they have not that righteousness and purity which Adam had by creation; are not naturally willing to obey God, but prefer to disobey him, and are naturally inclined to evil rather than good.(b) Hence, none, by

In consequence of

placed in a state of probation, under a law, which he was required to keep. Gen. 2:16, 17. As he was a free moral agent, he had ability to keep the law and live, or disobey and suffer its penalties.

(b) Ps. 51:5. Behold I was shapen in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me. Job 14:4. Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one. Job 15:14. What is man, that he should be clean? and he which is born of a woman, that he should be righteous? John 3:6. That which is